This thesis considers strategic change from the novel perspective of a manager practically ‘activating’ it within a complex organisation. It involved 18 months of action research and participant observation within BBC Global News, where joint processes were developed across two converging businesses. A journal was maintained of meetings and events, access was granted to internal documentation, and 12 interviews were conducted.
One contribution of this thesis is a new conceptualisation of the developing elements of organisational strategic posture and related environmental events as ‘stremes’: strategic memes representing relevant subsystems, ideas, and subcultures. The posture is depicted as a construction of multiple voices, often combining, sometimes clashing, as ideas compete for legitimacy. This allows the practitioner outlook to be presented through three linked perspectives. A ‘process’ approach maps the unfolding streme system; a ‘people’ approach considers the building of consensus to legitimise stremes; and a ‘practice’ approach considers the efficacy of action research in helping to craft change. It is found that not only do the actions of people
shape the streme network; the complex, interdependent network also partially shapes their actions.
This research builds on previous work on strategic change, but provides new narrative insight from a practitioner’s outlook. It also created ‘practical knowledge’, since many outputs of the process were implemented within the BBC, and may have relevance elsewhere.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BRADFORD/oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/7230 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Parkinson, Neil |
| Contributors | Grugulis, C. Irena, Zueva-Owens, Anna |
| Publisher | University of Bradford, Management School |
| Source Sets | Bradford Scholars |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, doctoral, DBA |
| Rights | <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-nd/3.0/88x31.png" /></a><br />The University of Bradford theses are licenced under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">Creative Commons Licence</a>. |
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