Any organized activity centered on human development could legitimately be seen as human resource development (HRD). A more holistic view defines HRD as a wide range of integrating processes aimed at developing greater purpose and meaning, higher performance, and greater capacity to respond to change, leading to more effective individuals, teams,…

This meta-analysis examined effects from 126 studies that used organizational development (OD) interventions to modify satisfaction and other attitudes. Multi-faceted interventions were found to be more effective in modifying satisfaction and attitudes than were OD interventions that used a single technique. Team building and lab training were the…

This document contains four papers from a symposium on enhancing workgroup performance in human resource development (HRD). "Formation of Cross-Cultural Global Teams: Making Informed Choices on Team Composition" (Robert L. Dilworth) describes how a mixed class of U.S. and international students identified their cultural and learning…

A case study describes how a rural local education agency (Allegany County, Maryland) developed a comprehensive staff development system. It presents some contextual and theoretical background information, summarizes the problem as perceived by key actors, and then describes a series of activities resulting in the development of the comprehensive…

Long considered by its community and the Richmond County Schools' district administration "the worst middle school in the distict," the school (unnamed in the study) began a process of change in spring 1987. The instructional staff embraced a schoolwide staff development program designed to help both student achievement and school…

This practicum developed and implemented an organization development plan to improve agency and team effectiveness and staff satisfaction at a private agency that provides educational and treatment services to children with emotional, mental, or behavioral disorders. An extensive literature review on organizational development was conducted and…

A process of decision making and professional growth is described as a tool for refocusing on individual growth for professional development and redefining the relationship between professional development and organizational outcomes. Refocusing on individual professional growth is an intervention aimed at reconceptualizing the linking…

This presentation describes the principles and policies underlying the successful management development program at Hewlett-Packard Company, a manufacturer of electronic instruments and components. The company is organized into relatively independent product divisions with decentralized decision-making responsibilities, flexible working hours, and…

A 10-week training program in a private nonprofit residential treatment program for children and youth was designed to help a treatment team increase its team functioning skills as measured by a pre- and post-training survey of individual and team effectiveness. The treatment program was located in a rural community and served people from eight…

This paper addresses the need for group-based or team-based techniques to facilitate organizational learning. It identifies two process-oriented strategies: the role analysis technique (RAT) and the diagnostic window technique. These techniques can be used in meetings to model the intellectual tasks that need to occur in today's learning…

This article reports on a study investigating the relationship between the introduction of new management practices and the training provided by Australian enterprises for their employees. The new management practices investigated include teamworking, total quality management, lean production, business process re-engineering and the learning…

This book, written by an organizational development director and consultant in the fields of quality improvement, management, and design of training systems to Fortune 500 clients, offers a six-step improvement strategy and a six-phase training curriculum that can be adapted to the needs of companies in various fields. Seven chapters present ideas…

Effective corporate adventure training programs: (1) develop parallel structures between the adventure experience and the workplace (context); (2) consider how the learning will address a company's future needs (continuity); (3) provide learners with valid information and feedback on their actions (consequences); and (4) create physically and…

A 6-year study of outdoor-based management training (OMT) programs used traditional evaluation methods and new methods designed specifically for these unique programs. A survey of 1,000 training directors indicated that this type of training was very controversial. The next step was to use traditional training and organizational behavior…

This publication is fifth in a series of technical assistance papers intended to assist Federal agency personnel in the design and implementation of executive personnel management programs. This document focuses primarily upon team building, one of a variety of techniques of organization development designed to improve the way in which work is…