Change competence: An integrative literature review

Area of Science:

• Organizational Studies
• Management Science
• Change Management

Background:

• Organizations continuously evolve due to external environmental shifts.
• Existing theories offer insights into organizational change but lack a holistic view of competence dynamics.
• A gap exists in fully understanding competence within the context of rapid organizational evolution.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore and consolidate the concept of competence in organizational change.
• To provide a nuanced understanding of change competence across organizational levels.
• To develop a framework for effective change management strategies.

Main Methods:

• An integrative literature review was conducted.
• 3,230 studies were screened for relevance and quality.
• 32 high-quality studies were selected for in-depth analysis.

Main Results:

• Organizational change is multi-layered, with varying prerequisites across hierarchical levels.
• Change competence is not uniform; it differs between operational and strategic contexts.
• A level-dependent variability in change competence was observed throughout the organizational hierarchy.

Conclusions:

• Change competence is a dual-faceted construct: leveraging existing competence and developing new competence.
• This conceptualization addresses evolving demands from internal and external change drivers.
• The findings facilitate more effective strategies for managing organizational change.