Search results

Parallel learning structures coexist with formal bureaucratic
structures. They show great promise as a techno‐structural intervention
to compensate for bureaucratic organisation′s inability to learn and
adapt. A number of their applications are briefly reviewed. System
transforming innovations create the need for change in the very nature
of the organisations in which they are implemented. Using a case study
of one manufacturing plant′s efforts to implement such an innovation
(statistical process control) the article examines the practical
advantages of using a parallel learning structure to aid in
implementation.

In this study of 415 middle managers in four different manufacturing plants involved in QWL change projects, differences in managers' QWL-related attitudes on seven scales are compared between those involved in permanent problem-solving groups, temporary groups, and those with no group experience at all. Those in permanent groups have significantly more positive attitudes than those in temporary groups on all seven scales. Those in temporary groups tend to have more negative attitudes than those with no group experience. Themes of powerlessness and empowerment are used to explain the results, and implications for overcoming managerial resistance to worker participation are highlighted.

This study evolved from a concern with helping managers to increase the probability of creating effective task groups when they are not group members. A survey of 59 members of 10 different task groups in 5 different organizations was used to study the varying effects of contextual and internal group variables on group outcomes. Three dimensions of group context which can be manipulated by managers were studied: resource mix, motivating task, and environmental support. Regression analysis showed that contextual variables accounted for 41% of the variance in task accomplishment, while mainly internal group variables explained 48% of the variance in output quality. Limitations of the current study and directions for future research are discussed.

A Dynamic New Approach to Organizational ChangeDialogic Organization Development is a compelling alternative to the classical action research approach to planned change. Organizations are seen as fluid, socially constructed realities that are continuously created through conversations and images. Leaders and consultants can help foster change by encouraging disruptions to taken-for-granted ways of thinking and acting and the use of generative images to stimulate new organizational conversations and narratives. This book offers the first comprehensive introduction to Dialogic Organization Devel.