Academic Commentary: Permanently Changing? Operationalising Research into Organisational Change in the Third Sector

Organisations are never static; they are changing all the time. Unsurprisingly, actors in ‘third sector organisations’ (the diverse array of organisations that do not fit into the ideal type constructs of market or state organisations) experience and implement change in many different ways. On the one hand, there are numerous types of third sector organisations operating in different policy streams, locations, and contexts. On the other, third sector organisations engage in a variety of activities; some may deliver public service contracts, whilst others focus on traditional civil society and volunteer based activities. Many more may sit somewhere in between (Billis, 2010).