Since the 1950s the process of information technology (IT) related change in organizations has been problematic regularly resulting in reports of persistent underperformance and failure, a situation well supported by empirical research. On closer inquiry it emerges that this plight is a product...

The literature on downturn management has concentrated on reductions in size, ignoring how an organization de-develops by moving to a lower order of complexity. This paper discusses the dangers of unmanaged de-development in which an organization experience unwanted losses of core competencies....

This study describes a research methodology that evolved as a result of a longitudinal participative research effort at Ericsson. The study lasted six years and is built upon ten different, but interrelated research projects. The methodology developed was labeled table-tennis research to capture...

Although the field of organization development (OD) has been in a seemingly eternal state of evolution and flux, the highly competitive nature of the contemporary business and consulting environment has reached a point where the future of OD is arguably in serious jeopardy. The field lacks...

Ideas which are comfortable and familiar are not likely to challenge or transform our thinking. As human beings, our need to reduce cognitive dissonance causes us to seek the familiar and reject the unfamiliar, often without careful reflection. Scholars must overcome such natural tendencies in...

This chapter offers a relationally based organizational development (OD) model for understanding the crisis period that characterizes an organization in transition between life-cycle stages. In this model, organizations are viewed as holographically comprising relationships at multiple...

The implementation of cross-functional teams (CFTs) is a significant organizational change. Using a multilevel perspective as a lens, we develop a conceptual framework for CFT implementation that analyzes contextual requirements, the role of interventions, and the effects on organizations. Our...

The embryonic stage of total quality management (TQM) theory and the significant lag of academic investigations leave many gaps in our understanding of this current organizational practice. Longitudinal studies examining the effects of TQM are conspicuous by their absence. This case study...