Organization Development: What's Actually Happening?

A great deal of commentary and controversy about the state of organization development (OD) has to do with a lack of clarity regarding what it is about organizations that can be affected by an OD effort. Recent initiatives suggest that a new set of OD practices are emerging, based on a social constructionist orientation. With this in mind, this article aims to contribute to a theoretical understanding of what it is about organizations that can change, based on Berger and Luckmann's (1966) social constructionist framework. It describes three distinct change processes that take place as a consequence of OD interventions. The article ends with a discussion of some of the implications for OD practice, specifically with regard to ‘programming’ dialogue as the main vehicle for change.

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