Debra A. Noumair - Böcker

This volume includes the role of persuasion in learning and education in the process of organization change and development; the role of leaders in the exploration of alternative ways to create and lead high performing organizations; understanding better the role and impact of the OD practitioner mindset on the evolving process of the change and development effort; developing a deeper level understanding of the connection between organization change content and change strategy; the challenge of system wide transformation in the emerging complex business context; the role and dynamics of sense-making and sense-giving in enhancing and facilitating change; new perspectives about different ways to create organization agility; ways to create responsive business process via a tapestry of learning mechanisms; and, the development of dynamic capability and different ways to accelerate global hybrid team effectiveness. These manuscripts provide an intriguing collection that capture and provide value to the real work of creating a sustainable field of study and practice - organization change and development - and sustainable organizations.

Research in Organizational Change and Development (ROCD) brings forth the latest scholarly work and practice in the fields of organization development and organizational change. The objectives are to highlight the latest advances in thought, ideally supported by research and practice. The series is a resource for scholars who are interested in well-integrated reviews of the literature, advances in research methods, and ideas about practice that open new ways of working with organizations to create more successful and sustainable approaches to change.

Highlights include a reflection on forty years of collaboration and provides an inside perspective on collegial partnerships; the first recipients of the Pasmore-Woodman Award (AOM 2015) consider personal recollections as well as general principles about successful academic partnerships; one of the first women in the field provides a perspective on the interdependence of research and practice through a gender lens; while reflecting on the role of women in ODC across a fifty-year time period; strategies for managing changes in the research question when conducting field-based action research advances our understanding of evidence-based practice through the application of theory; Dialogic OD, a relatively new perspective in the field, is explored by discussing a case in which ‘social space’ serves as ‘transitional space’ and the ODC practitioner is provided a theoretically informed set of principles that can be applied and evaluated across contexts; the nature and role of organization identity shades new insights about the potential impact of organization development work on company culture and effectiveness; the challenges of integrating business strategy and organization development in the fast changing newspaper industry.

2017 marks the silver anniversary of the Research in Organizational Change and Development series, founded in 1987 by Dick Woodman and Bill Pasmore, and currently edited by Rami Shani and Debra Noumair. This volume includes contributions from authors who have published in the first few volumes, contributions that examine the impact of the research published in the series on OD&C research, theoretical developments and practice. Highlights include contributions from Bill Pasmore and Dick Woodman as well as David Coghlan that focus on the essence and impact of the research reported in the last 24 volumes and possible research trajectories; Philip Mirvis and Mitchell Marks- the second recipients of the Pasmore-Woodman award (AOM 2016) on the highs and lows of co-researching; David Cooperrider on the evolution of Appreciative Inquiry since the foundation manuscript was published in ROCD Volume 1 (1987); Todd Jick & Kinthi Sturtevant who take stock of 30 years of change management, asking questions of and about its future and; Marvin Weisbord’s reflection on forty years of being a scholarly-practitioner in the field.

This volume providesnew conceptual insights, robust empirical studies, and thought-provokingchapters to help organizations improve health and wellbeing insociety. Some chapters dothis by addressing macro-level change: for example, consulting at the eco-system level anddiscussing the challenges entailed in developing intervention capabilities toimpact highly interdependent eco-systems; or discussing the learning and experience of a large system transformation projectconducted at a national level that had an impact on societal health andwellbeing. Other chapters extendtheory and integrate perspectives that heretofore have remained separate, suchas the 2017 Pasmore-Woodman Award winners, who provide an overview of theircollaborative attempts at intervening and making a difference in organization studies. The richness of the diverse collaborative contributions to thisvolume by leading scholars and scholar-practitioners from around the globeprovide an enriching and emerging body of knowledge.

Volume 27 of Research in Organizational Change and Development introduces thought-provoking insights on inclusivity within organizations. These include: the philosophical foundation of organization development and change; positive organizational scholarship as a scientific base for sustainable change; the practice of humility and humble behaviors; a socio-economic approach to organization development enhancing the compatibility between the human system, stakeholders, and stockholders; the importance of collaborative effort across hierarchies and vertical boundaries, despite tensions that undermine middle managers' role as change agent; the use of top-down and bottom-up processes to link attitudes and enhance levels of engagement; how leaders in social enterprise development continuously respond to common paradoxes of engagement; and, finally, enhancing a culture of inclusive, agile and thriving teams in environments of continuous change. The diverse collaborative contributions by leading scholars and scholar-practitioners from across the globe provide an enriching body of knowledge on contemporary challenges in organizational change and development.

Volume 29 of Research in Organizational Change and Development includes ten contributions from colleagues around the globe with powerful insights and potentially relevant impact for researching and practicing organization change and development during and post the pandemic. The emerging people analytics subfield and organization development perspectives are brought together to present an integrated framework that can guide future theoretical development and practice. Bourdieu's concept of social position in the form of "habitus oriented approach" expands our understanding of human behavior. Lewin’s original view of political labs is advanced to examine the emerging phenomenon of labs as mechanisms for organization change and development. The alignment challenges of strategy and digital technology in government organizations is examined via the use of collaborative inquiry. The essence and context of collaboration in teams is investigated in the emerging new workplace. The current state of organizational DEI practice is examined and a new framework for diagnosing and addressing small-scale diversity-related challenges is introduced. Digital transformation suggests the need for a new STS platform with new guiding design principles. The establishment of a collaborative community generated insights into the challenges faced by healthcare organizations. Action research supported new cooperation and partnership between universities and external organizations. In the new “Reflection” feature, the author compares organization development (OD) and change management (CM) across eight concepts that are relevant to both OD and CM.

Volume 30 of Research in Organizational Change and Development includes seven contributions from leading colleagues around the globe. Taken together they address some key questions for our field: Who do we need to be as OD&C to help create a better world and under what relational conditions can we do such work? What research and theorizing do we have available, and what thought-action repertoires need further development? What robust OD&C methods do we have, and which new methods are needed to be truly helpful in the creation of a better world together?The chapters for this volume are written by senior scholars in the field of OD&C who share their insights from a long-lived, continuous engagement with both theory and practice. This shows in their expansive time horizon when reflecting on the field and how they personally navigated through it. Their seniority also shows in their commitment to help bring the field forward whilst trusting that others may appreciate and continue their legacy. Most of all, and especially endearing in current times, the authors show the joy and strength of collaboration with kindred spirits in inquiry, learning and writing.

Volume 31 of Research in Organizational Change and Development addresses emerging issues, challenges and opportunities while advancing new insights to practice and theoretical development.Contributions are devoted to a few timely concerns and emerging organizational challenges. The role that Organizational Development (OD) can play in helping organizations integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Digital Technology – while focusing on issues of design, planned change roadmaps, and collaboration and change methodologies – are explored. Two of the chapters magnify the role that action research methodology plays in the infusion of AI literacy in a business school and in enhancing inter-organizational collaboration in the public health sector. Several chapters address the role that OD can play in the development of new capabilities such as ambidexterity, the moral purpose of the OD profession, and a scholar-practitioner system-based integrated organization development consulting model. One chapter focuses on group dynamics and advancing a sociological perspective that is embedded in a habitus change orientation.The volume concludes with a contribution that builds on the legacy of Ed Schein, where the authors identify trajectories of broad areas for future exploration and development of the field.