Organisation Development in Healthcare: A Critical Appraisal for Practitioners

Organizational development as a practice involves an ongoing, systematic process of implementing effective organizational change. OD is both a field of applied science focused on understanding and managing organizational change and a field of scientific study and inquiry. It is interdisciplinary in nature and draws on sociology, psychology, particularly industrial and organizational psychology, and theories of motivation, learning, and personality.

This book provides both an overview of the evolution of OD in healthcare as a field of practice and a challenge to its future development. It examines the underlying assumptions behind OD and tracks its historical growth in healthcare, with special attention devoted to the UK's National Health Service. The unusual nature of healthcare organisations delivering human services through the work of professionals who are subject to emotional labor and are addressing society's wicked problems provides a unique context. A range of challenges for healthcare OD are identified, including questions of conformists or deviant innovation; organizations as machines or systems; hierarchy versus democracy; the importance of power and emotion and possible future ways forward for healthcare OD are suggested. The author includes examples and short case studies from both the UK and the US to illustrate the benefits of OD.