This is the first in a series of how‐to articles for planners written by innovative consultants.
The transformation of companies into post‐bureaucratic forms oforganization, such as networks, raises new implementation challenges forethics in business. To address how to…
Abstract
The transformation of companies into post‐bureaucratic forms of organization, such as networks, raises new implementation challenges for ethics in business. To address how to integrate ethics into network‐based companies, describes the implementation of an ethics programme in a banking institution. Shows how communication problems and the resolution of interpersonal conflicts present important ethical challenges to networks. Presents two overlooked resources in ethical theory – narrative and casuistry – as helpful tools for meeting these challenges and for integrating ethics into networks.
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This chapter has six sections. I summarize and refine key themes I explored at length during 25 years in three editions of Productive Workplaces. In Flying Lessons section, I…
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This chapter has six sections. I summarize and refine key themes I explored at length during 25 years in three editions of Productive Workplaces. In Flying Lessons section, I describe how the invention of the airplane changed life on earth, not least my own. In Life Lessons section, I discuss how flying influenced my consulting career. In Myths section, I describe beliefs that I abandoned as I learned my trade. In The Future Never Comes section, I explore what it means to encounter the future as having already arrived. In Afterthoughts section, I sum up what learning to fly has to do with learning Organization Development consulting. The section Postscript contains excerpts from my dialogue with Bill Pasmore, a colleague who also flew airplanes and sought to improve workplaces.
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Svetlana Shmulyian, Barry Bateman, Ruth G. Philpott and Neelu K. Gulri
This chapter analyzes the success factors, outcomes, and future viability of large-group methods. We have used an exploratory action research approach focusing on eight variously…
Abstract
This chapter analyzes the success factors, outcomes, and future viability of large-group methods. We have used an exploratory action research approach focusing on eight variously purposed large-group methods (AmericaSpeaks, Appreciative Inquiry, Conference Model®, Decision Accelerator, Future Search, Participative Design, Strategic Change Accelerator/ACT (IBM), and Whole-Scale™ Change). We interviewed nine leading practitioners and creators for each method, as well as six clients who had played key roles in most of these methods' execution at their organizations, asking them to reflect on the current practices and outcomes and the future of each respective large-group method, as well as the methods as a group of interventions. Based on our findings derived through theme and content analysis of interviews, we purport that both the Art (excellence in method execution) and the Artist (the right facilitator) are necessary for achieving desired outcomes of the large-group methods. We stipulate that critical elements of the Art include these five common elements (or five “I”s): having the right Individuals in the room; aiming the method at resolving the right Issue; having Intentional process (including pre-work, intra-method process, and follow-up); having the right Information in the meeting; and using the right Infrastructure (such as appropriate physical space, technology, etc.). We suggest that while these elements of Art are important, the simultaneous requisite role of the Artist is to manage the tension between the rigidity of the Art (the 5 “I”s) and the emerging human dynamics occurring between the large-group method process and the associated evolving client objectives. That is, to achieve desired outcomes, the execution of large-group method needs to be both highly premeditated and ingenious. We supplement our findings with client case descriptions and quotes from the practitioners and conclude that these large-group methods are particularly appropriate for resolving a variety of issues facing today's organizations operating under the conditions of high technology saturation, interdependence, globalization, economic downturn, and others – and that this, with some exceptions, will likely remain the case in the future. However, the future use of these methods will be challenged by the availability of Artists who can execute the methods so they lead to desired outcomes. We close with discussion of open questions and directions for future research.
The purpose of this paper is to make a case for the co‐existence of Theories X and Y assumptions in everyone. The author does this by comparing the works of Douglas McGregor and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to make a case for the co‐existence of Theories X and Y assumptions in everyone. The author does this by comparing the works of Douglas McGregor and Frederick W. Taylor, “the father of scientific management,” after having lived with their legacies for several decades as manager and consultant. The author shows how the striking similarities in their values diverged in practice and how the author learned to integrate their voices in himself.
Design/methodology/approach
Personal cases are used showing how the author learned to improve workplaces while tracing his roots from McGregor to Taylor and back, drawing on a few of more than 260 sources the author cited in Productive Workplaces (1987, 2004).
Findings
Putting theories into practice for the author involved not only devising new policies, procedures, and structures but also going on a never‐ending journey of self‐discovery. Second, theories X and Y may have originated in McGregor's own projections on his father, just as Taylor's scientific management may be understood as an expression of his Quaker roots. Third, the tension between X and Y in all of us is a reality to appreciate, not a battle requiring that we take sides.
Originality/value
The author offers this paper as a corrective to two popular myths from his years as a manager/consultant. One is that “Theory Y” managers are superior to “Theory X types” when they often may be the same people. Two is that Taylor is the boogey‐man who corrupted workplaces by forcing people into mindless jobs. In fact his systems were eagerly embraced by countless others and paradoxically coexist today, even in workplaces whose managers believe passionately in human capability.
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Donald F. Van Eynde and Julie A. Bledsoe
The practice of organisation development has changed dramaticallyover the years. Enquiries are made into factors that have influencedthose changes and six of the latest trends in…
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The practice of organisation development has changed dramatically over the years. Enquiries are made into factors that have influenced those changes and six of the latest trends in the practice of OD are presented. Implications of the research for OD practitioners are given. The research findings are derived from telephone interviews with 18 highly experienced and respected OD consultants.
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Reflections on gender and OD over a 50-year career as a scholar, an OD practitioner, and a woman managing a complex life and career.My journey in OD has spanned 50 years which is…
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Reflections on gender and OD over a 50-year career as a scholar, an OD practitioner, and a woman managing a complex life and career.
My journey in OD has spanned 50 years which is also about as long organization development has been around. In this essay, I will reflect on my experiences with special attention to issues of gender. I will also mention some issues of concern that confront us as OD scholars and practitioners, especially the balance between thinking and doing. As I describe my experiences, I hope they will lead to an appreciation of all that has happened in just 50 years! My experience is not everyone’s experience. I make no claim to that. I hope that some of the issues I raise resonate with you, or fill in some blanks, or lend a different perspective.
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For our organisations to flourish, they need to engage the intelligence, creativity and energy of the whole workforce and involve all stakeholders. One way of doing this is to use…
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For our organisations to flourish, they need to engage the intelligence, creativity and energy of the whole workforce and involve all stakeholders. One way of doing this is to use whole system approaches to planning and implementing change and what have come to be known as large‐group methods. This article, the first of two parts, makes a case for these approaches and describes the major benefits, outlines their history and describes two well‐tried methods: future search and open space technology.
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States that search conferences originated in the open systems work of Emery and Trist. Covers the following issues: What are search conferences? How did they develop? How do they…
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States that search conferences originated in the open systems work of Emery and Trist. Covers the following issues: What are search conferences? How did they develop? How do they work? What are the design principles? How do they differ from other large group interventions? Search conferences as learning organizations and for participative strategic planning.