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The Impact Of Change Recipient

The tendency for intended strategies to lead to unintended consequences is well
documented. This longitudinal, real-time analysis of planned change implementation
provides an explanation for this phenomenon. We focus on the social processes of
interaction between middle managers as change recipients as they try to make sense
of the change interventions. We show the extent to which lateral, informal processes
of inter-recipient sensemaking contribute to both intended and unintended change
outcomes, and therefore the unpredictable, emergent nature of strategic change. The
findings raise the issue of the extent to which it is possible to manage evolving
recipient interpretations during change implementation.

Organizational change is a context-dependent, unpredictable, non-linear
process, in which intended strategies often lead to unintended outcomes.
Empirical research (Gouldner 1954; Harris and Ogbonna 2002; Johnson 1987;
Mintzberg 1978; Ogbonna and Harris 1998; Pettigrew 1985; Pettigrew and
Whipp 1991) shows that strategy development and change should be viewed
as an emergent process. The rationalistic, objective tradition within the strategy
field, which views strategic action primarily in top-down terms with an
implication that practice flows naturally from policy, is questionable. Calls
to understand better the role of micro organizational social processes and to
acknowledge the impact of those outside the senior management team on
strategy formation (Jarzabkowski 2004; Johnson et al. 2003; Balogun et al.
2003), go hand in hand with increasing evidence that middle managers play a
significant role in strategizing (Burgelman 1983; Floyd and Wooldridge 1997;
Huy 2002). Research that builds on these insights is growing, but there remains
much to be understood about the strategic role of organizational actors outside
of top management teams. Nonetheless, in practice, many organizations
attempt to implement shifts in strategic direction...