The Role of Alfred J. Marrow and the Harwood Manufacturing Corporation in the Advancement of OD

Abstract

The Harwood Manufacturing Corporation began its life in the garment-trade sweatshops of New York at the end of the 19th century and ended its independent existence in the sweatshops of Honduras and Costa Rica at the end of the 20th century. In between, under the influence of Kurt Lewin and Alfred J. Marrow, it became seen as a beacon of progressive management: the place where the values, tools, and philosophy of the Organization Development (OD) movement were trialed, extended, and established. Harwood laid the foundations of the group-orientated OD that emerged in the 1950s and shaped the more system-wide and integrated approach to OD that came to the fore in the 1970s. As such, it left a lasting legacy that has been institutionalized in current OD practices and values.