Electricity industry reform: a case analysis in Australia

Deregulation in the electricity supply industry (ESI) is taking place globally and this paper analyses a case of reform in Australia. The focus is on change management rather than the technical aspects of power generation, transmission and retail supply. Change theory has moved on from static models to dynamic models of strategic choice and it is against this background that the case is viewed. A contextualist approach is employed in which the substance, context and politics of change are used to analyse unfolding events. Management implications of the case are discussed.

[1]  Andrew Pettigrew,et al.  Understanding Strategic Change Processes: Some Preliminary British Findings , 1988 .

[2]  M. Tushman,et al.  Organizational Evolution: A Metamorphosis Model of Convergence and Reorientation , 1985 .

[3]  Richard L. Daft,et al.  Organization Theory and Design , 1983 .

[4]  P. Dawson Beyond Conventional Change Models: A Processual Perspective , 1996 .

[5]  R. Greenwood,et al.  Understanding Radical Organizational Change: Bringing Together the Old and the New Institutionalism , 1996 .

[6]  M. Tushman,et al.  Organizational Transformation as Punctuated Equilibrium: An Empirical Test , 1994 .

[7]  Russell A. Eisenstat,et al.  The Critical Path to Corporate Renewal , 1990 .

[8]  A. Pettigrew Longitudinal Field Research on Change: Theory and Practice , 1990 .

[9]  David M. Gardner,et al.  Breakpoints : how managers exploit radical business change , 1993 .

[10]  D. Stace,et al.  Beyond the Boundaries: Leading and RE-Creating the Successful Enterprise , 1994 .

[11]  Royston Greenwood,et al.  Organizational Design Types, Tracks and the Dynamics of Strategic Change , 1988 .

[12]  Nandini Rajagopalan,et al.  TOWARD A THEORY OF STRATEGIC CHANGE: A MULTI-LENS PERSPECTIVE AND INTEGRATIVE FRAMEWORK , 1997 .

[13]  V. K. Narayanan,et al.  Organization Theory: A Strategic Approach , 1993 .

[14]  Richard Leifer,et al.  Understanding Organizational Transformation Using a Dissipative Structure Model , 1989 .

[15]  A. Pettigrew The Character and Significance of Strategy Process Research , 1992 .

[16]  A. V. D. Ven,et al.  Explaining Development and Change in Organizations , 1995 .

[17]  R. Yin Case Study Research: Design and Methods , 1984 .

[18]  P. Grinyer Book reviewThe awakening giant: Continuity and change at ICI : Andrew W. Pettigrew, Basil Blackwell (1985), 519 pp. £25.00 (hardback) , 1986 .

[19]  J. Alexander,et al.  Images of Organization , 1988 .

[20]  S. Piereson,et al.  In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best-Run Companies. By Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman, Jr. New York: Harper & Row, 1982 , 1983 .

[21]  N. Burton A city view of the UK electricity supply industry , 1997 .

[22]  David A. Nadler,et al.  Organizational Frame Bending: Principles for Managing Reorientation , 1989 .

[23]  B. J. Cory,et al.  The reorganisation of the electricity supply industry-a critical review , 1997 .

[24]  Adrienne L. Zihlman,et al.  Looking back in anger , 1996, Nature.

[25]  A. Pettigrew Context and Action in the Transformation of the Firm , 1987 .

[26]  Paul C. Nutt,et al.  Selecting tactics to implement strategic plans , 1989 .

[27]  Elaine Romanelli,et al.  Convergence and Upheaval: Managing the Unsteady Pace of Organizational Evolution , 1986 .

[28]  Patrick Dawson,et al.  Organizational change : a processual approach , 1994 .

[29]  H. Demsetz,et al.  Why Regulate Utilities , 1968 .