Most models of large-scale change assume that only outside experts working closely with senior management can initiate and implement change successfully. Using the Polish Solidarity Trade Union case, a model is presented that explains how system insiders-who may or may not have formal status have the potential to initiate and implement transformational change. The following two facets of the model are emphasized: legitimizing, whereby new beliefs, ideas and theories are legitimated; and reconstructive learning, whereby underlying beliefs and assumptions are explored and reformulated into new practices and ideologies. The article also addresses the relationship of legitimizing and reconstructive learning to implementing, the process whereby new practices, systems, and structures are set in place for the purpose of achieving desired objectives. Research propositions and implications for practitioners are presented.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Anderson, H.
(1989, October 9). More help is on the way. Newsweek, pp. 46-47.
2.
Argyris, C.
, & Schon, D. A. (1978). Organizational learning: A theory of action perspective. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
3.
Ash, T.
(1983). The Polish Revolution: Solidarity. New York: Charles Scribner & Sons.
4.
Bartunek, J.
, & Louis, M. (1988). The interplay of organization development and organizational transformation. In R. Woodman & W. Passmore (Eds.), Research in organizational change and development (Vol. 2, pp. 97-134). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
5.
Bennis, W.
, & Nanus, B. (1985). Leaders: The strategies for taking charge. New York: Harper & Row.
6.
Burke, W. W.
(1982). Organizational development: Principles and practices. Boston: Little, Brown.
7.
Bourne, E.
(1988, September 9). Compromise at a crossroads in Poland: Allowing Solidarity rebirth serves interests of state and workers. The Christian Science Monitor, p. 8.
8.
Crighton, E.
, & Mason, D. S. (1986). Solidarity and the Greens: The rise of new social movements in East and West Europe. In Research in social movements, conflicts and change (Vol. 9, pp. 155-175). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
9.
Diehl, J.
(1987a, September 21). Church rally praises banned Polish union. The Washington Post, pp. 1, 21.
10.
Diehl, J.
(1987b, October 14). Solidarity using U.S. aid to bolster health care: Move may blunt Warsaw propaganda. The Washington Post, p. A21.
11.
Diehl, J.
(1988a, January 24). Polish church pursues new lines with state: Primate's actions anger liberal priests. The Washington Post, p. 27.
12.
Diehl, J.
(1988b, May 11). Workers united by need, divided by commitment. The Washington Post, p. 30.
13.
Echikson, W.
(1988, July 28). Younger workers revive Poland's Solidarity: New generation of protesters join ranks of outlawed trade union. The Christian Science Monitor, pp. 7, 8.
14.
Elmes, M.
, & Smith, C. (1989, August). The role ofa radical dissenter in systems transformation. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Management, Washington, DC.
15.
Elmes, M.
, & Wesman, E. (1990, August). Power sources of effective dissenters. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Management, San Francisco.
16.
Evans, R.
, & Novak, R. (1986, March 26). Solidarity, does itexist?The Washington Post, p. 19.
17.
Fiol, C. M.
, & Lyles, M.A. (1985). Organizational learning. Academy of Management Review, 10, 803-813.
18.
Friedlander, F.
(1983). Patterns of individual and organizational learning. In S. Srivastva and Associates (Eds.), The executive mind: New insights on managerial thought and action (pp. 192-220). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
19.
Gemmill, G.
(1986). The dynamics of the group shadow in intergroup relations. Small Group Behavior, 17(2), 229-240.
20.
Gorbachev, M. S.
(1987). Perestroika: New thinking for our country and the world. Cambridge, England: Harper & Row.
21.
Harshbarger, D.
(1973). The individual and the social order: Notes on the management of heresy and deviance on complex organizations. Human Relations, 26, 251-269.
22.
Hough, J. F.
(1982). The Polish crisis: American policy options. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution.
23.
Kaufman, M.
(1986, June 30). Jaruzelski offers hope of amnesty for political foes. The New York Times, pp. 1, 7.
24.
Kaufman, M.
(1987, April 17). Bloc was prepared to crush Solidarity, a defector says. The New York Times, pp. 6, 9.
25.
Keller, J.
(1989, November 6). Bob Allen is turning AT&T into a live wire. Business Week, pp. 140-144.
26.
Kriesberg, L.
(1982). Social conflicts. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
27.
Kurczewski, J.
(1982). The old system and the revolution. Sisyphus: Vol. 3. Crises and conflicts: The case of Poland. Warsaw, Poland: IFiS PAN.
28.
Lewicki, R. J.
, & Litterer, J. A. (1985). Negotiation. Homewood, IL: Irwin.
29.
Lewin, K.
(1947). Frontiers of group dynamics. Human Relations,], 2-38.
Michnik, A.
(1985). Letters from prison and other essays. Berkeley: University of California Press.
32.
Miles, R. H.
(1989, August). Rockwell International transformation. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Management, Washington, DC.
33.
Mitroff, I.
(1987). Business not as usual: Rethinking our individual, corporate and industrial strategies for global competition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
34.
Nagorski, A.
(1989, November 27). Solidarity in power. Newsweek, pp. 34-35.
35.
Nagorski, A.
(1990, October 1). The question is how big. Newsweek, p. 42.
36.
Newman, B.
(1987, July 23). Solidarity's legacy: Underground culture pervades Polish life, but new threats lurk. The Wall Street Journal, pp. 1, 17.
37.
Nystrom, P.
, & Starbuck, W. (1984, spring). To avoid organizational crises, unlearn. Organizational Dynamics, pp. 53-65.
38.
Okumura, A.
(1989, August). Toyota transformation. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Management, Washington, DC.
39.
Osnos, S.
(1986, December 12). Poland, five years after martial law: A "second" society flourishes. The New York Times, p. 35.
40.
Pakulski, J.
(1986). Leaders of the Solidarity movement: A sociological portrait. Sociology, 20, 64-81.
41.
Peters, T.
(1988). Thriving on chaos: Handbook for a management revolution. New York: Harper & Row.
42.
Poland vs. Russia: The Pope steps in. (1981, September 28). U.S. News & World Report, p.7.
43.
Quinn, R. E.
, & Cameron, K. (1988). Paradox and transformation: Toward a theory of change in organization and management. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger Publishing Company.
44.
Schmemann, S.
(1989, July 16). New rules in Warsaw: The politics of paradox. The New York Times, p. 14.
45.
Singer, D.
(1983, October 29). Honor the man and the movement: Walesa' s Nobel Prize. The Nation, p. 393.
46.
Tagliabue, J.
(1988, August 28). In Poland's walkouts, the church is broker. The New York Times, p. 3.
47.
Tagliabue, J.
(1989, June 11). Solidarity breezes in and is given a burden. The New York Times, p.3.
48.
Tichy, N.
, & DeVanna, M. (1986). The transformational leader. New York: John Wiley.
49.
Torbert, W.
(1987). Managing the corporate dream: Restructuring for long term success. Homewood, IL: Dow Jones-Irwin.
50.
Torbert, W.
(1989a). Leading organizational transformation. Research in Organizational Change and Development, 3, 83-116.
51.
Torbert, W.
(1989b, August). External change agentry or internal stability agentry: The effect of mainstream science on the OD field. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Management, Washington, DC.
52.
Tushman, M. L.
, Newman, W. H., & Romanelli, E. (1986).Convergence and upheaval: Managing the unsteady pace of organizational evolution. California Management Review, 24, 29-44.
53.
Watson, R.
(1983, July 11). Has Walesa been dumped? The Pope plays politics in Poland, creating doubt on the future of Solidarity. Newsweek, p. 30.
54.
Weick, K.
(1977, autumn). Organization design: Organizations as self-designing systems. Organizational Dynamics, 32-46.
55.
Wilbur, K.
(1982). The holographic paradigm and other paradoxes. Boulder, CO: Shambhala.
