Exploring the Hidden Aspect of Organizational Change: the Constellation of Controls at a FCA Plant

This paper examines and interprets the concept of organizational change using a critical (post-structuralist) approach. The authors aimed to investigate the ‘hidden’ aspects of change, understanding this process as a specific combination of material and discursive practices used by management to regulate employee behaviours. The study explored the relationships between the process of change and the design of the constellation of controls – material controls and discursive regulations – used at the Fiat-Chrysler Automotive plant in Pomigliano D’Arco, in Italy. It found that new rules, organizational solutions and discursive practices often reproduced traditional systems of control. The rationale for organizational change was oriented towards improving flexibility, autonomy and empowerment, but in practice, the changes ex-tended standardization and self-regulation, and made them more comprehensive