Research on managing extreme change is of particular interest to academics in the field of Organisational Behaviour (the research helps develop our understanding sensemaking, change agency and change leadership), Organisation Development and Change (this is an under-researched facet of organisational change), Organisation Studies and Organisation Theory (explaining these events encourages the development of innovative and unconventional theoretical perspectives), and Research Methods (this topic raises challenging epistemological and methodological issues). 

This is a topic that encourages the creative combination of concepts, theories, frameworks, and evidence from otherwise loosely-related (if not unrelated) research traditions including:

• change agency and change leadership
• change management
• crisis management
• health and safety
• high reliability organizations
• normal accidents
• organization development
• organizational learning
• patient safety (in healthcare)
• public inquiries
• risk management in organizations
• sensemaking

The research also impacts managers, front-line employees, policy makers and other stakeholders through the collaborative research design, generating knowledge in the context of application, disseminating implications widely using practitioner workshops and innovative communication modes and channels and developing a range of evidence-informed practical guidance (tools, rules, frameworks, diagnostics, methods, processes) informing management practice, identifying barriers to change, and enhncing the links from management practice to positive organisational outcomes.