Human Relations Paper of the Year award to SOM researchers
VBS researchers Steve Cummings and Todd Bridgman have won 'Paper of the Year' for their article rethinking the history of change management in Human Relations.
An article on pioneer psychologist Kurt Lewin's approach to change management by School of Management (SOM) academics Professor Steve Cummings, Dr Todd Bridgman, and co-researcher Professor Kenneth Brown has been named Paper of the Year 2016 by the journal Human Relations.
'Unfreezing change as three steps: Rethinking Kurt Lewin’s legacy for change management' has also recently become the journal’s most read/downloaded article, and reprinted in a special issue edited by Professor Paul Edwards to mark the journal's 70th anniversary.
The Human Relations Paper of the Year Award is given to an article that the journal's editorial team considers best encapsulates broad readership appeal, sound methods, and whose theory advances understanding of human relations at work.
Their paper, which looked at how Lewin's much hailed three-step approach to change management has been widely misinterpreted, emerged a clear winner from a shortlist of nine articles from 2016.
Professor Cummings said they were grateful to Victoria Business School for supporting their application for a research grant, which was used to produce a short video summary of the article (see YouTube link above).
"The innovative video animation which summarises our findings in a visually interesting way has greatly increased the readership of our paper, and shows how social media can enhance the impact of academic research."