Crisis theory suggests that the major sign of organizational crisis is progressively rising tension, which results in emergency efforts to mobilize tension-reducing sources. A case study of an organizational crisis is presented to illustrate the applicability of crisis theory to an organization. Suggestions for interventions are offered. (Author)

This review examines published research on small-group development done in the last ten years that would constitute an empirical test of Tuckman's hypothesis that groups go through the stages of "forming,""storming,""norming," and "performing." A fifth stage, "adjourning," was added to the…

The study discussed here attempts to shed further light on the influences that differences in characteristics of personal-growth group participants have on the quality of their experiences. (Author)

The Personal Orientation Inventory (POI) was used to assess the impact of a semester-long encounter-group, personal-growth experience on students seeking degrees in counseling. Both the experimental and control groups showed gains in self-actualization. (Author)

The hypothesis was that structures built by group members in dealing with conflict and decision making would be contingent on their life styles. Three different sets of groups of persons with homogeneous life styles created three different (and predicted) structures in a problem-solving task. (Author)

A framework for diagnosing real groups focuses on group origins and membership differences. This perspective is offered as an aid to interpreting communication behavior of groups in organizational settings. (Author)

A rudimentary contingency model for analyzing transactions between clients and consultants is presented. Independent variables are "healer roles" taken by consultants, influence orientation and cognitive style of clients, and type of change problem. (Author)

The Personal Orientation Inventory (POI) is frequently used to measure changes that have occurred in participants as a result of an encounter- or growth-group experience. The pseudo-self-actualizing tendency of counseling students is explored, and rationale is presented as to why the POI should be used with other instruments. (Author)

Organization development consultants (N=75) asked to list the 10 "most important" diagnostic questions they would want answered before accepting the contract. These were seen as a function of the change agent's organizational model and predictive of the interventions these consultants would plan. (Author)

Relationship Awareness Theory is based on the premise that one's behavior traits are consistent with what one finds gratifying in interpersonal relations and with concepts or beliefs one holds about how to interact with others to achieve those gratifications. (Author)

Experimental research relating seating position to group interaction was critically reviewed. Studies have found that persons in central seating positions were able to maintain eye contact with the most group members, thereby enhancing their ability to interact with the group and emerge as the leader. (Author)

One of the recurrent problems associated with interpersonal, group, organizations, and intercultural training in communication is the assessment of outcomes. An approach is suggested for the evaluation of training and selection of programs utilizing behavioral assessment of participants' communication competence. (Author)

This paper outlines an array of categories that denote kinds of influence variables operative in organizational systems--including structures, relationships, and technology. This allows us to synthesize literature from a variety of system levels and sources by addressing the question: What variables influence a communicator's behavior at any given…

Systematic observation and a questionnaire format were used to investigate the relationship between posture sharing and self-report indications of rapport in a group situation--college seminar classrooms. The greater the amount of mirroring and congruent postures evidenced by students vis-a-vis the teacher, the higher the ratings of involvement.…