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The purpose of this paper is to explore how a study of a practice can lay the foundation to describe this very practice whilst transformations of it were taken place. Descriptions of changes to the practice of social work which was observed empirically serve as a starting point for experimenting with how social scientists, though often exploring transformative study objects, can remain focused on describing the object, under study.

The study was done through circa one year of fieldwork conducted with participant observation in two Danish municipal units offering services to socially marginalized people and interviews with social workers and employees in drug/alcohol treatment and psychiatric units.

The object of study within social sciences, though changing, is able to be described. Through the theories of “Social Navigation” (Vigh) and “Strategy and Tactics” (de Certeau), the practice of social work can be described as one concrete bounded practice but one which is performed within a transformative/changeable environment that are capable of influencing it. In this case, the experience of a changeable seascape might serve as a metaphor for how study objects change within an environment of change; how they can be viewed as “motion within motion” (Vigh).

Even though fields such as anthropology and organizational studies seem to rid themselves from their objects of study (culture and organization, respectively) and dissociate themselves from descriptions thereof these objects might still be of value to us. Even though the objects of study in postmodern anthropology and organizational studies are defined as unbounded, anti-essential, ephemeral, ever-changing non-objects, this might not be the entire picture. Despite their ever-changing shape, we might still be able to study and describe them if we take their changeable form and environment into account.

This paper aims to examine the usefulness of organizational change theory for management practice.

The authors present an exploratory, empirical study of managers who were taught organizational change theory as part of a postgraduate degree. Building on the study findings, they analyse managers' subsequent experiences of organizational change; of how they use change theory in practice and the impact on their practice of their earlier formal study.

The paper finds that the complexities of managing change in practice reflect distinctive organizational environments and cultures. The skills and knowledge which managers found most useful were those that enabled them to “make sense” of the organizational change they subsequently experienced. The main impact of their earlier studies was to prompt informative, discursive and reflective approaches to change management.

The paper discusses the implications for future teaching of organizational change and the development of organizational change theory.

The qualitative findings of the study add to, and help to explain, earlier research findings on the questions of how managers' experience change, how they use organizational change theory and its impact on their practice.

Proposes that there are parallels between the roles of shamans in their communities and the roles which organizational change and development consultants can play in guiding organizational transformations. Presents fundamental assumptions underlying the shamanic perspective on transformational change and utilizes them to understand the problems resulting from a large‐scale organizational change programme undertaken in one organization. Illustrates the importance of adopting an integrative holistic approach in order to enhance the long‐term viability and success of any organizational change and development intervention. Closes with a discussion of the ways in which organizational change and development consultants can and do act in shamanic ways.

Looks briefly at theories underlying the correlation between company performance and executive compensation, develops a mathematical model and applies it to results which show a significant positive link between the highest paid director’s compensation and total shareholder returns, but not with earnings per share. Considers consistency with other research, notes the influence of company size on executive pay and calls for further research on this important issue of corporate governance.

To meet the information processing needs of the new global organisation, IS/IT managers and their IS/IT staff need to develop new skills, so that they may be more focused on the business rather than on technical processes. In exploring the theme of the changing role and contribution of the IS/IT professional, this monograph provides a literature analysis of the changing skills of IS/IT professionals and identifies the new skills and competencies required for successful IS/IT development and utilisation. The monograph also presents capability‐related models that have been tested in two global corporations. The results of the two case studies suggest that there is a need for improvement in the area of IS/IT leadership for effective IS/IT development and utilisation. Strategies for developing IS/IT leadership capabilities are discussed at the end of the monograph.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the baseline model required to measure whole-of-organisation agility within a university information services division. The paper seeks to analyse the process of identifying and applying such a model.

The qualitative methodology applied is that of a single case study. The organisation analysed was an Australian university’s information services division. A structured survey, based on Wendler (2014), was administered to all staff as part of a multi-phased approach, thus facilitating a triangulation process.

The current research has confirmed the applicability of Wendler’s model to the higher education information technology sector. Application of the model establishes not only a baseline agility maturity score across the whole-of-organisation but also provides granular scores based on organisational units. Triangulation of survey results is recommended to achieve a more in-depth perspective.

Further research comparing similarly and differently sized universities could provide valuable insights. More research is needed to extend the applicability of Wendler’s model to a wider range of domains and industries.

The grouping of survey questions under particular broad themes reflected the strategic focus of the division being surveyed. Organisations implementing the proposed model will need to select themes that correspond with their respective strategic goals and culture.

The paper has extended the research and resultant model developed by Wendler by applying them not only to both managers and staff but also to a different domain, specifically higher education.

The researchers aim to investigate the role of psychological capital (PsyCap) in facilitating intrinsic motivation and goal-commitment among employees at the workplace, affecting outcome variables, namely, in-role and extra-role job performance.

Data were collected from 640 employees working in the information technology sector of India. Covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) was used to test the hypothesized relationships.

Analysis revealed a significant positive impact of PsyCap on the two behavioral facets of job performance. Intrinsic motivation and goal-commitment were found mediating the influence of PsyCap on the two facets of job performance.

The information technology sector is characterised by continuous change. It requires voluntary prosocial behavior from employees, where the employees are expected to display multifaceted job performance behaviors, where they go beyond their job duties to cater for the dynamics of the IT sector. The present study provides means by which intrinsic motivated and goal-committed behavior are facilitated for both the in-role and extra-role job performance.

The present study is among the few preliminary studies that have provided evidence that intrinsic motivation and goal-commitment are the two variables which aid PsyCap in predicting both the prescribed and voluntary job performance behaviors.

Agency development is inherently a process of institutional evolution. The purpose of this part 2 (of a 3 part) paper is to explore development in the political context, producing a cultural model of political development as institutional evolution, explaining how political groups may come to power culturally. This requires a detailed examination of culture and cultural change, and a study of strategic political frames that define political groups seeking support for political power from agents in a political sphere. During cultural instabilities or social crises, frames may become cynical and embrace liquid persuasion and hence populism.

A cultural model for political development is created involving three variables (emotional climate, cultural order and compliance). This enables cultural comparison of different political groups. Strategic political frames are examined to understand how those vying for agency power may attract support from agents in the activity system. Liquid frames are also explored to understand the cynical nature of populism and its contribution to institutional devolution.

A political development theory result that identifies the conditions under which formal political groups can promote frames that may attract support from agents from who they require support to gain agency power status. A model is produced for political development. It explains populism as a thin ideology with a collectivist orientation that uses liquid framing, and it introduces its individualist counterpart, political synergism.

The implication of this research is that it will allow empirical methods to be used that potentially enable political outcomes in complex political environments to be anticipated, given additional appropriate measurement criteria.

Linking agency and institutional theory to explain the process of development is new, as is its application to the political development process in a political landscape. As part of this linkage, it has been shown how Bauman’s concept of liquidity relates to Sorokin’s ideas of socio-cultural change.