Differing Intervention Styles: An Assessment

Organization training and development specialists have generally viewed themselves as somewhere along a segmented continuum. At one end were trainers in management development and at the other end were organization development practitioners. In some cases, these two development processes were integrated; however, more often than not, those involved found themselves in somewhat different camps, each operating in relative isolation. During the last decade, a relatively ew dimension generally known as “organizational transformation” has been added to this continuum. The “organizational transformation” process represents a “new” phase of intervention styles because the underlying logic of the process compels the trainer or consultant to utilize very different paradigms regarding the global realities of organizations. There is an evolving development continuum incorporating highly compatible and indeed potentially synergistic MD‐OD‐TRANS processes. Provides a preliminary framework for understanding the differences between the three dimensions and proposes that all must be utilized and integrated if the current and future needs of organizational participants are to be met.