Organizational Change: Development and Transformation Book Review

This paper provides a critical review of the book “Organizational change: Development and transformation” written by Waddell, Creed, Cummings and Worley. It discusses the benefits and challenges of change management and how to resolve them. The book highlights the importance of using change management as a tool for achieving competitive advantage and the difficulties faced by business corporations in implementing changes. The paper concludes by recommending measures to enhance the quality of the book.

Running head: STRATEGY, INNOVATION AND CHANGE
STRATEGY, INNOVATION AND CHANGE
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ABSTRACT
Change management is an important process from the specific context of the different modern
business corporations. The process of change management offers the opportunity to the business
corporations to effectively implement the kind of changes which are likely to help them to
achieve their business objectives or goals. More importantly, it had been seen that there are many
business corporations which have been able to attain competitive edge or for that matter
competitive advantage within the business markets of their operation. However, at the same time
it had been seen that there are various kinds of challenges that the business corporations face
during the usage of the process of change management which adversely affect the success of the
same. Thus, it is important for the business corporations to resolve the challenges that they face
during the usage of the process of change management so as to gain the maximum benefit.

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Introduction
As stated by Betancourt et al. (2017), change management had become an important
process for the different business corporations because of the wide ranging benefits that it offers
to the business corporations. Stouten, Rousseau and De Cremer (2018) are of the viewpoint that
the dynamicity of the global business environment had made it imperative for the contemporary
business corporations to constantly implement as well as integrate diverse kinds of changes
within their workplaces. Adding to this, Neves and Schyns (2018) have noted that the primary
goal of the different business corporations behind the implementation of the various kinds of
changes is to offer themselves the opportunity to adjust to the ever-changing business markets
and also to effectively achieve the business objectives or for that matter the goals that they have
formulated. However, the major problem arises because the business corporations are often not
sure regarding the kind of changes that they need to implement within their workplaces for the
attainment of their business goals (Van der Voet & Vermeeren, 2017). More importantly, it is
also important for the business corporations to take into account the perspective of both the
internal and the external stakeholders who are associated with their corporations in order to
derive the maximum amount of benefit from the changes which are being implemented by them.
This paper intends to undertake a critical review of the book “Organizational change:
Development and transformation” written by Waddell, Creed, Cummings and Worley.
Overview of the Book
The book “Organizational change: Development and transformation” published in the
year 2019 (6th Edition) was written by Waddell, Creed, Cummings and Worley. Waddell et al
(2019) shed insightful light on the concept of change management and also the factors which

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propel the different contemporary business corporations to take the help of the concerned
process. For example, the book in a succinct manner highlights the fact that the effective usage
of the construct of change management had become for the different business corporations since
this helps the business corporations to attain competitive advantage within the business markets
of their operations. Waddell et al (2019) have stated that this can be explained on the basis of the
fact that the effective usage of the process of change management helps the business
corporations to implement the kind of changes which are likely to help them to adjust to the
ever-changing external business environment. More importantly, the book also highlights the
idea that despite the plethora of benefits offered by the process of change management to the
business corporations, it is not always easy for the business corporations to use the concerned
process. For instance, it is very difficult for the business corporations to effectively implement
the kind of changes within their workplaces which would be agreed upon by all the stakeholders
associated with them and would also help it to attain the business goals or objectives that it is
trying to achieve.
Waddell et al (2019) have divided the entire book under discussion here into 12 different
chapters, each of which deals with a certain specific aspect of the process of change
management. More importantly, realizing the extensive amount of research work which is still
being performed within the field of change management and the resultant development within
the concerned field, the authors have also highlighted the implications of the same on the process
of change management or for that matter the changes which are likely to take place within the
concerned field. In addition to these, it had been seen that Waddell et al (2019) have also take the
help of different international case studies so as to highlight the manner in which the different

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business corporations need to effectively use the process of change management so as to derive
adequate benefits from the usage of the same.
Critical Analysis of the Book
Al-Haddad and Kotnour (2015) are of the viewpoint that within the cannon of the modern
global business landscape it had been seen that it is no longer enough for the business
corporations to focus on the aspects of value proposition, the business model used by them,
product innovation, marketing and others for the purpose of attaining competitive advantage.
Adding to this, Stouten, Rousseau and De Cremer (2018) have noted that the ever-changing
landscape of the business world had made it important for the business corporations to constantly
integrate the emerging business trends or for that matter other kinds of relevant changes which in
turn would enable them in the best possible manner to create as well as capture value for their
stakeholders through the usage of the process of change management. Waddell et al (2019) in
their book under discussion here concur with this idea that the business corporations for the
attainment of long-term growth as well as competitive advantage need to take the help of the
process of change management so as to implement the kind of changes which will enable them to
gain a competitive edge over their competitors.
Waddell et al (2019) have noted that the major difficulty that the leaders as well as the
change agents within the framework of the different business corporations face for the
implementation of various changes can be attributed to the fact that to the difficulty in satisfying
in the needs of the stakeholders while keeping into perspective the business goals or the
objectives that they are trying to achieve. More importantly, there are other associated issues
with the same like the challenges involved in motivating the diverse workforce for accepting the

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changes, effectively planning for the future growth of the corporations while keeping into
perspective its present growth and others. Adding to this, Van der Voet and Vermeeren (2017)
have stated that the major challenge that the business corporations face related to the usage of the
process of change management can be ascribed to the fact that because of the constantly
changing nature of the global business landscape by the time the business corporations have
effectively implemented one change it already becomes obsolete or for that matter replaced by
some other trend. On the other hand, Neves and Schyns (2018) have suggested that it is very
difficult for the business corporations to formulate the kind of changes which will completely
balance the desire of the business corporations to attain their business objectives or goals with
the expectations of the stakeholders from the concerned corporations.
An interesting point raised by Waddell et al (2019) in the book under discussion here is
the fact that the business corporations during the usage of the process of change management
need to select or for that matter formulate the kind of changes which while offering them benefits
in the present time would also be useful for them in future as well. However, as discussed by
Betancourt et al. (2017), in the majority of the cases of change management undertaken by the
business corporations it is seen that the business corporations implement the kind of changes
within their workplaces which are likely to offer them benefits in the present times or for that
matter effectively resolve the issues that they are facing presently. Stouten, Rousseau and De
Cremer (2018) are of the viewpoint that the business corporations in order to effectively use the
mechanism of change management as a tool for the attainment of long-term growth as well as
competitive advantage in the business markets of their operation need to take into account the
aspect of long-range planning. For instance, the business corporations by effectively focusing on
the aspect of long-range planning would be able to not only fulfill their present business goals or

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objectives but would also be able to gain a competitive edge over their business competitors
through the implementation of adequate changes (Al-Haddad & Kotnour, 2015).
A critical analysis of the book under discussion here of Waddell et al (2019) reveals the
fact that there are various strength points of the concerned book. Firstly, it is seen that Waddell et
al (2019) have objectively discussed the concept of change management and the likely benefits
that the business corporations have the opportunity to gain through the adequate usage of the
concerned process. More importantly, Waddell et al (2019) have clearly stated in the concerned
book that the business corporations need to utilize the process of change management as a tool
for the purpose of achieving competitive advantage or for that matter competitive edge over their
business rivals. Secondly, it had been seen that the authors Waddell et al (2019) in the book
“Organizational change: Development and transformation” have also outlined the most important
challenges that the leaders as well as the change agents within the cannon of the modern business
corporations commonly face for the effective implementation of the changes which are important
from the context of their organization. Thirdly, an important strength point of the book under
discussion here is the fact that the book unlike others on the same topic which focus solely on the
theoretical underpinnings of the concept of change management, the models, frameworks and
others related to the process of change management also discusses the practical applications of
the same. For instance, Waddell et al (2019) have undertaken a subjective as well as objective
discussion of the different international cases of the business corporations wherein successful
changes have been implemented. In this relation, it needs to be said that the primary objective of
Waddell et al (2019) behind this was to elucidate the manner in which the business corporations
need to adequately use the process of change management so as to derive the maximum amount
of benefit from the same.

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The strength points of the book “Organizational change: Development and
transformation” by Waddell et al (2019) notwithstanding there are some inherent weaknesses of
the same as well which in turn had adversely affected the quality of the concerned book. For
instance, one of the most important weaknesses of the book of Waddell et al (2019) under
discussion here is the fact that the book completely disregards the factors which influence the
business corporation to opt for the usage of the process of change management. More
importantly, Waddell et al (2019) have also not discussed the roles that the management teams or
for that matter the leaders of the business corporations are required to play during the process of
change management. In addition to these, it is seen that the book under discussion here also does
not mention anything about the different key indicators that the business corporations are
required to use to measure the success of the changes implemented by them or for that matter to
monitor the process of change management itself. These in short are some of the most important
weaknesses or for that matter the limitations of the book under discussion here.
Recommendations
There are various measures which the authors Waddell et al (2019) can use for the
purpose of enhancing the quality of the book under discussion here in its subsequent editions.
For instance, Waddell et al (2019) have the opportunity to enhance the quality of the book by
discussing different important concepts like the role of management teams and the business
leaders during the process of change management, the different key indicators that the business
corporations need to use during the process of change management and others. In addition to
these, Waddell et al (2019) also need to discuss the international case studies of change
management wherein it had been seen that the usage of the process of change management had
failed to yield the desired results or for that matter failed to provide the expected results.

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Conclusion
To conclude, the contemporary chaotic business landscape had necessitated the usage of
the usage of the process of change management on the part of the business corporations. More
importantly, it had been seen through the review of the book “Organizational change:
Development and transformation” that the business corporations have the opportunity to attain
competitive edge or for that matter competitive advantage through the adequate usage of the
process of change management. However, at the same time the concerned book also suggests
that there are various challenges that the business corporations face related to the usage of the
process of change management. Thus, it becomes important for the business corporations to
effectively resolve the challenges so as to derive the maximum amount of benefits from the
usage of the process of change management.

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References
Al-Haddad, S., & Kotnour, T. (2015). Integrating the organizational change literature: a model
for successful change. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 28(2), 234-262.
Betancourt, J. R., Tan-McGrory, A., Kenst, K. S., Phan, T. H., & Lopez, L. (2017).
Organizational change management for health equity: perspectives from the Disparities
Leadership Program. Health Affairs, 36(6), 1095-1101.
Neves, P., & Schyns, B. (2018). With the bad comes what change? The interplay between
destructive leadership and organizational change. Journal of Change Management, 18(2),
91-95.
Stouten, J., Rousseau, D. M., & De Cremer, D. (2018). Successful organizational change:
Integrating the management practice and scholarly literatures. Academy of Management
Annals, 12(2), 752-788.
Van der Voet, J., & Vermeeren, B. (2017). Change management in hard times: Can change
management mitigate the negative relationship between cutbacks and the organizational
commitment and work engagement of public sector employees?. The American Review of
Public Administration, 47(2), 230-252.
Waddell, D., Creed, A., Cummings, T. G., & Worley, C. G. (2019). Organisational change:
Development and transformation. Cengage AU.