Abstract/Summary

The study follows the temporal journey of the BBC's programme of change over five years from April 1993 - July 1998. The author who is employed by the BBC as a Change Practitioner attempts to combine his role with that of a researcher as insider and theory builder to develop an empirically based understanding of the change processes from the internal stakeholders perspective (Mitchell et al (1997)). The research strategy adopted for the purpose of this study has been to cast the researcher in the role of an investigative journalist whose aim is to tell the story of the change process through the lens of the staff, whilst using his tacit knowledge of the organisation. Exponents of this particular approach include Gummesson (1991) and Barley (1995) to name but two. During the literature review stage, it became apparent that the nature of organisational change was much more complex and contradictory than one first imagined. This was probably best summed up by the contemporary debate between two schools of thought whose views were fundamentally opposed to each other. On the one hand, exponents of the normative school, such as Warner-Burke (1992) and others, who subscribe to the view that change is linear, sequential and can be planned with certain predictable consequences. On the other hand, exponents of the other school which includes among them Pettigrew et al (1990) and Dawson (1994) argue that change is "messy" and "chaotic". Therefore, in the early stages of the research, I was keen to explore this contentious debate between the two schools of thought and to consider the implications for the management of change. Finally, as the research was under way it soon became apparent that the greatest influence on the change process in the BBC was undoubtedly that of the strong leadership of the DG (Director General). As a consequence, the staffs perceptions of him and the way the change was managed together with the impact on them, emerges as the predominant theme from the analysis of the data from the research findings.