Operant Technologies : A Theoretical Foundation for Organizational Change and Development

Operant technologies have been criticized as being too micro‐oriented and simplistic to apply to the complex problems and interdependent issues associated with major organizational change and development efforts. Describes an organization change and development effort in an international brewery that used operant principles as the theoretical foundation for guiding the intervention. Illustrates that operant principles may be particularly advantageous for organizational change efforts in that the emphasis on behaviourally‐based problem definitions and measurement provides a solid foundation for problem identification, problem solving, and the development of concrete action plans.