ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the relationship between power and the practice of organization development. Successful intervention requires an understanding of both coalition and individual power, as well as the personal power of the Organization Development (OD) specialist. According to the values of OD, all power relationships should be based on ethical principles. Strategic-contingency theory argues that power is based in an organization's environment, and whoever can best respond to pressing concerns will become the most powerful. Jim Wilson, a powerful manager at SHM Corporation, is concerned that his sales group has missed their quota three times in the last four months. Suspecting that a team-building intervention may boost sales and raise department morale, he calls Susan Carmichael, an organization development consultant, to plan a two-day, off-site, team-building workshop. Coalitions are groups of individuals who share an interest in accomplishing a particular goal. Politics refers to the way power is used to resolve uncertainty within an organization.
