Strategies for Planned Change. An Exchange of Views Between

In a comment on a critique of the organization development approach of Dunphy and Stace (1988), Dunford feels that there are critical factors not dealt with in the model in regard to the conceptualization of both the environment and management. The perspective of management seems at odds with a growing literature on organizations as political arenas within which management constitute one or more interest groups with interests not reducible to that of the neutral representatives of capital. In a reply, Dunphy and Stace agree that they see managers as fit-seeking individuals operating in the interest of organizational effectiveness and survival, but not as neutral conduits in doing so, as Dunford argued. One of the most powerful interventions an interest group can make in an organization is to initiate a reconceptualization and redefinition of the salient environment.