| dc.description.abstract | In the last decades, sustainability has become a more pressing topic in research, society, business and policy alike. Oftentimes, the focus of organisations is on technocratic solutions, such as production processes and raw material use. However, for many organisations implementing technical sustainability solutions is a big change in behavior for their employees. Hence, the human side of sustainability should not be neglected. This is where organisational change management is useful, as it can provide insight in how to make a change lasting. Organisational change towards sustainability is studied often in the private sector, while the public sector has not often served as the empirical context. This is where this research fills a gap in literature. It studies eight pilots and projects in the procurement office of Dutch central government, in which the transition is made from a linear product to a circular one. Literature on organisational change in public organisations, and literature on organisational change towards sustainability in the private sector is combined in a conceptual framework based on Lewin (1947)’s three-step model of organisational change. It focuses on drivers of change, barriers to change, and strategies to effect the change over time in three phases (unfreeze, move, freeze). Through desk research and semi-structured interviews the conceptual model is tested in the empirical context. The data is subsequently coded in NVivo. In the initial stages of the change process, main drivers of change include intrinsic motivation, leadership, and the government’s exemplary role. As the change progresses, cost savings, leadership and the organisational culture move it forward. Early in the change process, main barriers include organisational culture, lack of knowledge, misunderstandings and lack of resources, while in later stages increased costs, ill fit with current systems, lack of knowledge and organisational culture inhibit the change process. The most important strategy identified was communication and discussion, but leadership, collaboration across departments and with external parties, research and empowerment were also identified often. Overall, this study was partly able to confirm the conceptual model, but also found contradictions, and found drivers, barriers and strategies previously not seen in literature. This way, it was able to provide new insights on organisational change management for sustainability in public organisations. | |
