A 'TRANSITION MODEL' LABORATORY FOR RESEARCH ON CULTURAL CHANGE,
Abstract
It may be possible to close the gap between field experiments on cultural change and traditional psychological laboratory investigations with laboratory studies of transition-model organizations analogous to the wind-tunnel studies of aircraft designers. Four such studies were conducted with an Air Defense Direction Center, using techniques that speeded up cultural change. Three periods of organizational growth--and several methods of cultural change--were observed in these model organizations. The first, or 'basal' period, characterized by the use of individual, habitual ways of doing things, was followed by a 'consolidation' period characterized by the use of procedures borrowed from other groups and situations, by individual efforts and 'inventions,' and by blaming difficulties on faulty equipment. The last, or 'organization,' period was characterized by 'organizational inventions'--programs for coordinating individual behavior that lead, when successful, to new or modified institutions. Both the simulation techniques developed during transition-model laboratory studies and the indexes and other standards of measurement derived from them can be transferred directly for use in field studies. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 08, 1955
- Accession Number
- AD0604649
Entities
People
- John L. Kennedy
Organizations
- RAND Corporation