OD in the Public Sector: Intervening in Ambiguous Performance Environments

Abstract

Important differences exist between corporate and public-sector organi zations. This article begins by identifying some of the major external and internal variables in the literature that affect public-sector organiza tions. An integrated contextual framework is developed that is used as an orienting device for an organization development (OD) intervention in a division of a state welfare system. The study describes the tactics of change in an ambiguous performance setting and focuses on some of the internal influence variables that may typically be expected to affect change attempts in public-sector organizations.