Advice on communicating during organizational change: the content of popular press books.

This study offers a thematic analysis of the advice from a sample of bestselling popular press books on the subject of communication during implementation of organizational change. This analysis uncovered themes concerning the communicative role of change agents, general strategies for communicating

and introducing change, and tactics for communicating during implementation of change. Themes within each of these general categories are presented and discussed in terms of their prevalence and general character. Implications for how practitioners can make the best use of this advice and how it compares to empirical findings in the scholarly literature are then discussed. Further directions for organizational communication scholarship are suggested.

Keywords: planned change; implementation communication; managerial advice; popular press books

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I set down my briefcase by my office door and headed around the corner to the coffee and donuts--the last bastion of stability. I poured my coffee and was rummaging through the donuts when Marsha Fillmore, our VP of marketing, brushed by. She shot me a worried look and whispered, "The boss has a new book." ... Oh no. I quickly forgot about the donuts and walked back to my office. Not another book.

Armstrong (1994)

The above narrative is humorously yet terrifyingly familiar to many who occupy midlevel or supervisory roles in organizations. It depicts one simple effect of "guru-advice books": the constant introduction of change influenced by a manager's reading of the latest trend, fashion, or fad of managerial practice. Authors have begun noting in recent years how prolific and powerful managerial fashions, fads, and "flavors of the month" can be (e.g., Clark & Greatbatch, 2004; Furusten, 1999; Jackson, 2001; Watson, 1994). Zorn, Page, and Cheney (2000) argued that once a particular discourse has become established or fashionable,

   it helps to shape managers' and workers' assumptions about what
   constitutes effective practice, thereby providing an impetus for
   initiating changes and a readymade logic for interpreting them....
   Simultaneously, managerialist discourse serves as a powerful
   rhetorical resource for managers in communicating the changes they
   initiate. Policy makers' and managers' calls for change gain
   legitimacy and authority through their apparent consistency with
   the gurus' writings. (p. 519)

At a more micro level, business advice books also have the potential to inspire feelings of confidence and competence in individual managers. Watson (1994) explored how managers grapple with the introduction of various managerial fads and managerial books in their organizations. Watson argued that these ideas give them a discursive framework so they can make sense of their working lives and that reading these books gives managers the feeling that they are at the leading edge of management thinking.

The guiding question for this project concerns how the current popular press books about implementation of change direct readers to communicate about those change programs. Many of the leading-edge books address the topic of planned organizational change, an increasingly familiar feature of organizational life. Organizations appear to be drawn--almost cultlike--to embrace constant change (Zorn, Christensen, & Cheney, 1999). And as Zorn et al. (2000) pointed out, "two of the most popular ways of creating and communicating change are to emulate the 'best practices' of 'excellent' organizations and to be guided by the popular writings of management gurus" (p. 516). These authors argued that popular management books, articles, and videos on the subject of change exist in a "symbiotic relationship with management discourse and practice" (p. 518) and that they reflect and influence management practices. Our interest in this study is to examine how popular press books address issues related to communication during implementation and to characterize the nature of that advice. In addition, we wanted to know whether there were dominant themes of agreement with regard to communication issues across these advice books. Our interest stems in part from a desire to understand how current scholarly knowledge about communication and change is reflected in the practitioner-advice found in popular press books.

Rationale for Study

By providing a description of the content of popular advice books about change implementation, we make two major contributions. First, if these books, as they appear to, have influence on actual organizational communication practice, it is useful for researchers of business practices to examine them to better enable theoretical explanation for the tendencies observed in managers' choices of communication strategies and tactics. That is, understanding the degree to which these books reveal contradictory, clear, and/or readily applicable advice helps us to better understand the challenges faced by the practitioner who is trying to use this advice. In one case, there might be major differences between camps of advice givers, whereas in another case, there might be a great deal of agreement among gurus about a particular approach or tactic. Where advice is vague or lacking, contingency guidance (i.e., how to apply advice within certain conditions) for taking the advice might also imply a more complex process of adaptation. In short, unpacking the quality of the instruction packet (i.e., the advice books) is a way to begin to understand how guru advice is adopted and becomes influential in practice.

Second, practitioners (e.g., implementers and consultants) will gain from a description of the most popular of change management guides in much the same way they might gain from an executive summary of a lengthy report. Rather than having to read a dozen books on change management, a thematic analysis of the generally recommended steps, strategies, and tactics with regard to communication will give a good overview of the prevalent current advice. Such a description of trends in advice will also help them identify unique or unusual advice that might be out of the norm of what experts consider to be beneficial practice. Such comparisons allow a normative baseline to judge individual strategies under consideration.

In our own search for large descriptive analyses of popular press writings on change implementation, we have discovered very few helpful resources. There are numerous book critiques that give descriptions of single works or compare two or three works (cf. book reviews published in the Journal of Organizational Change Management), but rarely is a systematic content analysis done that compares the themes across a set of these books. Even more rare is a specific focus on communication issues during implementation. Lewis and Seibold's (1998) review of 25 practitioner-oriented journal articles in such publication outlets as Organizational Dynamics, Harvard Business Review, and Sloan Management Review is one example of such a review. Lewis and Seibold found several themes and recommendations related to communication during implementation in these works and identified several action steps recommended by different sets of articles. In their review, they concluded that few recommendations were shared by more than a few authors and that few of the recommendations made any reference to communicative practices. Furthermore, of those that did discuss communication, little specificity was offered as to how to execute the advice. In another work, Culpan (1987) performed a limited content analysis of 10 recent popular management books. He evaluated the texts on such characteristics as time perspective, orientation to task or people, uniqueness, scope, and level of analysis (individual, organizational, environmental). However, these reviews are far from comprehensive and seem to miss in-depth analysis of the advice content, the advice consistency, and the focus on communication during change.

METHOD

To garner a sample of books to read, we used Amazon.com's book listing and searched with the subject term "organizational change." Because we wanted to identify popular press books that were having the highest degree of influence in managerial practice, we sampled from the best-selling books rather than a pure random sample from the 2,000 titles generated by our search. We then went through the top 100 best-selling books on organizational change (so indicated by Amazon.com) to include books that (a) focused on how to implement change rather than what change to implement and (b) provided advice to practitioners for implementation. Twenty-four of the books selected were within the top 100 best-selling books listed. The other books were relatively new publications with rankings slightly lower than 100 (none ranked lower than 133). See Table 1 for a list of the books and book chapters analyzed.

After each of us read approximately one-fourth of the books, we met to create a data sheet for each book that included notes, quotations, and lists of critical elements of advice within each of a set of categories. We then each took a single category, and we subjected each data sheet to iterative readings to identify the dominant themes (Strauss & Corbin, 1990). A dominant theme was defined as a recurring trend in advice. Themes were then shared among the team, and confirmation and adjustments were made to the descriptions of the themes. In the third step of the analysis, each researcher took a different set of books than what was originally read and went through them again to confirm the presence or absence of each theme. In this process, we discovered additional authors' works that could be added to the count of themes, but we did not discover any misattributions of themes from the first round. This process resulted in the final counts represented in our tables and the descriptions provided below.

RESULTS OF THE THEMATIC ANALYSIS

Communicative Role of Change Agents

The role of the change agent in the overall change process was an important subject. Davidson (2002) claimed that "today, everyone with the title of manager, in one form or another, has to be a change manager" (p. 6). Our analysis revealed three themes describing what change agents do: promote communication and participation, facilitate the process for change, and create a vision (see Table 2).

Promoting communication and participation. As part of the change agents' role in promoting communication and participation, they give other organizational members the requisite resources to conduct the change process. Belasco (1991) argued that after creating a new tomorrow, change agents must empower their employees to live that vision: "The common thread throughout all success stories is the action of leaders--at all levels in an organization--to create a right new tomorrow--and then empower people to achieve that tomorrow" (p. 50). Oakley and Krug (1991) said that among the positive qualities of a creative leader is the ability to be "listen-oriented" (p. 223), empowering people to make decisions, and teaching the importance of self-responsibility. Kegan and Lahey (2001) asserted that leaders need to focus more on creating different channels and contexts for others to talk rather than on talking too much themselves.

Facilitating the change process. A change agent can facilitate the change process either by guiding specific steps in the change process or by delegating responsibility to oversee that element to another individual. Holman and Devane (1999) presented a variety of techniques (e.g., search conference, future search, participative design workshop, open space technology) wherein the change agent is a facilitator of a participatory process that is designed to help move a change to success. Allen (2002) demonstrated implicitly through examples how change agents are in the business of leading discussions and facilitating thinking about several cycles of change. Miller (2002) argued that change agents are rarely in a position of power in their organizations but instead have a keen ability to facilitate groups of people through the processes to develop, organize, and sell new ideas.

Creating a vision. Another prominent activity identified for change agents is their role in maintaining or establishing a vision for the change. Kotter (1996) posited that change agents are leaders and that leadership includes "establishing direction: developing vision of the future--often the distant future--and strategies for producing the changes needed to achieve that vision" (p. 26). Oakley and Krug (1991) noted, "Enlightened leaders know how to get their people excited about their mission. By expanding the purpose into a vision, they effectively draw out the inspiring and energizing aspects of purpose so their people can become focused and excited about it" (p. 171).

General Strategies for Communication and Introduction of Change

In response to expected resistance, or in an effort to simply ensure a smooth implementation of change, authors recommended a number of general strategies for communicating and introducing change initiatives. A strategy, for our purpose, is a general pattern or approach to a problem or task. The majority of implementation strategies in these books reflect a general philosophy specifying how change ought to be introduced, who ought to control it, and to which factors implementers ought to be sensitive. We describe those strategies most related to communication here and list them in Table 3.

Emphasize participation and empowerment. Despite advice surrounding the need for management to lead and control change efforts, some of these books also promoted the need for change agents to empower and encourage stakeholders to take ownership and participate in the change effort, particularly when it comes to evaluating and implementing various change processes. Some authors encouraged leaders to relinquish their established control by promoting risk taking and/or empowering members to be action oriented during change (e.g., Holman & Devane, 1999; Kriegel & Brandt, 1996). They argued that participation gives members a sense of control and reduces uncertainty about their changing circumstances, such that if people can feel a part of the implementation process, they will be more committed to the change and thus less resistant to its goals and objectives. For example, according to Kriegel and Brandt,

   Barring profit sharing, the best way to create ownership is by
   giving employees as much control over their destinies as possible.
   In other words, they may not be able to own the company, but they
   can "own" their jobs.... It's equally true that this kind of
   ownership is a great way to get people excited about change. In
   fact, the more ownership, the more motivation. (p. 252)

Create a change culture. According to Davidson (2002), it is important for managers to first know the culture of the organization because some cultures are resistant to change. Authors espoused that a key to successful change implementation is a healthy change culture. For example, Cameron and Quinn (1999) reported that the most frequently cited reason for failure to change is a neglect of the culture. They wrote, "In other words, failure to change the organization's culture doomed the other kinds of organizational changes that were initiated" (p. 1). Similarly, Kriegel and Brandt (1996) described a change-ready environment as one that encourages thoughtful preparation and dissemination of ideas: "When you create a change-ready environment first, resistance is minimized, and employees are more open to innovation and more likely to take risks. In the change-ready environment, new ideas blossom everywhere, even those places where you least expect them to" (p. 157).

Emphasize purpose and vision. To garner support and commitment for change, leaders were encouraged to provide a consistent and compelling justification for the change. Authors contended that having a clear purpose and vision for change is necessary for getting others on board. Establishing a clear vision, for example, not only lends a sense of credibility and urgency to the change effort, but it can also help mitigate some of the uncertainty that frequently accompanies change. If people know where the organization is headed and the purpose for their actions, then they are more likely to stay the course in seeing the change through to its fruition, despite any challenges a change initiative presents. Watkins and Mohr (2001) suggested that a shared image for the future can be established by creating a visual and written image of that future and by developing an organizational structure that will help see that future to its fruition. Furthermore, as Eckes (2001) argued, leaders should communicate their expectations of others in making that vision a reality. Bridges and Mitchell (2002) claimed that leaders can help to better manage the change process by reiterating the purpose, picture, plan, and part that employees should play in moving the organization forward.

Emphasize communication. Whereas many of these works noted communication in at least a single section or chapter (usually concerning sharing the vision or announcing the change), six of the books we analyzed emphasized a whole communication-focused strategy wherein interacting about the change and/or disseminating information about change are major keys to success. For instance, Duck (1998) suggested that managers at every level make clear and consistent communication a priority:

   In fact, communications must be a priority for every manager at
   every level of the company.... It is important for the messages
   to be consistent, clear, and endlessly repeated. If there is a
   single rule of communication for leaders, it is this: when you
   are so sick of talking about something that you can hardly stand
   it, your message is finally starting to get through. (p. 61)

Similarly, Larkin and Larkin (1994) advocated that leaders need to communicate probabilities, particularly in times of uncertainty, or else rumors are likely to be generated. However, these authors were also quick to point out that more communication is not always better. Although Kotter (1998) advised managers to use every possible vehicle in communicating change, Larkin and Larkin contended that organizations need to be more strategic when it comes to allocating communication efforts and put most emphasis on line supervisors' face-to-face communication that concentrates on local work areas.

Communication was also addressed as a tool for dealing with resistance to change. Specifically, Maurer (1996) argued that to preempt resistance, change leaders should attempt to create a more structured dialogue among members, allowing them to feel more involved in the process. The majority of his recommendations for coping with potential and actual resistance were grounded in communication processes and detailed several modes for interacting with stakeholders, including direct face-to-face communication, questionnaires, formal surveys, and focus groups.

Specific Communicative Tactics for Change

Lewis and Seibold (1998) bemoaned that few specific tactics and action steps appear in practitioner-oriented journal articles on planned change implementation. Our review of popular press books on the subject revealed considerably more specific advice about how to proceed in change implementation. However, much of it was still directive (e.g., communicate often) without providing much guidance on channels, frequency, mix of types, or specific message strategies. We identified seven major themes (see Table 4) in this category.

Asking for input. Authors made explicit reference to tactics and actions aimed at soliciting input and/or increasing participation and interaction of stakeholders of change programs. Many of these authors recommended using communication to create some sense of shared vision or using participation tactics as a means to quiet rumor mills, venting, and therapy-like sessions in which employees may express themselves as part of a healing process. Pritchett and Pound (1994) advised that an implementer should "provide a variety of opportunities for employee input ... and be a careful listener" (p. 19).

Specific tactics for gathering input were provided in many of these books. The Change Handbook (edited by Holman & Devane, 1999) detailed several Large Group Interaction Methods (LGIMs), which are used to increase participation and collect wide-ranging input from large groups of individuals. They explained and provided some theoretical and practical rationale for each technique. Examples included Appreciative Inquiry (which trains participants to focus on what is working rather than critique), Open Space Technology (which enables large groups to prioritize large numbers of complex issues), and Dialogue (which serves as an alternative to debate and focuses on discovery and appreciation of diverse views). A few authors claimed that face-to-face communication is the most effective method of communication. Larkin and Larkin (1994), for example, argued in their chapter titled "If it's not face-to-face, it's not communication,"

   The right goal for communication is not making stuff or holding
   events but giving supervisors what they need to adequately perform
   the most critical communication any company has: informal,
   face-to-face, verbal [spoken] interactions between supervisors and
   their subordinates. (p. 87)

Some books in our sample focused on guidelines and rules for good participative communication, such as make it easy for others to speak (Watkins & Mohr, 2001); be good listeners (e.g., Oakley & Krug, 1991); ask lots of questions (e.g., Collins, 2001); and encourage every perspective to be heard--even critiques (Collins, 2001; Heller, 1998).

Use informal networks and knowledge of key stakeholders. Authors dealt with the topic of using informal networks and key stakeholders to carry messages of change. For example, Duck (2001) stated, "During times of change, when people are hungry for news, alarmists have a field day; rumors and misinformation proliferate. Leaders who learn how to use informal networks well can gain a huge advantage" (p. 186). She identified three types of key opinion leaders (cassandras, networkers, and influencers) who play different roles in spreading the news about change and affecting reactions to it.

Larkin and Larkin (1994) argued that line supervisors are absolutely necessary to the change process because they are so influential with frontline employees. They suggested preparing three-by-five laminated briefing cards with key points about the change and providing them to line supervisors for their use in answering employees' questions. Other authors were less specific about who the key stakeholders are but emphasized that the right people should be included in presentations and discussions about change (e.g., Kotter, 1998; Miller, 2002). Goss, Pascale, and Athos (1998) argued that implementers should assemble a "critical mass of key stakeholders" (p. 102). Key stakeholders are those who may hold key resources, are central in opinion networks, are key technologists, and can create momentum in the organization.

Disseminate information. Authors advised implementers on how to disseminate information including providing clarity about roles, tasks, responsibilities, and procedures. In general, these books supported the idea of giving all important stakeholders as much information as early as possible. Using multiple methods for communicating the information was also a popular suggested tactic. Kotter (1998) claimed that executives should incorporate messages about change into their everyday activities:

   In a routine discussion about a business problem, they talk about
   how proposed solutions fit (or don't fit) into the bigger picture.
   In a regular performance appraisal, they talk about how the
   employee's behavior helps or undermines the vision. (pp. 11-12)

Duck (1998) agreed that repeating the change messages over and over again is important. She stated, "It's important to provide regular updates, even when there isn't any 'hard' news to deliver, to help people make connections to others outside their own spheres" (p. 212). Beyond these general principles for dissemination of information, these books offered few specifics for topics of dissemination, modes for communicating information, or appropriate timing for different types of information. However, as indicated under the next theme, different channels were often viewed as having specific purposes in the general communication campaign of a change implementation.

Manage the style and content of communication. Some advice on managing the style and content of communication was extremely specific, including suggestions to use colored and scented markers on flip charts (Miller, 2002); to pay attention to tone, to use candor, and to project credibility and concern (Anderson & Anderson, 2001); and to describe change succinctly in 1 minute or less (Bridges & Mitchell, 2002).

More general advice suggested topics that should be addressed. For example, Heller (1998) suggested that the presentation of a change program should break down the overall objectives into aims of specific units and departments. He further recommended emphasizing the positive points of the change and de-emphasizing the negatives to gain greater buy-in from employees. In a different approach, Conner (1992) argued for the delivery of "pain messages" wherein the painful truths of current problems must be disseminated before people can be motivated to accept the future state embodied in the change (pp. 98-99). Conner claimed,

   Change-related pain is the level of discomfort that we experience
   when we can't meet our goals (current pain) or don't expect to meet
   them (anticipated pain).... Orchestrating pain messages throughout
   an institution is the first step in developing organizational
   commitment to change. The goal of pain management is to motivate
   people to pull away from what they are doing now and develop a
   strong commitment to making a change. (pp. 98-99)

Davidson (2002) agreed with the pain management philosophy and argued that stakeholders' heads will follow their hearts. Davidson suggested that invoking this pain in implementation messages will promote the best responses to change.

A few of these books discussed the persuasive tactics to use during change. Conner (1992) argued for "sober selling," which entails telling people about the costs that will be associated with the change (p. 141). Miller (2002) recommended "selling up" the idea to the project sponsor's boss by identifying the hot buttons that will provide benefit and "selling down" by identifying the possible objections and concerns of the people who will have to implement and live with the change (p. 239). Many of the authors recommended adapting the messages to the audience and creating two-way communication as part of the strategy.

Other authors focused on the use of language in change communication. In addition to discouraging the use of jargon and encouraging the use of clear communication, authors (Bridges, 1991; Conger, 2002) recommended using metaphors and stories for various purposes during change. One book (Kegan & Lahey, 2001) was completely devoted to exploring the language habits of an organization and learning to move from old styles to new ones (e.g., from language of complaint to commitment, from language of blame to personal responsibility).

Be motivational in communication. Implied definitions of motivation in communication varied from images of cheerleading and building esprit de corps (Pritchett & Pound, 1994) to redesigning organizational rewards to support needed behavioral changes (Anderson & Anderson, 2001). Those who favored motivational communication included tactics like encouraging risk taking, paying compliments, writing short notes to employees, and singling people out for praise (Heller, 1998; Pritchett & Pound, 1994). In contrast, Collins (2001) argued that "spending time trying to motivate people is a waste of effort" and said that the important key is to avoid de-motivating people. He suggested that "one primary way to de-motivate people is to ignore the brutal facts of reality" (p. 89).

Formulate and follow a communication plan. Some books included grids or guidelines made up of both different mediums for communication and various purposes for communication. For example, Anderson and Anderson (2001) offered advice about different levels of communication (e.g., information sharing, building understanding, identifying implications, gaining commitment, altering behavior) and the style of communication and media vehicles appropriate to that level. They explained that each level of communication needs to be addressed and that simply sharing information is inadequate in change implementation. Heller (I 998) provided guidelines on when to use media (i.e., magazines, newspapers, Web sites, video) as opposed to presentations, training, team meetings, or troubleshooting sessions. Most of the authors who addressed communication plans recommended using a variety of channels to communicate.

Create and communicate vision. Usually, vision creation was described as a participatory process. Authors representing this theme gave advice about mechanisms for the creation of vision such as LGIMs. Holman and Devane (1999) advised using stories, meetings, newsletters, posters, and one-on-one discussions, and asking questions. Much advice was provided about good qualities of visions (e.g., clear, unambiguous, personally relevant, simple, vivid), but not much detail was given about how the vision should be disseminated. The most prevalent advice implied that if many are involved in the creation of vision, many will understand and internalize it.

Use threats, punishments, and intimidation. Although a much less popular theme than others (only four authors mentioned it), this set of tactics involves the darker side of advice. Here, authors defined the point at which a manager might invoke a punishing strategy to kick-start change. For example, Duck (2001) advised, in a section titled "Enlist star power or have a public hanging," that managers can gain the attention of stakeholders by "assign[ing] someone impressive to head the change effort and/or fir[ing] a recalcitrant executive who isn't leading the change. Either move can demonstrate the seriousness of the commitment to change" (p. 155). Heller (1998) agreed that when dealing with resistors who simply will not be convinced, firing is an option. Miller (2002) took the point of view that people will need to be "kicked in the pants" now and then to keep them moving along in the implementation (p. 243). Furthermore, they are not likely to meet deadlines and respect directives unless some sanctions are applied.

DISCUSSION

The purpose of this analysis was to describe the trends in advice available in best-selling popular press books on communicating during organizational change implementation. We wanted to discover the nature of the popular press discourse that is instructing change implementers on how to introduce and guide change programs in organizations and to uncover the dominant themes in that advice. In the following discussion, we compare overarching themes in the popular books with current scholarly literature on change, describe the character of this advice, and present the challenges faced by practitioners who attempt to apply the advice. Finally, we suggest further directions for organizational communication scholarship in this area of research.

Before beginning our discussion, it is important to address a few limitations we faced in this study. First, we drew our sample texts from only one source, the Amazon.com Web site. We realize the limited breadth of this search and the potential that some influential books might be omitted from the sampling frame. Second, in the reduction of a large set of recommendations and advice to a few general themes, we have lost some richness in these data. Further analysis of these texts could include a more fine-grained content coding or critical analysis. Although beyond the scope of our initial project, both of these approaches would likely reap new insights.

Comparing Practitioner Themes With Conclusions From Scholarly Literature

Wide participation in the change process was a common piece of advice in implementing planned change. Specifically, there seemed to be a strong focus on including various stakeholders in the planning and implementation phases. The rationale behind such advice appears to be that the more people feel included in the process, the more committed they are to the change effort. Participation may offer people some measure of control that they might otherwise not have in the midst of uncertainty and change. This view was also found in the major tasks of the change agent because they were portrayed as concerned with gaining participation and facilitating the specific form of that participation. Furthermore, there was a strong recurring theme of empowerment and autonomy noted in these books. Leaders were encouraged to empower others and allow others to take ownership over the change process. Risk taking and initiative seeking were described as characteristics often desirable during the change process.

Participation was a strong current of the scholarly literature as well. Research to date has generally supported participatory processes as associated with more successful outcomes from the perspectives of "users/employees" as well as organizational decision makers (Bordia, Hunt, Paulsen, Tourish, & DiFonzo, 2004; Coyle-Shapiro, 1999; Edmondson, Bohmer, & Pisano, 2001; Lewis, in press; Nutt, 1987; Sagie, Elizur, & Koslowsky, 2001; Sagie & Koslowsky, 1994). However, the form and exact nature of participation is understudied. Generally, measures of participation take the form of self-reported feelings of inclusion in the process or beliefs that one's ideas are valued. Aside from employees or users of change products (e.g., new technologies), wider circles of stakeholders have rarely been considered in either practitioner or scholarly literatures. How stakeholders more external to the changing organization (e.g., community, customers, suppliers, affected partner organizations) are involved in change and how such participation affects their responses is also understudied.

The role of autonomy or empowerment in change processes has not been explored much in the scholarly literature to this point. One exception is that Bordia and colleagues (2004) explored the importance of creating feelings of control by providing stakeholders with quality information about changes that are introduced. Richer senses of control or empowerment that might be derived from stakeholders' ability to control important resources or have an active voice in change have received far less attention in the scholarly literature.

In sum, although there appears to be coherence between the popular press books reviewed here and scholarly conclusions to date with regard to the benefit of participating in change processes, very little has been specified in terms of (a) the most effective means of participation, (b) the selection of participants, and (c) the various components of that participation (e.g., sincerity, empowerment, uncertainty reduction) that most account for various outcomes (e.g., lowered resistance, improved adaptation of change programs, innovativeness, satisfaction). So, where there is agreement on philosophy, the methods and contingencies are far less understood.

In addition to promoting wide participation in change communication, these books for practitioners tended to advocate wide dissemination of information. None of these authors suggested deception or withholding of information, and several directly addressed the negative consequences of such behavior on the part of implementers. The general spirit of the advice underscored openness and wide dispersal of information, early notification, and discussion of just about any topic that any stakeholder wishes to raise. Numerous channels of information were advocated in these books, and differences in opinions about which channels are most effective were evident. But the idea of keeping the flow of information going throughout change programs was a constant message. The content of the information to be provided to stakeholders was not discussed as frequently as the suggestion that dissemination be frequent and open. To the extent that content was addressed, these authors recommended that both good and bad news be delivered and that details about the timing, expectations, and processes of change be thoroughly discussed with stakeholders.

Again, at the level of general principle, there is clear agreement between these practitioner-oriented sources and the scholarly literature that information dissemination be honest and open. Research has supported the notion that any information, even negative information, about change can help alleviate anxiety and reduce some negative reactions to change (K. I. Miller & Monge, 1985). The scholarly literature (cf. Lewis, in press; Lewis & Seibold, 1996; V. D. Miller, Johnson, & Grau, 1994) focused more on the quality of that information (e.g., timeliness, accuracy, usefulness) than did the discussion found in the popular press books. The books for practitioners all but ignored the content of the information disseminated during change initiatives yet, in some cases, made claims about the nature of the messages (e.g., sober selling, pain messages). Discussion of such strategic framing of change messages was much more rare in the scholarly literature (for exceptions, see Smeltzer's, 1995, work on planning an effective announcement of change, and Dutton, Ashford, O'Neill, and Lawrence's, 2001, examination of issue selling). Essentially, scholarly literature has paid scant attention to the content of what to disseminate and the channels that should be used to disseminate information. As Timmerman (2003) noted, "There has been no comprehensive effort to describe, explain, or predict the use of communication media during the implementation of organizational change" (p. 302).

A third thread running through these popular press books concerns the importance of communication about vision and purpose. Leaders were widely encouraged to provide justification for the change and establish a clear and compelling vision for the change. Most agreed that articulating the goals and purpose of the change are necessary for seeking commitment. These popular press authors argued that painting a broad picture of the change is necessary for people to find where they fit within that picture--it gives them a sense of control over an otherwise equivocal situation.

Scholarly literature has examined the role of vision in change communication and found similar results for providing general information. For example, Lewis (in press) found that employees' perceptions of the clarity of leaders' vision for the change program does relate to their perceptions of important outcomes of change processes. Fairhurst (1993) reviewed the literature concerning important functions of vision creation and communication during change. She argued that vision serves as a means to create and manage shared reality, inspire action, focus attention, and create new social structures in organizations. She further contended that a vision that is clearly understood and perceived by employees is more likely to engender a favorable reaction. Communication about vision and purpose has been generally viewed as a positive form of uncertainty reduction. However, the scholarly literature has not, as far as we know, examined the participatory visioning process advocated by the popular press, nor has it investigated the comparative effects of vehicles for spreading vision, language for packaging vision, or effective spokespersons for vision.

Character of the Advice

Nearly all of these books for practitioners, at one point or another, to one degree or another, acknowledged the critical importance of communication in change. However, they also tended to boil tactics for communication down to sound bites and general philosophy. This is a practice likely driven by the nature of the market for such books. As Clark and Greatbatch (2004) suggested, these books are often created as "star vehicles" to launch promotional tours for their authors (p. 408). They are written to focus on the tangible and immediate and toward superficiality and short attention spans. According to the writers of these advice books, the key to implementing change successfully is to present the ideas in an accessible form that "requires that the main elements of the ideas be reduced and simplified into pithy lists, acronyms, concepts, mnemonics, metaphors, and stories that are immediately graspable, understood, and assimilated" (p. 412). In the case of the books reviewed here, even where authors created grids for use in planning communication strategies for various purposes, there seemed to be scant detail in considering very basic problems that practitioners might have with communication. In short, these books came across as extremely sloganesque when specifying communicative strategies and advice. Although occasionally pithy, and usually adamant, the advice prescribed in these books often lacked detail and appropriate qualification.

Areas of underspecified advice in these books might prompt many practitioner questions as they decide how to apply the advice to their own organizations. For example, practitioners might ask, What should be the basic persuasive strategy for different contexts of change (e.g., change that is very controversial vs. change that is more routine and accepted)? What steps should one go through in creating effective messages? In soliciting input on vision, how much participation is desirable? What are the warning signs that one has overcommunicated information to stakeholders? What is the best balance between the amount of communication focused on dissemination of information and the amount devoted to input solicitation? Is face-to-face communication still most effective when communication norms dictate electronic communication? What decision criteria should be used to select different communication strategies for different stakeholder groups? How do you execute good communication when working within a narrow time frame or during crisis? How does this advice apply in cross-cultural contexts? These are all opportunities for further scholarly investigation.

Argyris (2000) argued in his book, Flawed Advice and the Management Trap, that much business advice presented in such books, as those analyzed here, tends to (a) represent espoused theories of effectiveness (e.g., take control, give direction, tell it as it is, look deeper) and does not make explicit theories-in-use that would clarify needed action steps, (b) contains evaluations and attributions that are untested and untestable, (c) are based on self-referential logic (e.g., trust me), and (d) does not specify causal processes. According to Argyris, "for advice to be helpful, it must specify the intended outcomes or objectives to be produced, the sequence of actions required to produce them, the actions required to monitor and test for any errors or mismatches, and the actions required to correct such errors or mismatches" (p. 9). Much of the advice found in these books would fail Argyris's tests.

Practitioners' Challenges in Using the Advice

In examining the content of the advice books used for this study, it appears that a practitioner would have to be a very active consumer to wisely use much of the instruction provided. To successfully apply this advice, several challenges need to be overcome. First, because much of the advice was written without an explanation of the theory behind the advice (indeed a problem due to the lack of such theory in scholarship), practitioners need to first try to intuit the underlying logic of the claims made in these books. Claims then need to be tested out in mental models in the practitioners' own organizational environments. In this way, the practitioner can question whether the logic of the cause-effect relationships implied in the advice will likely apply to their own local circumstances.

For example, if books are claiming that increased participatory practice yields more problem solving and decreases ultimate resistance and hesitation about change programs, we might conclude from a reading of the examples and stories in the book that the explanation for this effect is related to increasing feelings of ownership. Thus, increasing participation may boost employees' ownership in the change and result in more cooperation. However, this effect may not always hold true. For example, if there has been a major layoff after a merger, would a participatory process lead employees to more fully accept the mission and values that are created and articulated?

A second challenge for implementers attempting to apply the advice in these books is to compare the more generic form of the advice against the standards, norms, and values of their own organization. Although a trend might be hot and might work for some organizations, would it work here? For some organizations, participation might be a very foreign concept and practice. It can be fraught with suspicion if there is a long history of retaliation for public criticism. For example, jumping into use of LGIMs (Large Group Interaction Methods) in an organization that has valued a command and control model for decades might be unwise. Faddishness in organizations, when book philosophies are forced-fit into cultures and circumstances that are unaccommodating, can both erode the credibility of the implementer over time and create temporary havoc. Thus, as Collins (2004) argued, it is critical that practitioners edit guru advice in a complex consumption process in which they take advice that is ambiguous, rootless, acontextual, and incomplete and translate it into useful practices for specific organizational contexts. The doing of that translation, he argued, makes them active consumers of advice.

Third, because much of the advice in these guidebooks was short on specifics (e.g., how to, what if), it is necessary for practitioners to look for the spirit of the advice and then apply local contingencies to develop actual tactics and behaviors to execute. In that light, it might be necessary to look to examples of other companies similar to one's own to see how the more general advice was adapted to local circumstances. Using those examples might make better guideposts than the advice books alone.

Fourth, much potentially good advice was sprinkled throughout each of these books, if practitioners can only discover which bit to apply in which local circumstance. Given that no single comprehensive model is likely to be useful and successful everywhere, a strategy of "cherry picking" the advice from the collection of these books is likely most wise. Specific ideas for dealing with creating vision, confronting resistance, designing implementation teams, selecting good change agents, or building effective informal networks might be found in different books. Using the advice that seems most applicable to one's own organization and leaving the rest behind provides an opportunity to customize an individualized guidebook rather than buying a whole approach when parts of that plan might be a poor fit.

Finally, to guard against the potential pitfall of becoming a cultlike, guru-following consumer of these advice books, it is prudent for practitioners to put into place some triggers that will cause them to double-check the effects these advice books are helping or not helping the organization achieve. Goal setting, bringing in skeptics and listening to them, formal program evaluation, and other methods can provide the practitioner with a more objective check on whether promised and desired results are actually being achieved. Such a strategy can help the practitioner guard against just being a believer, and force the measurement of accomplishments and acknowledgment of what is not working.

An Agenda for Management Communication Scholarship

In our own reading of these books, we noticed a surprising alignment between some of what has been consistently found in the scholarly literature and what is advised in these books. Thus, these books appear to be useful summaries, to some extent, of related scholarly research. However, as noted earlier, some of this advice is also underspecified and acontextual, and none of it really demonstrates a familiarity with underlying theoretical or even empirical literature. There appears to be alignment merely by accident and/or due to more practice-oriented authors having drawn similar conclusions as scholars based on different types of evidence.

This observation might lead some scholars to see their role as policing the advice to correct bad advice and advocate for better advice (essentially the approach advocated by Clark and Greatbatch, 2004, who suggested that academics should perform a "quality control" function by actively intervening in the fashion-setting process, p. 420). However, scholars who wish to pursue this approach should be sensitive to the issue of criteria for judging advice contained in these books. The first task in determining which advice works involves creating standards. Zorn et al. (2000) provided some possibilities in this regard in describing vastly different criteria from a functional perspective (e.g., measures of "effectiveness' and "furthering the organization's interests," p. 535), a romantic perspective (using standards of "engendering intense, positive feelings," p. 544), or a critical perspective (e.g., measuring outcomes in terms of "their openness, transparency, and emancipating qualities," p. 554). It is clear that application of these different standards will result in wildly different declarations of the health of some advice provided in these books. "Kicking the pants" of some employees, or a symbolic "public hanging," might have great functional power but can certainly be questioned as a useful tactic under standards of the critical or romantic schools of thought.

We want to underscore that practices are only better or worse in comparison to some acceptable abstract standards as well as relative to local situations in context. Therefore, the hunt for good advice has become extremely complex. Our reading of the data in light of these arguments suggests that although scholars can intervene in providing quality testing of advice, we must always be mindful of the perspective against which we assess organizational practices and outcomes and that we frame our conclusions with those appropriate caveats.

We think, too, that it is important not simply to study the tactics and strategies in terms of their likely outcomes or effects but also to shed light on the process by which practitioners consume and adapt the contents of these advice books. For example, how important is it for managers to be perceived as following hot trends and guru advice? Which practitioners look to these books to guide practice and which are merely using them to signal their unfettered allegiance to modern waves of business practice?

It seems that there is also a great need to understand the role that these advice books play in the lives of managers who read them, introduce them, and promote them to frontline employees. These are fruitful directions for research and would benefit from use of a variety of methodologies not employed in this study. Interviews with managers who do or do not use books such as those described here, ethnographic methods like those applied by Zorn et al. (2000), and self-report questionnaire methods comparing large number of respondents (implementers and other stakeholders) about their attitudes and perceptions about the advice in these books are all important future directions.

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Laurie K. Lewis

University of Texas

Amy M. Schmisseur

University of Kansas

Keri K. Stephens

Texas State University

Kathleen E. Weir

University of Texas

This study was made possible by a Special Research Grant provided by the Office of the Vice President for Research at the University of Texas. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Laurie K. Lewis, Department of Communication Studies, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712; e-mail: lklewis@mail.utexas.edu.

Table 1. Books and Book Chapters Reviewed

Allen, R. C. (2002). Guiding change journeys. New York: John Wiley
& Sons.

Anderson, A. L., & Anderson, D. (2001). The change leader's roadmap:
How to navigate your organization's transformation. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.

Augustine, N. R. (1998). Reshaping an industry: Lockheed Martin's
survival story. In Harvard Business Review on Change (pp. 159-187).
Boston: Harvard Business School.

Beer, M., & Nohria, N. (2000). Resolving the tension between theories
E and O of change. In Breaking the code of change. Boston: Harvard
Business School.

Belasco, J. (1991). Teaching the elephant to dance. New York: Crown
Publishers.

Bridges, W. (1991). Managing transitions. Cambridge, MA: Perseus
Books.

Bridges, W., & Mitchell, S. (2002). Leading transition: A new model
for change. In F. Hesselbein & R. Johnson (Eds.), On leading change
(pp. 33-47). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Cameron, K., & Quinn, R. (1999). Diagnosing and changing
organizational culture. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley Longman.

Collins, J. (2001). From good to great. New York: HarperCollins.

Collins, J. C., & Porras, J. I. (1998). Building your company's
vision. In Harvard Business Review on Change (pp. 21-55). Boston:
Harvard Business School.

Conger, J. (2002). The new age of persuasion. In F. Hesselbein & R.
Johnston (Eds.), On leading change (pp. 127-141). San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.

Conner, D. (1992). Managing at the speed of change. New York:
Random House.

Davidson, J. (2002). The complete idiot's guide to change management.
Indianapolis: Alpha Books.

Duck, J. D. (1998). Managing change: The art of balancing. In Harvard
Business Review on Change (pp. 55-83). Boston: Harvard Business
School.

Duck, J. (2001). The change monster. New York: Crown Business.

Dupuy, F. (2002). The chemistry of change. New York: Palgrave.

Eckes, G. (2001). Making six sigma last. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Ghoshal, S., & Bartlett, C. A. (2000). Rebuilding behavioral context:
A blueprint for corporate renewal. In M. Beer & N. Nohria (Eds.),
Breaking the code of change (pp. 195-222). Boston: Harvard Business
School.

Goss, T., Pascale, R., & Athos, A. (1998). The reinvention roller
coaster: Risking the present for a powerful future. In Harvard
Business Review on Change (pp. 83-112). Boston: Harvard Business
School.

Heller, J. (1998). Essential managers: Managing change. New York: D K
Publishing.

Hesselbein, F. (2002). The key to cultural transformation. In F.
Hesselbein & R. Johnston (Eds.), On leading change (pp. 1-6). San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Hirschhorn, L. (2000). Changing structure is not enough: The moral
meaning of organizational design. In M. Beer & N. Nohria (Eds.),
Breaking the code of change (pp. 161-176). Boston: Harvard Business
School.

Holman, P., & Devane, T. (Eds.). (1999). The change handbook. San
Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.

Kanter, R. M. (2002). The enduring skills of change leaders. In F.
Hesselbein & R. Johnston (Eds.), On leading change (pp. 47-61). San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Kegan, R., & Lahey, L. (2001). How the way we talk can change the
way we work. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Kotter, J. (1996). Leading change. Boston: Harvard Business School.

Kotter, J. P. (1998). Leading change: Why transformation efforts
fail. In Harvard Business Review on Change (pp. 1-21). Boston:
Harvard Business School.

Kriegel, R., & Brandt, D. (1996). Sacred cows make the best burgers.
New York: Warner.

Larkin, T., & Larkin, S. (1994). Communicating change. New York:
McGraw.

Lipman-Blumen, J. (2002). The age of connective leadership. In F.
Hesselbein & R. Johnston (Eds.), On leading change (pp. 89-102).
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Martin, R. (1998). Changing the mind of the corporation. In Harvard
Business Review on Change (pp. 113-138). Boston: Harvard Business
School.

Maurer, R. (1996). Beyond the wall of resistance. Austin, TX: Bard
Press.

Miller, K. (2002). The change agent's guide to radical improvement.
Milwaukee: American Society for Quality.

Mourier, P., & Smith, M. (2001). Conquering organizational change.
Atlanta: CEP Press.

Oakley, E., & Krug, D. (1991). Enlightened leadership: Getting to the
heart of change. New York: Fireside.

Pritchett, P., & Pound, R. (1994). Business as unusual. Plano, TX:
Pritchett Publishing.

Senge, P., Kleiner, A., Roberts, C., Ross, R., Roth, G., & Smith, B.
(1999). The dance of change. New York: Doubleday.

Watkins, M., & Mohr, B. (2001). Appreciative inquiry. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer.

Table 2. Themes Concerning Role of Change Agents

Theme                          #    Description

Promote communication          12   Focus on the participation and
  and participation                   communication of stakeholders

  Anderson & Anderson (2001)          Kegan & Lahey (2001)
  Belasco (1991)                      Kotter (1996)
  Bridges (1991)                      Kotter (1998)
  Cameron & Quinn (1999)              Kriegel & Brandt (1996)
  Davidson (2002)                     Oakley & Krug (1991)
  Kanter (2002)                       Pritchett & Pound (1994)

Facilitator                    7    Guide specific steps of a change
                                      process

  Allen (2002)                        Miller (2002)
  Duck (2001)                         Mourier & Smith (2001)
  Holman & Devane (1999)              Watkins & Mohr (2001)
  Lipman-Blumen (2002)

Creator of vision              5    Define focus or vision for others
                                      to follow

  Belasco (1991)                      Maurer (1996)
  Kegan & Lahey (2001)                Oakley & Krug (1991)
  Kotter (1996)

Note: # refers to the number of sources containing the theme.

Table 3. Themes Concerning General Strategies

Theme                             #    Description

Emphasize participation and       26   People need to feel a part of
  empowerment                            the change process if they
                                         are going to accept change
                                         and commit to its objectives.
                                         Leaders need to encourage
                                         members to take ownership and
                                         be autonomous independent
                                         thinkers.

  Allen (2002)                           Holman & Devane (1999)
  Anderson & Anderson (2001)             Kanter (2002)
  Beer & Nohria (2000)                   Kegan & Lahey (2001)
  Belasco (1991)                         Kotter (1996)
  Bridges (1991)                         Kotter (1998)
  Cameron & Quinn (1999)                 Kriegel & Brandt (1996)
  Conner (1992)                          Larkin & Larkin(1994)
  Davidson (2002)                        Maurer (1996)
  Duck (2001)                            Miller (2002)
  Dupuy (2002)                           Oakley & Krug (1991)
  Ghoshal & Bartlett (2000)              Pritchett & Pound (1994)
  Goss, Pascole, & Athos (1998)          Senge et al. (1999)
  Heller (1998)                          Watkins & Mohr (2001)

Create a change culture           14   Use culture as a tool or anchor
                                         to enable change to occur

  Beer & Nohria (2000)                   Eckes (2001)
  Belasco (1991)                         Heller (1998)
  Bridges (1991)                         Hesselbein (2002)
  Cameron & Quinn (1999)                 Hirschhorn (2000)
  Collins (2001)                         Kotter (1996)
  Davidson (2002)                        Kotter (1998)
  Dupuy (2002)                           Kriegel & Brandt (1996)

Emphasize purpose and vision      14   Leaders should provide a
                                         consistent and strong
                                         justification for
                                         implementing the change to
                                         occur

  Anderson & Anderson (2001)             Eckes (2001)
  Belasco (1991)                         Heller (1998)
  Bridges (1991)                         Kotter (1996)
  Bridges & Mitchell (2002)              Mourier & Smith (2001)
  Cameron & Quinn (1999)                 Oakley & Krug (1991)
  Duck (2001)                            Senge et al. (1999)
  Dupuy (2002)                           Watkins & Mohr (2001)

Emphasize communication           6    Communicating is key to working
                                         through problems and
                                         successfully implementing
                                         change

  Anderson & Anderson (2001)             Kegan & Lahey (2001)
  Bridges (1991)                         Larkin & Larkin (1994)
  Duck (1998)                            Maurer (1996)

Note: # refers to the number of sources containing the theme.

Table 4. Themes Concerning Specific Tactics and Action Steps

Theme                          #    Description

Ask for input                  19   Embrace a participatory philosophy
                                      by involving many stakeholders
                                      in communication about change

  Anderson & Anderson (2001)          Kotter (1996)
  Belasco (1991)                      Kriegel & Brandt (1996)
  Cameron & Quinn (1999)              Larkin & Larkin (1994)
  Collins (2001)                      Martin (1998)
  Conner (1992)                       Maurer (1996)
  Davidson (2002)                     Oakley & Krug (1991)
  Duck (2001)                         Pritchett & Pound (1994)
  Dupuy (2002)                        Senge et al. (1999)
  Heller (1998)                       Watkins & Mohr (2001)
  Holman & Devane (1999)

Use informal networks and      18   Use key stakeholders, opinion
  knowledge of key                    leaders, coalitions, and key
  stakeholders                        networks to carry change
                                      messages and address resistance

  Belasco (1991)                      Kotter (1998)
  Cameron & Quinn (1999)              Larkin & Larkin (1994)
  Conner (1992)                       Lipman-Blumen (2002)
  Duck (2001)                         Maurer (1996)
  Ghoshal & Bartlett (2000)           Miller (2002)
  Goss et al. (1998)                  Mourier & Smith (2001)
  Heller (1998)                       Oakley & Krug (1991)
  Holman & Devane (1999)              Senge et al. (1999)
  Kanter (2002)                       Watkins & Mohr (2001)

Disseminate information        15   Develop tactics for providing
                                      information to stakeholders

  Anderson & Anderson (2001)          Heller (1998)
  Augustine (1998)                    Kriegel & Brandt (1996)
  Bridges (1991)                      Larkin & Larkin (1994)
  Cameron & Quinn (1999)              Miller (2002)
  Duck (1998)                         Mourier & Smith (2001)
  Duck (2001)                         Pritchett & Pound (1994)
  Dupuy (2002)                        Senge et al. (1999)
  Eckes (2001)

Manage the style and content   14   Be strategic in design of message
  of communication                    style, language, and content

  Anderson & Anderson (2001)          Heller (1998)
  Augustine (1998)                    Kegan & Lahey (2001)
  Bridges (1991)                      Maurer (1996)
  Bridges & Mitchell (2002)           Miller (2002)
  Conger (2002)                       Oakley & Krug (1991)
  Conner (1992)                       Pritchett & Pound (1994)
  Davidson (2002)                     Senge et al. (1999)

Be motivational in             14   Motivate people in your
  communication                       communication by telebrating
                                      wins and inspiring effort

  Anderson & Anderson (2001)          Heller (1998)
  Belasco (1991)                      Kanter (2002)
  Cameron & Quinn (1999)              Kegan & Lahey (2001)
  Collins (2001)                      Kriegel & Brandt (1996)
  Conner (1992)                       Larkin & Larkin (1994)
  Davidson (2002)                     Miller (2002)
  Duck (2001)                         Pritchett & Pound (1994)

Formulate and follow a         13   Create specific plans for use of
  communication plan                  channels, message strategies,
                                      messengers, timing

  Anderson & Anderson (2001)          Heller (1998)
  Belasco (1991)                      Kotter (1998)
  Bridges (1991)                      Kriegel & Brandt (1996)
  Bridges & Mitchell (2002)           Larkin & Larkin (1994)
  Cameron & Quinn (1999)              Miller (2002)
  Davidson (2002)                     Mourier & Smith (2001)
  Eckes(2001)

Create and communicate         13   Communicate about vision with
  vision                              stakeholders

  Allen (2002)                        Heller (1998)
  Anderson & Anderson (2001)          Kanter (2002)
  Belasco (1991)                      Kotter (1996)
  Collins & Porras (1998)             Kotter (1998)
  Davidson (2002)                     Oakley & Krug (1991)
  Dupuy (2002)                        Watkins & Mohr (2001)
  Eckes (2001)

Use threats, punishment, and    4   Motivate, reduce resistance,
  intimidation to move                kick-start change through
  change along                        punishments, threats, and "kick
                                      in thepants" tactics

Davidson (2002)                       Heller (1998)
Duck (2001)                           Miller (2002)

Note: # refers to the number of sources containing the theme.