Commentary on ‘Democracy and worker representation in the management of change: Lessons from Kurt Lewin and the Harwood Studies’

Abstract

This brief commentary highlights the importance of three key points in Desmond and Wilson’s (2018) critique of Coch and French’s (1948) study of resistance to change: (1) researchers need to make explicit the normative frame of reference guiding their research; (2) care is needed to consider the roles that formal or informal worker organizations have on organizational processes and outcomes; and (3) more attention needs to be paid to the expectations that workers have for a voice in organizational policies and workplace conditions.