The distinction between public and private organizations has become blurred because of recent economic conditions, the encroachment of government into the private sector, and the emergence of hybrid organizations embracing both public and private dimensions. OD in the public sector has evolved to the point today where it must integrate and improve economic performance as well as build organizational capacity to be successful.

This presentation describes five organizational initiatives in the public sector over the past decade and examines the OD strategies that evolved to support them. The presentation focuses on traditional approaches – process consultation, sociotechnical development, and strategic OD as well as emerging approaches dealing with complexity – co-development and actor-network theory. These strategies are considered within the framework of Greiner’s organizational life cycle model denoting a correspondence between organizational stages of development and OD strategy.

The audience will come away from this presentation with a better understanding of stage-specific OD strategies and an evolutionary approach to OD in the public sector.

About the presenter: Chet Warzynski, PhD, is executive director of organizational development at The Georgia Institute of Technology. He has also served as director of organizational development at Cornell University. He has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in leadership, strategic management, and applied organizational development. He has held positions as director of education for two teaching hospitals, director of corporate planning, training, and new venture development for Dow Jones, and headed his own management consulting business from 1980 to 1992. 

Warzynski completed undergraduate and graduate studies in sociology at Southern Illinois University and the University of Western Ontario, and post-graduate studies in educational planning at the University of Toronto. He has published on wide range of topics related to business and human resource development, including leadership, strategic planning, organizational development, business process reengineering, and project management. His current research interests are in the areas of technological change, innovation, and sustainable development.