Chapter 7
Implementing Change:
Organization Development,
Appreciative Inquiry,
Positive Organizational Scholarship,
and Sense-Making Approaches
Images of Managing Change
Image
Images of
Managing
Change
Approach
Chapter 7
Coach
Organization Development
Appreciative Inquiry
Positive Organizational
Scholarship
These theories and approaches focus on
identifying and building on what is working best
in the organisation.
Interpreter
Sense-Making
This approach as it alerts managers to the
different influence that interpretations of change
can have.
Organization
Development
Appreciative
Inquiry
Positive
Organizational
Scholarship
Sense-Making
Approach
Rationale
Chapter 8
Director
Change Management
Contingency Theories
They focus on strategic and planned
organizational change. Intentional change
outcomes can be achieved through a series of
planned steps. There is certainty that it can be
achieved.
Navigator
Processual Approach
The outcomes are the result of a complex
interplay of different interests, both internal and
external to the organization.
Note: The caretaker and nurturer images are not well addressed in the literature because the
assumption is that change managers receive rather than initiate change
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Organization Development
Images of
Managing
Change
Organization
Development



Appreciative
Inquiry

Positive
Organizational
Scholarship



Sense-Making
Approach

Informed by theories of Lewin, Herzberg,
Maslow, Argyris, …
It has been the fundamental basis of the
change field for a number of years
Change is planned, incremental and
participative
Outcomes are focused on the improved
effectiveness of the organization
Long-term focus
Based upon action research
Emphasis on changing the attitudes and
behaviors of people
Top-down focus
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Organization Development
Images of
Managing
Change

 Humanistic values --- openness, honesty,
integrity
 Democratic values --- social justice, freedom
of choice, involvement
 Developmental values --- authenticity,
growth, self-realization
Organization
Development
Appreciative
Inquiry
Positive
Organizational
Scholarship
Sense-Making
Approach
OD emphasises on a core set of values:
Change should benefit not just the
organization but the people who staff
them
 Are OD values universal?

 Criticism:
The problem of subjectivity.
The problem of business strategy.
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Organization Development
Images of
Managing
Change

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Organization
Development
Appreciative
Inquiry
Positive
Organizational
Scholarship
Sense-Making
Approach
Typical OD steps:

Problem identification
Consultation with an OD practitioner
Data gathering and problem diagnosis
Feedback
Joint problem diagnosis
Joint action planning
Change actions
Further data gathering and evaluation
Classic OD: Lewin’s change process
1. Unfreezing: establishing the need for change
2. Movement: change
3. Freezing: integration of the changes into the system
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Appreciative Inquiry
Images of
Managing
Change
Organization
Development
Appreciative
Inquiry
Positive
Organizational
Scholarship
Shows a shift from problem solving to
joint envisioning of the future
 Seeks to identify what is currently
working best to build on this knowledge
to help develop and design what might
be achieved in the future
 Involves a four-step technique.

Sense-Making
Approach
7-6
Appreciative Inquiry
Images of
Managing
Change
Four-D Model
By GEM Initiative (Mohr and Magruder Watkins, 2001)
Discover
Appreciating
that which give
life
Organization
Development
Appreciative
Inquiry
Positive
Organizational
Scholarship
Delivery
Dream
Sustaining the
organization’s
future
Envisioning
impact
Design
Sense-Making
Approach
Co-constructing
the future
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Positive Organizational Scholarship
Images of
Managing
Change
Organization
Development
Appreciative
Inquiry
Positive
Organizational
Scholarship
Sense-Making
Approach
Emerged in the early 2000s
 It encompasses approaches such as
Appreciative Inquiry and others including
positive psychology and community
psychology.
 Centres on the positive aspects of
organizational life.
 It can be considered a coaching method to
assist organizations.
 It extends rather than replace the problemsolving approaches i.e. the integration of the
positive and negative aspects.

7-8
Sense-Making Approach
Images of
Managing
Change

◦ Inertia: On the contrary, organizations undergo
constant adjustments to better fit changing
circumstances
◦ The need for a standardized change program
◦ Unfreezing: as organizations are in a constant state
of flux, they require freezing to analyse change –
not unfreezing to begin the process of change
Organization
Development
Appreciative
Inquiry
Positive
Organizational
Scholarship
Sense-Making
Approach
It challenges three key assumptions of
change:

The best Change sequence is as
follows:
◦ Freeze
◦ Rebalance
◦ Unfreeze
7-9