Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Tom Cummings: A Passion for People and Learning

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
The Palgrave Handbook of Organizational Change Thinkers

  • 5205 Accesses

Abstract

Tom Cummings is best known for his text Organization Development and Change, widely referred to as “the bible of OD.” This chapter traces the development of his thought leading up to that text and beyond. I discuss his long-standing engagement with socio-technical systems and organization design, his synthesis of those with traditional organization development, his work on transorganizational design and on the strategy process, and his emerging work on “care” in organization studies.

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

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Aguinis, H., Shapiro, D. L., Antonacopoulou, E. P., & Cummings, T. G. (2014). Scholarly impact: A pluralist conceptualization. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 13(4), 623–639.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alvesson, M., & Deetz, S. (2000). Doing critical management research. London: Sage.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Cameron, K. S., & Spreitzer, G. M. (2011). The Oxford handbook of positive organizational scholarship. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cummings, T. G. (1978). Self-regulating work groups: A socio-technical synthesis. Academy of Management Review, 3(3), 625–634.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cummings, T. G. (1980). Systems theory for organization development. Chichester: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cummings, T. G. (1984). Transorganizational development. Research in Organizational Behavior, 6, 367–422.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cummings, T. G. (Ed.). (2008). Handbook of organization development. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cummings, T. G. (2011). How business schools shape (misshape) management research. In S. A. Mohrman & E. Lawler 3rd (Eds.), Useful research: Advancing theory and practice (pp. 331–350). San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cummings, T. G., & Cummings, C. (2014). Appreciating organization development: A comparative essay on divergent perspectives. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 25(2), 141–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cummings, T. G., & Molloy, E. S. (1977). Improving productivity and the quality of work life. New York: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cummings, T. G., & Srivastva, S. (1977). Management of work: A socio-technical systems approach. Kent: Comparative Administration Research Institute: distributed by Kent State University Press Kent: Ohio.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cummings, T. G., Molloy, E. S., & Glen, R. (1977). A methodological critique of fifty-eight selected work experiments. Human Relations, 30(8), 675–708.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greiner, L. E., & Cummings, T. G. (2009). Dynamic strategy-making: A real-time approach for the 21st century leader. San Francisco: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lawler, E. E., Mohrman Jr., A. M., Mohrman, S. A., Ledford Jr., G. E., & Cummings, T. G. (Eds.). (1985). Doing research that is useful for theory and practice. New York: Lexington.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mohrman, S. A., & Cummings, T. G. (1989). Self-designing organizations: Learning how to create high performance. Reading: Addison-Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mohrman, A. M., Ledford, G. J., Mohrman, G., Lawler, E. E. I., & Cummings, T. G. (Eds.). (1989). Large-scale organizational change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwarz, G., Cummings, C., & Cummings, T. (2015). Devolution of researcher care in organization studies and the moderation of organizational knowledge. Academy of Management Learning & Education. doi:10.5465/amle.2014.0167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Srivastva, S., Salipante, P., Cummings, T. G., Notz, W., Bigelow, J. D., & Waters, J. (1975). Job satisfaction and productivity. Cleveland: Case Western Reserve.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van de Ven, A. H. (2007). Engaged scholarship: A guide for organizational and social research. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wickson, F., Carew, A. L., & Russell, A. W. (2006). Transdisciplinary research: Characteristics, quandaries and quality. Futures, 38(9), 1046–1059.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Paul S. Adler

Authors
  1. Paul S. Adler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paul S. Adler .

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

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 The Author(s)

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Adler, P.S. (2017). Tom Cummings: A Passion for People and Learning. 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_103

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation