Utilizing standard organizational development approaches, and principles of Appreciative Inquiry and how they compare to traditional organizational development approaches (action research, problem solving). It is also important to understand what is involved in each of the "5 Ds" - Define, Discovery, Dream, Design, and Destiny.

If possible cite one or two authors from the reading material.

Question:

A group of ten friends decide to start a new social networking company and put their savings together to start this new business. The company grows rapidly for the first five years and morale is very high in the company during this time. Everyone gets along very well and they work together cooperatively in order to continuously improve the company and its services. However, after five years the company stops growing and seems to reach a plateau. Morale seems to drop and there is now noticeable tension between employees including the top leadership team. They are not sure what to do revive the company, so they decide to hire a consultant. Should this team use an Appreciative Inquiry approach or a more traditional organizational development approach? Explain your reasoning with references to the required readings

Reading material:

Stavros, J. (2017). Appreciative inquiry brings out the best. [Books24x7 version]

Stavros, J. (2017). The 5d cycle of appreciative inquiry. [Books24x7 version].Available in the Trident Online Library.

Venter, J. (2010). Appreciative inquiry.Accountancy SA,, 42-44. [ProQuest]

Zemke, R. (1999). Don't fix that company!Training, 36(6), 26-33. [ProQuest]

Whitney, D. K., & Trosten-Bloom, A. (2010). Chapter 1: What is Appreciative Inquiry?The Power of Appreciative Inquiry: A Practical Guide to Positive Change. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers. [EBSCO eBook Collection]

Lewis, S., Passmore, J., & Cantore, S. (2016). Chapter 4: Appreciative inquiry: How do you do it? InAppreciative inquiry for change management: Using AI to facilitate organizational development. London: Kogan Page. [EBSCO eBook Collection]