Abstract

More people in business and government are searching for more meaningful, more effective, ways to get work done. As a result of their search, they are becoming optimistic about initiating creative and purposeful change in work organizations. They label their activities and concepts Organization Development . The search for new answers, however, also leads to more questions. Listed are many of the questions commonly asked about Organization Development. The answers which follow are tentative simply because the field is still emerging and the conclusions are not final. Organization Development is a reorientation of man's thinking and behavior toward his work organizations. It applies the scientific method and its underlying values of open investigation and experimentation to individual and work group behaviors as they are directed toward the solution of work problems. It views both man and change optimistically. It applies a humanistic value system to work behaviors. It assumes people have the capability and motivation to grow through learning how to improve theft own work climate, work processes and their resulting products. It accepts as inevitable the The concepts fundamental to Organization Development can be placed in two general categories: those that apply more often to work groups and large organizations and those that apply to the individual. Naturally, these concepts are interrelated.