VALUES, MOTIVES, AND INTERVENTIONS OF ORGANIZATION-DEVELOPMENT PRACTITIONERS

A mail survey was conducted to empirically measure respondents' percep tions of the values, motives, and interventions of today's organizatio n development (OD) practitioners. The survey sample consisted of 1,500 names randomly selected from three different professional organizatio ns. Overall, 416 practitioners (27.7%) returned the questionnaire. Dat a from each of the three content areas were analyzed through: (a) fact or analyses to determine the underlying structure and to generate subs cales, and (b) MANCOVAs to assess the degree of differences among vari ous types of respondents (e.g., professional association membership, g ender, internal vs. external status) across the respective summary sco res. In terms of the values of OD, results indicated that practitioner s perceive the field today to be focused more on business effectivenes s and productivity issues than on the humanistic concerns and orientat ion of the past. Although respondents rated interest in social action and helping people as the most important motivators of OD work in the ideal, exercising personal power and reaping the rewards of the consul ting relationship were considered to be the more dominant motivators f or people in the field today. Regarding interventions, practitioners r eported engaging primarily in activities aimed at long-term organizati onal change, action research methodologies, and management skills trai ning.