Introduction: Suggestions for a Framework of Organizational Continuity and Change

Drawing on process-oriented thinking and philosophies of time, the chapters in this volume extend our understanding of the mutual interplay of continuity and change. This introduction sets the stage for the volume by proposing an overall framework for analysing organizational continuity and change, which consists of four views in existing research. We label the four views a dominant view, an alternating view, an interdependent view, and an integrative view. Whereas the first three views are well-established in the management and organization literature, the fourth - an integrative view - is argued as an important next step and is considered the “centre of gravity” of this volume. We discuss an integrative view as characterized by four factors. The first factor sheds light on the creative and effortful activities and uncertainties in the interplay between continuity and change. The second factor highlights their mutually constitutive nature. The third factor examines the role of situated activity. And the fourth factor highlights the recursive processes of connecting past and future in the present. We discuss how the various chapter of the book contribute towards an integrative view of organizational continuity and change.