First-order, second-order, and third-order change and organization development interventions: a cognitive approach

Article Abstract:

This article discusses how recent developments in the cognitive sciences, especially the concept of schemata (organizing frameworks for understanding events), can illumine the practice of organization development. On the basis of a cognitive perspective, the authors discuss the relationship between organizational change and schemata, describing the following orders of change that might result from OD: first-order change, or incremental changes occurring within particular schemata already shared by members of a client system; second-order change, or modifications in the shared schemata themselves; and third-order change, or the development of the capacity of the client system to change the schemata as events require. To show how understanding the differences among orders of change can help clarify problems and solutions from an intervention, the authors discuss how a paternalism schema affected a particular quality of working life intervention. They conclude by suggesting implications of the cognitive perspective for OD practice and research. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Cognitive styles

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Social cognition in organizational change: an insider-outsider approach

Article Abstract:

This article uses a joint insider-outsider research approach to understand the cognitive dynamics associated with implementation of a new empowerment schema. The schema was experientially developed by the founders of a group of teachers in a network of schools. An outside researcher and the two founders (the insiders) collaborated in a study of the dynamics associated with the implementation of the schema, focusing on the founders' implicit expectations regarding implementation and the cognitive processes involved in the teachers' reception of the schema. These expectations and cognitive processess were uncovered through analysis of dilemmas experienced when the founders implemented the schema at a faculty institute. On the basis of these dilemmas, the article suggests that certain cognitive processes are likely to be evoked in a group or organization when a new schema is introduced and that conflicts are likely to arise because of these cognitive processes. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Social aspects, Social perception, School management and organization, School administration

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What a design approach offers to organization development

Article Abstract:

The characteristics of design science are described as a type of organization development (OD) intervention and as an approach to actionable theorizing. The design interventions are viewed within the framework of OD and with proper development they have offered the possibility of revitalizing OD.

Analysis, Bureaucracy, Organization theory

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