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Robert Chin and Kenneth D. Benne: Change Management Biography

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The Palgrave Handbook of Organizational Change Thinkers

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Abstract

Robert Chin and Kenneth Benne spent key years in the middle of their careers working and collaborating with each other. Chin came from a social psychology background while Benne was from an educational philosophy background. During their time together, they founded an interdisciplinary Human Relations Center at Boston University, cowrote a seminal book on planned change with Warren Bennis and, within that text, developed three key strategies for implementing a planned change. Even in their organizational change work, there was always a social undertone to their work. Perhaps more important than the seminal work in planned change that is still referenced today was their individual and collaborative goal to help others accept and leverage – and not just tolerate – diversity in the social system. This chapter discusses their individual influences and motivations, their collaborative work and contributions to the change community, and how their work, both together and separate, inspired others.

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References

  • Bennis, W. G., Benne, K. D., & Chin, R. (1961). The planning of change. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.

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Further Reading

  • Below are a few ideas for further reading about Chin and Benne, their influences, and their work. The reference list also has several works to look into, including detailed biographies and tribute articles as well as scholars who have used the Chin and Benne strategies in their modern research.

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  • If you are interested in learning more about the social motivations – about how Chin and Benne were driven to focus on social action and to combat prejudice – you should take a look at historical nonfiction works that describe the prejudice people throughout history have been subjected to.

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  • One to try: Adams, M., Blumenfeld, W., Castaneda, C., Hackman, H. W., Peters, M. L., & Zuniga, X. (Eds.) (2013). Readings for diversity and social justice (3rd edn.). New York: Routledge.

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  • If you are interested in their work around social action and planned changex…

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  • NTL Institute (http://www.ntl.org/?page=Publications)

  • Raup, R. B., Benne, K. D., Axtelle, G. E., & Smith, B. O. (1943). The discipline of practical judgment in a democratic society. In Yearbook number XXVIII of the National Society of College Teachers of Education (Studies in Education). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

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  • Bennis, W. G., Benne, K. D., & Chin, R. (1961). The planning of change. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.

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  • Benne, K. D., Bradford, L., & Lippitt, R. (1950). Group dynamics and social action. Anti-Defamation League of B’Nai B’rith.

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  • The Bailey/Howe Library at the University of Vermont has a collection of Kenneth Benne’s professional papers and correspondence. While the collection is not online and can only be accessed via a trip to the reference library in person, a link to the table of contents can be found here:

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  • http://cdi.uvm.edu/findingaids/resources/bennekenneth/bennekenneth.pdf

  • In addition to being a great scholar, Kenneth Benne was also a prolific poet, sending a poem each year to friends and family as his Christmas card and eventually self-publishing a collection of his poems

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  • Teach me to sing of winter: Selected poems, 1930–1987 (self-published in 1988)

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  • Box 7 of the archives of Benne’s work at the University of Vermont contains his poetry.

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  • Information on the Human Resource Center at Boston University

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  • http://www.bu.edu/cgcm/research/korean-diaspora-project/institutions/human-relations-center/

  • Bradford, L. P. (1976). The laboratory method: A historical perspective. Group & Organization Studies (Pre-1986), 1(4), 415.

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  • Dunnion, J., & O’donovan, B. (2014). Systems thinking and higher education: The vanguard method. Systemic Practice and Action Research, 27(1), 23–37.

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  • Raup, R. B., Benne, K. D., Axtelle, G. E., & Smith, B. O. (1943). The discipline of practical judgment in a democratic society. In In yearbook number XXVIII of the National Society of college teachers of education (studies in education). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA

    Mary A. Barnes

Authors
  1. Mary A. Barnes
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Correspondence to Mary A. Barnes .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Education and Human Development, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI, USA

    David B. Szabla

  2. Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    William A. Pasmore

  3. The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA

    Mary A. Barnes

  4. Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Asha N. Gipson

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Barnes, M.A. (2017). Robert Chin and Kenneth D. Benne: Change Management Biography. In: Szabla, D.B., Pasmore, W.A., Barnes, M.A., Gipson, A.N. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Organizational Change Thinkers. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52878-6_5

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