Sources of Fidelity in Purposive Organizational Change: Lessons from a Re-engineering Case

The debate between adaptation and inertia hinges on whether theorists believe that organizations can effect purposive organizational change in which the realized structures match the planned structures. To date, research on organizational change has yielded few insights into the conditions under which such change occurs. This longitudinal case study of a re-engineering programme at a medium-sized bank examined the conditions under which elements of the planned structure were faithfully implemented. Elaborating a model of change "fidelity", this paper argues that the features of the design elements themselves, attributes of the change process, and general contextual factors affect the likelihood that planned changes will occur. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2003.