Identifies alienation from work, aging of the workforce, and technical obsolescence as contributors to the erosion of organizational vitality. Lists four factors that interact to influence personal vitality development. Recommends staff development programs that address adult and career development theories, increase self-understanding, and…

Fault Tree Analysis, a systems safety engineering technology used to analyze organizational systems, is described. Explains the use of logic gates to represent the relationship between failure events, qualitative analysis, quantitative analysis, and effective use of Fault Tree Analysis. (CT)

Reviews and organizes modern leadership theories. Notes the research supporting the main thesis of contingency theory and that effective leadership style is contingent upon situational factors. Characteristics of management training based on the contingency approach are identified. (Author/MLF)

Illustrates some of the principles of consultation, describing a year-long consultation to a department of psychiatry under new leadership. The aspects of consultation described include: (1) the consultation request; (2) the orientation of consultant and consultee; (3) the consultation contract; and (4) the consultation process. (Author)

If teacher education programs are to have an effect on the structure of the schools their graduates teach in, they are going to have to reorient themselves to focus on the modification of organizational factors rather than focusing solely on the professional development of school personnel. (Author/IRT)

Automated management information systems (MIS) process a great deal of data at a relatively low cost. Staff involvement is vital to the success of any MIS. Designers must consider how information moves in the organization and coordinate the system design with this movement. (JAC)

Discusses the recent literature on the humanization of law enforcement policy. Crisis intervention training programs, human relations training for police recruits, neighborhood team policing, and organization development approaches to management exemplify the humanistic perspective on police policy. (Author)

From a survey of leaders in organization development, the authors identified 40 major needed skills which they categorize under four headings: knowledge skills, consulting skills, conceptual skills, and human skills. They discuss concerns and needs in each category, providing a chart of the identified skills for self-evaluation. (MF)

Describes a rationale, instrument, and methodology to improve the practice of organization needs analysis. The approach involves the author's "career of the organization" exercise for the trainer's use in identifying organization problems and in conceptualizing the nature of needs-analysis problem solving relating to both individual and…

Emphasizes the importance of recognizing and managing the stress produced by organizational development and encourages practitioners to acknowledge stress management as an important organizational development skill. (LRA)

While most organizational development consultants agree that managers are the real change agents, the profession has been slow to actively prepare managers to create and manage change. This article identifies barriers to helping the manager and offers guidelines for more effective consultant behavior. (LRA)

Two St. Louis universities adopt management techniques from business. (Author)

Keynotes the problems of organizational and staff development programs during times of financial scarcity. Suggests a four-phase process to unify staff and organizational development. Offers planning and evaluation criteria to facilitate decision making and consolidate money for high impact programing. (CAM)

Reports on significant changes in the communication policies and practices of business organizations during the past five years. (PD)

The central problem in the art of administration is maintaining flexibility of organization. To maintain the flexibility that allows vitality and growth there must be within academe devices that encourage and facilitate the achievement of flexibility. Several of these devices are briefly noted. (Article originally published in 1935.) (AF)