Organizational Diagnosis and Assessment

Bridging Theory and Practice

Michael Harrison, Arie Shirom

• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc
• Year: 1998
• Print ISBN: 9780803955110
• eBook ISBN: 9781452212845
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Organisational Behaviour
• Index: Business

Organizational Diagnosis and Assessment presents sharp-image diagnosis, a distinctive approach to organizational consultation and planned change, that reflects current research and theorizing about organizational change and effectiveness. The authors draw on multiple analytical frames to produce empirically grounded models of sources of ineffectiveness and forces for change, showing how consultants, managers, and applied researchers can break free of unproductive practices and ways of thinking to avoid uncritical adoption of management fads. They offer workable solutions to critical problems and demonstrate ways to meet organizational challenges like market downturns, technological change, and alliances with other organizations. Organizational Diagnosis and Assessment covers diagnosis and assessment of work groups, organizations, and whole systems. This volume develops analytical approaches for problem solving and strategy formation in both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. Diagnosis of public policy issues, like assessments of the effectiveness of health systems, is also addressed. Many of the models and techniques contribute to assessing the changing nature of the workplace, examining organizational decline and other life-cycle transitions; gendering; change and diversity in organizational culture and in workforce composition; the spread of new forms of work organization, including teams, flat hierarchies, and networks; new uses of information technology; and mergers and alliances among organizations.

Organizational Diagnosis and Assessment will be invaluable to advanced students, consultants, and applied behavioral scientists in social sciences, management, social work, organizational and industrial psychology, organizational sociology, nursing, and public administration.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Preface
• Part I - Foundations
• Chapter 1 - Frames and Models in Organizational Diagnosis
• Diagnosis and the Management of Change
• Models and Frames in Diagnosis
• Sharp-Image Diagnosis
• Diagnosis in Context
• Effective Diagnosis
• Chapter 2 - Applying the Open-Systems Frame
• Background
• Framework for Open-Systems Analysis
• Diagnostic Principles and Procedures
• Conclusion
• Chapter 3 - Assessing Effectiveness and Ineffectiveness
• Political Approaches to Diagnosis
• Choosing Effectiveness Criteria
• Conclusion
• Chapter 4 - Diagnostic Models in Use
• What Makes a Good Diagnostic Model?
• Collaborative Applications of Open-Systems Models
• Making Systems Simple: The Six-Box Model
• Diagnosis in Stream Analysis
• Conclusion
• Chapter 5 - Diagnosing Organizational Politics
• Politics of Diagnosis
• Diagnosing the Politics of Planned Change
• Diagnosing Organizational Politics
• Conclusion
• Part II - Focal Areas
• Chapter 6 - Group Performance
• Systems Framework for Diagnosing Group Behavior
• Action Model for Group Task Performance
• Conclusion
• Chapter 7 - Organization Design
• Contributing to Design Projects
• Organization-Level Design
• Design within Divisions and Units
• Conclusion
• Chapter 8 - Human Resource Management
• HRM Program Evaluation
• Benchmarking
• Assessing HRM's Strategic Contribution
• Utility Analysis
• Stakeholder Assessment
• Conclusion
• Chapter 9 - Emergent Behavior and Workforce Diversity
• Gaps between Emergent Behavior and Official Mandates
• Workforce Diversity
• Conclusion
• Chapter 10 - Organizational Culture
• Framing Culture
• Diagnosing Culture
• Data-Gathering Techniques
• Conclusion
• Part III - Applications
• Chapter 11 - Diagnosis across the Organizational Life Cycle
• Do Organizations Go through Life Cycle Stages?
• Momentum versus Periodic Upheavals
• Diagnosis during Life Cycle Stages
• Organizational Decline
• Conclusion
• Chapter 12 - Labor Relations
• Effectiveness and Ineffectiveness in Labor Relations Systems
• Diagnostic Guidelines
• Applying the Diagnostic Model
• Future Development of the Model
• Chapter 13 - Strategy Formation and Organizational Learning
• Contingency Model of Strategic Decision Processes
• Supporting Deliberate Strategies
• Supporting Emerging Strategies
• Contributing to Innovation and Organizational Learning
• Conclusion
• Chapter 14 - Diagnosing Macro Systems
• Focusing on System Outcomes
• Constructing a Diagnostic Model
• Conclusion
• Part IV - Bridging Theory and Practice
• Chapter 15 - Applying Multiple Theoretical Frames
• Advantages of Multiframe Diagnosis
• Theoretical Diversity and Diagnosis
• Choosing Frames
• Combining Frames
• Conclusion
• References
• Index
• About the Authors