Action Research, Hemant Gaule

Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad

Report on

Organizational Diagnosis – Action Research Objective The objective of the report is to describe the author’s understanding of what is special about Action Research.

Submitted By: Hemant Gaule Section C PGP I

Introduction Action Research can be broadly defined as a reflective process of progressive problem solving led by individuals working with others in teams or as part of a”community if practice” to improve the way they address issues and solve problems. Reason & Bradbury (2001) defined it as an interactive inquiry process that balances problem solving actions implemented in a collaborative context with data-driven collaborative analysis or research to understand underlying causes enabling future predictions about personal and organizational change. The purpose of action research is often to analyse practices and strategies adopted by and the knowledge environment prevailing in an organization. This practice of organizational diagnoses initially begun as comparative research and was later on adopted by many researchers as a comprehensive technique focussing more on the actions taken or more on the research that results from the reflective understanding of the actions.

Stages of Action Research Lewin (2001) classified the process of Action Research into three stages 1. The Input phase. The client system becomes aware of problems as yet unidentified, realizes it may need outside help to effect changes, and shares with the change agent (consultant) the process of problem diagnosis. What follows is a series of planning actions initiated by the client and the consultant working together. The principal elements of this stage include a preliminary diagnosis, data gathering, feedback of results, and joint action planning. In the language of systems theory, this is the, in which 2. The Action or Transformation phase. This stage includes actions relating to learning processes (perhaps in the form of role analysis) and to planning and executing behavioural changes in the client organization. Feedback at this stage would have the effect of altering previous planning to bring the learning activities of the client system into better alignment with change objectives. This stage also includes action-planning activity collectively carried out by the consultant and members of the client system. Following the workshop or learning sessions, these action steps are carried out on the job as part of the transformation stage (Johnson, 1976).

3. The Output or Results phase. This stage includes actual changes in behaviour (if any) resulting from corrective action steps taken following the second stage. Data are again gathered from the client system so that progress can be determined and necessary adjustments in learning activities can be made. Minor adjustments of this nature can be made in learning activities via feedback. Major adjustments and revaluations would return the OD project to the first, or planning, stage for basic changes in the program. The action stage is a period of changing that is, trying out new forms of behaviour in an effort to understand and cope with the system's problems. There is inevitable overlap between the stages.

What makes Action Research special Action research adds a new chapter to the book of traditional social science, by moving beyond reflective observations and knowledge created by external expert observers sampling variables, to an active moment-to-moment theorizing, data collecting, and inquiring. What differentiates action research from other forms of organizational research is the way action is closely clubbed with research, besides the intentional involvement of the researcher in variations to the situation being researched. Following are three ways in which Action Research is different from other techniques (Huxham and Vangen, 2003). 4. It does not adapt a particular ideological perspective but the management ideologies of those being researched. The practitioners in the organization being researched do not have to be aware of research aspect of the involvement or of the involvement at all for that matter. 5. Participatory, co operative or democratic inquiry can happen but is not necessary 6. The purpose of the research defines the reason for the researcher’s involvement but the intervention itself is driven by the client’s needs and usually initiated by the client. A few more potential instabilities that are worth noting can happen during data collection and interpretation of that data. The content and quality of the collected data can be significantly influenced by the intervention of the researcher. Similarly, interpretation can be influenced by the history, context and politics of the intervention.

Conclusion Action research is problem centred, client centred, and action oriented. It involves the client system in a diagnostic, active-learning, problem-finding, and problem-solving process. Data are not simply returned in the form of a written report but instead are fed back in open joint sessions, and the client and the change agent collaborate in identifying and ranking specific problems, in devising methods for finding their real causes, and in developing plans for coping with them realistically and practically. Scientific method in the form of data gathering, forming hypotheses, testing hypotheses, and measuring results, although not pursued as rigorously as in the laboratory, is nevertheless an integral part of the process. Action research also sets in motion a long-range, cyclical, self-correcting mechanism for maintaining and enhancing the effectiveness of the client's system by leaving the system with practical and useful tools for self-analysis and self-renewal (Johnson, 1976).

References Huxham, C., Vanghen, S., Researching Organizational Practice Through Action Research, Organizational Research Methods, Vol. 6 No. 3, July (2003) 383-403 Johnson R. A., Management, systems, and society : an introduction, Pacific Palisades, California: Goodyear Publications Co, (1976)222–224. Lewin K., Group Decision and Social Change, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, (1958) 201.

Reason & Bradbury, Handbook of Action Research. London: Sage, (2001).