This book is designed to help business and individual managers understand and cope with the many issues involved in developing learning organizations and integrating an important component: their IT organizations. The book provides a combination of research case studies and existing theories on organizational learning in the workplace, to provide researchers and corporate practitioners tools to incorporate a growing information technology infrastructure with their existing workforce culture.

Written jointly by practitioners and academics, the book provides the theoretical underpinnings behind organizational development and practical insights based on real case studies. The first section of the book brings together a review of current thinking in 2003. The middle section comprises a diverse selection of case histories which examine the role of the change agent, both in successes and failures. The final section of the book draws things together by highlighting where generalized insights appear to have emerged from the practice of the contributors, and gives some pointers for moving practice forward into the 21st century. Throughout, the benefit of reflective practice is encouraged and the commentary accompanying each case history demonstrates what can be learned from this. The main aim of the text is to help readers to appreciate more fully the complexities of bringing about organizational change and development, not least the cultural factors in the change process, and the value of using theory and rigorous internal research in a very conscious and focused way to inform, shape and measure their own change agency practice. public sector.

This multidisciplinary book represents an initial attempt to connect adult learning and knowledge management in theory and practice. It provides educators, learners and organizational development professionals with new strategies and resources for developing active and effective pedagogies, which in turn prepare learners and practitioners to manage knowledge in organizations and higher education. To do so, it gathers contributions and case studies from a diverse, global team of authors and provides a theoretical and practical outline of new strategies and methods for facilitating adult teaching and learning. It also provides a fresh reading of active learning methods, by adopting a knowledge management viewpoint that is broadly applicable, whether helping students master content in university courses, or helping organizations learn and change. The book is divided into three main sections: a) methods and theories for adult teaching and learning; b) knowledge management in education; and c) case studies and best practices that consider classroom learning, higher education change, and organization development.

Without change, there can be no progress. To influence change, organizations attempt to harmonize internally and become accustomed to dealing with a variety of situations that may require a number of solutions. Evidence-Based Initiatives for Organizational Change and Development discusses what helps or hinders the organizational-change-and-development-related agency and provides practical insights and lessons to be learned from many reflections on evidence-based OCD practice. Featuring research on topics such as human resource development, organizational behavior, and management consultancy, this book is ideally designed for business academics, organizational change leaders, line managers, HRD professionals, OD/management consultants, and executive coaches seeking coverage on the implementation of OCD intervention strategies and the associated changes in management processes.

Focusing on the critical role IT plays in organizational development, the book shows how to employ action learning to improve the competitiveness of an organization. Defining the current IT problem from an operational and strategic perspective, it presents a collection of case studies that illustrate key learning issues. It details a dynamic model for effective IT management through adaptive learning techniques—supplying proven educational theories and practices to foster the required changes in your staff. It examines existing organizational learning theories and the historical problems that occurred with companies that have used them, as well as those that have failed to use them.

Colleges and universities are best understood as networks of departments working together to fulfill a mission of education, innovation, and community partnership. To better understand how these large and complex institutions function, scholars can apply organizational and strategic planning concepts made familiar by business management. This book follows that model and explores the new and emerging ways by which organizational theories address major contemporary concerns in higher education. The contributors to this volume are both influenced and inspired by the pioneering work of Marvin Peterson and his four-decade career researching higher education organization. Comprising a serious reexamination of the field, the essays review past and current thinking, address the field’s core theoretical traditions, and pursue exciting new lines of inquiry, including the organizational dynamics of diversity and social movement organizations. Ideal for courses in administration and theory, this book reinvigorates the study of higher education as an organization and encourages scholars to rediscover the value of organizational principles in all areas of higher education research. Contributors: Michael N. Bastedo, University of Michigan; Patricia J. Gumport, Stanford University; James C. Hearn, University of Georgia; Adrianna Kezar, University of Southern California; Jason Lane, State University of New York at Albany; Simon Marginson, University of Melbourne; Michael K. McLendon, Vanderbilt University; Anna Neumann, Columbia University; Brian Pusser, University of Virginia; Fabio Rojas, Indiana University; Daryl G. Smith, Claremont Graduate University; William G. Tierney, University of Southern California; and the late J. Douglas Toma, University of Georgia