Who Benefits from Participation in Long-Term Human Process Interventions?

Abstract

The present research used a systems approach to assess the value of afour-year organization development program to an organization and its employee partic ipants. The study was conducted within an environmentally dependent research unit of a multinational Midwest-based corporation. Sales volume, climate/ structure, and perceptual data permitted exploration of relationships among (a) the organization's ability to meet environmental demands, (b) intraorganiza tional climate/structure changes, (c) effectiveness of the OD program for the organization, and (d) perceived value of OD experiences to the program's partic ipants. Subjects represented the total management population and a simple random sample of professional employees (i.e., researchers) within the unit. Results suggest that an OD program may be judged effective at the system level but not necessarily at the group or individual level of analysis. Further, system adaptation may be measured by observation of structural changes, but subjective evaluation of OD program effectiveness may be moderated by the amount and source of conflict experienced within the working environment.