Organizational Change and Global Standardization: Solutions to Standards and Norms Overwhelming Organizations takes an organizational change approach to the overflow of standards and norms, looking at how to deal effectively and ethically with four kinds of standards and norms businesses face when they go global: (1) accounting & finance (2) international & world trade,(3) social and (4) safety & quality & environment. It is part of a larger problem faced by not only business, but every sort of organization - how to live with the epidemic of standards and norms, often in conflict, many just unnecessary, and a few that are quite helpful and important. There are good reasons to have International Standards Organization (ISO), International Labor Organization (ILO), World Trade Organization (WTO), North Atlantic Treaty Association (NAFTA), International accounting Standards Boards (IASB), International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)), and many more standard-setting organizations issuing, auditing, proposing codes of ethics, and certifying standards and norms. However, there are important, poorly understood organizational change consequences to the contagion of standards and norms. This volume brings together a unique group of authors who are working on a pragmatic way for organizations to deal with an overflow of standards and norms that are often at heads, ambiguous, or simply created to produce more work for a burgeoning standards setting industry. The aim of Organizational Change and Global Standardization is to stimulate a critical analysis within the framework of analytical and pragmatic approach to an overwhelming bureaucratization of the managed and organized global activities.

The overwhelming majority of a software system’s lifespan is spent in use, not in design or implementation. So, why does conventional wisdom insist that software engineers focus primarily on the design and development of large-scale computing systems? In this collection of essays and articles, key members of Google’s Site Reliability Team explain how and why their commitment to the entire lifecycle has enabled the company to successfully build, deploy, monitor, and maintain some of the largest software systems in the world. You’ll learn the principles and practices that enable Google engineers to make systems more scalable, reliable, and efficient—lessons directly applicable to your organization. This book is divided into four sections: Introduction—Learn what site reliability engineering is and why it differs from conventional IT industry practices Principles—Examine the patterns, behaviors, and areas of concern that influence the work of a site reliability engineer (SRE) Practices—Understand the theory and practice of an SRE’s day-to-day work: building and operating large distributed computing systems Management—Explore Google's best practices for training, communication, and meetings that your organization can use

Managing Change in Organizations: A Practice Guide is unique in that it integrates two traditionally disparate world views on managing change: organizational development/human resources and portfolio/program/project management. By bringing these together, professionals from both worlds can use project management approaches to effectively create and manage change. This practice guide begins by providing the reader with a framework for creating organizational agility and judging change readiness.

Organizational Change and Global Standardization: Solutions to Standards and Norms Overwhelming Organizations takes an organizational change approach to the overflow of standards and norms, looking at how to deal effectively and ethically with four kinds of standards and norms businesses face when they go global: (1) accounting & finance (2) international & world trade,(3) social and (4) safety & quality & environment. It is part of a larger problem faced by not only business, but every sort of organization - how to live with the epidemic of standards and norms, often in conflict, many just unnecessary, and a few that are quite helpful and important. There are good reasons to have International Standards Organization (ISO), International Labor Organization (ILO), World Trade Organization (WTO), North Atlantic Treaty Association (NAFTA), International accounting Standards Boards (IASB), International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)), and many more standard-setting organizations issuing, auditing, proposing codes of ethics, and certifying standards and norms. However, there are important, poorly understood organizational change consequences to the contagion of standards and norms. This volume brings together a unique group of authors who are working on a pragmatic way for organizations to deal with an overflow of standards and norms that are often at heads, ambiguous, or simply created to produce more work for a burgeoning standards setting industry. The aim of Organizational Change and Global Standardization is to stimulate a critical analysis within the framework of analytical and pragmatic approach to an overwhelming bureaucratization of the managed and organized global activities.

This book offers a fresh perspective on organizational development and change theory and practice. Building on their recent work in quantum storytelling theory and complexity theory, Henderson and Boje consider the implications of fractal patterns in human behavior with a view toward ethics in organization development for the modern world. Building on Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari’s (1987) ontology of multiple moving and intersecting fractal processes, the authors offer readers an understanding of how managing and organizing can be adapted to cope with the turbulence and complexity of different organizational situations and environments. They advocate a sustainable, co-creative brand of agency and introduce appropriate, simple tools to support organizational development practitioners. This book offers theory and research methods to management and organization scholars, along with praxis advice to practicing managers.

Despite the plethora of books on change, there appears is a notable gap in the field; rarely is the authentic and candid voice of change practitioners heard. Seldom are those most closely involved in the management of change given (or seek) the opportunity to write about their personal experiences and reflexiveness. Nor is this just a case of practicing managers not being given a voice, or feeling that they cannot be frank and open about what they do. How often do academics candidly state what they actually do when they are faced with managing change in their own institutions or when they are called on in a consultancy capacity? Similarly, it is rare for full-time consultants to be candid about what it is they actually do: instead they tend to have a well-honed sales pitch which lays out a logical change process directed at helping the client to achieve success. Yet, when academics, consultants and practicing managers are prepared to speak candidly about what they really do, a richer, messier but more illuminating picture of change emerges. The aim of Perspectives on Change is to move beyond the ‘do as I say’ approach of most change books and to encourage academics, consultants and managers to say candidly what it is they really do and what they really think about change and how it should be managed. The Editors of this book, Burnes and Randall, have over 60 years of experience between them of studying and teaching change management, acting as consultants and actually managing change projects. They are, therefore, well aware of the differences and contradictions between what academics, consultants and managers say about change in public and what they say in private and do in practice. Perspectives on Change will offer students and practitioners of change a unique opportunity to understand change in practice. In addition, it will also contribute to the Rigour-Relevance debate by giving a different and perhaps more realistic perspective on the nature of the gap between theory and practice.

True Storytelling is a new method of studying, planning, facilitating, ensuring, implementing and evaluating ethical and sustainable changes in companies, organizations and societies. True Storytelling is both a method with seven principles and a mindset to help managers and researchers to work with change. True Storytelling stresses that we need to balance the resources of the Earth, our wellbeing and the economy when we are dealing with change. It is not only a book about how to prevent climate change, it is also a book about how we can navigate through crisis, create less stress and achieve better life in organizations and in society as a whole. You will learn how to create innovative start-ups with a purpose and fund money for sustainable projects and good ideas. The book combines practical cases, interviews with managers and CEOs, theory and philosophy to define the method and to teach the Seven True Storytelling Principles: 1 You yourself must be true and prepare the energy and effort for a sustainable future 2 True storytelling makes spaces that respect the stories already there 3 You must create stories with a clear plot, creating direction and helping people prioritize 4 You must have timing 5 You must be able to help stories on their way and be open to experiment 6 You must consider staging, including scenography and artefacts 7 You must reflect on the stories and how they create value This book is a guide to implementing these core principles to boost leadership practices, create a storytelling culture and staff buy-in. The method is also useful as an analytical tool for organizations, managers and consultants in order to prepare, plan and execute the implementation of strategies. It is valuable reading for researchers and students at master level as well as leaders and consultants in charge of ethical and sustainable changes.

Despite the popularity of organizational change management, the question arises whether its prescriptions and dominant beliefs and practices are based on solid and convergent evidence. Organizational change management entails interventions intended to influence the task-related behavior and associated results of an individual, team, or entire organization. There is a perception that a lot of change initiatives fail and limited understanding about what works and what does not and why. Drawing on the field of psychology and based on primary research, Reconsidering Change Management identifies 18 popular and relevant commonly held assumptions with regard to change management that are then analyzed and compared to the four specific themes laid out in the book (people, leadership, organization, and change process), resulting in their own set of assumptions. Each assumption will have a brief introduction in which its relevance and popularity is explained. By studying the scientific evidence, in particular meta-analytic evidence, the book provides students and academics in the fields of change management, organizational behavior, and business strategy the best available evidence for the acceptance or dropping of certain (change) management assumptions and their accompanying practices. By exploring the topics people, leadership, organization, and process, and the related assumptions, change management is restructured and reframed in a prudent, positive, and practical way.

Counter-Narratives and Organization brings the concept of "counter-narrative" into an organizational context, illuminating these complex elements of communication as intrinsic yet largely unexplored aspect of organizational storytelling. Departing from dialogical, emergent and processual perspectives on "organization," the individual chapters focus on the character of counter-narratives, along with their performative aspects, by addressing questions such as: how do some narratives gain dominance over others? how do narratives intersect, relate and reinforce each other how are organizational members and external stakeholders engaged in the telling and re-telling of the organization? The empirical case studies provide much needed insights on the function of counter-narratives for individuals, professionals and organizations in navigating, challenging, negotiating and replacing established dominant narratives about "who we are," "what we believe," "what we do" as a collective. The book has an interdisciplinary scope, drawing together ideas from both storytelling in organization studies, the communicative constitution of organization (CCO) from organizational communication, and traditional narratology from humanities. Counter-Narratives and Organization reflects an ambition to spark readers’ imagination, recognition, and discussion of organization and counter-narratives, offering a route to bring this important concept to the center of our understandings of organization.

While executives are keen to harness organizational knowledge and improve business performance, the topic of how academics can produce rigorous and relevant theory in working relationships with practitioners is a much contested topic. Many aspects of this knowledge co-creation can create tensions, and the ways in which research is conducted and published can affect practitioner acceptance, as well as its consequent uptake and use in different contexts. Expertly compiled by Jean Bartunek and Jane McKenzie, with contributions from global thinkers in the field, this book offers a concise and up-to-date review of the essential analysis and action underlying scholarly engagement with the world of business. It discusses the sorts of capabilities academics need to collaborate effectively with practitioners and illustrates good practice through international case studies drawn from acknowledged centres of excellence. These show how to negotiate different constituencies with different priorities, values, and practices to work together to produce research of rigor and relevance. It will be a key reference and resource for all researchers who are engaged with practitioners, and an invaluable tool for training academics to develop research with impact.