Essay About Change Drivers And Karen S. Whelan-Berry

Change Mangement
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Journal of Change Management
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Linking Change Drivers and the
Organizational Change Process: A
Review and Synthesis
Karen S. Whelan-Berry a & Karen A. Somerville b
a School of Business, Providence College, Providence, Rhode
Island, USA
b School of Business, Hamline University, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
Available online: 08 Jun 2010
To cite this article: Karen S. Whelan-Berry & Karen A. Somerville (2010): Linking Change Drivers
and the Organizational Change Process: A Review and Synthesis, Journal of Change Management,
10:2, 175-193
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Linking Change Drivers and the
Organizational Change Process: A
Review and Synthesis
KAREN S. WHELAN-BERRY∗ & KAREN A. SOMERVILLE∗∗
∗School of Business, Providence College, Providence, Rhode Island, USA, ∗∗School of Business, Hamline
University, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
ABSTRACT This theory-building article advances prior research related to change drivers and the
organizational change process. First, we identify the most frequently identified steps in the
organizational change process. Second, we summarize the literature related to change drivers,
clarifying each driver, and we link each change driver to the most frequently identified steps in the
organizational change process. This allows exploration of the relationship between change drivers
and the steps in the change process, as well as discussion of how change drivers vary in terms of
their effect. Our contribution to organizational change theory include reviewing and clarifying
change drivers in prior research, and linking the drivers to specific steps in the organizational
change process.
KEY WORDS: Organizational change, change drivers, change process
Introduction
As scholars and practitioners we work with organizations and change leaders. In
a recent conversation with an experienced change leader in a large organization,
it became clear that while the change leader had a motivating, clear vision, he or
she had not thought about whether the organization was ready for change, what
resources would be necessary to successfully implement change, and how the
organization would monitor its implementation, completion and success. This is
all too common a story.
Journal of Change Management
Vol. 10, No. 2, 175-193, June 2010
Correspondence Address: Karen S. Whelan-Berry, School of Business, Providence College, 549 River Street,
Providence, Rhode Island 02918, USA. Tel.: + 1 401 865 2943; Email: [email protected]
1469-7017 Print/1479-1811 Online/10/020175-19 # 2010 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/14697011003795651
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Scholars and practitioners agree that change processes remains complex and
challenging for organizations engaged in such initiatives. The pace of change is
greater than ever before (By, 2005). Yet, there is limited knowledge about how
to plan and implement organizational change (Burke, 2008). Research suggests
that failed organizational change initiatives range from one-third to as high as
80% of attempted change efforts (Fisher, 1994; Beer and Nohria, 2000; Higgs
and Rowland, 2000; Hirschhorn, 2002; Knodel, 2004; Sirkin et al., 2005;