Discussion: View Thread

A shorter book on org change (but not "short") is

Title:
Organization development : a normative view / W. Warner Burke.
Series:
The Addison-Wesley series on organization development
Authors:
Burke, W. Warner (Wyatt Warner), 1935-
Publisher:
Reading, Mass. ; Don Mills, Ont. : Addison-Wesley, 1987.

I believe there is also a second edition, 1994, which is probably
preferable. It does a nice job of covering diagnostic models.

And the predecessor, by Burke in about 1982 published by
Little, Brown, is worthwhile but longer and only slightly dated.

A longer one is
Organization development and change
Thomas G. Cummings, Christopher G. Worley (1993)

Please let me know if you receive other suggestions not posted to the
whole list. Good luck.

John
=========================================================
John L. Michela, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
University of Waterloo (519) 888-4567 x2164
200 University Ave, W.
Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1 (519) 746-8631 (fax)
Canada

jmichela@uwaterloo.ca
http://www.arts.uwaterloo.ca/~jmichela/
=========================================================

Hello,

Once again, I am in search of a text for an MBA course. This time, the
course is Organization Change. This is a very applied course - even
referred to by the students as the "consulting" course, as it includes a
group consulting project. While the course is a semester long, the
in-class instruction is only for 8 weeks, four of which cover org change
related material, hopefully integrated into a coherent model of change.

So, I am looking for: MBA level, fairly applied, with a handy model,
short. Any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks, once again, for your help with text searches!

Neta Moye

Neta - and others -
It's been a while since I taught a related course, since it has
been deleted from our catalog. But, for either a regular MBA course or
for a shorter module (9 weeks) in an Executive MBA program, I found the
following very useful:

Schlesinger, P.F., V.Sathe, L.A. Schlesinger, & J.P. Kotter, ORGANIZATION:
Text, cases, & readings on the Management of Organization Design and
Change; 3rd Edition. Homewood, IL, Irwin: 1992. I would guess there
have been one or two newer editions published; obviously, the publisher
now would be Irwin/McGraw-Hill.

This book worked well in shorter courses; in fact, for a full 14 week
course it was necessary to add to it. It's full of current readings,
short text sections, and Harvard and Babson cases, with rather complete
teaching notes available in the Instructors' Manual. In the third edition
most of the well-known shortcomings of some HBS teaching notes had been
eliminated. These cases do teach well, and rather easily.

As I stated, it's been a while since I had opportunity to use this text;
I'd get a copy of the current edition and see if it meets your needs.

Tim Edlund, Morgan State University

Hi Neta,

I've recently come across Barbara Senior's book called Organisational
Change - publisher is Pitman. ISBN 0 273 62491 1. No chance to use it with
students yet - but seems excellent to me for Diploma or MBA level.
Shortish, clear models, eclectic, innovative, may however not be as
practice-oriented as you would like.

Please send me results of your search if they don't all go out on the list,

Piers Myers

Neta --

>Once again, I am in search of a text for an MBA course. This
time, the
>course is Organization Change. This is a very applied course -
even
>referred to by the students as the "consulting" course, as it
includes a
>group consulting project. While the course is a semester long,
the
>in-class instruction is only for 8 weeks, four of which cover
org change
>related material, hopefully integrated into a coherent model of
change.


I suggest:

Practicing Organization Development
A Guide For Consultants

Rothwell, Sullivan, McLean
Jossey-Bass Pfeiffer
ISBN 0-88390-379-2

From the forward "This book provides a
solid, practical preparation for facilitating a
change process and supporting those who
make change happen."

The book contains very useful information
for practical application of OD interventions.

It's structured in four sections:

1. Introduction -- background info about
OD and planned change
2. Steps in OD -- the intervention process
3. International Competencies and Ethics
in OD -- competencies needed by internal and
external OD consultants
4. OD and the Future -- address competencies
that may be need in the future by OD consultants

A friend of mine used this text last year for a
course doctorate level course she taught at the
Univ of N. Texas.

Good Luck!

Denise O'Berry
doberry@teamtrac.com
----
TeamTrac, Inc. http://www.teamtrac.com
Experience The Journey Of Possibilities...(tm)
mailto:possibilities@teamtrac.com

I've been very interested to see the books suggested here, and have already
ordered two of them - thanks for the suggestions (and for the question,
Neta!).

There seems to be a big focus on OD in the titles - not at all surprising
given the nature of most of our roles (in formal education or consulting?) -
but still rather one dimensional, I feel.

To redress the balance, here's my suggestion (published in UK):

Succeeding with Change, Tony Eccles, McGraw-Hill International (UK) Ltd.,
0-07-709266-X

For change models, I often dig into the Fifth Discipline Fieldbookbased on
the "Senge stuff" - packed with ideas/suggestions, though many very
conceptual. 1-85788-060-9.

It's business oriented, full of good practical tips rather than lots of
models, and appropriate for existing or aspiring middle/senior managers.
Tony teaches at London Business School, and uses much of the book's content
on his courses - I don't know him but he's well received by students.
Regards
Geoff Atkinson
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Management Education and Development Discussion
> [mailto:MG-ED-DV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU]On Behalf Of Neta Moye
> Sent: 23 November 1998 18:08
> To: MG-ED-DV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
> Subject: Searching for MBA Org Change Text
>
>
> Hello,
>
> Once again, I am in search of a text for an MBA course.

Hello Neta,

The greatest book is Flawless Consulting by Peter Block. Colorful,
practical, almost zen-like in its approach to client-consultant
partnership.

The Addison-Wesley series on organization development runs a close second,
with volumes from Schein, Bennis, Beckhard (my favorite), and Burke, among
others.

OD and Change by Thomas G. Cummings, Christopher G. Worley is OK but is
much more "just a textbook," IMHO.

Cheers,
George M. Smart, Jr.
Strategic Development, Inc.
Organization Effectiveness Consultants
www.strategicdevelopment.com
(919) 489-2390
(919) 419-0500 fax