Organizational change: a review of theoretical conceptions that explain how and why young firms change

Change in new ventures is a vibrant research topic. Scholars can draw on a number of theories that emerged as a result of decades of research in organizational and social sciences focused on large and established firms. A review on organizational change theories that address young firms is still missing. We aim to contribute to the academic debate by (1) providing a systematic analysis and classification of theoretical conceptions on organizational change in terms of main assumptions, nature and reason of change, and by (2) discussing their applicability in the context of young firms. This article may aid researchers to select appropriate theoretical conceptions to study change in young firms.