Change Processes in Organizations: Challenges and Impacts

Abstract

Heraclitus of Ephesus (540-475 BC) is not an author of note in organizational and management studies, but his philosophical contributions can certainly offer valuable insights into understanding the role of change in the life cycles of people and organizations. In fragments of his work “On Nature”, Heraclitus highlights the transience of things, emphasizing that everything is in constant flux and transformation: “Nothing is permanent except change” (Kahn, 1979). From this perspective, change seems to be inevitable — even under strong resistance, obstacles, or attempts to deny its inevitability (Baloyannis, 2013).This Heraclitean vision of a world in constant becoming, in which nothing is permanent and everything is in flux, can be particularly relevant to understanding the challenges faced by organizations and their managers in an increasingly dynamic and unpredictable environment (Tsoukas & Chia, 2002). Understanding the inevitability of change processes, whether in the incorporation of new technologies or in the socio-economic and cultural transformations of society, provokes the need to learn to develop specific skills, to adapt to new scenarios which are not always positive, and to assess their impacts and consequences over time in the organizational structure and processes.