Papers by Anthony F Buono
Information Age Pub. eBooks, 2009
Over the last two decades a new approach to consulting has been established that is referred to a... more Over the last two decades a new approach to consulting has been established that is referred to as “systemic consulting”. This approach to consulting seems to exist almost exclusively within the German-speaking consulting. Systemic consulting is a clearly differentiated approach that has long occupied a rather insignificant niche in the consulting market. In contrast to traditional approaches, systemic consultants emphasize the self-referential logic of the client, acknowledging the limits of any attempts at direct intervention. In line with this position, consultants believe that their role is not to support clients to find solutions to their problems, but rather to cause perturbations in the clients’ internal processes in order to break up their pathological structures. While this approach has received a lot of attention in the German-speaking countries, particularly among academics, it is almost unknown elsewhere. The chapter examines this systemic approach, drawing out its strengths and limitations. For this purpose, its two central theoretical roots are highlighted: the family therapy of the so-called “Milan school” and the theory of social systems developed by the German sociologist Niklas Luhmann. The chapter is structured in four sections. The first two sections present the two central pillars of the systemic approach. The third section examines the systemic consulting approach and the last section of the chapter discusses its strengths and limitations.
HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2018
The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, Mar 5, 2023
A reflection on Ed Schein’s contribution to management consulting.
Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Jun 28, 2019
Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Jun 28, 2019
Journal of Business Research, 2022
Academy of Management Learning and Education, Sep 1, 2005
... Service-Learning and Management Education: The Bentley Experience FRANKLYN P. SALIMBENE ANTHO... more ... Service-Learning and Management Education: The Bentley Experience FRANKLYN P. SALIMBENE ANTHONY F. BUONO VICKI VAN STEENBERG LAFARGE AARON J. NURICK Bentley College ... 336 Page 2. 2005 Salimbene, Buono, Van Steenberg LaFarge, and Nuiick 337 ...
Symphonya, 2007
1. From 'Linear' to 'Complex' Change Companies in every industry are increasingly challenged to b... more 1. From 'Linear' to 'Complex' Change Companies in every industry are increasingly challenged to build a capacity for change, both in response to and in anticipation of continuously changing competitive, market and technological pressures. Given this need, significant attention has been devoted to conceptualizing and empirically testing a range of change management practices. Much of this effort, however, has focused on how to best implement specific organizational changes. While this emphasis has improved the ability of organizations to deal with the myriad ramifications of change, many of these models and prescriptions continue to fall short of the challenge (cf. Abrahamson, 2000; Beer, Eisenstat & Spector, 1990; Kerber & Buono, 2005). An underlying need is to develop the ability of organizations and their members to change not just once, but continuously, in response to ever shifting market conditions, customer demands and competitive pressures. Many organizations are growing increasingly comfortable with planned change, especially in terms of their ability to react to external forces, define their preferred future state, and implement the subsequent "plan" for achieving a well-defined end. In this context, however, change is largely viewed as linear and mechanistic, as a series of discrete and, at times, traumatic events that need to be controlled to enable organizations to achieve their goals. Given the onslaught of changes that a growing number of organizations now face, this carefully planned approach is quickly becoming inadequate because the ability to adapt to a rapidly changing environment also demands experimentation and improvisation, in essence continuous movement toward a largely unknown, emergent future state.
Organization Development Journal, Oct 1, 2018
Journal of Organizational Change Management, Jun 1, 1995
Presents a case study of a year-long consulting project in an urban school system. Drawing on a m... more Presents a case study of a year-long consulting project in an urban school system. Drawing on a multi-method, stakeholder-driven field design, describes the consulting process and intervention. In the analysis and discussion, focuses on the lessons learned from this project and the ramifications posed by the unique nature of school systems for external consultants.
Academy of Management Annual Meeting, 2009
ABSTRACT Organizational change capacity is an organization’s ability to successfully navigate an ... more ABSTRACT Organizational change capacity is an organization’s ability to successfully navigate an array of changes in response to and in anticipation of continuously shifting market conditions, customer demands, competitive pressures, technologies, and societal conditions. Building organizational change capacity requires influencing three primary dimensions reflecting change-related processes. At the individual level, change capacity involves understanding the nature of change and the various ways it can be implemented, with the goal of enhancing the willingness and ability of organizational members to change. At the structural level, change capacity involves building a change-supportive organizational infrastructure, along with providing appropriate ongoing resources to support change. And at the cultural level, change capacity involves creating an organizational culture that embraces fluidity, openness, and learning, as well as making strategizing an ongoing, dynamic activity that strings together a series of momentary competitive advantages. Specific actions are used to clarify each of the three dimensions, and an Organizational Change Capacity Questionnaire is provided to assess change capacity. In essence, it is argued that building organizational change capacity involves a conscious and systemic approach to developing an organization in ways that tap into peoples’ natural capacity to change by supporting change and making it a basic part of organizational life.
Organization Development Journal, Oct 1, 2005
Abstract The article examines three basic approaches to organizational change-directed change, pl... more Abstract The article examines three basic approaches to organizational change-directed change, planned change, and guided changing-and their appropriateness as a function of the relative business complexity and socio-technical uncertainty in the situation. Two ...
SAM Advanced Management Journal, Mar 22, 2010
Administrative Science Quarterly, Sep 1, 1990
Human Relations, May 1, 1985
Copyright © 1982 by James L. Bowditch and Anthony F. Buono. All rights reserved. No part of this ... more Copyright © 1982 by James L. Bowditch and Anthony F. Buono. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing from ...
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Papers by Anthony F Buono