ABSTRACT
Organization development (OD) circles were awash in pained and pessimistic pronouncements. However, dead certainty is appropriate on one point. That relates to the reaction of the doom-and-gloom crowd when a substantial set of studies became available about OD success rates. A bit of stage-setting must precede attention to the ongoing reaction to new and contrary data. At least three major studies of success rates appeared in the interval 1979-82. The lack of affirmative response when the batch of success rates became available is less easy to understand. Not only do those studies imply success rates with attractive orders of magnitude, but they have other advantages. Thus one focuses on a population of studies that is ten times larger than any other survey of applications. A second study focuses on only the most rigorous research designs. And the third study deals only with "hard" outcomes. In the bargain, this evaluative study sets very high standards for "success.".
