This paper describes a study of an organization development intervention with an eight-person teaching-support-administrative team in a suburban elementary school. Data for the study were gathered through observation by two participant-observers, through interviews with all eight direct participants in the team-building project, and through a…

While many studies have demonstrated the relatively successful performance implications of formalized goal-setting programs in organizations, these findings typically do not identify the specific factors behind such techniques which are largely responsible for their success. Toward this end, research relating to six factor-analytically derived…

The decline of the independent, scholar-scientist closeted in a library and/or laboratory resulting from increased social stress on universities for "more scholar per dollar" and "more relevance for the real world" predicts an inevitable shift to action research. The shift in system from relatively independent basic researchers…

The basic similarities between educational technology and organizational development provide a powerful rationale for collaboration. The two disciplines are essentially in the same business, that of systematically changing human behavior. System theory and the system model appear to supply the language and the technology through which such efforts…

The purpose of the literature review is to outline the basic considerations involved in designing and conducting meaningful evaluation of training efforts in work organizations. First to be examined are basic questions in training evaluation strategy: the barriers to conducting evaluation of training efforts, the reasons for conducting such…

A Delphi survey was conducted with the professional media staff in: (1) state educational agencies, (2) territories, (3) the District of Columbia, and (4) the U.S. Office of Education. Survey questions were designed to set organization goals, to plan program activities, and to organize the trends facing the supervisors. Only 19 questionnaires were…

A large urban school district has undertaken the development of an Educational Management System and monitored the impact of the administrative innovations on organizational climate. The participation of both teachers and administrators in management and decisionmaking is complemented by periodic assessment of progress in accomplishing the…

In searching for a concept of organization which recognizes its base in human action rather than in objective structure, the author draws on a European tradition stemming from the works of Max Weber. This tradition, combined with examples of organizational life in schools, serves to identify implications for those who attempt to design better…

The purposes of the study were to identify disincentives to effective employee training and development in government agencies and to recommend means of offsetting them. The three stages of the study were (1) an initial search for information including a survey of employee development specialists, a literature search, a review of the findings of a…

This monograph provides State education agencies and the general education community with some basic information pertaining to needs, present practices, and possible new approaches related to training and development for professional personnel in these agencies. The monograph is designed to provide the reader with an appreciation of the importance…

Changes in organizational structures, with less emphasis on bureaucracy, require new approaches to communication. One relatively new form of organization design is the "task force" or "project team" which is assigned to one specific short-term program, after which the team is dissolved and its members reassigned. A study of a project team in a…

This study investigated relationships between work unit performance, employee attitudes, and situational characteristics among 411 female clerical workers in 37 branch banks. The work units were characterized by spatial separation and performance of similar functions. Two independent dimensions of performance were empirically identified and their…

Survey feedback and problem solving processes can be applied to increase the effectiveness of task-oriented structural approaches to educational organization development. One such approach involves the superimposition of complementary collective decision structures over the existing authority decision framework of the school. Collective decision…

The main body of this document consists of three presentations given at a conference on the management of change. The conference provided each participant the opportunity to formulate, plan, and implement desired change at particular institutions in a more sophisticated fashion. In the first presentation, three conceptual models of executive…

This study investigated the effect of institutional size and complexity on professional autonomy in academic institutions. Autonomy was defined as the ability to set goals and to structure the organization to maximize professional concerns; size was measured by the number of faculty members and students in the institutions. Data were gathered from…