It is rarely the case that a broader consideration of the available strategies for changing organisations is linked with empirical evidence on the way organisational change occurs. The purpose of this article is to examine data on the OD consultant's role as currently performed and the way...

The middle‐aged Chief Architect who heads the massive Architects Department of a London borough was bitterly bemoaning how his circle of professional friends, as they advanced in their chosen professions, continued to act as expert professionals: “Barristers become QCs and take the most...

How many women know what it feels like to have made that heart‐stopping discovery of a lump in the breast? A discovery which may lead to a complete change in their normal way of life. A friend perhaps? Or your mother? Or you? Of course, eight out of ten lumps are harmless, but the two out of...

There has been an enormous growth in assistance to small firms over the past three or four years, albeit from a very small initial base. Much of this assistance has been geared to “software”, namely the provision of advice, counselling, consulting and training/education services. The Small...

This is the second of a series of three articles dealing with Quality Circle failures. The concept of organisational readiness and implementation issues were discussed in Part I, while in Part II we focus on operational issues and the problem of maintaining the long‐term viability of quality...

A major research study investigating the problems and pressures associated with being a female manager in contrast to male managers, is described, along with the relationship between these pressures and their effects on the managers themselves. The research implications of the findings are also...

In considering the alternative strategies for change in Part I of this article, and the strategy of OD in particular, the definitions of OD suggested that the consultant played an essential role in facilitating change. Despite this, there is no widely accepted definition of the role of...

It is increasingly recognised that trainers need to develop new and more appropriate concepts and skills to cope with the problems of modern complex organisations. In one sense trainers have been the victims of their own historical development. Figure 1 illustrates four potential roles for...

Since Hans Selye first postulated the relationship between environmental stressors and bodily reactions, a great deal of research work has been undertaken in the field of occupational stress. From this growing research literature, Cooper has been able to identify some of the many sources of...

It is now quite widely suggested that a post‐industrial revolution is in progress (see, for example, Handy, and Naisbitt). Mass unemployment, rapid obsolescence of established technologies and the emergence of new technologies are some of the more concrete examples of the dislocation and...