2.1.1. The causes of change

There are many causes which trigger change in an organisation. Since organisations can be seen as systems which receive inputs from their external environment and release outputs back into it, changes in the external environment have a direct impact on the organisation. They influence its performance, strategy, structure, the services it offers, and its way of operating, including its human resource management.

Some analysts found it useful to group these external triggers for change into different categories: political, legal, economic, technological, and sociocultural² (PLETS).

Change" class="wp-image-10549 size-full" height="390" src="https://sgbs.ch/wp-content/uploads/Figure-2-External-Causes-of-Change.png" width="550"> Figure 2: External Causes of Change

Causes of change are multi-dimensional, happen simultaneously, and often interact one with another.

Beyond these external causes of change, there are also internal ones, such as changes in management or organisational strategy. External and internal causes for change are often interdependent. It is important to understand the different drivers for change and to analyze how they affect the prosperity and survival of the organisation.

² See Senior, B.: Organisational Change, London 1997, p.15