Despite the plethora of books on change, there appears a notable gap in the field; rarely is the authentic and candid voice of change agents heard. How often do academics or practitioners candidly state what they actually do when they are faced with managing change in their own organisations or when they are called on in a consultancy capacity? In this new book, the editors bring together a diverse group of contributors who have worked as Internal Change Agents in organizations to divulge what they really do and think about change. The authors draw on their own research work involving change agents and their change interventions and include current reflections on the post-Covid world of work, and the change required for achieving change interventions successfully. Each contribution offers perspectives from real change programmes, in both the public and private sector, offering a unique opportunity to move beyond theory and understand change in practice. The book offers valuable insights for academics and students of organisational change and behaviour, leadership and organisational development.

The topic of change management presents students with many challenges. One of the most difficult is making sense of the plethora of guru and hero-manager literature.
Managing Change/Changing Managers is an innovative textbook that encourages readers to rigorously question popular management theory, presenting a challenging review of existing literature in the change management field. The author brings together an overarching perspective on the most influential writings in the area, but unlike other textbooks, provides a much-needed criritque of the material and its implications for management practice.
Arguing that the majority of management guru literature makes the art of managing change appear simple and foolproof when it is not, this text is refreshingly critical, guiding and enhancing the reader's own criticality. The book also draws the best practice out of the traditional theory, using cases to illuminate the practical side to change management.

Despite the plethora of books on change, there appears is a notable gap in the field; rarely is the authentic and candid voice of change practitioners heard. Seldom are those most closely involved in the management of change given (or seek) the opportunity to write about their personal experiences and reflexiveness. Nor is this just a case of practicing managers not being given a voice, or feeling that they cannot be frank and open about what they do. How often do academics candidly state what they actually do when they are faced with managing change in their own institutions or when they are called on in a consultancy capacity? Similarly, it is rare for full-time consultants to be candid about what it is they actually do: instead they tend to have a well-honed sales pitch which lays out a logical change process directed at helping the client to achieve success. Yet, when academics, consultants and practicing managers are prepared to speak candidly about what they really do, a richer, messier but more illuminating picture of change emerges. The aim of Perspectives on Change is to move beyond the 'do as I say' approach of most change books and to encourage academics, consultants and managers to say candidly what it is they really do and what they really think about change and how it should be managed. The Editors of this book, Burnes and Randall, have over 60 years of experience between them of studying and teaching change management, acting as consultants and actually managing change projects. They are, therefore, well aware of the differences and contradictions between what academics, consultants and managers say about change in public and what they say in private and do in practice. Perspectives on Change will offer students and practitioners of change a unique opportunity to understand change in practice. In addition, it will also contribute to the Rigour-Relevance debate by giving a different and perhaps more realistic perspective on the nature of the gap between theory and practice.

This book arises from the need of students who have little or no threshold knowledge of human resource management (HRM) but who need to link it to their studies in other subjects. Managing People at Work encourages readers to examine the underlying concepts that reach out beyond discrete disciplinary boundaries and require connection with theories from different disciplines and their common practice wherever it applies to people within a company. The book also addresses the need to understand and contribute to the strategic discussions which are expected in senior management forums. The book describes the links between company strategy, human resource (HR) planning and implementation using cost--benefit analysis to illustrate the hard and soft approaches to HRM. It also looks at evaluating the results of HR in terms of both efficiency and effectiveness in the main management interventions that lie within the human resource development activities. Students are aided with their understanding by activities that lie at the end of each chapter. These exercises can be done individually or in tutor-led groups. This book makes clear the links between HRM, organizational behaviour and strategy, and the theory of HRM is linked to its claimed HR outcomes sometimes referred to as: strategic integration commitment quality flexibility. This book helps to provide MBA and Master's postgraduate students and those on management trainee programmes or accelerate promotion career paths with a more detailed understanding of these theories and how they drive the organization's strategy and decisions about its people at work.

This book arises from the need of students who have little or no threshold knowledge of human resource management (HRM) but who need to link it to their studies in other subjects. Managing People at Work encourages readers to examine the underlying concepts that reach out beyond discrete disciplinary boundaries and require connection with theories from different disciplines and their common practice wherever it applies to people within a company. The book also addresses the need to understand and contribute to the strategic discussions which are expected in senior management forums. The book describes the links between company strategy, human resource (HR) planning and implementation using cost--benefit analysis to illustrate the hard and soft approaches to HRM. It also looks at evaluating the results of HR in terms of both efficiency and effectiveness in the main management interventions that lie within the human resource development activities. Students are aided with their understanding by activities that lie at the end of each chapter. These exercises can be done individually or in tutor-led groups. This book makes clear the links between HRM, organizational behaviour and strategy, and the theory of HRM is linked to its claimed HR outcomes sometimes referred to as: strategic integration commitment quality flexibility. This book helps to provide MBA and Master's postgraduate students and those on management trainee programmes or accelerate promotion career paths with a more detailed understanding of these theories and how they drive the organization's strategy and decisions about its people at work.

Despite the plethora of books on change, there appears is a notable gap in the field; rarely is the authentic and candid voice of change practitioners heard. Seldom are those most closely involved in the management of change given (or seek) the opportunity to write about their personal experiences and reflexiveness. Nor is this just a case of practicing managers not being given a voice, or feeling that they cannot be frank and open about what they do. How often do academics candidly state what they actually do when they are faced with managing change in their own institutions or when they are called on in a consultancy capacity? Similarly, it is rare for full-time consultants to be candid about what it is they actually do: instead they tend to have a well-honed sales pitch which lays out a logical change process directed at helping the client to achieve success. Yet, when academics, consultants and practicing managers are prepared to speak candidly about what they really do, a richer, messier but more illuminating picture of change emerges. The aim of Perspectives on Change is to move beyond the 'do as I say' approach of most change books and to encourage academics, consultants and managers to say candidly what it is they really do and what they really think about change and how it should be managed. The Editors of this book, Burnes and Randall, have over 60 years of experience between them of studying and teaching change management, acting as consultants and actually managing change projects. They are, therefore, well aware of the differences and contradictions between what academics, consultants and managers say about change in public and what they say in private and do in practice. Perspectives on Change will offer students and practitioners of change a unique opportunity to understand change in practice. In addition, it will also contribute to the Rigour-Relevance debate by giving a different and perhaps more realistic perspective on the nature of the gap between theory and practice.

The topic of change management presents students with many challenges. One of the most difficult is making sense of the plethora of guru and hero-manager literature. Managing Change/Changing Managers is an innovative textbook that encourages readers to rigorously question popular management theory, presenting a challenging review of existing literature in the change management field. The author brings together an overarching perspective on the most influential writings in the area, but unlike other textbooks, provides a much-needed criritque of the material and its implications for management practice. Arguing that the majority of management guru literature makes the art of managing change appear simple and foolproof when it is not, this text is refreshingly critical, guiding and enhancing the reader's own criticality. The book also draws the best practice out of the traditional theory, using cases to illuminate the practical side to change management.

This dynamic and innovative new core textbook examines and explores the theoretical underpinnings of this complex and fascinating subject and provides students with the practical skills required to become a successful management consultant. Rooted in change management theory, it explores the role of the internal and external change agents and their impact on organizational development and transformation. The experience and highly-regarded expertise of the author team ensures that the text is built on solid academic foundations, while six of the chapters feature extended 'Consultancy in Action' sections penned by practitioners who provide invaluable insights into the reality of working as a management consultant in a wide range of contexts. Written in a lively and accessible style, the authors carefully guide the student through each stage of consulting, presenting a wealth of experiential learning exercises and activities to help hone skills and develop a consultant's mindset. This is an essential textbook for MBA, postgraduate and undergraduate students studying modules on Management Consulting. It is also a useful supplementary text for modules on change management. Accompanying online resources for this title can be found at bloomsburyonlineresources.com/management-consultancy. These resources are designed to support teaching and learning when using this textbook and are available at no extra cost.