Organizational Development Books

This list is not meant to be a "best of" or exhaustive work - it's a few books we've noted along the way. Some of them are quite old, but they’re well-written and may yield some insights you hadn’t considered.

Process Consultation - Edgar Schein's two-volume work on process consultation. We recommend this for internal and external consultants. Volume I | Volume II.
The Service Profit Chain - ties employee and supplier factors with long-term success. Packed with useful information and well-placed anecdotes. The authors write about both gains and pains of change, and where companies fell short; this makes the lessons safer to apply.
Managing Customer Value - Roger Gale's seminal book on assessing and increasing market share and profitability through enhanced customer value.

books

New Perspectives in Job Enrichment - Valuable in supporting involvement, innovation, and empowerment. Describes job enrichment, its advantages, and evidence for its success (experiments and field studies).
Motivation Through the Work Itself - how one company helped to reduce costs and increase quality by changing the way people work - a cheap and effective method. Strong details and a critical (“test it”) approach make this book more credible than most. It also looks at a variety of different job types, including skilled, unskilled, and professional.
Employee Turnover - an overview of the causes and effects of turnover. More than enough depth for most readers.
Getting to Yes -This short paperback is easy to read, with more useful information than many fat hardcovers. The authors' approach is to be hard on the problem, but soft on the people involved, so neither your relationship nor your position suffer when you gain an agreement. They show ways to deal with people who don't negotiate fairly. A bargain at $10.36.
Bullseye: Hitting Your Strategic Targets Through Measurement - Organizations which use strategic measurement seem to have much higher return on investment than those which don't.
I Saw What You Did and I Know Who You Are. Recognition may be the cheapest and least used way to get more out of your employees, and your own life. Janis Allen shows how to recognize other people so the message they hear is positive and effective. Dispels some misconceptions.
Corporate Culture and Performance, by John P. Kotter and James L. Heskett.
In Search of Excellence - the Peters and Waterman best-seller at 20% off ($12.79). Still has a great deal to say to managers and consultants. Well organized and highly readable.