Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - The past, present and future of organization development
T2 - taking the long view
AU - Burnes, Bernard
AU - Cooke, Bill
PY - 2012/11
Y1 - 2012/11
N2 - Organization development has been, and arguably still is, the major approach to organizational change across the Western world, and increasingly globally. Despite this, there appears to be a great deal of confusion as to its origins, nature, purpose and durability. This article reviews the ‘long’ history of organization development from its origins in the work of Kurt Lewin in the late 1930s to its current state and future prospects. It chronicles and analyses the major stages, disjunctures and controversies in its history and allows these to be seen in a wider context. The article closes by arguing that, although organization development remains the dominant approach to organizational change, there are significant issues that it must address if it is to achieve the ambitious and progressive social and organizational aims of its founders.
AB - Organization development has been, and arguably still is, the major approach to organizational change across the Western world, and increasingly globally. Despite this, there appears to be a great deal of confusion as to its origins, nature, purpose and durability. This article reviews the ‘long’ history of organization development from its origins in the work of Kurt Lewin in the late 1930s to its current state and future prospects. It chronicles and analyses the major stages, disjunctures and controversies in its history and allows these to be seen in a wider context. The article closes by arguing that, although organization development remains the dominant approach to organizational change, there are significant issues that it must address if it is to achieve the ambitious and progressive social and organizational aims of its founders.
KW - organization development
KW - social change
KW - management history
KW - future of management
KW - rigor-relevance debate
KW - ethical values
KW - Kurt Lewin
KW - T-groups
U2 - 10.1177/0018726712450058
DO - 10.1177/0018726712450058
M3 - Journal article
VL - 65
SP - 1395
EP - 1429
JO - Human Relations
JF - Human Relations
SN - 0018-7267
IS - 11
ER -