Dexter Dunphy: Pushing the boundaries of change

Abstract

Dexter Dunphy is an Australian who contributed to organization development theory in the early 1970s and then in the 1990s (with colleague Doug Stace) introduced to the field of organization theory a comprehensive contingency model of organization change. He held academic appointments at Harvard University, the University of New South Wales (UNSW), and the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). He also contributed to the internationalization of management theory through studies of management, including change management, in East Asia. Subsequently, after 2000 (with colleagues Andrew Griffiths and Suzanne Benn), he developed a comprehensive phase model outlining key stages through which organizations can progress to become both sustainable and sustaining. These models were supported by detailed organizational case studies describing how change programs were undertaken and evaluating the outcomes in terms of a variety of performance criteria. These conceptual developments were responses to major challenges occurring in the environments of organizations subsequent to the end of World War II through to the second decade of the twenty-first century. Dunphy worked with senior executives of corporations, companies, and organizations, in Australia and internationally, in designing large-scale in-house and system-wide change programs. He was involved in training organizational change agents and creating and maintaining active networks of change consultants for the exchange of ideas and approaches. The chapter concludes with an outline of key issues for the future development of the field.