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The Fragmentation of a Railway: A Study of Organizational Change

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  • David Tyrrall
  • David Parker

Abstract

abstract This paper considers pathways of organizational change within British Rail (BR) during its long period of commercialization culminating in privatization. The Laughlin (1991) and Parker (1995a) frameworks are used to demonstrate how a new interpretative scheme supplanted the previous interpretative scheme within BR between the 1970s and privatization in the mid‐1990s, leading to a fragmented organization. BR did not survive and privatization of Britain's railways remains controversial. The study demonstrates that without the earlier changes in interpretive scheme from ‘social railway’ to ‘business railway’ to ‘profitable business’, and the associated changes in design archetypes and sub‐systems, privatization would have been both less tempting and less feasible. It is intended that the approach developed here to analyse organizational change in BR should be applicable to the study of other privatizations and to other forms of organizational change in both the public and private sectors.

Suggested Citation

  • David Tyrrall & David Parker, 2005. "The Fragmentation of a Railway: A Study of Organizational Change," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(3), pages 507-537, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:42:y:2005:i:3:p:507-537
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2005.00507.x
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    Cited by:

    1. David Parker, 2004. "The UK's Privatisation Experiment: The Passage of Time Permits a Sober Assessment," CESifo Working Paper Series 1126, CESifo.
    2. Yves Gendron & Laura F. Spira, 2009. "What Went Wrong? The Downfall of Arthur Andersen and the Construction of Controllability Boundaries Surrounding Financial Auditing," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(4), pages 987-1027, December.
    3. Matthew Egan, 2015. "Driving Water Management Change Where Economic Incentive is Limited," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 73-90, November.
    4. Neil Rollings, 2007. "British business history: A review of the periodical literature for 2005," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(3), pages 271-292.
    5. Ashfaq Ahmad Khan & Wiqar Ahmad, 2013. "Matching resources with demand: a flawed strategy?," Asia-Pacific Development Journal, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), vol. 20(1), pages 63-89, June.
    6. Josiah, Jairos & Burton, Bruce & Gallhofer, Sonja & Haslam, Jim, 2010. "Accounting for privatisation in Africa? Reflections from a critical interdisciplinary perspective," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 21(5), pages 374-389.
    7. Robert Jupe, 2009. "New Labour, Public–Private Partnerships And Rail Transport Policy," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 20-25, March.
    8. Tucker, Basil, 2013. "Environmental disturbances, organizational transitions and transformations: A view from the dark side," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 242-259.
    9. Merkert, Rico & Nash, Chris A., 2013. "Investigating European railway managers’ perception of transaction costs at the train operation/infrastructure interface," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 14-25.
    10. Upekha Atupola & Paola Vola & Nuwan Gunarathne & Elisa Truant & Lorenzo Gelmini, 2023. "Corporate biodiversity management and organisational change mechanisms: The case of a tea producer in Sri Lanka," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(2), pages 791-801, March.

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