The Systems Constellation as an Instrument for Change Agents: A Case Study, General Conceptual Model and Exploration of Intervention Effects

407 Pages·2018·4.94 MB·English

by  Kai Bulling

Systemaufstellungen in Wissenschaft und Praxis
Kai Bulling
The Systems
Constellation
as an Instrument
for Change Agents
A Case Study, General Conceptual Model
and Exploration of Intervention Effects
Systemaufstellungen in Wissenschaft
und Praxis
Reihe herausgegeben von
G. Müller-Christ, Bremen, Germany
In dieser Schriftenreihe werden Beiträge veröffentlicht, die Systemaufstellungen
entweder als neue Methode der qualitativen Sozialforschung oder als Instrument
des komplexen Entscheidens in Organisationen erforschen und anwenden. Sys-
temaufstellungen bieten in Wissenschaft und Praxis neue Herangehensweisen,
um komplexe Systeme und Fragestellungen visualisieren und verstehen zu kön-
nen. Prof. Dr. Georg Müller-Christ bildet Doktorand/innen und Praktiker/innen
in der Anwendung dieser Methode an der Universität Bremen aus und ermuntert
sie im Fachgebiet Nachhaltiges Management, Systemaufstellungen als Instru-
ment der qualitativen Datenerhebung in ihren Forschungsarbeiten anzuwenden. In
dieser Schriftenreihe werden diese Dissertationen und weitere Forschungsbände
veröffentlicht.
Weitere Bände in der Reihe http://www.springer.com/series/16194
Kai Bulling
The Systems Constellation
as an Instrument for
Change Agents
A Case Study, General C onceptual
Model and Exploration of Intervention
Effects
With a foreword by Prof. Dr. Georg Müller-Christ
Kai Bulling
Bremen, Germany
Dissertation University of Bremen, 2018
Colloquium held on June 18th, 2018 in Bremen
Assessors: Prof. Dr. Georg Müller-Christ
Prof. Dr. Heiko Kleve
ISSN 2524-7085 ISSN 2524-7093 (electronic)
Systemaufstellungen in Wissenschaft und Praxis
ISBN 978-3-658-24907-6 ISBN 978-3-658-24908-3 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-24908-3
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018965170
Springer Gabler
© Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, part of Springer Nature 2018
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Foreword
The dissertation of Kai Bulling brings together several innovations in content and
methodology that lead to very interesting insights for shaping organizational
change. As an employee of a quality department in an international corporation,
he helped to conduct and systematically reflected a process of redesigning a
quality auditing approach by means of action research. He was able to convince
the department to accompany this process with system constellations, a method
that was initially unknown to both the department and himself. In the course of
one year, four intervention cycles were conducted. The constellations at their
center, held at the University of Bremen, were the basis for the involved man-
agers to examine the existing quality auditing approach and the change initiative
that transformed it. University students were involved as representatives in
these constellations that I led as the constellator. This gave me as the academic
supervisor of the study a very deep insight into the learning process of the de-
partment and also allowed me to participate and witness the generation of es-
sential insights first-hand.
In organizational consulting processes, constellations have been carried out for
quite some time. To my knowledge, Kai Bulling’s dissertation is the first concrete
case study that scientifically reflects on organizational constellations in order to
describe the specific effects these can have. It is particularly remarkable that he,
as a trained operations researcher, has through this experience identified the
constellation method as a powerful tool for managers that in many circum-
stances can simulate organizational processes and bring about very valuable
results for clients very quickly. His competence in operations research may also
explain the many complex, yet clear and understandable illustrations that can
be found in this work. In addition, the model of the intervention process for sys-
tems constellations that he developed creates a new level of structure and trans-
parency around the systems constellation. This analytical approximation makes
the method more accessible specifically also for practitioners with a more ra-
tional approach to their craft.
It is Kai Bulling's specific merit to integrate a method that makes use of intuition
into an organizational change process that - as in many large corporations - is
usually mainly instructed by analysis and rationality. He has thus further opened
the door to a modern management theory that makes it possible to make better
informed systemic decisions in companies.
Bremen, October 2018
Prof. Dr. Georg Müller-Christ
Publisher of the Series
V
Acknowledgements
The sense of achievement for completing this project, should I say journey, or
better even personal expedition is greatly outweighed by the feeling of grateful-
ness for those that have been supporters or companions along the way - in
whole or in part. I apologize that the words that follow must due to their brevity
be bound to tremendously understate their intended magnitude, and that not all
those on my mind when compiling them are explicitly mentioned.
I owe my academic supervisor Prof. Dr. Georg Müller-Christ for his openness to
engage in a project with a stranger, his continued support and resilient as much
as contagious passion for the systems constellation. Likewise I also thank my
second examiner Prof. Dr. Heiko Kleve for sharing the passion for subject and
method as well as his effort and time.
I want to thank my parents, Iris and Klaus, and my Grandmother, Frieda, for
keeping me on track to the finish despite whatever would or could be - entirely
for getting to the start line and for being so close despite the distance. Dela for
her warmth, support, endurance in bearing with me and all these escapes to the
right places in just the right moments.
Thorsten, for much more than creating the opportunity for and his openness to
conduct this project but also for a near endless source of positivity, friendship,
honesty, confidence way beyond the moments where mine lacked somewhat
and support in so many ways. Coral and Holger for letting themselves in on this
experiment and for contributing their experiences for this study.
Dan for fighting through a manuscript that seemed far from finished; Fil for the
same, and for his wisdom, esteem, inspiration and friendship. Christian also for
his endurance in listening and absorbing the (very, of course) occasional lack of
clarity or sense of direction. Denis and Oli for helping out in Bremen when a
lonely external researcher miles away from academic homeland got stuck.
And finally my thanks go to my friends that willfully overlooked the occasional
mental absence in their presence when thoughts went for a spin where they
were to rest.

Hamburg, October 2018
Kai Bulling

VII
Contents
1 Introduction and Research Approach ..................................................... 1
1.1 The Structure of the Study ................................................................. 1
1.2 The Impetus for this Research Project ............................................... 3
1.2.1 Organizational Change as a Persisting Challenge ................... 3
1.2.2 The SC: a Promising Instrument for Organizational Change? .. 4
1.3 Current State of Research: the SC and Organizational Change ........ 4
1.4 Research Objectives and Research Questions ................................. 7
1.5 Research Methodology ...................................................................... 8
1.5.1 Research Understanding .......................................................... 9
1.5.2 Research Approach and Design ............................................. 15
1.5.3 Linking the Structure of the Study to the Adopted Research
Process ................................................................................... 21
1.5.4 Research Methods: Data Generation and Analysis ................ 23
1.5.5 Operationalization of Quality Criteria for Qualitative
Research ................................................................................. 26
2 Organizational Change and Change Management: Phenomenon,x
Task and Approaches ............................................................................. 29
2.1 Structure of this Section ................................................................... 29
2.2 Organizational Change, Organizational Development, Change
Management?– Coming to Terms .................................................... 30
2.2.1 Defining Organizational Change ............................................. 30
2.2.2 Main Schools of thought: Individual, Group Dynamic and
Open Systems ......................................................................... 32
2.3 Perspective 1: Organizational Change as an Observable
Phenomenon .................................................................................... 35
2.3.1 Characterizing Change: Types, Patterns, Varieties ................ 35
2.3.2 An Observational Framework Based on Change
Characteristics ........................................................................ 45
2.4 Perspective 2: Organizational Change as a Task ............................ 48
2.4.1 Introduction: Chapter Structure and Objectives ...................... 48
2.4.2 The Organization of Organizational Change: Types of
Involvement ............................................................................. 48
2.5 Perspective 2: Tools and Methods for Organizational Change ........ 57
2.5.1 Tools, Instruments, Methods, Models et al – Coming to
Terms ...................................................................................... 57
2.5.2 Process Change Methods: the How of Change ...................... 61
IX
2.5.3 Change Tools for Organizational Diagnosis ........................... 76
3 The Systems Constellation – a Brief Introduction ............................... 93
3.1 Historical Development and Theoretical Foundations ...................... 93
3.2 The Usual Procedure – a Brief, Exemplary Description ................... 93
3.3 Selected Formats and Setups .......................................................... 95
3.4 Effects of the SC: (Some) Empirical Evidence ................................. 98
3.5 Scope of Application ......................................................................... 99
3.6 Applying the Systems Constellation in a Management Context ..... 101
3.6.1 Potential Friction Points with Managerial Practice ................ 101
3.6.2 Resonance with the Task of Organizational Change ............ 102
3.7 Author’s Initial Take on the SC ....................................................... 103
4 The Case Study: A new Quality Auditing Approach for an FMCG
Company ................................................................................................ 105
4.1 Case Study Context ....................................................................... 105
4.1.1 Functional Context: Quality Management and Quality
Audits .................................................................................... 106
4.1.2 Industrial Context: Fast Moving Consumer Goods and
Personal Care ....................................................................... 109
4.1.3 The Partnering Enterprise ..................................................... 111
4.1.4 The Change Initiative: Quality Auditing ................................. 111
4.2 Information Applicable to all Intervention Cycles ........................... 114
4.3 Intervention Cycle 1 – Q1 2015 ...................................................... 117
4.3.1 Cycle Description and Status of Initiative .............................. 117
4.3.2 Intervention Process Structure .............................................. 117
4.3.3 Intervention Content .............................................................. 119
4.3.4 Research Findings from Cycle 1: .......................................... 129
4.4 Intervention Cycle 2 – Q2 2015 ...................................................... 137
4.4.1 Cycle Description and Status of Initiative .............................. 137
4.4.2 Intervention Process Structure .............................................. 139
4.4.3 Intervention Content .............................................................. 142
4.4.4 Research Findings – Cycle 2 ............................................... 149
4.5 Intervention Cycle 3 ........................................................................ 158
4.5.1 Cycle Description and Status of Initiative .............................. 158
4.5.2 Intervention Process Structure .............................................. 159
4.5.3 Intervention Content .............................................................. 163
4.5.4 Research Findings – Cycle 3 ................................................ 167
X
4.6 Intervention Cycle 4 – Q4 2015 ...................................................... 178
4.6.1 Cycle Description and Status of Initiative .............................. 178
4.6.2 Intervention Process Structure .............................................. 179
4.6.3 Intervention Content .............................................................. 180
4.6.4 Research Findings – Cycle 4 ................................................ 186
5 Interpretation and Research Results ................................................... 197
5.1 The Systems Constellation as a Method for Managing
Organizational Change ................................................................... 197
5.1.1 The Case Study’s Contextual Characteristics ....................... 198
5.1.2 Summary of Case Study Findings ......................................... 201
5.1.3 Relating Case Study Findings to Previous Research on
the SC ................................................................................... 208
5.1.4 Relating Case Study Findings to Effective Change Agency . 209
5.1.5 Relating Case Study Findings to Process Methods for
Change Management ............................................................ 212
5.1.6 Relating Case Study Findings to Organizational Diagnosis
Tools ..................................................................................... 219
5.2 Methodical Insights ......................................................................... 229
5.2.1 Proposal for an Integrated SC-Intervention Process in a
Team Setting ......................................................................... 229
5.2.2 Client’s Evolving Perception of the Systems Constellation ... 232
5.2.3 Emerging Insight: Method Acceptance as a Systematic
Challenge in Management Contexts ..................................... 234
6 A General Conceptualization of the Systems Constellation as a
Management Intervention ..................................................................... 237
6.1 Reasoning for and Constraints of a Modular Conceptual Model .... 238
6.2 Constructing the Model .................................................................. 241
6.2.1 Applied Modelling Principles and Resulting Model
Properties .............................................................................. 241
6.2.2 Ordering Moment 1: Context of Application .......................... 242
6.2.3 Ordering Moment 2: The Intervention Process ..................... 243
6.2.4 Ordering Moment 3: Functional Elements and Activities ...... 245
6.2.5 Structuring the Effect of the SC Intervention Process ........... 248
6.3 Phase 1: Preparing the Constellation ............................................. 252
6.3.1 Element 1: Defining the Client Concern ................................ 253
6.3.2 Element 2: Exploring the Context.......................................... 255
6.3.3 Phase 1 – Summary .............................................................. 263
XI