Pinpointing the Deeper Structures, Processes and Mechanisms of Change within Interactional Fields

Abstract

This paper seeks to understand how we might identify the “underlying logics” and “deeper structures” that bring about change in phenomena. We argue that this represents a move from a classical perspective focusing on discrete exchange, and that this requires a processual or relational approach to understanding in contrast to a substantialist or variables-based approach. One way of advancing our understanding of the emergence of change is to consider the site of interaction. That is the interactional field where actors act and interact with other actors and entities as well as the broader environment; where resources are exchanged, imported or exported; where change is instigated and transferred across time and space. We suggest interactional fields are the sites of plasticity where change actually takes place. To understand the causal structure and processes taking place in an interactional field we draw on the concept of natural and social kinds. We discuss how interactional fields are located in time and space, which influence and are influenced by the trajectories of change and development. While we believe this applies to change in general we apply our thinking to organizational change.

The dynamics of networked power in a concentrated business network

“…Mechanisms are understood as entities which under similar conditions have the causal power to generate similar effects (Bunge, 1979;Augier and March, 2004). They are social mechanisms which are made up of entities with properties and activities that produce change (Hedberg and Swedberg, 1998;Mason, Easton and Lenney, 2013;Buttriss and Wilkinson, 2014). According to Bunge (1997) the configuration of these entities with its activities and interactions give them causal powers.…”

“…According to Bunge (1997) the configuration of these entities with its activities and interactions give them causal powers. We therefore view mechanisms as processes that can be attributed explanatory power (Mason, Easton and Lenney, 2013;Buttriss and Wilkinson, 2014).…”

Morphogenetic Service Ecosystems: An emergentist analysis of the mechanisms of service ecosystem transformation

“…Literature recognises the under-researched nature of both change as a heterogeneous feature which is infrequent, discontinuous and intentional while also ongoing and evolving (Buttriss & Wilkinson, 2014;Giesler & Fischer, 2017;Kjellberg, Azimont, & Reid, 2015;Mele et al, 2015;Nenonen et al, 2014;Storbacka & Nenonen, 2015;Sutton-Brady, 2008;Tronvoll et al, 2018).…”

“…Similarly, stability and change are seen as antithetical, rather than intertwined or as often constitutive (Buttriss & Wilkinson, 2014;Farjoun, 2010;Kjellberg et al, 2015;Nenonen et al, 2014;Sutton-Brady, 2008). The reliance on a narrow focus of strategic action or generic deterministic stage-model approaches has been criticised for restricting the understanding of the complexity associated with interactions and contingencies within multiple actors and their direct and indirect relations across multiple systems (Ford & Håkansson, 2006;Mele et al, 2015).…”

“…Relatedly, literature asserts that continuous change, fluidity, and processes over time are underexamined in marketing (Buttriss & Wilkinson, 2014;Fonfara, Ratajczak-Mrozek, & Leszczyński, 2016). This domain includes both a recognition of shifting focus from a static background to 'a seething mass of events and processes' and the constancy of flows of activity continually reconstituting apparently stable phenomena (Buttriss & Wilkinson, 2014;Lowe & Rod, 2018;Nenonen et al, 2014).…”