Sustainability and innovative organisational change : Identifying and dealing with non-synchronised processes in a rapidly changing environment

Abstract

The meaning and possibilities of the concept of sustainability are in focus in a
secondary analysis based on a case study of learning and organisational renewal. The business area studied is new product development within the telecom branch. The studied unit went through thorough and innovative renewal – as new managers were appointed, and its field of activity and ways of organising work were changed. This case study is used for critical reflection on the sustainability concept through highlighting its complexity. Sustainability is related to processes concerning four different aspects of the ongoing business: in products, in organisation structure, in principles related to how work is organised, and for individuals. In a rapidly changing environment sustainability can be understood as the ability to interpret and deal with the complexity, alterations and dynamics – through time and over levels – of non-synchronised processes. Discussing sustainability requires both an awareness of which aspects to include and consider, and a time perspective long enough to experience the different phases of ups and downs.