Within experiential paradigms of action research, clinical inquiry has hitherto received little attention. Clinical inquiry is the observation, eliciting and reporting of data which are available when the researcher is engaged in a helping relationship in the management of change. Its core...

Purpose – Despite the increasing popularity of virtual communities of practice (VCoPs), our understanding of how to intentionally form, develop and sustain them is still at an embryonic stage. Aims to go some way to remedying this. Design/methodology/approach – Investigates the attempt by 14...

Purpose – To discuss political entrepreneurship as a capability to enable durable insider action research projects. Design/methodology/approach – The two authors utilize auto‐ethnographic methods in order to evaluate and draw inferences from their own actions as insider action researchers....

Purpose – To offer a narrative account of an intervention to resolve a conflict and thus enable a community to mobilize against a threat to its Olmsted Park and, simultaneously, to showcase a participatory action research (PAR) approach to change. Design/methodology/approach – A detailed...

Purpose – This paper draws on the metaphor of “magic” to explore the role of dialogue conferences and subsequent activities as a tool for organizational development and change. The metaphor is introduced and elaborated as a means of allowing critical reflection on action research projects....

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to reflect upon the role of intervention‐oriented scientists in the process of organisation development. The paper seeks to contribute to the growing interest in design studies for organisation development and argues that a focus on reflexivity is...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review action research approaches to changing practice through reflection, identifying themes, issues and questions relevant to a broader community of research practitioners. It invites additional layering in concept, enactment and account....

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce a novel approach to the analysis of individual and co‐constructed change management narratives, utilizing a framework derived from the theory of complex responsive processes. Design/methodology/approach – The research project explored...

This article describes experiences during, and outcomes of, an OD intervention conducted by an internal consultant in an outpatient health centre. It focuses on how the “multiple realities” associated with the medical and administrative hierarchies of the health centre affected the course of...