Debra A. Noumair

Transforming the A. K. Rice Institute: From Club to Organization:

Initiating organization change is not nearly as challenging as sustaining and ensuring that organization change will last. This article is a historical account of the transformation of the A. K. Rice Institute from club to organization and how the challenges associated with sustaining the change were powerful enough to undermine, if not completely undo, the transformation. The transformation involved shifting the institute from having two primary missions, membership and education, to having one primary mission, education. The case is written from the perspectives of the change leader, external consultant, and past member of the board who served informally in the role of internal consultant. Collectively, the authors represent group relations and organization development traditions, and the article provides an opportunity to consider the integration, and lack thereof, of these traditions in service of organization transformation. Moreover, the post hoc analysis makes explicit lessons learned from the authors in their differentiated roles.

Cultural Revelations: Shining a Light on Organizational Dynamics

Abstract The aim of this paper is to provide a model for how elements of group relations and organization development perspectives can be combined in a successful organizational consultancy and to demonstrate through a case analysis what blending the two can look like in practice. The further aim of this paper is to provide readers—group therapists in particular—with an increased understanding of how to use therapeutic skills and theories in organizational consultation. The case study is provided to illustrate actual interventions and depict the use of self-as-instrument as one tool available to organizational change consultants. Throughout the paper, ideas are offered on how to engage organizational clients to work with what is irrational and unconscious as well as what is rational and conscious.

Clarence Thomas, Anita Hill, and Us: A Group Relations Perspective

This article uses a group relations perspective to explore the unconscious meanings of the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill hearings for the nation as a whole. The magnitude of media coverage and the reciprocal nature of viewer/reader voyeurism provided evidence that this event had meaning far beyond the individual. In this sociopolitical event, Clarence Thomas, Anita Hill, and the Senate Judiciary Committee were put forward to work through issues that we as a nation could not otherwise consciously address. A group relations perspective speaks to the role everyone played unconsciously in creating and colluding with the process. In essence, these group members were elected to work on behalf of the larger system, and, as in any election, such choices were not accidental. The authors propose that an examination of the larger social unconscious will enable us to understand the powerful psychic meaning that the hearings held for the nation.

Call for Papers: Understanding Diversity Dynamics in Systems Social Equality as an Organization Change Issue

It’s been 70 years since Kurt Lewin began examining the social dynamics underlying discrimination and 50 years since the passage of the Civil Rights Act in the United States. Fifty years ago also marks the inception of National Training Laboratories (NTL) and The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science (JABS). NTL’s mission is “to advance Applied Behavioral Science in the service of social justice, oppression-free societies, and healthy individuals, groups and organizations in the world” (www.ntl. org) and JABS supports NTL’s mission through serving as a publication outlet for the exploration of group dynamics, organization development, and social change (www. jab.sagepub.com). Thus, it is fitting for JABS to house a special issue on Social Equality as it furthers NTL’s, and by extension, JABS’s, commitment to civil rights and continuing the work of Lewin on creating a more socially just society. While much has changed in terms of workplace equality in the past 50 years, with increases in numbers of women and people of color gaining access to places of power where they had formerly been excluded, much remains the same. Despite the election of Barack Obama as the first African American President of the United States, there are still very few women and minorities in senior leadership positions in organizations that hold power (political, government, corporations). For example, in 2014 men held 94.8% of Fortune 500 CEO positions, whereas women held only 5.2% (Catalyst, 2014). In addition, in 2014 Whites held 95% of Fortune 500 CEO positions, whereas people of color (Black, Asian, and Latino) held only 5% (Diversity Inc., 2014). Moreover, when women and people of color are in positions of authority, racial and gender dynamics often undermine leadership and derail organizational initiatives. There has been a great deal of research on understanding the causes of this persistent social inequality in organizational settings. Some of these studies focus on examining individual differences among various social identity groups (e.g., gender differences in 566493 JABXXX10.1177/0021886314566493The Journal of Applied Behavioral ScienceBlock and Noumair research-article2014

Action Learning and Organization Development

Among most practitioners in the world of organization development (OD) there is a bias for learning and reflection, to think about what we are doing, and attempt to understand and make sense out of what we are doing (see, for example, Schon, 1983). Better yet, is to discuss this thinking with a colleague or two, to gain as much perspective and insight as we can. We practitioners love to “bounce ideas off one another.”

Understanding Diversity Dynamics in Systems: Social Equality as an Organization Change Issue:

A basic premise of organizational development is that organizations must adapt to the external environment, as not doing so invites the risk of entropy (Katz & Kahn, 1978). A critical component of the external environment is the changing nature of the workforce. Women currently make up the majority of the U.S. workforce (52%; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015), and in only 15 years (by the year 2032), people of color will represent the majority of the U.S. working class (Wilson, 2016). In addition, the workforce is becoming increasingly globalized with 76% of the world’s population currently residing in Asia and Africa (United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2015). This evolving demographic landscape requires that organizations engage and motivate an increasingly diverse workforce. In recognition of the importance of these changing demographics in employment, much has been written about improving diversity and inclusion in organizations. In fact, there are a number of other special issues of journals currently devoted to this topic right now. However, as we noted in our Call for Papers (Block & Noumair, 2015), current scholarship and practice on improving diversity and inclusion focus primarily on individual-level understanding and interventions, via providing extra knowledge and skills training for women and people of color, or providing bias awareness training for leaders and managers. Interventions with this focus have not been effective in bringing about change in terms of having more women and people of color in senior leadership positions (Dobbin & Kalev, 2016). What is ignored in much of this work is the role that systemic factors play in influencing diversity and inclusion in organizations. Without a broader system-wide perspective, diversity initiatives are enacted narrowly, making change in part of the system rather than in the whole system. In addition, diversity initiatives are viewed in service of the interests of “diverse” groups rather than in service of the whole.

Research in Organizational Change and Development

Dealing with the field of organization change and development, this series provides overviews of different paradigms of research in the field.