Richard Beckhard (1918–1999) was an American

organizational theorist Organizational theory refers to the set of interrelated concepts that involve the sociological study of the structures and operations of formal social organizations. Organizational theory also attempts to explain how interrelated units of organiz ...

, adjunct professor at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

, and pioneer in the field of

organization development Organization development (OD) is the study and implementation of practices, systems, and techniques that affect organizational change, the goal of which is to modify an organization's performance and/or culture. The organizational changes are ...

. Beckhard co-launched the ''Addison-Wesley Organization Development Series'' and began the ''Organization Development Network'' in 1967. His classic work, ''Organization Development: Strategies and Models,'' was published in 1969. Beckhard was an adjunct professor at the

MIT Sloan School of Management The MIT Sloan School of Management (MIT Sloan or Sloan) is the business school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT Sloan offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs, ...

from 1963-1984. He died on December 28, 1999. He helped to define

as: "an effort (1) planned, (2) organization-wide, (3) managed from the top, to (4) increase organization effectiveness and health through (5) planned interventions in the organization's 'processes', using behavioural-science knowledge". Together with David Gleicher, he is credited with developing a Formula for Change. The formula proposes that the combination of organisational dissatisfaction, vision for the future and the possibility of immediate, tactical action must be stronger than the resistance within the organisation in order for meaningful change to occur. Beckhard is also credited for developing the ''GRPI model'' of

team effectiveness Team effectiveness (also referred to as group effectiveness) is the capacity a team has to accomplish the goals or objectives administered by an authorized personnel or the organization. A team is a collection of individuals who are interdependen ...

, which highlights four key conditions (Goals, Roles, Processes, Interpersonal) for teams to succeed. Another area of Beckhard's work was concerned with change and continuity within family-owned businesses.Beckhard, R., and Dyer, W. G., Jr. (1983), Managing continuity in the family-owned business, ''Organizational Dynamics'', 12, 5-12

Selected publications

;Books, a selection * Beckhard, Richard. "Organization development: Strategies and models." (1969). * Beckhard, Richard, and Reuben T. Harris. ''Organizational transitions: Managing complex change''. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1977. * Beckhard, Richard, and Wendy Pritchard. ''Changing the essence: The art of creating and leading fundamental change in organizations''. Vol. 10. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1992. * Hesselbein, Frances,

Marshall Goldsmith Marshall Goldsmith (born March 20, 1949) is an American executive leadership coach and author. Early life and education Goldsmith was born in Valley Station, Kentucky, and received a degree in mathematical economics from Rose-Hulman Institute o ...

, and Richard Beckhard. The leader of the future. Jossey Bass, 1996. * Louis L. Carter,

, Jay Conger, and Richard Beckhard. Best Practices in Organization & Human Resources Development Handbook, Linkage Press, 2000. ;Articles, a selection * Beckhard, Richard, and Gibb Dyer Jr. "Managing continuity in the family-owned business." ''Organizational Dynamics'' 12.1 (1983): 5-12.

References

1918 births 1999 deaths American business theorists MIT Sloan School of Management faculty 20th-century American economists American sociologists {{US-sociologist-stub