This book provides a critical analysis of contemporary theories and models for understanding change. It demystifies some of the new approaches which have emerged internationally, and develops a

processual framework. New empirical material is used to highlight some of the major contemporary issues, which surround the introduction of new production and service concepts, such as, Just-in-Time production techniques, new technology, cellular manufacture and Total Quality Management. The majority of books available in the area of change management tend to be either in the form of practitioner-oriented "cookbooks", couched in the "how to do it" style, or in a more focused form which emphasises particular aspects of certain types of change. The heavy reliance on anecdotes and metaphors in the formulation of neat prescriptive solutions to the problems of managing transitions has tended to cloud the process of organizational adaptation to rapidly changing global demands.