This paper describes our belief that organization development (OD), to be effective, should link with the progressively mature reasoning processes which characterize managers working within increasingly higher stages in the evolution of an organization. The paper uses the models of Torbert (1973) and Kohlberg (1969) to examine the scope of influence of popular OD approaches and concludes that OD theories have probably appealed principally to individuals and organizations functioning at relatively high levels of development. It also points up the need for theories which guide developmental energies at lower levels of orientation and which provide additional understanding of the transitional events individuals and organizations have to experience in order to pass from one stage of development to the next.
2 groups of university students undergoing self-actualizing treatment, or sensitivity training, were given 2 administrations of the Personal Orientation Inventory (POI) in order to ascertain (a) whether POI indexes would change toward greater self-actualization and (b) whether such changes in the POI questionnaire scores would correlate with changes in self-actualizing behavior. The combined POI scores of 1 group's members increased toward self-actualization, while the combined scores of the other group's members showed no such change. However, rank-ordered POI changes for individuals, regardless of group, did not correlate with rank-ordered indexes for measuring individuals' change in self-actualizing behavior. Shostom's (1963Shostom's ( , 1964 Personal Orienyi c \jUi~y \ o ul " strum6. esigne u
A T Group was studied to test hypotheses that: (1) some members would show higher Problem Expression Scale (PES) ratings of samples of their speech near the end of their group experience than at the beginning, and (2) the members showing the most PES improvement will be those members who enter into the most interpersonal relationships in which the members perceive one another as high in level of regard, empathy, congruence, and unconditionality of regard. Of the nine students and one trainer in this study, four had significantly positive PES changes. Moreover, the number of mutually perceived therapeutic relationships in which a member participated was related to improvement of PES ratings. Replication of this study, using a larger n, seems justified.
This study compares the effects that "more" or "less" self-disclosing trainer behavior had upon members of two T Groups. Part I of the data analysis substantiates that the experimental manipulation took place as intended. Part II shows that while an equivalent number of 2-person "perceived therapeutic relationships" were formed in each group, the Ss in the group with the less self-disclosing trainers (lSD) more often entered them with their trainers and dyad partners and the Ss with the more self-disclosing trainers (mSD) entered relationships more often with other members. Part III shows that although both groups eventually attained the same level of self-awareness, the mSD group did so earlier. A revised prescription for trainer behavior is advanced, suggesting that the trainer might optimally begin his participation with a high rate of self-disclosure and become more selective with time.
The relationship between the working lives and family lives of people in our society is little explored. This article describes a case in which heavy business travel created problems both for the industrial organization and the families of the employees involved. To cope with the problem, the family perspective was brought into the organization by means of a husband‐wife workshop. The workshop used structure to fit privacy norms of industry, to help couples explore aspects of their relationships that determined their individual and joint response to organizational and family stress, and to develop collaborative resources for coping with those stresses. The benefits to the families and the organization went beyond coping with the stresses of business travel and extended to other important aspects of both business and family life.
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