TY - JOUR
T1 - The Emergence of Homogeneity and Heterogeneity in Knowledge Structures During a Planned Organizational Change
AU - Kuhn, Timothy
AU - Corman, Steven
PY - 2003/9
Y1 - 2003/9
N2 - Scholars and practitioners increasingly strive to understand the complexities marking implementations of organizational change programs. Studies on this topic often concentrate on members' cognition about a planned change, regularly finding that members' knowledge structures and interpretations either converge or diverge over time. Using interviews, observations, and a unique discourse processing technique, a nine-month case study of one division of a municipal government organization shows that members' knowledge structures simultaneously converged and diverged as a consequence of both the change initiative and several unanticipated organizational events, including a clash between workgroups. The study's findings and theoretical perspective suggest a challenge to cognitive perspectives on knowledge and traditional research on organizational change; they also provide lessons for practitioners on how organizations may learn from complex change dynamics.
AB - Scholars and practitioners increasingly strive to understand the complexities marking implementations of organizational change programs. Studies on this topic often concentrate on members' cognition about a planned change, regularly finding that members' knowledge structures and interpretations either converge or diverge over time. Using interviews, observations, and a unique discourse processing technique, a nine-month case study of one division of a municipal government organization shows that members' knowledge structures simultaneously converged and diverged as a consequence of both the change initiative and several unanticipated organizational events, including a clash between workgroups. The study's findings and theoretical perspective suggest a challenge to cognitive perspectives on knowledge and traditional research on organizational change; they also provide lessons for practitioners on how organizations may learn from complex change dynamics.
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U2 - 10.1080/0363775032000167406
DO - 10.1080/0363775032000167406
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0742271488
SN - 0363-7751
VL - 70
SP - 198
EP - 229
JO - Communication Monographs
JF - Communication Monographs
IS - 3
ER -