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Depth Analysis of Organizational Life
Blansfield, Michael G.
5/2  (Winter 1962): 29-42

In this article the author formulates some tentative hypotheses about organizational change and development and then relates a case study in which sensitivity or laboratory training was the vehicle for such activity. According to the author, organizational development comes about as a result of a challenge to the unit. This challenge most frequently takes the form of a threat to the unit's survival. This threat may come from within, as in employee morale deterioration, or from without, in the form of competitive pressures. The author presents case to illustrate what has happened in an organization in which development, as a result of both internal and external challenges, was planned with these hypotheses as the guiding principles. This organization, due to its better-than-average reputation in its industry and advantageous market locations, expanded with great rapidity following the conclusion of World War II. Studies made by a prominent research institute prior to 1958 had predicted continued expansion and growth due to the population explosion in the areas served by the organization.

 

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