The field of organization design is changing rapidly, reflecting contributions from managers and diverse organizational consultants. One of the most recent developments is in the design of non‐routine systems. Explores non‐routine systems design from a socio‐technical systems (STS)...

The article explores the use of a communication forum intervention in the Pharmacy Division of a large health maintenance organisation. An initial discussion of communication forum interventions as a sub‐set of parallel learning structure interventions is followed by a descriptive case study....

The goal of boosting creativity and productivity in knowledge‐based teams is shared by managers in technology‐oriented companies and industries. In this paper, we assess the nature of team performance and creativity in the context of computer‐supported technology. A field study of a...

This chapter describes two change efforts involving participatory action research within the pharmacy operations division of Kaiser Permanente. Focus is on a parallel learning mechanism that has been used to support communications and change during two large-scale information technology...

Since 1973, the pharmacy operations division of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program (KPMCP) has used long-term action research programs as the principal method for orchestrating change. This chapter covers the evolution of action research theory within large, complex organizations, with...

The essence of new product development is the creation, utilization and exploitation of new knowledge. Business sustainability is embedded in the firm’s ability to manage its new product development (NPD) processes. This paper explores the complex relationship between organizational context,...

Quality of work life (QWL) has become an increasingly popular cross‐cultural field of theory and practice. An examination of the current state of the art revealed that the inquiry paradigm is one of the areas that leads to the contradictory and mostly disjointed state of QWL knowledge. A...

This chapter informs current research and practice in organization development and change (ODC) with an actionable knowledge of the social science philosophies. It adds value to the scholarship of ODC by charting the progression of philosophies of social science, by showing how researchers in...