ABSTRACT

The intergroup and institutional events:

An overview of designs, foci, structures, and functions

Stan De Loach, Ph.D.

Presenting the intergroup and institutional events of a Tavistock group-relations conference as laboratories for the experiential study of chaos and community in organizational settings, this article explores the rationale behind the events' design and implementation.

Staff's approach to its roles and attitudes determines whether conference members are in fact presented with learning opportunities focused on intergroup and institutional behaviors and processes. Staff's approach to the nature of these events is manifest in the protocols and procedures instituted by the director and in the staff's collective management of its roles and its own intragroup, intergroup, and institutional dynamics.

Several staffing innovations recently introduced are examined. Case examples are used to illustrate key points. A lexicon defining key words with meanings specific to the setting of the intergroup and institutional events is included.

Index
Introduction
History and parameters of the intergroup event
Types of intergroup event
Intergroup and institutional event foci
The director's tasks
Structures: Paradigms for learning
Boundary functionaries
The staff room's boundaries
Recent innovation
The member-staff boundary consultant's entry into members' groups
The learning tasks of intergroup representation and negotiation
Conclusion
References
Lexicon

Related topic: Study group consultancy: Elements of the task

Further information about group-relations conferences, in which intergroup and institutional events are usually included, can be found at these related sites:

Forum International de l'Innovation Social / International Forum for Social Innovation - France
Forum International de l'Innovation Social / International Forum for Social Innovation - France
The A. K. Rice Institute - USA
AGSLO - Sweden
Washington-Baltimore Center of the A. K. Rice Institute - USA

Exit

19 vi 2006