Sustainability of Change and Deep Organizational Structures: A Conceptual Framework

Abstract

In the present scenario of post-covid19, rapidly fluctuating and uncertain business environments, globalization, persistently changing technology and intense competition; organizations are compelled to engage in change initiatives, not only to survive in the short-run but rather to prosper in the long-run. But unfortunately most contemporary organizations struggle in the quest of making meaningful and sustainable changes. This failure of change to sustain in an organization is in large part due to the prevailing organizational structures, known as deep organizational structures. Deep organizational structures are implicit and stable organizational orders, carrying the inborn ability to enforce or limit any organizational change. This research paper presents an alternative perspective on sustainability of change, by proposing a framework for uncovering the socially constructed deep organizational structures co-created by the organizational members in a specific time frame, in order to explore whether these deep structures act as change facilitators or inhibitors in the context of sustainability of change.