Abstract
This article addresses salient conceptual issues in social organisational psychology in probing change in organisational systems, e.g., culture, innovation and implementation, reflective practice and change models. Insights from chaos–complexity research in the natural sciences which underpin the dynamics of flux and change to unravel the hidden, the unexplained, the disordered will be built on to explore the phenomena of change from a social psychological perspective. The concept of nano-psychology is introduced to open up a creative debate in the social psychological field on creative change which builds on the nano-insights evolving in the natural science field.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Argyris C (1990) Overcoming organizational defenses: facilitating organizational learning. Allyn and Bacon, Boston
Baer M, Frése M (2003) Innovation is not enough: climates for initiative and psychological safety, process innovations and firm performance. J Organ Behav 24:45–68
Berger JG, Atkins PWB (2009) Mapping complexity of mind, using the subject object interview in coaching. Int J Theory Res Pract 2:23–36
Berry JW, Kim U (1993) The way ahead: from indigenous psychologies to a universal psychology. In: Kim U, Berry JW (eds) Indigenous psychologies: research and experience in cultural context. Sage Publications, London
Bete P (1990) Using the culture concept in an organisational development setting. J Appl Behav Sci 26:83–106
Bohm D (1980) Wholeness and the implicate order. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London
Burston D (1992) Erich Fromm und die Frankfurter Schule. In: Kessler M, Funk R (eds) Akten des internationalen, interdisziplinären Symposions Stuttgart-Hohenheim vom 31. 5. bis 2. 6. 1991, Tübingen (Francke Verlag), pp 61–68
Eliot TS (1936) The rock. In: Eliot TS (ed) An anthology. Faber and Faber, London
Enriquez F (1993) Latvian Limon un Ragana Kuka [Unknown Binding], Peanut Butter Pub
Freud S (1938) The psychopathology of everyday life. In: Brill AA (ed) The basic writings of Sigmund Freud. Random House, New York, pp 33–178
Gannon MJ (1994) Understanding global cultures: metaphorical journey through 17 countries. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA
Geertz C (1973) The interpretation of culture. Basic Books, New York
Gleick J (1987) Chaos: making a new science. Sphere Books Ltd., London
Goleman D (2006) Social intelligence in the new science of social relatedness. Hutchinson, London
Griswold W (1994) Culture and societies in a changing world. Pine Forge Press, London
Hall E, Hall M (1990) Understanding cultural difference. International Press, Yarmouth, ME
Harré R (1981) The positivist-empiricist approach and its alternative. In: Reason Peter, Power John (eds) Human inquiry: a sourcebook of new paradigm research. John Wiley, New York
Harrison JR (1987) The strategic use of organisational cultures. California Manag Rev 30(1):109–125
Harrison R, Stokes H (1992) Diagnosing organisational culture. Pfeiffer and Co., Amsterdam
Heisenberg W (1958) A physicist's conception of nature. Hutchinson, London
Heisenberg W (1971) Physics and beyond. Harper & Row, New York
Herskovitz MJ (1955) Cultural anthropology. Knopf, NY
Hofstede G (1984) Culture’s consequences: international differences in work-related values. Sage Publications, Beverly Hills
Hofstede G (1991) Cultures and organisations: software of the mind. McGraw-Hill, New York
Hollway W (1989) Subjectivity and method in psychology: gender meaning and science. Sage Publications, London
Howard GS (1991) Culture tales: a narrative approach to thinking, cross-cultural psychology and psychotherapy. Am Psychol 46:187–197
Jantsch E (1980) The self-organising universe: scientific and human implications of the emerging paradigm of evolution. Pergamon Press, Oxford
Jung CG (1963) Memories, dreams, reflections. Pantheon Press, New York
Klein KJ, Knight AP (2005) Innovation implementation, overcoming the challenge. APA Curr Dir Psychol Sci 114(5):243–246
Klein KJ, Sorra JS (1996) The challenge of innovation implementation. Acad Manag Rev 21:1055–1080
Klein KJ, Conn AB, Sorra JS (2001) Implementing computerized technology: an organizational analysis. J Appl Psychol 86:811–824
Kleinman A (1980) Patients and healers in context of culture. University of California Press, Berkeley
Lewin K (1947) Frontiers in group dynamics: channels of group life: social planning and action research. Hum Relat 1:143–153
Lincoln YS, Guba EG (1985) Naturalistic inquiry. Sage Publications, California
Lotman YM, Uspensky BA, Ivanov VV, Toporov UN, Piatigorsky AM (1975) Theses on the semiotic study of cultures (as Applied to Slavic Texts)
Mair M (1988) Psychology as storytelling. Int J Pers Constr Psychol 1:125–138
Mandelbrot BB (1982) The fractal geometry of nature. W.H. Freeman, New York
Maturana H, Varela F (1980) Autopoiesis and cognition: the realization of the living. Reide, London
McCarthy E (1993) Chaos and organisational change. Thornfield J 16:25–32
McCarthy E (1996) Culture, mind, and technology: making a difference. In: Gill KS (ed) Human machine symbiosis. Spinger, London, pp 143–176
McCarthy E, Tiernan J (2013) Nano psychology: charting new frameworks for the implicit, hidden, invisible in psychology (research initiative). Social and Organisational Psychology Research Centre, University College Dublin
Mead GH (1912) The mechanism of social consciousness. J Philos 9:401–406
Mead M (1954) Methods of research of contemporary cultures. Reissued as understanding ourselves: theory and method in anthropologies of contemporary western cultures. Berghahn Books, Spring 2004
Morgan G (1986) Images of organisations. Sage Publications Inc., London
Nutt PC (1976) Models for decision making in organizations and some contextual variables which stipulate optimal use. Acad of Manag Rev 1(2):84–98
Pettigrew AM (1979) On studying organisational cultures. Administrative science quarterly. Qual Methodol 24(4):570–581
Posner R (1989) Toward a semiotic explication of anthropological concepts. In: Kock WA (ed) The nature of culture. Bochum, Brockmeyer, pp 240–295
Prigogine I, Stengers J (1984) Order out of chaos. Heinemann, London
Pringle R (2013) Life imitates art: cybords, cinema and future scenarios. The Futurist, July–August 47(4):31–34
Repenning NP, Sterman JD (2002) Capability traps and self-confirming attribution errors in the dynamics of process improvement. Adm Sci Q 47:265–295
Schein EH (1990) Organisational culture. Am psychol 45(2):109–119
Schön D (1983) The reflective practitioner. Basic Books, New York
Schwartz P, Ogilvy J (1979) The emergent paradigm: changing patterns of thought and belief. Analytical report 7 value and lifestyles programme. RI International, Menlo Park, CA
Senge P (1979) The dance of change: the challenges to sustaining momentum in a learning organization. Doubleday, New York
Tiernan J (1994) Social perception: towards an ecological approach. Thornfield J 17:9–15
Triandis HC (1972) The analysis of subjective culture. Wiley-Interscience, New York
Triandis H (1994) Culture and social behaviour. McGraw-Hill Co., New York
Trist EL (1989) Work improvement and organisational democracy. In: Trist EL, Murray H (eds) The social engagement of social science, vol 2. Tavistock Institute, London
Turkle S (2011) Alone together: why do we expect more from technology and less from each other. Basic Books, New York
Weick K (1979) The social psychology of organising, 2nd edn. Reading, Addison-Wesley, MA
Yonck R (2011) Treading in the sea of data. The Futurist, July–August 45(4):32–36
Zaleznik A (1989) The managerial mystique: restoring leadership in business. Harper & Row, New York
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
McCarthy, E. The dynamics of culture, innovation and organisational change: a nano-psychology future perspective of the psycho-social and cultural underpinnings of innovation and technology. AI & Soc 28, 471–482 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-013-0512-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-013-0512-9