Towards an understanding of the human resource in the context of change in the NHS: economic sense versus cultural sensibilities?

The concepts involved in the process of managing change successfully in respect of the management of human resources are as complex as they are contentious, with arguments and counter-arguments espoused weekly in the seemingly ever-growing plethora of literature available. The following paper attempts to present a critical analysis of the management of change from the perspective of the human resource and to debate the relative merits pertaining to the imperatives of organizational design and culture, in conjunction with a plea to recognize and respect peoples' needs and feelings, in relation to the impact of internal market reform upon management practice within the context of the contemporary National Health Service (NHS). The paper is predicated upon the dual beliefs that people and organizations are dynamic entities being located both temporally and socially, and that any constructed criterions of success must, therefore, be evaluated not only in terms of the specific individual and/or organizational parameters but also in terms of the relative cultural, moral, philosphical and political ethos, and that as the human race largely survives and operates via organization, which in itself has to be managed, controlled and developed, managers are, therefore, a vital element of any successful organization.