Organizational Diagnosis: A Workbook of Theory and Practice

Organizational Diagnosis suggest ways of looking at an organization to determine "gaps" between "what is" and "what ought to be."In workbook format, the author presents a vocabulary and concepts which quickly help the reader understand many things about an organization and decide what changes need to be made. To help in the diagnosis, a "six-box model" using the categories if structure, purposes, relationships, rewards, helpful mechanisms, and leadership is provided in Part I. On left-hand pages are presented the vocabulary and concepts of this diagnostic process, the various factors affecting an organization's performance, and the key elements leading to improvement. The right-hand pages in Part I furnish brief pencil-and-paper exercises for trying out these theories and evaluating any organization the reader is familiar with. Part II consists of annotated readings from leading theory sources, offering opportunities for a more comprehensive study of the diagnostic concepts introduced in Part I of the book. Thus readers can proceed from brief theory, to personal experience, to in-depth study--as they wish. The six-box framework provides a way of organizing experience that makes sense to managers.Weisbord's concepts have been applied successfully to work teams, industrial firms, government agencies, universities, medical centers, and small businesses. They can be used as a "cognitive" framework for team development, management training, supervisory training courses, organizational behavior education, or diagnostic self-study.The two parts, theory and practice in the first section plus resource readings in the second, make this an ideal book around which to design introductory courses in organizational behavior, as part of undergraduate or graduate management training. The book may also be used in continuing education courses, whether oriented toward industry, the public sector, or health care.


About the Author
Marvin R. Weisbord is Vice President and Director of Organization Research & Development., a Division of Block Petrella Associates, Inc., in which firm he is a partner. He has had a diverse career as college teacher, writer, and executive vice president of a small company. Mr. Weisbord earned his B.S. degree at the University of Illinois and his M.A. degree from the State University of Iowa. He has done graduate work in the social and behavioral sciences at the Pennsylvania State University and the University of Pennsylvania. He has written many articles on the theory and practice of organization development and is an associate editor of the Journal of Applied Behavioral Science. Mr. Weisbord's consulting clients have included industrial firms, government agencies, medical schools, a public TV station, a women's college, and an urban police force. He is also a Senior Fellow of the Leonard Davis Insitute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania.