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PurposeThis paper aims to examine the contribution that discourse analysis can make to understanding organizational change.Design/methodology/approachIt identifies five key contributions. Discourse analytic approaches: reveal the important role of discourse in the social construction of organizational change; demonstrate how the meaning attached to organizational change initiatives comes about as a result of a discursive process of negotiation among key actors; show that the discourses of change should be regarded as intertextual; provide a valuable multi‐disciplinary perspective on change; and exhibit a capacity, to generate fresh insights into a wide variety of organizational change related issues.FindingsTo illustrate these contributions the paper examines the five empirical studies included in this special issue. It discusses the potential for future discursive studies of organizational change phenomena and the implications of this for the field of organizational change more generally.Originality/valueProvides an introduction to the special issue on discourse and organizational change.

According to software vendors and consultants, EnterpriseResource Planning systems (ERPs) transform the nature, structure and management of work regardless of organisational context. This paper contests this technologically deterministic view of organisational change by demonstrating the role that discourse plays in the social construction of ERPs.

Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERPs) often fail to deliver the organisational benefits anticipated. This paper uses Orlikowski's 'technology-in-practice' framework to analyse the impact of an ERP on branch managers in a large bank. While this framework provides important insights intothe impact of ERPs, the case also highlights the significance of organisational factors in shaping how users enact technology at work.

PurposeThis paper aims to review the discursive formation of organizational change and to consider the possible directions that change management initiatives may take in the future.Design/methodology/approachThis closing piece identifies a traditional change discourse and an emerging change discourse. This is achieved through a review of the extant literature and the contributions to the special issue.FindingsThe paper highlights a shift of emphases in organizational change due to environmental imperatives. In particular, it reveals a move from problem‐centred, discrete interventions to a focus on continuous improvements. It also draws attention to the emerging significance of discourse‐based approaches concerned with image, identity, organizational learning and knowledge management.Originality/valueProvides a framework for classifying different forms of organizational change activity and posits directions for future development.