Abstract

The field of change management (CM) is different than its cousin, action research (AR). The difference centres on the preference for either ‘social construction’ (SC) or what we will understand here by the name ‘social materiality’ (SM). There are five dominant discursive formations of practice that populate the Academy of Management and management consulting practice in general: Organization Development (OD), Change Management (CM), Action Science (AS), Action Research (AR; and Participative Action Research, PAR) and Appreciative Inquiry (AI). All five practice discourses nominate Kurt Lewin as their founding father. However, each has moved away from their founder.