Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Exploring the connection between organizations and organisms in dealing with change

Exploring the connection between organizations and organisms in dealing with change This paper aims to review organizational studies literature and related fields to explore the parallel between organizations and organisms in dealing with change.Design/methodology/approachThe authors reviewed the literature to explore organizational change theories. Additionally, they referred to biological studies to explore the connection between organizations and organisms.FindingsTo cope successfully with change, organizations need to be aware of the critical, vulnerable points that may endanger their survival. These vulnerabilities can arise from external or internal factors or both. Organizational leaders, being aware of these criticalities, can act swiftly to deal with threats while keeping an eye on available opportunities.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research could be conducted on understanding the elements of biological transformations through an in-depth study focused on species that have undergone frequent mutations and adaptations. It is hoped that HRD researchers, especially organization development (OD) theorists and practitioners, can build upon the ideas presented in this article.Practical implicationsThe review and analysis can open doors for HRD practitioners to seek a better understanding of biological transformations, while enabling them to borrow ideas to be used in leading organizational change and design successful organizational change.Originality/valueIn this paper, the authors selected organizational theories to outline parallels between organizations and organisms to emphasize what organizations can learn from the success of organisms changing over billions of years. Thus, this paper uniquely contributes to HRD literature by encouraging OD researchers to conduct more interdisciplinary research. Most importantly, this paper contributes to understanding the underlying theories in HRD/OD. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png European Journal of Training and Development Emerald Publishing

Exploring the connection between organizations and organisms in dealing with change

Download PDF
15 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/exploring-the-connection-between-organizations-and-organisms-in-0x1v7rJywQ
Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
2046-9012
DOI
10.1108/ejtd-06-2020-0095
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

This paper aims to review organizational studies literature and related fields to explore the parallel between organizations and organisms in dealing with change.Design/methodology/approachThe authors reviewed the literature to explore organizational change theories. Additionally, they referred to biological studies to explore the connection between organizations and organisms.FindingsTo cope successfully with change, organizations need to be aware of the critical, vulnerable points that may endanger their survival. These vulnerabilities can arise from external or internal factors or both. Organizational leaders, being aware of these criticalities, can act swiftly to deal with threats while keeping an eye on available opportunities.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research could be conducted on understanding the elements of biological transformations through an in-depth study focused on species that have undergone frequent mutations and adaptations. It is hoped that HRD researchers, especially organization development (OD) theorists and practitioners, can build upon the ideas presented in this article.Practical implicationsThe review and analysis can open doors for HRD practitioners to seek a better understanding of biological transformations, while enabling them to borrow ideas to be used in leading organizational change and design successful organizational change.Originality/valueIn this paper, the authors selected organizational theories to outline parallels between organizations and organisms to emphasize what organizations can learn from the success of organisms changing over billions of years. Thus, this paper uniquely contributes to HRD literature by encouraging OD researchers to conduct more interdisciplinary research. Most importantly, this paper contributes to understanding the underlying theories in HRD/OD.

Journal

European Journal of Training and Development – Emerald Publishing

Published: Jul 13, 2021

Keywords: Organization development; Conceptual paper; Organizational change; Human resource development

References

  • Organizational ecology and institutional change in global governance
    Abbott, K.W.; Green, J.F.; Keohane, R.O.
  • Whole-genome sequencing of the blue whale and other rorquals finds signatures for introgressive gene flow
    Árnason, Ú.; Lammers, F.; Kumar, V.; Nilsson, M.A.; Janke, A.
  • Social complexity from within: how individuals experience the structure and organization of their groups
    Aureli, F.; Schino, G.
  • Adaptation, extinction and global change
    Bell, G.; Collins, S.
  • The origins of modern biodiversity on land
    Benton, M.J.
  • Complexity theories and organizational change
    Burnes, B.
  • Darwinist connections between the systemness of social organizations and their evolution
    Cafferata, R.
  • Leading organizational transformation: an action research study
    Canterino, F.; Cirella, S.; Shani, A.B.R.
  • Reflections: on time, temporality and change in organizations
    Dawson, P.
  • The pursuit of excellence in process thinking and customer relationship management
    Dickson, P.R.; Lassar, W.M.; Hunter, G.; Chakravorti, S.
  • The anatomy and ontology of organizational power as a fractal metaphor: a philosophical approach
    Forouharfar, A.
  • The evolution of adult height in Europe: a brief note
    Garcia, J.; Quintana-Domeque, C.
  • Analyzing whole populations of festivals and events: an application of organizational ecology
    Getz, D.; Andersson, T.
  • Darwin's finches: population variation and natural selection
    Grant, P.R.; Grant, B.R.; Smith, J.N.; Abbott, I.J.; Abbott, L.K.
  • On the problem of scale: a general theory of morphogenesis and normative policy signals for economic evolution
    Gussen, B.F.
  • Systemic integration of different inheritance systems
    Jablonka, E.; Noble, D.
  • Evidence, mechanisms and models for the inheritance of acquired characters
    Jablonka, E.; Lachmann, M.; Lamb, M.J.
  • Towards robust evolutionary inference with integral projection models
    Janeiro, M.J.; Coltman, D.W.; Festa‐Bianchet, M.; Pelletier, F.; Morrissey, M.B.
  • Taking stock of 30 years of change management: is it time for a reboot?
    Jick, T.D.; Sturtevant, K.D.; Shani, A.B.; Noumair, D.A.
  • The management of change in public organizations: a literature review
    Kuipers, B.S.; Higgs, M.; Kickert, W.; Tummers, L.; Grandia, J.; Van, D.V.
  • The role of internal and external constructive processes in evolution
    Laland, K.; Odling‐Smee, J.; Turner, S.
  • The importance of niches for the maintenance of species diversity
    Levine, J.M.; HilleRisLambers, J.
  • Chaos theory and strategy: Theory, application, and managerial implications
    Levy, D.
  • Complete genome sequence of the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonizing strain M92
    McClure, J.A.; Zhang, K.
  • Evolution and biodiversity: the evolutionary basis of biodiversity and its potential for adaptation to global change
    Mergeay, J.; Santamaria, L.
  • Concentration despite competition: the organizational ecology of technical assistance providers
    Morin, J.
  • Power of positive words: communication, cognition, and organizational transformation
    Muthusamy, S.K.
  • The evolution of adult height across Spanish regions, 1950-1980: a new source of data
    Quintana-Domeque, C.; Bozzoli, C.; Bosch, M.
  • Closing the gap: reinventing organizations for innovation and the disruptors who drive it
    Raetzer, S.; Self, R.L.; Klein, N.
  • The dynamics of alignment: insights from a punctuated equilibrium model
    Sabherwal, R.; Hirschheim, R.; Goles, T.
  • Darwinism, probability and complexity:market‐based organizational transformation and change explained through the theories of evolution
    Sammut‐Bonnici, T.; Wensley, R.
  • Evidence of directional and stabilizing selection in contemporary humans
    Sanjak, J.S.; Sidorenko, J.; Robinson, M.R.; Thornton, K.R.; Visscher, P.M.
  • A 21 st century view of evolution
    Shapiro, J.A.
  • Complexity theory and change management in sport organizations
    Smith, A.
  • Bringing Morgan’s metaphors in organization contexts: an essay review
    Tohidian, I.; Rahimian, H.
  • Contingency theory: some suggested directions
    Tosi, H.; Slocum, J.W.
  • Comparative genomics
    Touchman, J.
  • Natural selection associated with birth weight. VI. Towards the end of the stabilizing component
    Ulizzi, L.; Terrenato, L.
  • Heredity in evolutionary theory
    Uller, T.; Helanterä, H.; Huneman, P.; Walsh, D.
  • Explaining inertia in organizational change in Ukrainian agriculture
    Valentinov, V.; Nedoborovsky, A.
  • Breakdowns in implementing models of organization change
    Van, dV.; Sun, K.
  • The physiology and habitat of the last universal common ancestor
    Weiss, M.C.; Sousa, F.L.; Mrnjavac, N.; Neukirchen, S.; Roettger, M.; Nelson-Sathi, S.; Martin, W.F.
  • Strategic core change, faultlines and team flux: insight from punctuated equilibrium model
    Zhang, Y.; Liang, Q.; Fan, P.