In recent years, there has been an explosion of books on the nature of organisational change and the management skills needed to effectively carry it out. Many are written by change gurus and management consultants offering quick fixes and metaphor laden business toolkits, however, much of their advice is banal and under-theorized. This book redresses this balance by providing an original analysis of change management in organizations in the light of wider sociological perspectives. It critically examines the, often implicit, theoretical frameworks underpinning many contemporary accounts of organizational change, and covers subjects including:

* the importance of explicit analysis of theory and context

* a critique of populist management gurus and quick-fix 'how-to' solutions

* 'under-socialized' models of change which emphasise structure over human action

* trenchant analysis of 'soft' HRM solutions

* the management of culture.

Radical and innovative, this book, the first to adopt a sociological approach, is a much-needed challenge to the orthodoxies of change management.