Tom Cummings: A passion for people and learning

Abstract

Tom Cummings is best known for his text Organization Development and Change, widely referred to as "the bible of OD." This chapter traces the development of his thought leading up to that text and beyond. I discuss his longstanding engagement with socio-technical systems and organization design, his synthesis of those with traditional organization development, his work on transorganizational design and on the strategy process, and his emerging work on "care" in organization studies.