First-Order, Second-Order, and Third-Order Change and Organization Development Interventions: A Cognitive Approach

This article discusses how recent developments in the cognitive sciences, especialy the concept of schemata (organizing frameworks for understanding events), can illumine the practice of organization development. On the basis of a cognitive perspective, the authors discuss the relationship between o...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of applied behavioral science 1987, Vol.23 (4), p.483-500
Main Authors: Bartunek, Jean M., Moch, Michael K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Change
Cognitive
Cognitive Development
Development
Evaluation
Factors
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Intervention
Organization development
Organization theory
Organizational change
Organizational Development
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Quality of work
Social psychology
Social sciences
Studies
Theoretical Problems
Theories
Theory Practice Relationship
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This article discusses how recent developments in the cognitive sciences, especialy the concept of schemata (organizing frameworks for understanding events), can illumine the practice of organization development. On the basis of a cognitive perspective, the authors discuss the relationship between organizational change and schemata, describing the following orders of change that might result from OD: first-order change, or incremental changes occurring within particular schemata already shared by members of a client system, second-order change, or modifications in the shared schemata themselves; and third-order change, or the development of the capacity of the client system to change the schemata as events require. To show how understanding the differences among orders of change can help clarify problems and solutions from an intervention, the authors discuss how a paternalism schema affected a particular quality of working life intervention. They conclude by suggesting implications of the cognitive perspective for OD practice and research
ISSN:0021-8863
1552-6879
DOI:10.1177/002188638702300404