ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author reviews the main theories of change that articulated through six schools of thought. These six schools of thought are scientific management; evolutionary; political; social cognition; cultural; and institutional and neo-institutional. According to scientific management theories, the change process is rational and linear and individual managers are instrumental to the process. The main concepts of evolutionary theory reflect imagery from the study of biology such as systems, interactivity between the organization and environment, openness, homeostasis, and evolution. Political theories focus on bargaining, raising consciousness, persuasion, influence and power, and social movements as key elements of the change process. Social cognition theories are focused on changes occurring within the minds of individual people— their thought processes— rather than organizationally or throughout the system. The major contribution of cultural models to the change literature is its emphasis on context, values and beliefs, irrationality, the spirit or unconscious, and the fluidity and complexity of organizations.
