Larry Greiner (USC) and Ilse Ennsfellner (Ennsfellner Consulting) share their concern and critical conclusion about the questionable knowledge and skills of today’s consultants.
Research and Insights Archive
Research and Insights from the Center for Effective Organizations
Available Content
Collaboration and the Producers of Management Knowledge
Andreas Werr (Stockholm School of Economics) and Larry Greiner (USC) explains that the world of managers is increasingly knowledge intensive. Competition is growing, large organizations are becoming more global and complex, resulting in a proliferation of new management models and tools, making it difficult for managers to keep up with the latest developments (Huczynski, 1993).
Rebellion and Revolution in Strategic Planning (or “Building a Strategic Architecture”)
Larry Greiner (USC) and Tom Cummings (USC) share that strategy consultants, managers and scholars have long relied on formal strategic planning to embody and implement their more abstract concepts of strategic management.
OD and Strategic Planning: Linking Process with Content
Larry Greiner (USC) argues that for OD to play a more vital role in the future of organizations it must become involved in strategic planning, which affects not only the direction of organizations but the lives and careers of many employees.
4-D Theory of Strategic Transformation: When New CEOs Succeed and Fail
Larry Greiner, Thomas Cummings, and Arvind Bhambri discuss how there is no honeymoon for most new CEOs these days. Instead, they are challenged immediately by their boards to make major changes and improve financial performance. Entering with strong mandates for change, new CEOs frequently launch strategic transformation initiatives.
Steve Kerr and His Years with Jack Welch at GE
Larry Greiner’s interview with Steve Kerr is about two intriguing phenomena at GE—the obvious one is Jack Welch’s leadership role, and the less obvious, while not intended by him, is Steve’s role in the background acting as Welch’s skillful consultant for 11 years.
A Conditional Theory of CEO Intervention and Strategic Change
According to Arvind Bhambri and Larry Greiner, research reveals that new CEOs frequently intervene to attempt major strategic change but, on average, make a minimal impact on the economic performance of their organizations.
New CEO Intervention and Dynamics of Deliberate Strategic Change
Larry E. Greiner and Arvind Bhambri state that growing evidence in the executive succession literature and the business press makes clear that many new CEOs attempt to introduce strategic change upon entering their jobs.
Moving from Production to Service in Human Resources Management
This article by Dave Bowen and Larry E. Greiner contends that the effectiveness of Human Resources (HR) staff groups responsible for personnel in organizations is limited because these groups often perform their role with a production orientation rather than a service orientation.
Intervention and Politics at the Top: Missing Link Failed Organization Change
This paper by Larry E. Greiner argues that major organization changes often fail because of political dynamics at the top of corporations.
Managing Organizational Decline: The Case for Transorganizational Systems
This paper by Thomas G. Cummings, Larry E. Greiner, and Judith F. Blumenthal discusses transorganizational systems as an innovative yet increasingly frequent response to organizational decline.
The Paradox of Managing a Project Oriented Matrix: Establishing Coherence within Chaos
This article by Larry E. Greiner (USC) and Virginia E. Schein (Consultant) focuses on the “Behavioral pathologies” that arise naturally in a project structure with mult-disciplinary team; one example being “authority ambiguity and responsibility confusion.”