Transition as a ubiquitous and a continuous process: overcoming the Western view

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on transition as an important concept in the current theories of change. In the Western thought, transition and change are concepts used interchangeably. Defined as transformations from one frozen state to another, they are perceived to be led and ‘owned’ by managers and leaders. In order to shed a new light on the concept of transition, we use the traditional Chinese thought interpreted by the French philosopher François Jullien who brings our attention to the potential of the situation beyond the human agency. Transitions are viewed as continuous and ubiquitous and not as step-wise processes limited between a starting and an ending point. In fact, this generic process is at the same time continuation and modification, and part of the natural evolution of life. Therefore, we advocate for pragmatic institutions in order to manage the transition periods as well as leaders ‘in shadow’ who do not ‘own’ the process of change and thus, can better accompany the transition periods without directly opposing the situation.

KEYWORDS:

• Transition
• change
• Chinese wisdom
• François Jullien

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Olga Ivanova is an associate professor of Marketing at ICN Business School, France. Her research interests lie in studying the social evaluation of organizations. Her research has been published in Human Relations, European Journal of Innovation Management, Baltic Journal of Management, Journal of Corporate Citizenship and Journal of East European Management Studies.

Sybille Persson is a professor of Human Resources and Organizational Behavior at ICN Business School, France. She established the School of Coaching at ICN. She conducts interdisciplinary research by combining management sciences and philosophy. Her research has been published in Business Strategy and the Environment, M@n@gement, Management and Organization Review, Human Resource Management Review.

Notes

1. http://www.worldsrichestcountries.com.