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The purpose of this paper is to develop a meta-model of organizational change that allows to look at change from different angles. This meta-model starts from the idea that there are different discourses about organizational change, each having their own merits but also their own limitations. Bringing these discourses together into an integrated systems model allows the authors to capture the essence of organizational change a lot better.

This model is designed based on a literature review of organizational theories, systems theories related to theories of organizational change and specific theories about organizational change.

The literature review resulted in a systems model of organizational change that is better able to grasp the complexity of change than linear models.

This model goes beyond the usual change models from the normative discourse and provides a multidimensional view on organizational change.

Volume 19 of Research in Organizational Change and Development includes chapters by an international diverse set of authors including Michael Beer, Victor J. Friedman, Luis Felipe Gómez and Dawna I. Ballard, Ethan S. Bernstein and Frank J. Barrett, Karen J. Jansen and David A. Hofmann, Guido Maes and Geert Van Hootegem, Tobias Fredberg, Flemming Norrgren and Abraham B. (Rami) Shani, and William A. Pasmore. The ideas expressed by these authors are as diverse as their backgrounds.

The literature on change is characterized by an opposite, dichotomist view on the subject. Many authors describe only one or some of these characteristics and attribute a normative value to it. When discussing one of these attributes they will make a deviating classification in the way in which change arises. Although types and attributes of change are largely studied in the change literature, there is no general agreement on the attributes that can best describe the different types of change. The purpose of this chapter is to try to consolidate the vast literature on the types and attributes of change in order to find a more homogeneous set of attributes.

From an extensive literature research on change articles and books from 1970 onward, eight dimensions of change attributes were found that are able to describe the characteristics of a change in a dynamic way.

In order to overcome the dichotomist view, organizational change is approached not as a process changing a system but as a system by itself. Although the borders between the change system and the system to be changed are not always easy to perceive, this view seems to create a richer picture on change. A systems approach allows to define the attributes of change in a holistic way that captures the always paradoxical state change is in.

Dawna I. Ballard (PhD, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2002) is associate professor in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research examines organizational temporality, with particular attention to ways in which time shapes and is shaped by a range of communication processes. Her published research appears in outlets such as Communication Research, Communication Monographs, Small Group Research, Management Communication Quarterly, as well as several interdisciplinary edited volumes, including Time and Memory, Workplace Temporalities, and Time in Organizational Research.

Our economies are rapidly evolving toward being primarily service-driven, with information and communication as fundamental drivers for the service deployment. Strategic choices are increasingly driven by other parameters than the traditional goods-driven industrial type of economies. In this paper, the major drivers for making strategic choices in a competitive service economy are examined. It is shown how the competition in services based on information and communication technology (ICT) is competence-based. Competition aims at bringing additional value through services, but may also deploy specific techniques to stop value from leaking in particular business processes. Value creation and prevention of value leaks cannot just rely on the traditional material-based techniques, which are grounded in the strong tangible nature of the traditional economies. Today ICT-based services involve creative combinations of technologies, resources, and assets to answer as well as anticipate the growing demand for flexible solutions that create sustained added value. In this paper, the particular role of imperfections in service systems is explored, extending the well-known theories of information imperfections. Imperfections are not always solved but are sometimes even maintained in favor of sustained competitive advantage. Various ways to realize service rent are discussed with extensive examples. The concluding part of the paper points to some crucial service configuration issues, including the need for a sufficient degree of corporate-wide standardized service components and interfaces to address the growing demand for agility in competence-driven markets.

This research paper aims to analyze the scientific and grey literature on Quality 4.0 and zero-defect manufacturing (ZDM) frameworks to develop an integrated quality 4.0 framework (IQ4.0F) for quality improvement (QI) based on Six Sigma and machine learning (ML) techniques towards ZDM. The IQ4.0F aims to contribute to the advancement of defect prediction approaches in diverse manufacturing processes. Furthermore, the work enables a comprehensive analysis of process variables influencing product quality with emphasis on the use of supervised and unsupervised ML techniques in Six Sigma’s DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control) cycle stage of “Analyze.”

The research methodology employed a systematic literature review (SLR) based on PRISMA guidelines to develop the integrated framework, followed by a real industrial case study set in the automotive industry to fulfill the objectives of verifying and validating the proposed IQ4.0F with primary data.

This research work demonstrates the value of a “stepwise framework” to facilitate a shift from conventional quality management systems (QMSs) to QMSs 4.0. It uses the IDEF0 modeling methodology and Six Sigma’s DMAIC cycle to structure the steps to be followed to adopt the Quality 4.0 paradigm for QI. It also proves the worth of integrating Six Sigma and ML techniques into the “Analyze” stage of the DMAIC cycle for improving defect prediction in manufacturing processes and supporting problem-solving activities for quality managers.

This research paper introduces a first-of-its-kind Quality 4.0 framework – the IQ4.0F. Each step of the IQ4.0F was verified and validated in an original industrial case study set in the automotive industry. It is the first Quality 4.0 framework, according to the SLR conducted, to utilize the principal component analysis technique as a substitute for “Screening Design” in the Design of Experiments phase and K-means clustering technique for multivariable analysis, identifying process parameters that significantly impact product quality. The proposed IQ4.0F not only empowers decision-makers with the knowledge to launch a Quality 4.0 initiative but also provides quality managers with a systematic problem-solving methodology for quality improvement.

This focused issue (Volume 6) of Research in Competence-Based Management provides a number of research papers – both theoretical and empirical – on what we have characterized in the volume title as “new industry dynamics.” It also contains papers that might just as accurately be described as providing “new competence perspectives” on industry dynamics. In effect, this volume both applies existing competence theory to the analysis of new industry dynamics, and provides new conceptualizations for representing and analyzing industry dynamics that are now emerging in many industries and product markets. While much competence theory has been developed through analysis of micro-level phenomena in individual organizations, we expect that the papers included in this volume will help point the way to further development of competence theory relevant to the macro-levels of industry and product-market phenomena.

This chapter provides a list and a brief description of files and documents where the name of Piero Sraffa is mentioned and are currently kept at the Archivio Centrale dello Stato and at the Archivio Storico Diplomatico. For each file or document we provide indication of the reference number where it is conserved and a transcription of one or two of the relevant documents out of more than 500 which have been located. The purpose of the chapter is to illustrate the results of archival research of the last decade, including more recent findings, and furnish a groundwork for further research, which may throw further light on documents already known to us, and lead to the discovery of new documents or information, so as to provide a better basis for the reconstruction of the biography of Piero Sraffa and of people whose lives entwined with his – Antonio Gramsci certainly ranking high among them.