Organizational change and development: the case for evidence-based practice

This chapter first discusses the complexities of change in organizations and why so many OCD programs fail and makes the case for change agents to become evidence-based in their change agency practice. The author then offers a definition of evidence-based organizational change and development (EBOCD) and outlines the types of “best evidence” that can be used to inform and shape the formulation and implementation of OCD strategies and to critically evaluate the associated processes and change agency practices. Various distinctive evidence-based initiatives for OCD are discussed and several case examples from the United Kingdom are presented. The chapter closes with a discussion of the specific merits of “design science,” “professional partnership” research, and “replication” researchChapter

TESTING THE IRON HYPOTHESIS IN ECOSYSTEMS OF THE EQUATORIAL PACIFIC-OCEAN

The idea that iron might limit phytoplankton growth in large regions of the ocean has been tested by enriching an area of 64 km(2) in the open equatorial Pacific Ocean with iron. This resulted in a doubling of plant biomass, a threefold increase In chlorophyll and a fourfold increase in plant production. Similar increases were found in a chlorophyll-rich plume downstream of the Galapagos Islands, which was naturally enriched in iron. These findings indicate that iron limitation can control rates of phytoplankton productivity and biomass in the ocean.X11968Nsciescopu