Introduction
Change refers to a shift in the conventional way of organizational operations (Kotter, 2010; Cook, Macaulay & Coldicott, 2004 and Bush, 2003). The findings of Baker (2010) in her journal article: Facilitating Unlearning During the Implementation of New Technology shall be presented in this paper. The paper will discuss the major issues addressed in the paper, how the author goes about addressing the issues, an explanation of the article, critical analysis of the article regarding its weak and strong aspects, and a consideration of where the article fits in literature.
Explanation of the article
Change management is an integral part of businesses and organizations (Morrison & Morrison, 1998; Nilakant & Ramnarayan, 2006 and Cameron & Green, 2004). Baker has provided groundbreaking analysis on the topic of managing and leading change through facilitating unlearning during the implementation of new technology. Through the analysis of critical issues in change management by the identification of potential influencers of unlearning, an analysis of the Australian corporation undergoing large-scale change due to the implementation of an enterprise information system was analyzed to identify specific factors that precipitate unlearning and hinder change development. Practical implications, research implications, originality, and value of available literature consist of integral parts of this paper.
Critical Discussion of the article’s good & weak aspects
The strong aspects of the article relate to its ability to successfully analyze the topic. The authors have settled on an appropriate topic that immediately makes it clear what issues are to be discussed in the paper. The abstract presented is an accurate and comprehensive summarization of the entire thesis. The authors have also presented a clear introduction that clearly introduces the topic of research where the thesis statement has been clearly and explicitly stated. An organization of the thesis and the major headings under discussion has also been presented that helps the reader understand the flow of the thesis. The literature review is detailed, accurate, and to the point. No unnecessary citations have been presented and the citations are accurate and consistent. The methodology used is also appropriate for the research as it follows a clear synthesis of the major findings as presented by various authors on the topic under discussion, based on empirical as well as theoretical research.
The discussion presented is detailed, comprehensive, and informative and helps the reader understand the issues that were presented as far as the interpretation of the results is concerned. The strongest parts of the study were the introduction survey questionnaire as the instrument in this research study and the application of critical analysis of the same. This is because; this approach to the study provides more insights as opposed to desk approach analysis (Hayes, 2007; Roth, 2003). Baker has achieved great success in the analysis of the specific of Facilitating unlearning during the implementation of new technology within the larger topic of Managing and Leading Change. On the other hand, the weak aspect of the article is the inability to expound on the history of organizational change and more so on the history of the specific topic under consideration in the article.
Consideration of where the article fits in the literature
On reading the abstract of this article, the reader easily places the article with the literature of the wider business field of organizational change. This article is expected to form a critical part and parcel of literature in the business field of change management. This is because successful initiation of change is correlated to the level of success and profitability (Anderson & Anderson, 2001; Burnes, 2009; Koter, 1996). The fact is that this article enriches the efforts of other previous authors on the topic of change management.
References
Anderson K., and Anderson, S. A., 2001.Beyond change management: advanced strategies for today’s transformational leaders. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
Baker, K. 2010. Facilitating unlearning during the implementation of new technology. Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 23 No. 3. 251-268.
Burnes, B., 2009. Managing Change. MyStratLab Series. New York: Pearson Education.
Bush, T., 2003.Theories of educational leadership and management. London: Sage.
Cameron, E. and Green, M., 2004. Making sense of change management: a complete guide to the models, tools & techniques of organizational change. New York: Kogan Page.
Cook, S., Macaulay, S., and Coldicott, H., 2004. Change management excellence: using the four bits of intelligence for successful organizational change. New York: Kogan Page.
Hayes, J., 2007.“The Theory and Practice of Change Management”, 2nd Ed. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Koter, J.P., 1996. Leading change. Harvard Business School Press. New York: Harvard Business Press.
Kotter, M., 2010. Kotter’s Eight Step Change Model. Global Literacy Foundation. Web.
Morrison, K. and Morrison, R.B. 1998. Management theories for educational change. London: Sage.
Nilakant, V. and Ramnarayan, S., 2006. Change Management: Altering Mindsets In A Global Context. New Delhi: Sage Publications (ca).
Roth, W.F., 2003.The roots and future of management theory: a systems perspective. New York: CRC Press.