| Some organization behavior theorists believe that the practice of organization development (OD) is dead—or at least dying (Friedlander, 1998; Harvey, 1975; Schein, Beckhard, Nadler, Worley, & Cooperrider, 1999). The cause of death is most often attributed to the emergence in the market place of “change management” consultants who are assumed to be operating from not only a different theory base, but also a different value system (Cummings, 1999; Worren, 1999). While research has examined the values of OD practitioners (Church, 1994; Tichy, 1974), none has been conducted on the values of those who identify themselves as “change management consultants” and how the values, as well as the interventions, of the two populations differ.; This study addresses the gap in the literature by using both quantitative and qualitative research methods to examine and compare the values and interventions of two populations who on the surface appear to be practicing the same kind of “planned change” consulting. However, the study results indicate that there are significant differences in underlying values and preferred interventions. |
