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UNDERSTANDING ORGANISATIONS:
THE BASIS FOR MANAGING CHANGE

Bruce Millett
12/03/99

ABSTRACT

The management of organisational change has become a normal part of the manager’s role. Change is regarded as the norm and periods of stability are taken as the exception for many organisations operating in the current era. The author asserts that one of the taken-for-granted assumptions about managing change is that managers have a competent understanding of what organisations are and how they function. This paper challenges that assumption by claiming that most managers don’t have the sort of understanding required to manage change. While they may feel comfortable under conditions of stability, they have not been exposed to a wider range of concepts and models about organisations that provide a more useful framework for dealing with the contemporary challenges they face in terms of change. The answer resides in the development of managers who see themselves as key participants in the context of a learning organisation.

KEYWORDS
Organisational change, organisation theory, organisational learning
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For further information regarding this article contact:    millett@usq.edu.au