We have launched a new project to explore issues of managing change in extreme contexts in more depth, and to identify the conditions that respectively promote and impede change in extreme contexts, and the implications for effective management practice.

This will require an innovative research approach, because the idea of a ‘representative sample’ does not apply; extreme contexts will, by definition, be unusual, idiosyncratic.  We will first select for in-depth study cases where the potential for learning about change in extreme contexts is high, where the cases themselves are of intrinsic interest, and where access is possible (some cases will be sensitive, and closed at least for the time being to investigation).  We will then develop a narrative approach - documenting the story, the sequence of events - through to the implementation of recommended change.  The combination of narrative and event sequence analysis enables us to develop explanations for the relative success of change in each case.  Cross-case comparisons will then help us to identify patterns in the conditions that support and inhibit change in these contexts, leading to improved understanding, and to practical advice for effective change management.

If you have experience - positive or negative - of managing change in circumstances similar to those described here, and if you would be willing to share those experiences with us, anonymously and in confidence, of course, we would be very pleased to hear from you.

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