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Change
Management MGMT625
VU
LESSON
#10
DIALECTICAL
THEORIES OF CHANGE
Dialectical
theories of change
Perhaps
the oldest learning philosophy as
Aristotle and Plato used the
dialectical philosophy
some
2000
years ago. Hegel and Marx,
in modern era used this method to
describe movements towards
truth
and change. This method is considered
very powerful method of approaching
objectivity and
truth.
To Van de Ven , "Dialectical
theory rests on the assumption that the
organisational entity
exist
in a pluralistic world of colliding
events, forces, or contradictory values
that compete with
each
other for domination and
control"
Here
three things stand
significant:
1.
Pluralistic world of colliding
forces
2.
Values that compete,
opposing and are contradictory to
each other
3.
Domination and control is the
purpose
In
other words "Every phenomenon contains
within it a contradiction. This
contradiction itself
becomes
a phenomenon over a period of time".
Opposing and balancing forces
are internal to an
organisational
entity
Entity
may have several conflicting goals or
interests groups competing for
priority. In a dialectical
process
stability and change are
explained by reference to the balance of
power between opposing
entities.
Struggles and accommodations that maintain the
status quo between oppositions
produces
stability.
Change occurs when these
opposing values, forces, or events
gain sufficient power
to
confront
and engage the status
quo.
The
dialectical process is identified
here as Thesis - Antithesis -
Synthesis (New Thesis). This
is
also
known as dialectical cycle.
The relative power of an anti-thesis
may mobilise an
organisational
entity
to a sufficient degree to challenge the
current thesis and set the
stage for producing a
synthesis.
The synthesis or new thesis
is different from both
thesis and anti-thesis. However there
is
no
assurance that dialectical
conflicts produce creative synthesis. At
time anti-thesis is powerful
enough
to replace the thesis. Or many
organisation (thesis) persists by
maintaining sufficient
power
to
suppress and control the opposition
(or anti-thesis)
Unit
of Change
Dialectical
theories operate on multiple entities
while OLC and teleological operate
within a single
entity.
The theory requires at least
two entities to fill the
role of thesis and anti-thesis. For
e.g.
individual
and its environment or organisation and
its environment engaged in
dialectic. Here four
forces
operate, two within individual and
two with in
environment.
Mode
of Change
Dialectical
theory incorporates constructive mode of
change (2nd order). Since by
its very nature
there
is a struggle and confrontation between
thesis and anti-thesis which may be
resolved by
diverging
or breaking away from the
current or existing system,
hence the type of change is
second
order.
Application
Famous
scholar Karl Marx applied on
history of economics, came
forth with the concept
dialectical
materialism,
and showed how agrarian
society owing to its
inherent conflicts transformed to
a
capitalistic
society and visualised that in
future will be synthesised to a
socialistic society.
For
Hegel
dialectics means the process of
change, logic and a method. But we
are more interested in
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Change
Management MGMT625
VU
knowing
its application in context of
organisation or corporation.
First
question is, how can this be
applied to corporate decision making?
One such application
is
known
as Strategic Assumptions Analysis (SAA),
and the technique is utilized for
effective
planning
and generating strategies
before a final strategy is opted.
For example e.g. in
creative
problem
solving organization use
plan (affirmative) & counter plan
(negative proposition - to
play
devil's
advocate) to look for solutions and
counter solutions quite analogous to
thesis anti thesis
synthesis.
The purpose is to deliberate the
surfacing of assumptions and
counter-assumption
especially
under complex, dynamic and
ambiguous phenomenon and situation.
Second,
this can be used as a tool
for group decision-making,
particularly to know the reaction
of
group
members. Organization is generally
composed of various groups two
common types are
ruling
group and being ruled
(opposition) just like that
of a state system where one is
government
and
other is opposition party.
Similarly there are other
formal and informal groups and
pressure
groups
in organization. So it is important for
managers to know how do
various groups think of a
given
policy matter
Strategic
planning
Man
lives by his imagination and
so is the case with organisation.
The success or failure
depends
upon
a particular set of belief or
assumptions about the world, and in the
fact how our belief
or
assumption
is closer to the real world.
And planning is nothing but
systemic allocation of
words
and
numbers to such assumptions.
There are three components of
planning:
1)
Concerned with future state of the
world and hence to predict
about it.
2)
Preferred future status underlying
value system
3)
A choice among two or three behaviour
pattern (plans) for the
firm's activity
(means)
Each
of these items involves' management
basic assumption about the planning
problem it faces.
Therefore
we see that management and
management science focus on
well-structured problem
but
the
concern of strategic planning/management is to
deal with ill-structured
problem and issues.
Hence
the role planning in organization
should be the followings:
1)
To expose the assumptions underlying a
proposed plan
2)
To develop relevant assumptions
upon which the planning
process can proceed
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