ABSTRACT
The rational-technical perspective views change as a technical process or a series of steps or techniques that are adopted for successful change. The Change Management literature that subscribes to the perspective offers itself as an instruction manual that students or managers of change must and can master to produce successful change. A planned approach towards Change Management, which clearly fits with a rational-technical perspective is often contrasted with a processual understanding or approach towards Change Management. The belief that managers possess power is evident in the assumption that management can enact change by following a number of steps and also deliver intended outcomes. The chapter examines the tension between a processual understanding of organisations and the managerial aspirations/claims of some processual theorists. To understand change as a thing sits well with a managerial line of argument and the rational-technical perspective.
