In unionized work settings, any organization development (OD) work which does not limit itself before its inception to interpersonal relations among top executives must necessarily include union-management relations in its “client system, ” at least for the phases of entrance and diagnosis. Nonetheless, since Kochan and Dyer's pioneering conceptualization in 1976, the theory of OD intervention in unionized work settings has not been significantly advanced. We contribute toward this theory by (i) developing a system-theory-based conceptual framework of union-management relations -a prerequisite for a diagnosis of, and an intervention in, these relations; and (ii) describing and discussing an entry model of OD consultants. The relevance of each of the proposed theoretical models for OD work is illustrated. Finally, on the basis of the two models, potentially fruitful theoretical paths are delineated for prospective theory builders.
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