Book Review: 'Changing conversations in organisations: A complexity approach to change' by P. Shaw

Abstract

This book describes a new approach to organisational change guided by complexity perspective which is laid out in the earlier volumes of the series titled “Complexity and emergence in organisations”. Complexity perspective (Stacey, 2001) provides a different way of understanding organisational phenomena in an age of knowledge economy where the effective use of human resources is stressed. Knowledge, which is co-created and shared by organisational actors, is now acknowledged as the driver of economic growth (Harris, 2001) leading to a new focus on the role of learning, sharing and participating in organisational performance. As stated in the series preface, complexity approach places emphasis on the reflexive nature of humans, the responsive and participative nature of human processes of relating in organisations