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There seems to be little question that values are powerful and yet
invisible factors that guide research, theory building, and practice in
the social sciences generally, and more specifically, in organizational
development. Values are not only the outcomes of human choice, but
are the underlying forces which guide and influence those choices. A
value, according to Rokeach (1973), "is a belief that a specific mode
of conduct or end state of existence is preferable, socially or personally,
to an opposite or contrary end state or mode of conduct". The importance
of values in the conduct of professional practice and in the meta-
objectives of OD should be clear. Discussing Laboratory Training,
Schein and Bennis (1965) referred to values or "meta-goals" as
important ingredients to learning in T-Group settings. They indicated
that values, although highly generalized and sometimes vague, are
undoubtedly "powerful and pervasive" in determining the course of
laboratory training (its process) as well as its outcomes (its goals).
Some 15 years ago, we argued that Organizational Development (OD) was not
a "value-free" social science, and that indeed there is no such thing as a value-
free social science. Consequently, in our definition and conceptualization of OD,
we were obliged to try to identify the core values associated with thefield.Tracing
the historical foundations of the field, beginning with Lewin, Maslow, Argyris,
MacGregor, and others, provides a perspective on the normative nature of the
field and the underlying value base from which OD emerged.
Based on the power and impact of these early writings, as well as our own sense
of the developingfield,we wrote that the values of the fully functioning organization
might be stated as follows (Margulies and Raia, 1972, p. 3):
(1) Providing opportunities for people to function as human beings rather than
as resources in the productive process.
(2) Providing opportunities for each organizational member, as well as the
organization itself, to develop to full potential.
(3) Seeking to increase the effectiveness of the organization in terms of all its
goals.
(4) Attempting to create an environment in which it is possible tofindexciting The Significance
and challenging work. of Core Values
(5) Providing opportunities for people in organizations to influence the way in
which they relate to work, the organization, and the environment.
(6) Treating each human being as a person with a complex set of needs, all
of which are important in work and in life.
The notion of values in the theory and practice of organizational development is 7
clearly a bi-level concept; a fact we might add that is often neglected by other analyses
and descriptions. First, OD values provide a beacon or target which represents
an "ideal" state toward which the design, structure and processes of the organization
is directed. The goals of organizational development, therefore, are not defined in
simple terms; they are defined in terms of the organization's needs for effective
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Hornstein (1980) believes that one result of the shifting of organizational values
has been an increase in encountering "organizational Nemeses" in his consulting
endeavors. His Nemeses are those individuals within an organization who hold
grossly divergent values from those of OD. He sees a "counterreaction" by
consultants to these Nemeses resulting in ineffective behavior. One can see that
as the values between OD and contemporary organizations become more divergent,
the frequency of encountering an "organizational Nemesis" is more likely to occur.
Clearly, the potential result of the incompatibility between the core values of the
field and organizational values is a less effective use of OD technology and
interventions. This view often supports the idea that any changes from OD's original
perspectives and values constitutes some sort of "selling out". There seems to
be an underlying sanction against even the suggestion of a change in coreODvalues.
The literature clearly demonstrates a growing diversity of perspectives, conceptual
approaches, methodologies, and applications of techniques. Our own view, however,
is that this trend does not in of itself indicate any divergence from the core values
underlying the field.
McLean et al. (1982) see the traditional values of openness, honesty, clarity,
consensus, and collaboration as a basis for the OD practitioners' repertoire, but
they suspect that political values are also becoming prevalent. They elaborate that,
especially among internal consultants, values are becoming less clear, and that
there are increasing chances for the consultant to be caught in a "web" of
organizational politics. They also indicate that instead of helping others to achieve
their aspirations and values, many practitioners are trying to impose their own
personal values and interpretations of the situation. Many OD practitioners describe
themselves as neutral facilitators when in fact they are not totally objective. They
are often unaware that they subtly control situations according to theirowndefinitions.
The authors do allow for the possibility that the existing framework of normative
OD values may not be effective at facilitating change in organizations whose values
differ.
Our review indicates that some practitioners do feel that the humanistic value
structure of OD is somewhat narrow. However, most express concern at the
thought of any change. They appear to feel any change in core values would mean
that they were not doing organizational development. Similarly, there is the
Journal of implication and a profound one at that, that somehow the values of management
Organizational are corrupted by other motives such as profit, competition, politics, and
Change productivity. One result of this view, conscious or otherwise, is the belief that
OD must convert organization values to the core values of the field and must be
Management careful not to be contaminated with management's values in the process. The
1,1 professional OD practitioner, in our view, cannot completely ignore the impact
of organizational values on effective practice. It is our contention that most
12 professionals attempt to integrate the organization's values with those of the field.
The authors also present a dichotomy between OD's humanism of the past, and
its increasing pragmatism in the present as a response to organizational emphasi
on survival. They note that appropriate OD theory and practice will be that which
takes into account the values of both the organization and the field. They suggest
that the need for the adaptation of values is better achieved through the application
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orthodox managerial outlook that still prevails today. The culture of an organization,
including its reward system, reinforces the importance of identifying with
organizational values. Loyalty is to the organization, which often forces managers
to "choose" between organizational values and those which may be incompatible
or in conflict with them. The more managers work in their organizations, the more
these values tend to be reflected in their own personal values.
It is not our intention here to berate managers or to diminish the importance
of organizations in our society. Both have served us well. It is also not our intention
to discredit the field of organizational development. It too has served us well. We
are concerned, however, that there has been an unwitting collusion between
managers and OD practitioners along the following lines. The interventional
technology has been (and continues to be) packaged and sold by OD practitioners
and eagerly accepted by managers as a cure-all at best and as a quick fix at worst.
More important, the techniques are accepted because (1) they seem to produce
more effective employees, teams, and/or systems, (2) they are seemingly more
humane, (3) they promise to help people realize their potential and to cope with
the pressures of organizational life, and (4) they are morally "good".
Professional managers are neither barbarians nor automatons. They are, in fact,
people with decent and honorable intentions. OD technology provides them with
an automatic, built-in conscience. The techniques in and of themselves are both
"right" and "good". If it is believed that the application of "good" means will
automatically produce good end results and "good" people, then the consideration
of values becomes unnecessary and a waste of time. This assures managers that
they need not engage in the time-consuming, intangible, and difficult business
of clarifying and integrating incompatible values. They need look no further than
the humaneness of the techniques. This simplifies the job because they can be
confident that no one will be hurt in the normal course of things. On the contrary,
the more they are involved with OD, the more humane they and their organizations
are.
It is our belief that OD practitioners have become an integral part of this collusion.
The field has been and continues to be technology-driven. Many practitioners have
become routine in their applications; they have succumbed to management pressure
for the quick fix, the emphasis on the bottom line, and the cure-all mentality;
they have failed to maintain "marginality" in their roles as consultants and helpers The Significance
to management — they are for all intents and purposes "in bed" with their client- of Core Values
systems; and more importantly perhaps, they seem to have lost sight of the core
values of the field and the need to engage in the difficult and challenging process
of integrating them into the organization's value systems as ends in and of
themselves.
The implications for the field are reasonably obvious. We have examined the
literature and concluded that OD core values have endured over the last several 15
decades. Our analysis leads us to believe that they are even more important today
than they were during the formative stages of organizational development. First,
because of the increasing divergence between OD values and those of corporate
America, and second, because of what we have identified as an unwitting collusion
between OD practitioners and management which appears to be eroding the values
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Peters, T.J. and Waterman, R.H. (1982), In Search of Excellence, Harper and Row, New York.
Srivastva, S. (1977), "Some Neglected Issues in Organization Development", in Burke, W.W.(Ed.),
Current Issues and Strategies in OD, Human Sciences Press, New York.
Woodcock, M. and Francis, D. (1980), "Team Building: Yes or No?", in Burke, W.W. and Goodstein,
L.D. (Eds.), Trends and Issues in OD: Current Theory and Practice, University Associates, San
Diego, CA.