Change literature identifies various change targets in organizational settings, like strategy, people, relationships, processes, and technology (Seo, Putnam, & Bartunek, 2004). Perceiving an organization as a dynamically complex social system can help focus limited change resources on individual, group, and culture. These dimensions of an organizing system are not separate parts but also are dynamically interconnected dimensions that build on the previous level: individuals form the group; individuals and groups form the culture. However, this influence not only radiates from individual to group to culture but dynamically interacts among all social dimensions within an organization’s boundaries, affecting the organization’s ability to adapt to the environment outside its boundaries.

Starting with these assumptions, this section will explore the following:

• Emerging understanding of targets for social change in organizational settings;
• Common intervention approaches for each social dimension and;
• The viability and risks of isolating dynamically interrelated parts of an organizing system for intervention.\