ON BEHALF OF CAUCUS ORGANIZERS:
Program Session #: 706 | Submission: 17880 | Sponsor(s): (CAU)
Scheduled: Monday, Aug 9 2010 9:45AM - 11:15AM at Le Palais Des Congres in
522B
Organizer: Raymond Saner; Center For Socio-Economic Development;
Discussant: Kenneth Murrell; U. of West Florida;
Participant: Virginia E Schein; International Consultant;
Organizer: Lichia Yiu; Centre for Socio-Eco-Nomic Development;
Discussant: Larry M. Starr; U. of Pennsylvania;
Participant: Glenn Varney; Bowling Green State U.;
Facilitator: Steven H. Cady; Bowling Green State U.;
Participant: Richard W. Woodman; Texas A&M U.;
Participant: Chris Worley; U. of Southern California.
Few Academy of Management members participate in international development
activities in developing and least developed countries. Hence, poverty
reduction and peace making are domains of activities occupied by
representatives of other academic disciplines; for instance, development
work (macro- and micro-economics); peace, reconstruction and nation
building (political science and military studies); reforms of
international organizations (fiduciary and public accountants); and
international cooperation (diplomacy and international relations). AoM/ODC
colleagues typically work in more specialized, micro-level fields. That
includes for instance gender issues, team development, human resource
development or preventing discrimination at work (e.g., linked to AIDS,
illiteracy, and other forms of social and organizational exclusion). Much
less, if not completely absent, ODC and management experts rarely
contribute to design institutional development processes, capacity
building architectures at higher system levels, or conceptualize policies
to prevent violence, reduce poverty, increase cross-ethnic cooperation.
Working at societal level in developing and least developed countries
means applying organizational theory to large-system settings which are
typically multi-stakeholder, multi-institutional, and highly
international. Such cutting edge work requires managing the interfaces
between government ministries and departments, business organizations,
multi-lateral agencies, and non-government organizations. Complexity
theory offers valuable insights to help practitioners working in these
large-systems to deliver much-needed professional help. Applied for
instance to nation rebuilding in Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti, Yemen, and
Ethiopia, important development work should not be left to military
commanders trained to conduct war but who are arguably inept in
reconstructing societies and working with human psychology. Leading
figures of OD such as Kurt Lewin and other social psychologists at the New
School of Social Research in New York City did not confine their teaching
and consulting to intra-organizational private sector work as is
predominate with AoM members of the ODC division. The founding generation
of OD focused on individuals, groups, organizations AND the larger social
settings. OD in its current North American form appears too much intra-
organizational as if the larger social environment is relevant! Concern
for others is part of the OD profession. This idealism was captured in the
vision statement of the OD Network: “OD is a field central to creating
effective and healthy human systems in an inclusive world community”. This
inclusive world community increasing finding it overwhelming to tackle the
challenges of poverty, disease, violence, disregard of human rights and
global warming. However, most of the OD curricula continue to focus
primarily on change management in single organizations and mostly in the
private sector. The ODC members should step out and interact more with the
broader systemic issues of our societies! The ODC educators should
emphasize the international challenges confronting the global commons!
Rupert Chisholm (1998) pioneered this enlargement of the scope. David L.
Brown and Ken Murrell have worked on such issues. Non-American scholars
such as Vijay Padaki (2003), Lichia Yiu (2010), Raymond Saner (2004),
Stewart Carr (2008) and other colleagues will discuss these issues at the
Montréal meeting. Time to act in the larger realm of development which
encompasses an inclusiveness of higher aggregates of human systems and
complexity!
Sponsors of this caucus represent current or former Executive Board member
of ODC division, and the OD Foundation. Caucus will also focus on the OD
education and call for more effective preparation of future generations of
ODC practitioners to be active on global issues.