Abstract
I have been an Organisation Development (OD) professional for over 15 years. I
have worked in industries such as health, finance, FMCG, education and retail. A
challenge that often occurs in my space and the broader Human Resource (HR)
arena is the production of interventions that are relevant and tangible, and that
allow individuals to perform in an increasingly complex work environment. Climate
and work engagement surveys have been used as organisational measurements
across industries ever since I started in the field. Interventions that can be
implemented for improving the scores measured, have received less attention.
Criticism received when proposing interventions were either that they were too
academic or that they were a regurgitation of current organisational initiatives (for
example, performance management, management feedback sessions and
invocoms). A process that allows for both academic rigour and organisational
application, and a tool that ensures a holistic integrated approach to the topic was
needed. I found the process in the General Method of theory-building, and the tool
in the All Quadrants All Lines (AQAL) four-quadrant model of integral theory.
The General Method is the organiser for the thesis because as Storberg-Walker
(2006) postulates, it presents a skeletal structure that does not make assumptions
about reality or how to understand reality, thereby obligating the theorist to deal
with ontological and epistemological concerns and ways in which they impact
action. The following section will show how the General Method is used in this
thesis as a guide for building a theory. Each part discusses a phase identified in
the General Method, presents appropriate theory-building research methods and
discusses the specific research methods used in this thesis. I acknowledge that the
phases interplay with each other, and that processes cut across phases, however,
I have structured this thesis to represent each phase as close as possible for ease
of reference and reading.
Phase 1: Conceptual Development (Chapters 1, 2 and 4)
In this phase the theorist is required to formulate initial ideas to show the most
informed understanding of the phenomenon or problem in the real world (Lynham,
2002). The outcome of this phase is a conceptual framework. Theory-building...
Ph.D.