ABSTRACT
The generic thrust is how the laboratory approach to Organization Development (OD) can serve public administration, as well as other disciplines involved with the study of large-scale collective effort. The typical sets of findings, hypotheses, and values underlying OD programs imply several common objectives. Several properties of the public institutional environment particularly complicate achieving the common goals of OD programs. As compared to even the largest of international businesses, the public environment in the United States is characterized by what might be called, following David Truman, unusual opportunities for multiple access to multiple authoritative decision makers. As compared to business organizations, the public arena requires that OD programs include a greater variety of individuals and groups with different and often mutually exclusive sets of interests, reward structures, and values. The line of command within public agencies, as compared to business and service organizations, is more likely to be characterized by competing identifications and affiliations.
