Transforming the A. K. Rice Institute: From Club to Organization

Initiating organization change is not nearly as challenging as sustaining and ensuring that organization change will last. This article is a historical account of the transformation of the A. K. Rice Institute from club to organization and how the challenges associated with sustaining the change were powerful enough to undermine, if not completely undo, the transformation. The transformation involved shifting the institute from having two primary missions, membership and education, to having one primary mission, education. The case is written from the perspectives of the change leader, external consultant, and past member of the board who served informally in the role of internal consultant. Collectively, the authors represent group relations and organization development traditions, and the article provides an opportunity to consider the integration, and lack thereof, of these traditions in service of organization transformation. Moreover, the post hoc analysis makes explicit lessons learned from the authors in their differentiated roles.