Change has become a defining feature of modern life. Over the past decades, many authors have noted that the pace of change is steadily increasing. Recent global events – such as the COVID-19 pandemic, political upheavals, environmental challenges, and technological disruptions – show that change affects societies, nature, organizations, and individuals ubiquitously. Long-term trends such as digitalization, demographic shifts, globalization, climate change, and new technologies continue to transform our world rapidly. Some changes are predictable and evolve over time, while others appear suddenly and unexpectedly. In some views, change is exceptional – something that happens only at certain times. In others, change is the normal condition of organizational life, with societes, individuals and organizations constantly adjusting and realigning.

Although change can be contextualized in many ways, this dissertation focuses on organizational change. Organizations change for several reasons. They may seek to improve performance, remain competitive, respond to crises, adopt new technologies, or adapt to market or regulatory shifts. Consequently, the study of change has produced a wide range of theories and approaches. Some theories explain why change happens by examining drivers such as internal power dynamics, leadership decisions, technology, markets, or crises. Some theories examine how change unfolds, emphasizing the step-by-step processes, events, and interactions through which change becomes reality, while other theories describe the nature of change, distinguishing between gradual and continuous change, large-scale transformation, or carefully planned and structured change.

Despite the wealth of research, organizations continue to struggle with change. Many change initiatives fail to achieve their goals, and there is no single proven recipe that guarantees successful change. Existing change management approaches can be confusing or even contradictory, leaving organizations with a wide array of options but little clarity about which methods to choose. As organizations face increasing complexity and multiple concurrent changes, the ability to manage change effectively has become essential for survival and success. Consequently, the topic of organizational change is a highly contemporary subject of research.
As a dissertation’s scope is limited, this dissertation focuses on planned organizational change, meaning the intentional efforts that organizations undertake to move toward a desired future state. Planned change is deliberate; it is designed and managed through models, frameworks, and structured practices.

Many empirical advances depict specific contexts where organizations are managing distinct planned change initiatives or specific types of planned changes. Examples of these are, e.g., studies examining planned change management in mergers and acquisitions, IT system implementations, hybrid work/workplace changes, circular economy change or digital transformation. This dissertation, however, takes an integrative angle by examining how large companies manage planned change above and beyond distinct planned change initiatives. Consequently, this dissertation studies how large companies manage planned change in general, beyond individual planned change initiatives (e.g., change programs, projects etc.).

In this dissertation, research was carried out via three themes and, consequently, three articles. The first article explores who is responsible for planned change management in large companies. As existing planned change theories seem to partly overlook the roles of individuals, teams, and networks dedicated to planned change management, the first part of the dissertation examines what kinds of “change organizations” (networks, teams and individuals) dedicated to planned change management exist in large companies. The second article assesses what kinds of change management practices are used in planned change management across industries. In parallel, it studies how change management practices relate to change management models. The third article adopts a wider perspective by empirically studying organizational change capability (OCC). Although the concept of OCC is recognized as important, current definitions are vague and mostly theoretical. The third article therefore explores what large organizations themselves consider as the key elements of organizational change capability.

This dissertation draws on principles of engaged scholarship by involving practitioners early in the research process to ensure the findings are both academically grounded and practically meaningful. Applying an engaged scholarship approach, this dissertation’s research questions are explored through a qualitative multiple case study involving eleven large companies in Finland. A total of 33 executives, managers, and specialists dedicated to planned change management in their respective organizations were interviewed.

This dissertation’s main contribution is in disclosing, via an empirically grounded approach, how large companies manage planned organizational change in general – beyond specific planned change initiatives. As regards more specific theoretical contributions, this dissertation contributes to theorizing on planned change management, the literature on change management practices as well as theorizing on organizational change capability, via itse three articles. Furthermore, based on the findings of this dissertation, an empirically grounded framework for developing organizational change capability in planned change management is presented. Using this approach, planned change management may be analyzed and developed in organizations – beyond specific change initiatives.