Three approaches: tool, process and social transformation
We initiated our qualitative literature review by searching and collecting research
articles published between 1995 and 2007. This time period was chosen partly since we
wanted to embrace the more recent research, partly since Lewis and Seibold’s (1998)
review ends with articles published in 1995. The search was delimited to the keywords
organizational change and communication, and resulted in 230 hits. We reduced the
number of articles by reading the summaries and excluding articles that either were
articles in trade journals or did not treat the subject. After this procedure,
approximately 100 articles remained, which we read thoroughly. Shortly, we found
articles with a more traditional realist epistemology and “alternative” articles.
Additional reading and discussing gradually resulted in three different approaches of
communication during organizational change:
(1) communication as a tool;
(2) communication as a socially constructed process; and
(3) communication as social transformation (Table I).
These approaches will be discussed in the following sections