Skip to main content
Log in

Participation and Change: Using Large Group Intervention Methods to Inform Reflective Practice in a Community of Public Organizations

  • Published:
Public Organization Review Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Public leaders face increasing pressure to build effective organizational communities. However, the purposive-rational foundation of knowledge in existing theory fails to inform the reflective practice necessary for this level of change. This article contrasts the prevailing viewpoint with the notion of changing organizations, an approach rooted in critical theory in which large group intervention methods are employed to foster participation and emancipatory change across organizational communities. The article features a case study involving a local government grant-making agency to show how participants engaged in reflective practice as a way of patterning community-wide change.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alvesson, M., and H. Willmott. (1996). Making Sense of Management. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Argyris, C. (1990). Overcoming Organizational Defenses. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Argyris, C. (1993). Knowledge for Action. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Argyris, C. (1999). On Organizational Learning, 2nd edition. Oxford, U.K.: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Argyris, C., and D. A. Schon. (1978). Organizational Learning. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Argyris, C., and D. A. Schon. (1985). Strategy, Change and Defensive Routines. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bardach, E. (1998). Getting Agencies to Work Together. Washington, DC: Brookings.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blaug, R. (1999). Democracy, Real and Ideal. Albany, NY: State University of New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bunker, B. B., and B. T. Alban. (1997). Large Group Interventions. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Champy, J. (1995). Reengineering Management. New York, NY: Harper Collins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Czarniawska, B. (1997). Narrating the Organization. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deetz, S. A. (1992). Democracy in an Age of Corporate Colonization. Albany, NY: State University of New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ebers, M. (ed.) (1999). The Formation of Inter-organizational Networks. Oxford, UK: Oxford University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Emery, M., and R. E. Purser. (1996). The Search Conference. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Esterby-Smith, M., J. Burgoyne, and L. Araujo. (eds.) (1999). Organizational Learning and the Learning Organization. London, U.K.: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forester, J. (ed.) (1988). Critical Theory and Public Life. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forester, J. (1999). The Deliberative Practitioner. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gittell, R., and A. Vidal. (1998). Community Organizing. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grubbs, J. W. (1998). Interorganizational Collaboration. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Delaware, Newark, DE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grubbs, J. W. (2000). ''Cultural Imperialism: A Critical Theory of Interorganizational Change.'' Journal of Organizational Change Management 13, 221-234.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grubbs, J. W., and R. B. Denhardt. (1999). ''Collaboration and Allegory: Extending the Metaphor of Organizational Culture in the Context of Interorganizational Change.'' In W.A. Pasmore and R.W. Woodman (eds.), Research in Organizational Change and Development 12. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, J. (1974). Theory and Practice. Boston, MA: Beacon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, J. (1995). The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hammer, M., and J. Champy. (1993). Reengineering the Corporation. New York, NY: Harper Collins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harvard Business Review (1998). On Change. Boston, MA: Harvard University Press.

  • Heckscher, C., R. A. Eisenstat, and T. J. Rice. (1994). ''Transformational Processes.'' In C. Heckscher and A. Donnellon (eds.), The Post-bureaucratic Organization. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Horkheimer, M. (1941/1995). ''The End of Reason.'' In A. Arato and E. Gebhardt (eds.), The Essential Frankfurt School Reader. New York, NY: Continuum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Horkheimer, M. (1993). The Critique of Instrumental Reason. New York, NY: Continuum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ingersoll, V. H., and G. B. Adams. (1992). The Tacit Organization. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jun, J. S. (2000). ''The Practice of Critical Theory in Public Administration.'' Panel Presentation at the American Society of Public Administration National Conference, April 4, San Diego, CA.

  • Kagan, S. L. (1991). United We Stand. New York, NY: Columbia University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kanter, R. M., B. A. Stein, and T. D. Jick. (1992). The Challenge of Organizational Change. New York, NY: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katzenbach, J. R., and D. K. Smith. (1993). The Wisdom of Teams. New York, NY: Harper Collins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kotter, J. P. (1996). Leading Change. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kotter, J. P. (1998). ''Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail.'' In Harvard Business Review, On Change. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kretzmann, J. P., and J. L. McKnight. (1997). Building Communities from the Inside Out. Evanston, IL: ACTA Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Linden, R. M. (1994). Seamless Government. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manning, M. R., and G. F. Binzagr. (1996). ''Methods, Values, and Assumptions Underlying Large Group Interventions Intended to Change Whole Systems.'' International Journal of Organizational Analysis 4, 268-284.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mohrman, S. A., S. G. Cohen, and A. M. Mohrman. (1995). Designing Team-based Organizations. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Osborne, D., and T. Gaebler. (1992). Reinventing Government. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pascale, R., M. Millemann, and L. Gioja. (1997). ''Changing the Way We Change.'' Harvard Business Review 75, 127-139.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schein, E. (1997). Organizational Culture and Leadership. 2nd edition. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schon, D. A. (1983). The Reflective Practitioner. New York, NY: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schorr, L. B. (1997). Common Purpose. New York, NY: Anchor.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smircich, L. (1983). ''Organizations as Shared Meanings.'' In L. Pondy et al. (eds.), Organizational Symbolism. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, D. K. (1996). Taking Charge of Change. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stringer, E. T. (1999). Action Research. 2nd edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weick, K. E. (1995). Sensemaking in Organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, J. D. (1999). Taking Language Seriously. Washington, DC: Georgetown University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Willmott, H. C. (1995). ''Management as Science? Methodologies of Change Management in Critical Perspective.'' Working Paper, Manchester School of Management.

  • Worren, N. A. M., K. Ruddle, and K. Moore. (1999). ''From Organizational Development to Change Management: The Emergence of a New Profession.'' Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 35, 273-286.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Grubbs, J.W. Participation and Change: Using Large Group Intervention Methods to Inform Reflective Practice in a Community of Public Organizations. Public Organization Review 2, 285–303 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020248631233

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020248631233

Navigation