Organizational Termination as an Organization Development Issue

Abstract

This article addresses the subject of organizational termination, suggesting that it is an appropriate concern for the field of organization development. The author's consulting experience with one dying organization and the intervention strategies with which he experimented are described. Also described are the behavioral reactions of the staff to their organization's termination, which are categorized into conceptual patterns: paralysis, catastrophic fantasizing, exag geration of organizational hierarchy and power, language shifts, personal disaffiliation with the agency, and so on. It is concluded that (a) organizational termination is an important, challenging issue for organization development; (b) that present OD methodologies are inadequate for the task of consulting an organization undergoing termination; (c) that OD, if it is to be successful in these circumstances, must find practical focal issues and (d) that it is the con sultant's responsibility to become expert enough to develop these answers.