The Search Conference - (Jossey-Bass Public Administration) by Merrelyn Emery & Ronald E Purser (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A comprehensive introduction to a powerful new approach for planning organizational change and community action. You'll discover a simple framework for understanding the process and clear step-by-step instructions to guide you in conducting your own Search Conferences.

From the Back Cover

Planning pioneers Merrelyn Emery and Ronald Purser use a wealth of illustrative examples from the nonprofit, business, and public sector to define and illustrate the importance of The Search Conference as a versatile management tool. They offer a simple framework for understanding the process and clear step-by-step instructions to guide novice and seasoned facilitators in conducting their own Search Conferences.
To demonstrate the potential scope of their method, they outline a myriad of concrete applications, including: institutional policy making; corporate strategic planning; organizational development and renewal efforts; mergers of companies and hospitals; community-based planning and development; planning the future of cities, regions, industries, and professional associations; managing conflict between diverse interest groups; creating strategic alliances between organizations and networks; and developing long-term partnerships with customers, suppliers or government regulators. The Search Conference is a comprehensive introduction to a powerful approach for planning organizational change and community action.

Review Quotes

"Emery and Purser's book provides a theoretical and practicalknowledge base previously available only through direct contactwith a few gurus. If you're ready to move on to the next level ofsophistication, then you must dig into the Search Confereence, andthis book is the best place to start digging." (D. Douglas McKenna, general manager, Executive and Management Development, MicrosoftCorporation)

"As Emery and Purser ably demonstrate, the Search Conferenceprovides a powerful tool for making organizations flexible andresponsive, Equally relevant for transnational corporations andcommunity nonprofits, this book is a must-read." (Leo Burke, director, Center for Management & Organizational Learning, Motorola University, Motorola, Inc.)

About the Author

MERRELYN EMERY is internationally recognized as a leading proponent of Search Conferences. With her husband, Fred Emery, she developed the theory and methodology of the Search Conference at Australian National University in Canberra. RONALD E. PURSER is an associate professor at the Center for Organizational Development at Loyola University in Chicago. He has conducted numerous Search Conferences and has sponsored Merrelyn Emery's Search Conference training workshops at Loyola.