A Manual of Organizational Development: The Psychology of Change

The authors, all psychologists with expertise in consultancy, seek to convey the nature of organizational change, the functions of the organizational consultant, and key issues in making changes work in practice. Fundamental concepts explained in the manual include those of organizational development; the organizational development intervention; and the ways in which change agents consult to organizations (as well as organizational issues that must be addressed in the process). The authors discuss several consultancy models: the purchase/expert model: the doctor/patient model; and the process consultancy model, in which the consultant's primary focus is facilitating clients' efforts to solve problems.
The authors review theoretical considerations, i.e., the systems, psychoanalytic, and behavioral approaches to consultancy. They discuss sources of consultants as well as the knowledge, qualifications, and range of abilities consultants are expected to possess. The steps in consultancy are presented in detail; they include scouting, entry, contracting, data gathering, diagnosis, planning, intervention, evaluation, and change management.