IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ids/ijbglo/v17y2016i4p556-571.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The ritualisation of change in the public sector: a discourse - complexity approach

Author

Listed:
  • Walter Bolwerk
  • René Brohm

Abstract

From a 'complex-processes perspective', organisations are not seen as systems but as ongoing local interactions between people, leading to global patterns without any plan or blueprint. The main question for managers becomes then not 'What can I do to make the organisation become what I want it to become?' but 'What am I doing and experiencing while this organisation is becoming what it becomes?' In this paper, we argue that where the management of an organisation is stuck in a discourse that reflects goal rationality, they are unable to let go of the idea that they shape the organisation according to their ideas. And we can see how this leads to an inability to solve wicked problems, with their innate complexity, resulting in a ritualisation of change, where there is no real change but a semblance of change.

Suggested Citation

  • Walter Bolwerk & René Brohm, 2016. "The ritualisation of change in the public sector: a discourse - complexity approach," International Journal of Business and Globalisation, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 17(4), pages 556-571.
    • Handle: RePEc:ids:ijbglo:v:17:y:2016:i:4:p:556-571
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=79343
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ids:ijbglo:v:17:y:2016:i:4:p:556-571. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sarah Parker (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.inderscience.com/browse/index.php?journalID=245 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.