A fundamental methodological question guides this paper: How can operations managers and researchers learn from the applied activity that characterises the practice of OM? To address this question, defines and explores the legitimacy of an action‐oriented research approach in OM, and the...

The recent slowdown in the global economy has been a trigger for discontinuous change, prompting many organisations to re‐examine their collaborative strategies. This paper, focuses on the management of collaborative relationships in a period of discontinuity, presents, compares and contrasts...

Managers and consultants have reported that they frequently encounter situations in which individual members of an organization exude an attitude of muted hostility and non‐compliance to a change process. This obstructive behaviour can take an indirect form and be masked by a veneer of...

Organisation development consultants in their work in organisations can find that managers, teams, groups and organisations frequently act out of what is, in effect, a distortion of reality. Distortions seriously impair an organisation′s functioning and affect the ability to manage change...

Kubler‐Ross′ stages of death and dying – denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance‐have formed the basis of much of the therapeutic work with the terminally ill. As death and dying are the ultimate instances of change in a person′s life, it is hypothesised that...

Organisation Development has played a significant role in the renewal of Catholic religious orders since the Second Vatican Council (1962‐5). Religious orders have used consultants in their change processes. As religious orders are a unique form of non‐profit organisation and have a...

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 – The purpose of this paper is to address the fundamental question “can insider action research approach trigger and enhance simultaneously executive development and company performance”. To answer this question the framework of first, second and third person practice is useful in...

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to provide a design and implementation framework for ALAR (action learning action research) programme which aims to address collaborative improvement in the extended manufacturing enterprise. Design/methodology/approach – This article demonstrates the...

Accepts that resistance to change by individuals in organizations is a natural phenomenon and is an essential element in understanding any change process. Holds that resistance has its origins in both the personality and the individual′s interaction with the environment and is a dynamic...