In this experiential exercise, students learn about and participate in an abbreviated Appreciative Inquiry (AI) workshop. AI is an approach to organizational change that focuses on strengths and aspirations of what is possible (positive inquiry) in contrast to more traditional approaches to change which often hinge on the assumption that the organization is broken and needs to be fixed. By interviewing each other and engaging in idea generation about the positive aspects of their university, students experience the first two stages of the AI process. Through this activity, students can reflect on the benefits of a strengths-based model of change.
BargeJ. K.OliverC. (2003). Working with appreciation in managerial practice. Academy of Management Review, 28(1), 124–142. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2003.8925244
2.
BartunekJ. M.WoodmanR. W. (2015). Beyond Lewin: Toward a temporal approximation of organization development and change. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 2, 157–182. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-032414-111353
3.
BatraG.SinghR. K. (2023). A bibliometric analysis of two decades of research in Appreciative Inquiry. South Asian Journal of Management, 30(3), 7. https://doi.org/10.62206/sajm.30.3.2023.7-32
4.
BojeD. M. (2008). Storytelling organizations. Sage.
5.
BunkerB. B.AlbanB. T.LewickiR. J. (2004). Ideas in currency and OD practice: Has the well gone dry?The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 40(4), 403–422. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021886304270372
6.
BurkeW. W. (2011). A perspective on the field of organization development and change: The Zeigarnik effect. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 47(2), 143–167. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021886310388161
7.
BusheG. R.MarshakR. J. (2009). Revisioning organization development: Diagnostic and dialogic premises and patterns of practice. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 45(3), 348–368. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021886309335070
8.
ConklinT. A. (2009). Creating classrooms of preference: An exercise in Appreciative Inquiry. Journal of Management Education, 33(6), 772–792. https://doi.org/10.1177/1052562909333888
9.
CooperriderD. L. (2012). The concentration effect of strengths: How the whole system “AI” brings out the best in human enterprise. Organizational Dynamics, 42(2), 106–117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2012.01.004
10.
CooperriderD. L.FryR. (2020). Appreciative Inquiry in a pandemic: An improbable pairing. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 56(3), 266–271. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021886320936265
11.
CooperriderD. L.SrivastvaS. (1987). Appreciative Inquiry in organizational life. Research in Organizational Change and Development, 1, 129–169.
12.
CooperriderD. L.WhitneyD. K.StavrosJ. M. (2008). Appreciative Inquiry handbook for leaders of change (2nd ed.). Crown Custom Publishing.
13.
DematteoD.ReevesS. (2011). A critical examination of the role of Appreciative Inquiry within an interprofessional education initiative. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 25(3), 203–208. https://doi.org/10.3109/13561820.2010.504312
14.
EdmondsonA. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350–383. https://doi.org/10.2307/2666999
FredricksonB. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56(3), 218–226. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.56.3.218
17.
GergenK. J. (2009). An invitation to social construction (2nd ed.). Sage.
18.
GrayS.TreacyJ.HallE. T. (2019). Re-engaging disengaged pupils in physical education: An Appreciative Inquiry perspective. Sport, Education and Society, 24(3), 241–255. https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2017.1374942
19.
LaszloC.CooperriderD.FryR. (2024). Business innovation as a force for good: From doing less harm to positive impact type 1 and type 2. Business and Society Review, 129(2), 168–184. https://doi.org/10.1111/basr.12360
LewinK. (1947). Frontiers in group dynamics: II. Channels of group life; social planning and action research. Human Relations, 1(2), 143–153. https://doi.org/10.1177/001872674700100201
22.
MorganG. (1997). Images of organization (2nd ed.). Sage.
23.
PowleyE. H.FryR. E.BarrettF. J.BrightD. S. (2004). Dialogic democracy meets command and control: Transformation through the Appreciative Inquiry summit. Academy of Management Perspectives, 18(3), 67–80. https://doi.org/10.5465/ame.2004.14776170
24.
ScanduraT. A. (2017). Appreciative Inquiry: An experiential exercise and course feedback tool. Management Teaching Review, 2(2), 141–150. https://doi.org/10.1177/2379298116683324
25.
SengeP. (2006). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. Doubleday.
StillerR. (2024). Better and better: Creating a culture of purpose, excellence, and transformative human engagement. McGraw-Hill.
28.
TrinhM. P.van EschC.MartinezH. A.MesserT. (2021). Appreciating large classes: Using Appreciative Inquiry to foster a hospitable learning space for experiential learning. Journal of Management Education, 45(5), 786–819. https://doi.org/10.1177/1052562920980125
WeickK. E. (1979). The social psychology of organizing (2nd ed.). Addison-Wesley Pub. Co.
31.
WhitneyD.Trosten-BloomA. (2003). The power of Appreciative Inquiry: A practical guide to positive change. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
