Strategies to respond to change: an exploratory study

In this paper, focused on Western Australian organizations affected by the global financial crisis and their responses to the changing environment, there are significant practical and theoretical outcomes from an exploratory study. Theoretically, it has identified a deeper understanding of how organizations respond to, and manage, change in times of uncertainty; it complements existing literature by extending discussions about decision-making, re-allocation of resources, communication strategies and management of concerns and attitudes of employees within specific workplace contexts. Similarly, it contributes to extant literature on the change process and, potentially, assists in the development of a framework to inform the completion of successful change events. Practically, it is significant that participating organizations receive aggregated data that help identify elements of successful change practices that can be implemented to assist managers. The paper comprises two parts; the first highlights relevant literature which provides the context for subsequent discussion and in the second part the research methodology, findings and overall conclusions are discussed.