Implementation of Change in Human Service Organizations: A Political Economy Perspective

A political economy perspective is offered as the framework for analyzing the implementation of change in human service organizations. Change is defined as the modification of the resource-allocation rules in the organization, resulting in shifts of power among units in it. Its success or failure will be determined by the ability of the change agents to concomitantly bring about a favorable shift in the allocation of resources to support the change and the ascent to power of those within and without the organization supporting the change. Three clusters of organizational variables are identified as determinants of successful implementation of change: (a) organization-environment relations, (b) technological factors, and (c) internal power and inducement patterns.