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Tavistock House,London

The Tavistock Institute of HumanRelations is recognised internationally asone of the most influential bodies inmanagement thought. In this article welook at the history and development ofthe Tavistock, from its formation in 1947to the present day, with references to itskey work and suggestions for furtherreading.

The Tavistock Institute of HumanRelations

The Tavistock Institute is a notforprofit multidisciplinary socialscience organisation which offers organisational consultancy, actionresearch and evaluation research alongside professionaldevelopment courses. It publishes two peerreviewed journals withSage Publications: Human Relations and Evaluation.

Early years, 19471957

The Tavistock Institute of Human Relations (TIHR) was incorporatedin 1947, emerging from its early years as a social departmentwithin the Tavistock Clinic.These origins provide a psychoanalyticperspective from which came a focus on how work was undertakenand a commitment to working issues through, which continues tothis day in consultancy assignments and professional developmentwork. An important and ongoing early influence was Kurt Lewin andhis pioneering action research approach which is used at theInstitute, both in the researchbased approach to consultancy andin the often engaged and learningfocused evaluation studies.Action research fitted well with the Institute's focus on payingattention to how staff approached their projects and the idea ofcollaborating with participants rather than studying them from adistance. Perhaps most important was a systems approach toworking with clients, another perspective shared with Lewin.

From the late 1940s and early 1950s, Tavistock Institute staffcollaborated with those in industry. Two early strands of work hadremarkable impact on organisational theory:

1. Elliot Jacques, in studies in the Glacier Metal Company, identifiedculture as a key element for intervention in organisational life.

2. Eric Trist, in collaboration with the exminer Ken Bamforth,discovered what later came to be termed by Trist and Emery, sociotechnical systems (STS) design, in the longwall coalmining studies

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which noted the requirement for loose rather than tightmanagement when faced with the need for innovation. Ken Riceintroduced the STS design characteristics into cotton weaving millsin Ahmedabad in India, with immediate impact and, in associationwith Eric Miller, generated further understanding of organisations astask systems and sentient systems, both of which neededmanaging.

These two approaches found ready audiences in those developingsocial science approaches to organisations. The postwar periodprovided fertile soil for these developments in industrial sociologyand industrial psychology both in the USA and in the UK where LouDavies at UCL was an important collaborator. In Europe, andparticularly in Scandinavia, willing collaborators emerged, includingthe Works Research Institute in Norway. Einar Thorsrud was invitedfrom there to apply the approach in other Scandinavian countries.

A third approach developed by Trist and Emery considered theorganisation in its environment, which they described in differentways, including the turbulent environment. This concept has abroad resonance and is still in use in organisational studies, forexample where ideas of complex systems and emergent structuresare studied and drawn upon. The spread of these new ideasgenerated further applications, often involving the activeparticipation of a wide range of stakeholders in planning theirenvironments and futures.

Systems theory was from the beginning a strong influence,whether from von Bertalanffy or the open systems approachsuggested by Melanie Klein, and provided useful insight intoorganisational life; as expounded in, for example, Ken Rice and EricMiller's Systems of organisation. Gestalt notions of systems, withtheir attention to the interrelation between the parts and the wholeand the boundary between the inside and the outside, wereespecially adapted to organisational studies and interventions. Thenotion of systems ideas remain influential in organisationalconsulting approaches at the Institute today, though of coursethere have been significant developments both within the Instituteand beyond in the intervening years, and the application of systemstheory in the evaluation research field at the Institute remains atits heart.

Bion's work on the psychoanalytic theory of groups was furtherdeveloped in an organisational context through Jacques'identification of the impact of social defences against anxiety, whichwas vividly brought to life in Isabel Menzies Lyth's study of nursing,where rigid routines and uniforms were cited as providing suchdefences. Further development of the psychoanalytic approach toorganisations at the Institute saw the identification of systemspsychodynamics: the understanding that, as in families,organisational life has an unconscious dimension of connectedness.

All these streams of work were reported in the journal HumanRelations, which was an early collaboration with Lewin, with longeraccounts finding their way into the books published by the TavistockPublications imprint.

The establishment of the Leicester Conference, 19571980

The psychoanalytic tradition was practiced at the Institute in effect,even by those like Emery, who were dismissive or hostile towards it,through the working through of democratic organisational life. Thistradition was embodied from 1957 onwards in what came to be an

annual group relations training conference, originally incollaboration with Leicester University and remaining on that site tothis day. Essentially an extension of Bion's selfdirected groups,participants were brought together in a temporary organisation,designed by Ken Rice. A further influence came from the work ofthe National Training Laboratory in Bethel in the United States,where a loosely associated form of group work was undertakeninitially by Lewin and later by his associates. The working throughto which Tavistock Institute practitioners were committed,nevertheless provoked splits in how this kind of work wasundertaken, such as classic Leicester Conferences that continuedunder the directorship of Eric Miller, and the dual task conferencesoffer from Harold Bridger. Despite the splits, group relationsconferences using the Miller and Bridger models aroused muchinternational interest and were exported across the world. Todaymany group relations conferences, often supported by the TavistockInstitute, take place every year.

While organisational studies provided the main focus of Tavistockpublications, the action research approach at the Institute broughtcoherence to a broader range of activities, such as Elizabeth Bott'swork on family life and Elizabeth Richardson's account of school life.There were often, and still are, philosophical, theoretical debatesabout the differences between action and research, and betweenaction research and consultancy, commented on by Frank Heller'sterm research action, and about how these are practiced. The groupknown as the Institute for Operations Research provided animportant example of action which drew on a range of researchactivities. In this setting, John Friend and others developed anapproach to strategic planning at the local government partnershiplevel which underwent rapid growth during the 1970s, as theInstitute's work in the manufacturing sector tailed off. Miller'sstudies with Geraldine Gwynne, and subsequently also TimDartington on attitudes to the disabled, similarly applied Tavistockideas to organisations and beyond. There are many other examples.

The advent of evaluation, 19802000

From 1980, Elliot Stern, who had earlier been involved inmanufacturing studies and interventions in the chemical industry inIreland, in British Leyland and in the merchant marine with PatQuinn and later Frances Abraham, introduced evaluation researchas a major activity within the Institute. Much of the TIHR's earlyevaluation work drew on approaches naturally arising from TIHRtraditions, such as stakeholder evaluation and support for selfevaluation. Evaluation research, begun by Stern and Miller andinvolving the practitioner focus of Dione Hills, continued with acommunity health focus, and was joined by local and regionaldevelopment with the arrival of John Kelleher. Over time, thesestudies brought in renewing influences from social scientists such asHabermas and his followers, as Stern strengthened and broadenedthe theoretical underpinnings of the research, together with JoeCullen and Elizabeth Sommerlad. In particular, new understandingsof learning, how it occurs and can be brought about in diversesettings such as labour market activities, workrelated learning,informal learning, and ICT, began to pervade evaluation studiesfrom the arrival of Carlos Frade. The Evaluation, Development andReview Unit continued to provide a home for more engaged,sometimes organisationally focused studies, involving FrancesAbraham, Dione Hills and John Kelleher. Elliot Stern remains editor

of the journal Evaluation, which he started in 1994.

During the late 1980s and 1990s, organisational consultancy at theInstitute was inspired by the continued activities of Eric Miller,practicing both the system psychodynamics oriented approach andthe sociotechnical systems design approach of the Tavistock'searlier traditions. In 1986 Miller was joined in this work by JeanNeumann who continued to weave the Tavistock traditions oforganisational consultancy into new offers. Richard Holti joinedthem, which led on a substantial action research project incollaboration with construction industry supply chains in theBuilding Down Barriers project.

Miller, Holti and Neumann set up a professional development offerat Masters level called Advanced Organisational Consulting, whichcombined consultancy competence, systems psychodynamics andorganisational theory. It ran for 14 successful years and led to thecreation of the AOC Society, which is the alumni of graduates andprogramme practitioners. Further professional development offersat the Institute include a Certificate in Coaching for Leadership andProfessional Development, a Practitioner Certificate in Consultingand Change (P3C) and the MSc in Leading Public Service Changeand Organisational Development designed and delivered by theUniversity of Birmingham in collaboration with the TavistockInstitute; as well as more customised offers such as the politicalcoaching course for local politicians for the LGA, tailored grouprelations offers, and a TIHRcertificated course in working throughcrisis for high risk teams.

The Tavistock Institute today

Consultancy at the Institute today continues the systemspsychodynamics approach, embodied by Mannie Sher, Eric Miller'ssuccessor as Director of the Group Relations programme since1997, and the Institute's Director, Dr Eliat Aram, who joined theInstitute in 2008 and refreshes and integrates the its offeringsthrough her academic background in complexity and managementtheory and a practice in Gestalt psychotherapy and supervision,alongside her group relations and OD experience and training.Under her leadership and with a diverse and highly experiencedteam of colleagues, the plurality of the Institute's skills is nowapplied more ably by the Institute's staff and with its clients.Governance reform in local authorities and the focus towardsstrategic partnership working has been a recent stream of TIHRconsultancy work introduced into the Institute by its first Director,Phil Swann (20052008). It continues to be at the forefront of theInstitute's work under the leadership of Frances Abraham andCamilla Child who bring their political science background to broadenorganisational approaches. This work has further developed recentlyto assisting local authorities with behaviour change and meetingnational indicators, specifically in teenage pregnancy. In 2009Mannie Sher, together with Alison Gill of Crelos, contributed to theWalker Review on the regulation of banks in its Annex 4:Psychological and behavioural elements in board performance, acontribution which has led to the creation of a Board Evaluationcompany (BValco) offering a novel and multi disciplinary approach toBoard Evaluation emphasising the importance of behaviour andgroup dynamics both those which are immediately observable andthose which are otherwise under the surface.

Evaluation studies remain a vibrant and valuable work stream andthe work remains stateofthe art, using a theory of change

approach and action learning sets as well as more routinequalitative and quantitative methods. Led by Judy Corlyon, DioneHills, Kerstin Junge and a strong team of dynamic researchers,streams of work include: community health and wellbeing initiatives for example social inclusion programmes with a wide range ofactivities, often participatory, involving children and young people;transport evaluation; studies in elearning and higher education;and European research and evaluation work. TIHR presence inEurope continues through a number of avenues including thelongstanding European Evaluation Consortium (EPEC) and otherframework contracts, as well as work with the European PatentOffice and the European Central Bank. Organisational studies andlearning approaches continue, often led by Joe Cullen and usingapproaches informed by Habermas and Foucault which emphasisethe importance and impact of cultural logic, lifeworld analysis anddisciplinary discourse in evaluation, research and consultancy.

The Institute continues to be active in publishing, with recentpapers and published work at the UK Evaluation Society, theEuropean Evaluation Society, ISPSO, OPUS, the Social ResearchAssociation, the British Sociological Association and the BritishPsychological Association, to name a few. Institute staff areregularly invited to speak and present at International conferencesin a range of areas of the Institute's work. Since 2000, seniorInstitute staff and associates have written or edited at least fivebooks and a number of book chapters.

The Institute remains in a healthy position with its history ofadapting and responding to change in society, politics andorganisational culture whilst staying in touch with its core values.This is due to its ethos of building on its edifice of social scienceknowledge and skilled professionals as well as its professional staff'scontemporary skills in the arts and media. With this richness theInstitute remains an interesting place to work with and in. Fromtime to time its constructive commentary and position on sociopolitical developments is also published in newspapers such as TheGuardian and The Times, or on BBC Radio.

Further reading

The following are all available from The British Library: type the titleinto the search box on the right to check availability.

Books and book chapters

Jaques, E. The changing culture of a factory. London: TavistockPublications, 1951

Lewin, K. Field theory and experimentation in social psychology. InD. Cartwright, ed. Field theory in social science: selectedtheoretical papers. New York: Harper and Row, 1951

Rice, A.K. Productivity and social organisation. London:Tavistock Publications, 1958

Bion, W. Experiences in groups. London: Tavistock Publications,1961

Rice, A. K. Learning for leadership. London: TavistockPublications, 1965

Friend K. and Jessop W. Local government and strategicchoice: an operational research approach to the processesof public planning. London: Tavistock Publications, 1969

Miller, E. and Rice, A. K. Systems of organisation. London:Tavistock Publications, 1970

Emery, F. and Trist, E. Towards a social ecology. London:Plenum Press, 1975

Trist, E. and Murray, H. (eds) The social engagement of socialscience: a Tavistock anthology. Philadelphia: University ofPennsylvania Press. Three volume set:

Volume 1: The sociopsychological perspective, 1990.Includes Miller, E. Experiential learning in groups I: thedevelopment of the Leicester model.

Volume 2: The sociotechnical perspective, 1993

Volume 3: A socioecological perspective, 1997Available online athttp://moderntimesworkplace.com/archives/archives.html

Miller, E. From dependency to autonomy: studies inorganisation and change. London: Free Association Books, 1993

Sher, M. and Wiener, J. Psychotherapy and counselling inprimary health care: a psychodynamic approach. London:Macmillan, 1998

Hills, D. and Child, C. Leadership in residential child care:evaluating qualification training. London: Wiley, 2000

Brunner, L., Nutkevitch, A. and Sher, M. eds. Group relationsconferences: reviewing and exploring theory, design, roletaking and application. Volume 2. London: Karnac Books, 2006

Aram, E., Baxter, R. and Nutkevitch, A. eds. Adaptation andinnovation: theory, design and roletaking in group relationsconferences and their applications. Volume 3. London: KarnacBooks, 2009

Whittle, S. and Izod, K. Mindful consulting. London: KarnacBooks, 2009

Journal articles

Trist, E. and Bamforth, K. Some social and psychologicalconsequences of the longwall method of coal getting. HumanRelations, 4 (1) 1951, pp.338

Rice, A. K. Productivity and social organization in a Indian weavingshed: an examination of the sociotechnical systems of anexperimental automatic loomshed. Human Relations, 6 1953,pp.297329

Trist, E. and Emery, F. The causal texture of organizationalenvironments. Human Relations, 18 (1) 1965, pp.2132

Menzies, I. The functioning of social systems and the defenceagainst anxiety: a report on a study of the nursingservice of a general hospital. Human Relations, 3 (1) 1947,pp.95121

Rice, A. K. Individual, group and intergroup processes. HumanRelations, 22 (6) 1969, pp.565 84

Reports

Abraham, F. Hilgendorf, L. and Welchman, R. Women andpositive health care. London: Tavistock Institute, 1983

Sommerlad E. A guide to local evaluation. London: TavistockInstitute, 1992

Kelleher, J. Blackburn, J. and Nelson, A. ONE Delivery evaluation:case studies and staff research: preliminary report. TavistockInstitute, London, 1999

Kelleher, J. Batterbury, S. and Stern, E. The thematic evaluationof the partnership principle in the EU Structural Fundprogrammes 19941999 final report. Brussels: Commission ofthe European Communities, 1999

Abraham, F., Kelleher, J. and Tiris, M. A needs analysis of theFurther Education sector for the Joint Information SystemsCommittee by the Learning and Skills Development Agencyand The Tavistock Institute, London: JISC, 2001

Corlyon, J. and Hills, D. The parenting fund: evaluation of thefundholder model and sector provision. (DCSF Research ReportRR089.) London: DCSF, 2009

Website

Tavistock Institute websitehttp://www.tavinstitute.org/

Group relations websitehttp://www.grouprelations.com

See also

Kurt Lewin: Change Management and Group Dynamics Thinker

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Philip Riseborough

23 Nov 2010

Good summary of key deveopments.

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Philip Riseborough

23 Nov 2010

Good summary of key deveopments.

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