It is argued that employees' perceived ideal organizational conditions are important to change agents because this information provides an indication of organizational members' preferences. Arguments for using the ideal in conjunction with existing organizational conditions are made. This may suggest coordinating different interventions within an…

Tested differences in values between 60 managers and 51 organizational development consultants, using the Management Values Inventory (MVI). Results revealed that the differences between the two groups were modest, even when statistically significant. Often-stated differences between these groups were not present on the MVI. (Author/WAS)

Explores the current organization development assessment milieu and proposes a model to help clarify assessment. Each feature of the model is defined, and characteristic problems are discussed in light of current methods and theory. Guidelines are proposed to enhance the assessability of potential change activities. (Author)

Predictable affective responses are evoked during each phase of a group or organizational problem-solving process. With the needs assessment phase come hope and energy; with goal-setting, confusion and dissatisfaction; with action planning, involvement and accomplishment; with implementation, "stage fright" and joy; with evaluation, pride or…

Energizing individuals to change relationships with other team members is the prime objective of team building. FIRO-B was found to be a powerful stimulus to change, although individual team members did not report other team members' behavior as being consistent with their FIRO-B scores. (Author)

Describes an organization development program for educational systems and reviews an experiment conducted to assess its impact on elementary schools and their teaching staffs. Results indicate that the program was generally successful in establishing collective structures and increasing the perceived adequacy of collective decision processes in…

The centrality of interpersonal trust for effective managerial problem solving was illustrated by inducing either a high-trust or a low-trust mental set in experimental groups. Subjects operating in a high-trust environment were significantly more effective in problem solving. (Author)

This is an account of errors made by the author in his role as organizational change agent working as a process consultant. For each error there is an illustrative case study in which he was directly involved. (Author)

Surveyed 107 college faculty members to study their involvement in consultation activities. Results suggested professors consulted most often with large businesses and did more training than organizational development. Respondents reported courses in research methods and professional association workshops were helpful to their consulting work.…

Describes the origins and developmental requirements of the Informant Panel, an inexpensive, time-efficient, retrospective method for obtaining consequently meaningful information needed to guide organizational change projects. The panel combines features of the Nominal Group and Delphi Techniques. (WAS)

Suggests that organizational development consultants should use more explicit representations of the problems they work on with client teams. Offers an approach to overcome difficulties and provides a strategy for intervening in the processes of problem definition in teams. (Author)

Determined differences between supervisor's self-perception of leadership style and subordinate's perception of that style. A significant difference was found between the magnitude with which supervisors perceived themselves as using the high task/high relationship style and the degree to which subordinates perceived their supervisors as using it.…

The purpose of organization development (OD) is to improve an organization's effectiveness in making decisions and changes and to reach the full potential of its personnel. Objectives of OD and essentials for successful programs are listed. Definitions of essentials and how they add to the effectiveness of OD are presented. (Author/BEF)

Action research was done by a large midwestern utility company to learn the effects of using organization development techniques to reduce severe reorganizational stresses. The OD work included inside and outside consultation with the top executive, team-building activities, attitude surveys and survey feedback, and vertical communications…

In planning for University Associates' organization development conference, OD '80, a Delphi study was conducted to predict trends and problems in this field for the coming decade. Included are preliminary results as well as comparative data from a group of OD practitioners. (Author)