ABSTRACT
Organization development is not new to the readers of this volume. Likert (Chapter 8), created an organization development application that derived from his theory of system 4. Trist and Emery and their sociotechnical systems theory (Chapter 10) produced applications that were rapidly absorbed by organization development. Lawrence and Lorsch and their contingency theory of organization (Chapter 13) spawned an organization development intervention approach that, as we have seen, had considerable impact. In this chapter, additional theories that are closely linked to organization development are discussed. These are the theories of Chris Argyris. In this instance, the theorist’s ideas led him first to embrace laboratory or sensitivity training as a method of interpersonal skill development, and he subsequently expanded his theories to include the broader arena of organization development. He
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Decade of origin 1950s
expresses a strong and continuing emphasis on humanist values, which has caused him to condemn Weber’s bureaucracy and the classical management theories of Fayol and Taylor (see Miner 2002a). At least in the early period, Argyris viewed bureaucracy as unacceptable because it deprived participants of their dignity and their capacity for growth. He argued that an alternative organizational form was needed, and organization development was the means to transformation.
