The case for a further development of organizational change research: some contemporary reflections

Résumé

This paper draws on the centrality of change in organizational life, the riskiness of change endeavors and, the lack of guidance offered so far by science, to make the case for the necessity of a further investigation of the phenomenon of change in organizational settings. It suggests to define organizational change before going into further detail on how it has become a ubiquitous phenomenon at the core of organizational life. Then, the article sheds light on the difficulty of implementing change successfully as well as the riskiness of such endeavors. Furthermore, literature struggles to provide guidance for practitioners in charge of implementing changes or transformations. Given this context along with recent developments (digitalization, pandemic), this paper pleas for the necessity of investigating such a central and important phenomenon of organizational life and ends the reflection with some possible avenues for research development.