Theory Orientations of Organization Development (OD) Practitioners

Abstract

Although an emerging literature reports on the values, motives, competence, and activities of organization development (OD) practitioners, little is known about the explicit or implicit theories they bring to their client settings. This study attempts to shed light on OD practitioners' theoretical choices while bringing conceptual clarity and empirical refinement to an existing instrument. Practicing OD professionals responded to a theory orientation questionnaire. Data reveal practitioner preferences for humanistic theory sets (e.g., Herzberg and Maslow) and aversions to theory sets with a system-level focus (e.g., Likert, Lawrence and Lorsch, Levinson). Four meaningful factors proved more reliable and parsimonious an explanation of response patterns. The derived Components—Psychodynamics, Structure, Incentives, and Conflict—were conceptualized as practitioners' implicit model of organization. Limitations of this implicit model drive the authors' suggestion that a uniform, core knowledge base inform OD practice. Future uses of the reformulated scale are discussed.