Organization Development and Change [Hardcover]

Thomas G. Cummings (Author), Christopher G. Worley (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0324260601 | ISBN-13: 978-0324260601 | Publication Date: March 2, 2004 | Edition: 8

Market-leading Organization Development and Change blends theory, concepts and applications in a comprehensive and clear presentation. The authors work from a strong theoretical foothold and apply behavioral science knowledge to the development of organizational structures, strategies, and processes.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Thomas G. Cummings, Professor, Chair of the Department of Management and Organization, and Executive Director of the Leadership Institute, received his B.S. and MBA degrees from Cornell University, and his Ph.D. in socio-technical systems from the University of California at Los Angeles. He was previously on the faculty at Case-Western Reserve University. He has authored 13 books, written over 40 scholarly articles, and given numerous invited papers at national and international conferences. He is Associate Editor of the Journal of Organizational Behavior, and formerly Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Management Inquiry, Chairman of the Organizational Development and Change Division of the Academy of Management, and President of the Western Academy of Management. His major research and consulting interests include designing high-performing organizations and strategic change management. He has conducted several large-scale organization design and change projects, and has consulted to a variety of private and public-sector organizations in the United States, Europe, Mexico, and Scandinavia.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 750 pages
• Publisher: South-Western College Pub; 8 edition (March 2, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0324260601
• ISBN-13: 978-0324260601
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #192,248 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Substance No Style, March 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Organization Development and Change (Hardcover)

One would think that a book about change would be innovative in terms of style. This book is as exciting as the operating instructions that come with your vcr. However, the content is first class. This book will remain on my desk as a reference. Almost every chapter has vital information for any type of change agent. It tells you the key steps in managing change, overcoming resistance to change and designing change interventions. It walks you through the change process step by step beginning with entering an organization then to diagnosing a problem. Once you diagnose a problem the book clearly describes a myriad of interventions for organziational, group and individual problems. Then the book takes you through the steps of implementing and evaluating interventions.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly structured analysis of OD., April 15, 2005

By 

Khaled Ahmadain (Egypt, Cairo..MBA (NYIT), CHRM (Columbia Southern)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Organization Development and Change (Hardcover)

Cummings OD book is perfectly designed to approach and delve into the field of OD smoothly and profoundly. Its first three chapters provide an excellent introduction to OD and how it is differentiated from overlapping organizational dynamics, primarily change management and organizational change. I respected this text's strategic analysis of the OD interventions and the pragmatic models of their implementation. Although developing business organizations sounds theoritical in its conceptual or abstract sense, this text gives you reasonable and sensible tools that help convert the OD theory to a tangible reality.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too general, lots of filler, still better than average, November 6, 2000

By 

Lloyd A. Conway (Detroit) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Organization Development and Change (Hardcover)

This textbook is dated, as all multi-editions (intentionally?) are. Most of the case studies are from the 1990s; there is little sense of history here. The case studies tend to be short and general in nature, as well. The material on OD presented in the book is good and informative, even if the prose style is rather dry. What the authors spend 676 pages(including glossary)to say could have been said as well in perhaps half the space. Compared to other OD texts that the writer has read, this one comes off quite well, the forgoing nonwithstanding. In terms of constructive criticism, this writer would like to see greater depth in the coverage of each topic, and a greater sense both of history and of the future. The book reads as if the authors expect the trends of the present to continue without change into the forseeable future. Specifically, globalization is seen as a long-term factor, when it may well give way to regional trade blocks, as the world becomes multipolar, and as ethnic and religous issues join national self-interest in setting the agendas of nations not on the winning side of globalism. (However, one cannot expect OD textbook authors to be geostrategic thinkers, either.) Connectivity with other disciplines would also help the text; for example, a digression examining "King Lear" or "Julius Caesar" from an OD perspective might inform and entertain the reader. While this book could be improved, it is worth reading on it's own merits, and compares well to other texts in the field of OD. -Lloyd A. Conway