Word count 3000Why there are different perspectives on change within organizationsINTRODUCTIONOrganizational changeIn an ever-changing business environment, for organizations to remain competitive in this fast-moving world of technological development and globalization, organizations must regularly examine structures and manage change and their working practices and systems if they are to remain competitive. “It is becoming increasingly important for organizations to gain competitive advantage by being able to manage and survive change” “Organizational change has become synonymous with managerial effectiveness since the 1980s (Burnes, 1996; Wilson, 1992). A definition given by Mark Hughes (2006) in his book Change Management defines 'Change' as “The leadership and direction of the organizational transformation process – especially with regards to human aspects and overcoming resistance to change” (Hughes, 2006). Change is a constant feature of organizational life and the ability to manage it is seen as a core competency of successful organizations (Bumes, 2004b). The ability of organizations to manage and survive change is becoming increasingly important in an environment where competition and globalization of markets are increasingly intensifying (Cao and McHugh, 2005: 475). Organizational change involves, by definition, a transformation of an organization between two points in time.” It is crucial that organizations “accept that undertaking change is a natural part of business life in order to stay in line with the need for improvements or with customer or fashion demands”. The IBM (2008) report on Making Change Work states that “the effects of globalisation, technological advances, complex multinational organisations, enable… middle of paper… e-fits-all approaches”. For example, they attempt to combat resistance to change by involving employees in designing the initiative even when employees lack the information necessary to provide useful input. “We must be careful of pat formulas or standardized improvement packages. Improvement tools, techniques and approaches must be customized to fit our unique personal, team and organizational circumstances. That's why trendy programs like quality circles, excellence, customer service, quality improvement, teams, empowerment, redesign, and the like have failed or fallen short in so many organizations. They are often sold as a one-size-fits-all, step-by-step process that we can plug right into our organization. When that doesn't work, some managers or consultants try to change the organization to fit the program rather than the other way around.