Using a Positive Lens to Explore Social Change and Organizations: Building a Theoretical and Research Foundation

How can application of a positive lens to understanding social change and organizations enrich and elaborate theory and practice? This is the core question that inspired this book. It is a question that brought together a diverse and talented group of researchers interested in change and organizations in different problem domains (sustainability, healthcare, and poverty alleviation). The contributors to this book bring different theoretical lenses to the question of social change and organizations. Some are anchored in more macro accounts of how and why social change processes occur, while others approach the question from a more psychological or social psychological perspective. Many of the chapters in the book travel across levels of analyses, making their accounts of social change good examples of multi-level theorizing. Some scholars are practiced and immersed in thinking about organizational phenomena through a positive lens; for others it was a total adventure in trying on a new set of glasses. However, connecting all contributing authors was an excitement and willingness to explore new insights and new angles on how to explain and cultivate social change within or across organizations. This edited volume will be of interest to an international community who seek to understand how organizations and people can generate positive outcomes for society. Students and researchers in organizational behavior, management, positive psychology, leadership and corporate responsibility will find this book of interest.

Karen Golden-Biddle is Everett W Lord Distinguished Faculty Scholar and Professor of Organizational Behavior at Boston University School of Management. She currently serves as Senior Associate Dean. Karen received her PhD from Case Western Reserve University. Her research interests focus on large-scale organizational change, cultural dynamics and micro-processes in change, and health system transformation. She also examines the process of theorizing in field-based research.

Jane E. Dutton is the Robert l. Kahn Distinguished University Professor of Business Administration and Psychology at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan. She is currently Associate Director of the Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship. Jane received her Ph.D from Northwestern University. Her research interests focus on organizations and compassion, high quality connections at work, job crafting and the dynamics of positive identities.