Built to Change: How to Achieve Sustained Organizational Effectiveness
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • A Primer of Change Concepts
  • Change the way we change
  • Very Good Book!!!
  • Clear roadmap for the future: how to change continuously
  • Organizations that cannot change cannot survive, much less prosper.
Built to Change: How to Achieve Sustained Organizational Effectiveness
Edward E. Lawler III , and Chris Worley
Manufacturer: Jossey-Bass
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0787980617

Book Description

In this groundbreaking book, organizational effectiveness experts Edward Lawler and Christopher Worley show how organizations can be “built to change” so they can last and succeed in today’s global economy. Instead of striving to create a highly reliable Swiss watch that consistently produces the same behavior, they argue organizations need to be designed in ways that stimulate and facilitate change. Built to Change focuses on identifying practices and designs that organizations can adopt so that they are able to change. As Lawler and Worley point out, organizations that foster continuous change

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In this groundbreaking book, organizational effectiveness experts Edward Lawler and Christopher Worley show how organizations can be built to change so they can last and succeed in today's global economy. Instead of striving to create a highly reliable Swiss watch that consistently produces the same behavior, they argue organizations need to be designed in ways that stimulate and facilitate change. Built to Change focuses on identifying practices and designs that organizations can adopt so that they are able to change. As Lawler and Worley point out, organizations that foster continuous change Are closely connected to their environments Reward experimentation Learn about new practices and technologies Commit to continuously improving performance Seek temporary competitive advantages

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars A Primer of Change Concepts.......2007-08-27

In this easy to read compilation of business concepts to deal with constantly changing external environmental factors driven by the global economy, academics Lawler and Worley introduce their `B2Change' Model. Using the term identity, to describe an organization's core values, behaviors, and beliefs; the authors use several Fortune 500 examples to argue that continuously Strategizing, Designing, and Creating Value around the organization's identity are the primary contributors to organizational effectiveness. It is hard to argue with these descriptors of widely acknowledged, critical, organizational drivers.

The book follows the discussion of the B2Change Model with an overview of various structural options, information requirements and decision making processes, people management, and leadership thoughts before closing with a chapter on the features of a Built-to-Change Organization. During these discussions they promote; leadership teams as being more useful than a single hero-leader, team evaluations over individual performance appraisals, rewards that motivate performance, and a shift away from the job to the individual as the building block for an organization's design (the Me Inc. concept). All these and the many other ideas for adapting to change are often given life thru the use of business examples. The book is recommended for students of organizational change looking for an overview of management concepts that support change.

5 out of 5 stars Change the way we change.......2007-06-13

Brilliant! the book introduce a new approach to change. Out of the box thinking, to the point, and very insightful. Sharp writers that make a different in the way we think and operate.

5 out of 5 stars Very Good Book!!!.......2007-01-09

This is a very good book. For those interested in creating an organization that is designed to view change as "normal" business--this book is excellent reading. I teach organizational leadership--I have added this to the required reading list in a change management/research course.

4 out of 5 stars Clear roadmap for the future: how to change continuously.......2006-08-10

This is a bold, fascinating and occasionally dangerous book, which we recommend to those who want to plan carefully and honestly for the future. Why "carefully" and "honestly?" Because authors Edward E. Lawler III and Christopher G. Worley are savvy enough to identify the kind of organization best suited for a business environment shaped by continuous change - and bold enough to prescribe the actions leaders must take to survive in this environment. These actions require care and honesty because they differ so fundamentally from many past business practices. For example, the idea of continually re-planning your market position sounds straightforward. However, to then eliminate all employees who have done great work, but whose skill base does not match the firm's new portfolio, is risky and requires great faith in your vision. As the authors repeatedly note, the future is difficult to predict, and impossible to predict completely. What's more, for individual managers to examine their organizations, see that they no longer fit and voluntarily step aside will require rigorous honesty and responsibility. They would need to have planned their careers and finances well enough that self-interest does not blind them. Many of this book's ideas have a similar nature. They seem good and right, but applying them successfully will require great discipline.

5 out of 5 stars Organizations that cannot change cannot survive, much less prosper........2006-08-08


Obviously, if organizations are not "built to change," they cannot effectively respond to inevitable changes in their competitive marketplace. Moreover, they may be able to achieve some temporary success but cannot sustain it over a period of time. In the Foreword, Jerry Porras briefly but brilliantly explores two themes: "First, leaders must understand their organization's values, and work to shape them in such a way that those values guide and sustain needed changes rather than undermine them. Second, leaders must architect their organizations to embrace rather than resist change." Co-authors Lawler and Worley see this volume as a sequel to Jim Collins' Built to Last because, in it, they explain "what organizations need to do once they have developed the foundation for survival and want to increase their effectiveness over time." This seems to be the same objective which Collins set for himself in his own sequel, Good to Great.
What they call the "B2Change Model" consists of Environmental Scenarios (which describe a range of possible future business conditions an identifies "preferred futures") and three primary organizational processes which contribute to organizational effectiveness. Strategizing (a process by which to establish priorities so that by having a "strategic intent"). Only after concluding this process can an organization then initiate the other two processes, Creating Value through competencies and capabilities, and, Designing the structures and other processes that enable an organization to achieve sustained effectiveness enterprise-wide. Step by step, with both rigor and eloquence, Lawler and Worley explain how any organization (regardless of size or nature) can do this, guided and informed by the B2Change Model.

In the final chapter, they make several key points. First, that making the transition to a B2Change organization is much more difficult than operating one. Also, that each of the three processes is more changeable and more flexible than the prior one. However, the designing process is the key to developing the competencies and capabilities that are needed to implement a strategic intent. They identify five key initiatives on the road to becoming B2Change and then discuss them in the order in which they recommend implementation. (They are listed on page 287.) They also explain how certain key elements can support an organization's focus on its external environment so that everyone involved understands change as a natural process. "Creating a change-friendly identity is a fundamental step in becoming a b2change organization." Still another key point involves what Lawler and Worley see as the final initiative: bringing all of the prior processes together in a virtuous spiral. "Virtuous spirals - periods in the life of an organization - are characterized by critical configuration, proximity, and dynamic alignment. They are built and sustained by a series of temporary competitive advantages."

I am reminded of what Peter Drucker observed in 1963: "There is surely nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency what should not be done at all." That is precisely why Lawler and Worley place such great emphasis on the first process of the B2Change Model, Strategizing. It is absolutely imperative that proper organizational priorities and an organization's strategic intend be established first. Otherwise, completion of the second and third processes may well be flawless but ultimately worthless.
Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture: Based on the Competing Values Framework (The Jossey-Bass Business & Management Series)
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Useful.Practical.
  • Interesting Model
  • Great book, plus...
  • The most helpful book...
  • A remarkable tool
Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture: Based on the Competing Values Framework (The Jossey-Bass Business & Management Series)
Kim S. Cameron , and Robert E. Quinn
Manufacturer: Jossey-Bass
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0787982830

Book Description

Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture provides a framework, a sense-making tool, a set of systematic steps, and a methodology for helping managers and their organizations carefully analyze and alter their fundamental culture. Authors, Cameron and Quinn focus on the methods and mechanisms that are available to help managers and change agents transform the most fundamental elements of their organizations. The authors also provide instruments to help individuals guide the change process at the most basic level—culture. Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture offers a systematic strategy for internal or external change agents to facilitate foundational change that in turn makes it possible to support and supplement other kinds of change initiatives.

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Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture provides a framework, a sense-making tool, a set of systematic steps, and a methodology for helping managers and their organizations carefully analyze and alter their fundamental culture. Authors, Cameron and Quinn focus on the methods and mechanisms that are available to help managers and change agents transform the most fundamental elements of their organizations. The authors also provide instruments to help individuals guide the change process at the most basic level culture. Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture offers a systematic strategy for internal or external change agents to facilitate foundational change that in turn makes it possible to support and supplement other kinds of change initiatives.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Useful.Practical........2006-11-06

Help in good manner to diagnose culture in organization. Have developed based on their approach a light software application.Very useful. Help to develop competency models based on cultural approach.

4 out of 5 stars Interesting Model.......2004-03-04

The model presented is an interesting and for the most part effective one. For an alternative model see O'Reilly, Chatman and Caldwell's OCP Method and in particular the commercially available web tools from ThinkShed (www.thinkshed.com) that leverage the method.

Whichever method you use, culture change is ultimately about the application of a consistent approach...my personal preference is the OCP because of the availability of robust web based tools that enable one to penetrate the organization to a much deeper level than is otherwise possible with a paper based model or an interview based model. This can be important if you are wanting to get at deeply rooted and/or problematic sub-cultures.

Smith

5 out of 5 stars Great book, plus..........2003-06-23

This is a great book. In addition, I recommend "Strategic Organizational Change" by Michael Beitler.

5 out of 5 stars The most helpful book..........2003-06-23

This is the most helpful book available on organizational culture. Their OCAI instrument (for diagnosing organizational culture) alone is worth more than the price of the book. I use Cameron & Quinn's material with every one of my clients.

Dr. Michael Beitler
Author of "Strategic Organizational Change"

5 out of 5 stars A remarkable tool.......2003-02-21

The authors provide a great model for understanding and diagnosing organizations. Their cultural quandrant methodology also provides a common language for people within an organization to talk about what they have and what they want. I recommend this for everyone who wants to understand their own organization. Their instrument (OCAI) is both easy to understand and easy to use.
Overcoming Organizational Defenses: Facilitating Organizational Learning
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • A tough read that is well worth the effort
  • *ESSENTIAL* for Managers & those considering 360 feedback
  • A classic in the field of organizational learning
Overcoming Organizational Defenses: Facilitating Organizational Learning
Chris Argyris
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0205123384

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars A tough read that is well worth the effort.......2005-11-10

If you wonder why smart people with education and experience keep making the same old mistakes you will want to read this book. Let me hasten to add, however, that reading Argyris is often arduous. He is a scholar and writes like one. Having said that, he does have the answers and it is worth the effort to slog through his prose and get them.
Argryis takes the position that organizations actively defend themselves against change, and since the people who mount the defense are intelligent and experienced, the defenses work remarkably well. This book and his Knowledge for Action, are the executive's field manuals for battling this resistance.
Argyris fans know that he presents several recurring themes. One is skilled incompetence. Skilled incompetence is the result of being so good at practiced behaviors that we don't notice ourselves doing them. The practiced behaviors result in outcomes that we deem "safe" even if they make us miserable. We defend ourselves against demands to behave differently out of fear that we will surrender our safety.
Another Argyris staple is the "theory in use." Most of us have a theory of how we should act and a second theory about how we really do act. The real one is the "theory in use." The split between the two creates a dual identity that we are obliged to defend through the use of "fancy footwork" and elaborate "cover ups."
He theorizes that we conceal our dual identities by making their existence "undiscussable." And because we pride ourselves on being open and candid, we make the undiscussability undiscussable.
By now your head may be reeling, and that is just where Argyris always takes his readers. But there are rewards for the persistent reader. Argyris takes us to the heart of our own defenses, to our own denial of our skilled incompetence.
Another Argyris term that is of great significance is the French word malaise. He uses it to describe the pervasive sickish feeling that comes over an organization that is permeated with fancy footwork, double identities, and elaborate defensive routines that cannot be discussed. Once an organization descends into malaise, the road to recovery is highly problematic.
To summarize, this is one of the most insightful and valuable business books ever written, but it's a fairly tough read.

5 out of 5 stars *ESSENTIAL* for Managers & those considering 360 feedback.......2003-04-12

Chris Argyris' work is essential reading for the executive who truly wants to leverage his/her organization's culture and workforce capability into the ultimate long-term competitive advantage.

Like it or not, unsticking "stuck" cultures is what stands between executives who ultimately deliver versus those who merely ride the gravy-train for the first 2 years of a 5 year contract before getting fired. So listen up: with Knowledge Workers the "soft stuff" IS the meat & potatoes!

Also, Argyris is also essential reading for anyone who is considering the use of the 360-Feedback tool. In my book, 360 is a powerful tool that is *dangerous* in the wrong hands; particularly if it's used in an unhealthy culture. The effective manager for the Information Age has to have atleast "some" competence in organizational psychology --in addition to having an external O.D. (Org Development) professional on retainer to get the org initially "unstuck" and keep it that way until things are back on track.

Argyris is an Industrial / Organizational Psychologist (I/O P) and OD guru with heavily sociological and cognitive psychology leanings. Argyris is the "OD person's OD person"; his career goes back to the 1950's. Argyris has devoted his life to these 2 key goals: (1)understanding what is required to integrate the individual into the collective (highly relevant in the era of the Knowledge Worker) and (2)how to monitor & measure progress in this regard in a way that produces "ACTIONABLE knowledge" for continuously improving this integration process. With Argyris -- the rubber meets the road and traction is imminent.

Argyris' later work can be grouped into a "quartet" of books. However the reader should be cautioned because Argyris writes under 2 potentially frustrating assumptions: (1)that the reader is atleast a Master's Degree level person in I/O P; (2)that the reader has read his previous books and is thus ready to tackle the new material at hand. However, I'm delighted to point out that -- with the proper reading approach -- a non-OD everyday-manager-type can read and understand The Argyris Way without too much difficulty. The secret is to read atleast 2 of Argyris' books in the proper order. I prescribe 2 approaches to tackling Argyris: 1 for non-OD people (managers & executives) and 1 for OD people (the propeller-heads who actually know this stuff). Here they are:

(BOOK 1) Argyris "Overcoming Organizational Defenses" c1990. This is a McDonald's drive thru version of the much more involved 1985 release cited as book # 4 below. This is the starting point for everyday managers & executives who are thinking about engaging an OD person for their organizations but do not plan on being I/O P people themselves. The price to understand the Argyris way will be paid here -- and it is a price very much worth paying. If you're new to I/O P, plan on 5 full evenings of reading to get thru this 1st book -- and in the process you will have read the book thru twice. Don't have that kind of time you say? Either MAKE the time or The Law of Darwin will soon be awarding your job to someone else!

(BOOK 2) Martin Seligman's "Learned Optimism 2ed" c1998. Get a high-level understanding of the difference between cognitive versus behavioral psychology. Otherwise, to not read this book in tandem with the Argyris work will leave the reader open to error by assuming outdated behaviorist psychology norms (which is the error that presently pervades Human Resources' thinking in the areas of performance management and compensation). This book can be read in 2 nights.

(BOOK 3) Argyris "Knowledge for Action" c1993. This takes the reader through a complete, comprehensive real-life diagnosis and intervention process using the tenets presented in book #1 above. This book can be read in a couple of afternoons assuming that the price has already been paid by reading book #1. Non-OD people can stop their reading here.

(BOOK 4) Argyris "Action Science" c1985. This is the full scholar's version of his I/O P approach and will take 2 weeks of evenings to get through. For an OD, I recommend reading this 1st before Argyris "Overcoming".

(BOOK 5) Argyris "On Organizational Learning, 2ed" c1998. Note that this is a different book from "On Org Learning 2: Theory, Method & Practice" c1995. Strictly for OD people, this is a comprehensive survey & critique of present literature and approaches in the OD field. Of particular value is his treatise of Edgar Schein's work and re-emphasizing the value of sociology in the science of psychology.

I'll close by paraphrasing the Argyris model here as a teaser. There are 2 states of Human reasoning:
Model 1 = intra-personal BEFORE inter-personal (defensive / independent)
Model 2 = intra-personal .AND. inter-personal (productive / synergistic)

I'll also add in a 3rd state as my own corollary:
Model 3 = intra-personal AFTER inter-personal ( "Divine" )

Model 3 is beyond man's capability, Model 2 would be Stephen Covey's 7 Habits in action at rung 6 on the effectiveness ladder, and Model 1 is the actual/default "selfish" pattern of most people today -- thanks to the psychological conditioning of countless centuries prior to the Information Age.

Borrowing from Seligman, the younger Baby-Boomers and later generations are the 1st in the history of the world to "have the choice" to be knowledge workers. This throws people together into complex social systems that require a new level of communication ability that's new to man as a species and is currently not taught in schools. As a survival mechanism, mankind's default behavior is Model 1 -- even though he will verbally claim Model 2 or even Model 3. Overcoming defensive Model 1 behavior is an effort that requires years of committed work -- BUT IS THE VERY GATEWAY to functioning in the more mature organizational structures that lay beyond command-and-control (such as empowered workgroups); and that offer so much promise to knowledge-intense organizations.

A final caution: moving the organization from Model 1 to Model 2 is a project that should be treated with the seriousness of any other project -- as a set of value-based deliverables that are defined ahead of time and whose ultimate realization is preceeded by the conscientious commitment of resources. And because of the emotional aspects of the project early-on -- for the 1st 1 to 2 years the OD interventionist should be a person completely external to the organization -- or else the project is guaranteed to fail. Executive sponsorship alone will not be enough.

4 out of 5 stars A classic in the field of organizational learning.......2002-02-10

Chris Argyris presents a classic in organizational learning. Some of the concepts explored and researched here form the basis for some of the priciples of the Learning Organization. Argyris discussion of theories-in-use, social virtues and skilled incompetence is a fascinating and eye-opening exercise.

However, the book is written by an academician largely for academicians. If you want 'easy' reading this is not the book for you. If you are, on the other hand, serious about organizational learning, change and human performance, then this book should definitely be on your book-shelf.

The Book is organized into 9 chapters:
1. Puzzles.
2. Human Theories of Control: Skilled Incompetence.
3. Organizational Defensive Routines.
4. Fancy Footwork and Malaise.
5. Sound Advice: It Compounds the Problem.
6. reducing the Organizational Defense Pattern.
7. Making the New Theory of Managing Human Performance Come True.
8. Getting from Here to There.
9. Upping the Ante.
Facilitating Organization Change: Lessons from Complexity Science
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Universal Framework for OD Work
  • The Best Practical Guide to Using Complexity
  • practical book about promising org. change approach
Facilitating Organization Change: Lessons from Complexity Science
Edwin E. Olson , Glenda H. Eoyang , Richard Beckhard , and Peter Vaill
Manufacturer: Pfeiffer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 078795330X

Book Description

Looking for a highly effective alternative to traditional change models?
Finally, an alternative to traditional change models-the science of complex adaptive systems (CAS). The authors explain how, rather than focusing on the macro "strategioc" level of the organization system, complexity theory suggests that the most powerful change processes occur at the micro level where relationship, interaction and simple rules shape emerging patterns.
* Details how the emerging paradigm of a CAS affects the role of change agents
* Tells how you can build the requisite skills to function in a CAS
* Provides tips for thriving in that new paradigm "Olson and Eoyang do a superb job of using complexity science to develop numerous methods and tools that practitioners can immediately use to make their organizations more effective."
--Kevin Dooley, Professor of Management and Industrial Engineering, Arizona State University

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Universal Framework for OD Work.......2005-03-21

I read this book when it was written several years ago. The book has staying power. I find that I have adopted the concepts from complexity science as a framework for my organization development work. I think in terms of the simple, yet powerful, metaphor of breadmaking when consulting and facilitating.

5 out of 5 stars The Best Practical Guide to Using Complexity.......2002-01-17

This is the best practical guide in existence for using Complexity to transform an organization. The authors give valuable tools and techniques for concrete processes which promote Complexity transformation, along with examples of real business situations where the tools have worked. Especially valuable for those who have a background in organization development. Highly recommended.

5 out of 5 stars practical book about promising org. change approach.......2001-10-04

This is an interesting book about an approach to managing and changing organizations, which is quite different from traditional change approaches: complexity theory. You might think: "Ah, here we go again.... Is this just the next new management hype, destined to be forgotten soon?" I don't think so. I think complexity theory is to be taken a bit more serious than that. What is it? It is a rapidly developing theoretical framework that describes and explains fundamental processes of complex adaptive systems, like organizations. What is a complex adaptive system? The authors of this book, Edwin Olson and Glenda Eoyang, explain that in a complex adaptive system, a multitude of different players (called agents) held together by some cohesive force (called a container) and constantly interacting with each other in all kinds of ways (these interactions are called transforming exchanges).

The self-organizing nature of human interactions in a complex organization leads to surprising effects. Small actions, events and interactions can lead to dramatic outcomes affecting the whole system. Human interactions in complex systems lead to so-called emergent properties, which are features of the system that the separate parts do not have. (For example, brain cells don't have consciousness, but the human brain does). All of this explains why it is often impossible to understand let alone predict or control events and developments. This is a rather big departure from the traditional view, which tends to see organizations as understandable, predictable and ... controllable!

Then how exactly is the complexity theory approach to change management different from the traditional approach? Ed Olson and Glenda Eoyang summarize the main features of the CAS approach to change as follows: 1) Achieve change through connections between agents (instead of trying to control the change top-down), 2) Adapt to uncertainty (instead of trying to use predictable stages of development), 3) Allow goals, plans, and structures to emerge (instead of depending on clear and detailed plans or goals), 4) Amplify and value difference (instead of always directly focusing on consensus), 5) Create self-similarity (instead of difference between levels), 6) Regard success as a matter of fit with the environment (instead of focusing on one dimensional success measures).

It's hard to accurately summarize in a few words what's in this book. So, if you're organizational development consultant, perhaps you'd better read it yourself. What you will find is that the book is a nice mix of theory, case descriptions and practical tools which (some of which are very nice and handy). I think this is the first book that makes complexity theory so practical.
Understanding and Facilitating Change in Higher Education in the 21st Century
Average customer rating: Not rated
    Understanding and Facilitating Change in Higher Education in the 21st Century
    Adrianna Kezar
    Manufacturer: Jossey-Bass
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    1. Beyond Change Management: Advanced Strategies for Today's Transformational Leaders (J-B O-D (Organizational Development)) Beyond Change Management: Advanced Strategies for Today's Transformational Leaders (J-B O-D (Organizational Development))
    2. Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership
    3. How Accreditation Influences Assessment: New Directions for Higher Education (J-B HE Single Issue Higher Education) How Accreditation Influences Assessment: New Directions for Higher Education (J-B HE Single Issue Higher Education)
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    ASIN: 0787958379

    Book Description

    There is a widespread discontent with the quality of education and levels of college student achievement, particularly for undergraduates preparing for the professions. This report examines the educational challenges in preparing professionals, reviews the specific types of curriculum innovations that faculty and administrators have created or significantly revised to strengthen college graduates' abilities, and focuses on the societal changes and expectations produced by the acceleration in technology.
    Facilitating Learning Organizations: Making Learning Count
    Average customer rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    • A descriptive, and systematic coverage of facilitation
    Facilitating Learning Organizations: Making Learning Count
    Victoria J. Marsick , and Karen E. Watkins
    Manufacturer: Gower Publishing Company
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Hardcover

    GeneralGeneral | Job Hunting & Careers | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    Vocational GuidanceVocational Guidance | Job Hunting & Careers | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    Human Resources & Personnel ManagementHuman Resources & Personnel Management | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    ManagementManagement | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    TrainingTraining | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Skills | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    Organizational LearningOrganizational Learning | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    All TitlesAll Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
    Business & InvestingBusiness & Investing | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
    ASIN: 0566080397

    Customer Reviews:

    2 out of 5 stars A descriptive, and systematic coverage of facilitation.......1999-12-07

    The approach taken is descriptive rather than prescriptive. Indeed, the authors insist that it is neither possible nor desirable to set out a prescriptive approach to build a learning organisation. The book relies heavily on extended case studies and includes substantial biographical detail on the leaders and key facilitators in the selected cases, as well as extended invited contributions by four of them. These case studies are used to illustrate the main shared features that the authors have observed in successful transformation to an organisation that is able to learn as part of its continuing functioning. Key features on which they focus include the use of 'action technologies' (action research, action learning and action science), a systemic view of change and an emphasis on the power of partnership between HR professionals and line managers.

    The three 'action technologies' that lie at the heart of their preferred methodologies are jargon terms for: ß a research and design methodology that iterates from diagnosis through vision building and alignment to experiments and reassessment ß action learning using a number of devices to integrate learning and work, and ß the use of the techniques of skilled conversation and group learning to identify and resolve issues - the process of cycling between action and reflection and the principles involved in 'double loop learning' The conclusions are unsurprising, but it is useful to see them reinforced.

    The authors do a service in reminding us that, while there are universal underlying principles, the move towards a learning organisation is an exploration and its steps can not be codified. Those who like to learn through case studies will find the book useful and practising facilitators will probably find it useful to 'compare notes' with those quoted in the book. However, it certainly does not replace any of my established favourites in this field.
    Facilitating Organizational Change
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      Facilitating Organizational Change
      Daniel A. Silverman
      Manufacturer: University Press of America
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback

      GeneralGeneral | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
      Organizational ChangeOrganizational Change | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
      GeneralGeneral | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
      GeneralGeneral | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
      ASIN: 0761804927

      Book Description

      Facilitating Organizational Change is a book that approaches organizational change as a profoundly difficult process that requires durable, time tested tools to master. The facilitator for this change is provided with the appropriate level of tools to approach the change situation from three different perspectives: Infrastructural, Cultural, and Individual. All of the tools have been tested by the author and his clients for the past twenty years, across a broad range of change efforts in research and development, the automotive industry, electronics, insurance and financial services, printing and publishing, paper products, government, utilities, and higher education. This book approaches the anxiety that surrounds change with a methodology that uses the disequilibrium as a driver for the culture to reassess how it does what it does. It facilitates the culture into operationalizing the need to reinvent itself in a fashion that allows for there to be closer alignment between what people's true values and needs are and how those needs can be optimally realized through the organizational systems within the culture.
      Facilitating change through organizational direction setting
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        Facilitating change through organizational direction setting
        Linda M Proctor
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Unknown Binding
        ASIN: B0007B9A8K
        Facilitating Change: Ready-To-Use Training Materials for the Manager
        Average customer rating: Not rated
          Facilitating Change: Ready-To-Use Training Materials for the Manager
          Barry Fletcher
          Manufacturer: Gower Publishing Company
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Hardcover

          GeneralGeneral | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
          Organizational ChangeOrganizational Change | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
          Organizational LearningOrganizational Learning | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
          GeneralGeneral | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
          Human Resources & Personnel ManagementHuman Resources & Personnel Management | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
          Management & LeadershipManagement & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books | Business Ethics | Consolidation & Merger | Decision-Making & Problem Solving | Distribution & Warehouse Management | Industrial | Information Management | Leadership | Management | Management Science | Motivational | Negotiating | Operations Research | Planning & Forecasting | Pricing | Production & Operations | Project Management | Quality Control | Risk Assessment | Statistics | Strategy & Competition | Systems & Planning | Systems Analysis | Teams | Total Quality Management | Training
          GeneralGeneral | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
          Vocational GuidanceVocational Guidance | Job Hunting & Careers | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
          ASIN: 0566076624
          Facilitating Organisational Change in Primary Care: A Manual for Team Members
          Average customer rating: Not rated
            Facilitating Organisational Change in Primary Care: A Manual for Team Members
            Marion Duffy , and Elaine Griffin
            Manufacturer: Radcliffe Medical Press
            ProductGroup: Book
            Binding: Paperback

            Social Services & WelfareSocial Services & Welfare | Poverty | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
            Health Care DeliveryHealth Care Delivery | Administration & Policy | Medicine | Subjects | Books
            Hospital AdministrationHospital Administration | Administration & Policy | Medicine | Subjects | Books
            Family & General PracticeFamily & General Practice | Specialties | Medicine | Subjects | Books
            Internal MedicineInternal Medicine | Medicine | Subjects | Books | Cardiology | Critical Care | Endocrinology & Metabolism | Gastroenterology | General | Hematology | Hepatology | Infectious Disease | Nephrology | Neurology | Oncology | Pulmonary | Rheumatology | Urology
            Health Care DeliveryHealth Care Delivery | Administration & Medicine Economics | Medical | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
            Family PracticeFamily Practice | Internal Medicine | Medicine | Medical | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
            GeneralGeneral | Reference | Subjects | Books
            ASIN: 1857754956

            Books:

            1. Business Valuation Body of Knowledge: Exam Review and Professional Reference
            2. Busting Loose From the Money Game: Mind-Blowing Strategies for Changing the Rules of a Game You Can't Win
            3. California Dreaming: Reforming Mathematics Education
            4. Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church Is Transforming the Faith
            5. Conservative Management of Cervical Spine Syndromes
            6. Courage: The Backbone of Leadership
            7. CRC Standard Curves and Surfaces with Mathematica, Second Edition (Chapman & Hall/Crc Applied Mathematics and Nonlinear Science)
            8. Cultivating Communities of Practice
            9. Cultivating Communities of Practice
            10. Daddy's Girl

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