Onderzoek

Pendelen tussen praktijk en wetenschap

Ik heb gedurende mijn hele loopbaan de wisselwerking tussen praktijk en kennisontwikkeling omarmd. Vanaf 2007, toen ik startte met mijn promotieonderzoek, ben ik als ‘affiliate’ verbonden aan de Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam en sinds 2012 ook aan de Universiteit Twente. Gestimuleerd door mijn promotor Léon de Caluwé ben ik internationale congressen over management en organisatie gaan bezoeken en lever daar ook bijdragen aan. Zo heb ik de Academy of Management bezocht en het daarmee gelieerde Europese platform ISEOR in Lyon. Sinds 2018 is daar de British Academy of Management aan toegevoegd. Dit heeft tot een aantal internationale publicaties geleid.

Nederlandstalige publicaties

Het pendelen begon met mijn promotieonderzoek dat ik in de periode tussen 2007 en 2011 aan de Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam deed met Léon de Caluwé als promotor en Wim Slot (orthopedagoog) en Daan Andriessen (ontwerpgericht onderzoek) als co-promotoren.

Kampen, J. (2011a). Interventies in verwaarloosde organisaties: een exploratieve studie naar diagnose en herstel.Proefschrift. Amsterdam: Vrije Universiteit.

In het proefschrift vind je de wetenschappelijke onderbouwing van het concept van de verwaarloosde organisatie.

Download proefschrift

Kampen, J. en Andriessen, D. (2015). Organisatieprofessional als wetenschappelijk onderzoeker. M&O, nummer 1, januari-februari, p.5-18.

Organisatieprofessionals zoals adviseurs en managers combineren zel­den het interveniëren in organisaties en het doen van wetenschappelijk onderzoek. Onderzoeken gebeurt door wetenschappers, interveniëren door managers of adviseurs. Dit artikel laat zien dat de werkzaamhe­den van de organisatieprofessional er baat bij kunnen hebben wanneer deze tijdens het adviestraject niet alleen als interventionist te werk gaat maar tegelijkertijd ook als wetenschapper. Dit levert voor de organisa­tieprofessional als wetenschapper een aantal problemen en dilemma’s op. Aan de hand van twee concrete onderzoeken die tijdens een inter­ventietraject gedaan zijn, wordt geïllustreerd hoe een organisatiepro­fessional om kan gaan met de geschetste spanningen. Er wordt een model gepresenteerd hoe een organisatieprofessional intensief gebruik kan maken van literatuurstudie en theorievorming om organisatiepro­blemen te duiden, interventies te ontwerpen en toe te passen alsmede een wetenschappelijk onderzoek kan doen naar de werking en de ef­fecten van de interventies. Dit levert niet alleen betere verandertrajec­ten op maar ook relevante wetenschappelijke kennis.

Download artikel

Kampen, J. (2017). Tien jaar ontwikkeling en toepassing van de theorie van de verwaarloosde organisatie. Holland Management Review (HMR) 171, jan-febr. p. 57-63.

Dit artikel geeft antwoord op de volgende vragen:

  • Wat is de veranderkundige waarde van de theorie van de verwaarloosde organisatie zoals deze zich de afgelopen tien jaar heeft ontwikkeld?
  • Voor welk type organisatievraagstukken, in welk soort organisaties en wanneer is de theorie bruikbaar?
  • Wat heeft de toepassing ervan opgeleverd en wat zijn de punten van kritiek?

Download artikel

Publications in English

Book

Kampen, J. (2015). Emotional Abuse and Neglect in the Workplace: How to restore normal organizational life. London-New York, Palgrave/Springer.

This book is based on my PhD dissertation in which I explore the reasons why my interventions as an organizational development (OD) consultant did not always have the desired effect. After searching in vain for an explanation in the change management literature, I happened upon knowledge from a different domain. I discovered that the terminology of developmental psychology described the phenomena I encountered

in my consultancy practice. I applied these concepts to organizations. This book introduces a new OD concept: ‘neglect in the workplace.’ That is what happens when an organization lacks leadership in the dimensions of structure and consideration for a protracted period of time. Everyday life in such organizations becomes destabilized. To cast it in terms from the field of developmental psychology, an organization in this state is no longer able to fulfill its developmental tasks. As a whole, it becomes a case of arrested development. Observing

this organizational reality through the lens of child development and parenting, I will focus on three aspects: similarities between parenting styles and leadership styles, the impact of an organization’s social context and people’s response to a lack of expectations, boundaries and recognition.

When change processes in an organization fail, it is a sign of arrested development. In such cases, there is usually a lot of management, but a lack of leadership (Bennis, 1989). Emotional neglect in an organization is never the result of a single, drastic reorganization process; neglect is always gradual and starts with habituation.

More information

Papers and PDW's

Kampen, J. & Henken, A.M. (2014). Intervening in Emotionally Neglected or Abused Organizations: Changing harmful routines in teams. Paper presented at Sixth Symposium on Process Organzation Studies, June 19-21, Rhodes, Greece.

Organizational development is about changing organizational dynamics. This article opens the ‘black box’ of destructive dynamics in teams in the context of a university of applied sciences. Process theorizing produces know-how knowledge. This type of knowledge is especially beneficial for professionals in organizational change by opening of the black box of change in interaction.

In this paper we focus on harmful behavioral patterns at the level of teams. We analyze the interaction between supervisors and subordinates through the lens of a new concept for organizational development: the theory of organization emotional neglect. The analogy between parenting styles and leadership styles, especially rejecting-neglecting parenting and laissez faire leadership, is used to show how the patterns of harmful interaction between supervisors and their subordinates in neglected organizations emerge and can be treated on the level of teams. We found that harmful routines do not disappear by compensating the omission of leadership. Response behavior gets worse before it’s getting better. The routines need to be replaced by sustainable reciprocal interaction. Negative capability is a conditional core competence of change agents in emotionally neglected organizations. A high turnover (>30%) of direct supervisors and of senior management can be expected in the recovery from emotionally neglected organizations.

Download paper

Kampen, J., Henken, A.M. & De Caluwé, L.C.A. (2014). Strategies for Intervening in Organization Emotional Neglect and the Role of the Change Agent: A new concept for OD professionals. Professional Development Workshop at Annual Meeting 2014 of the Academy of Management, Philadelphia, PA.

OD professionals from the ‘school’ of positive thinking will not succeed or even survive in emotionally abused or neglected organizations (Ehrenreich, 2010, Kampen, 2011).

The aim of the PDW is to acquaint participants with a new intervention-concept: organization emotional neglect. A close conceptual relationship was found between 'neglecting parenting styles' and 'laissez faire leadership styles'  that until now has attracted little attention in both academic and in professional respect. Research in child development literature shows that parental neglect is harmful to the development of children. Organization emotional neglect caused by laissez faire leadership is found to have an analogous destructive impact on the performance of organizations and teams.

In this workshop we introduce an instrument to diagnose the characteristics of emotional neglect in organizations. We present a strategy for intervening in circumstances of organization emotional neglect and reflect on longitudinal case study findings. We pay special attention to the role of the change agent in the process of recovery and how to cope with the discomfort and strong resistance to change of the members of a neglected organization.

Download slides

Kampen, J. & Henken, A.M. (2018). Organizational Neglect: the toxic triangle of deficits. Organizational Dynamics, 47, p.241-249.

In our OD practice we are often consulted after the failure of previous OD interventions:

  • After the far-reaching restructuring of the organization of the municipality of the Dutch capital Amsterdam old habits and patterns of behavior returned notwithstanding replacement of 70% of the managers en 40% of the staff.
  • A comprehensive training program on culture and behavior after the financial crisis of 2008 did not change organizational reality in financial institutions.
  • The implementation of self steering teams in the faculty of a university of applied sciences led to a chaos in the scheduling of courses and to destructive group dynamics.

This article is relevant for practicing managers because organizational neglect is not visible at once and often denied by senior management.

We learned from the treatment of abused and neglected children that the first step is: restore a safe environment with repetitive daily routines and close availability of a caretaker. In organizations this means that leaders take their responsibility in role and that they guide members of the organization to discover through experience what normal daily organizational life is like. The CEO’s of neglected organizations need to face the inconvenient truth of arrested development and demand their managers to take their responsibilities in guiding the development of inidividuals, teams and departments. The CEO him-or herself is a role model in the process of restoring the arrested development.

Download article

Kampen, J & Henken, A.M. (2019). Emotional Abuse and Neglect in the Workplace: A Method for Arrested OD. Journal of Organizational Psychology volume 19 (6): 49-62.

Emotional abuse and neglect in the workplace deserve wider recognition, because the process involved is insidious and paralyzes organizational development. An intervention strategy is presented that can be used in case of organizational neglect. The strategy’s distinctive characteristics are:

  • Guided organizational development by line management based on the zone of proximal competence and development of individuals and teams;
  • Identification and interpretation of harmful, hidden dynamics;
  • Effectuation of change through interactions on the work floor with aid of a more

knowledgeable other (to teach operational management to guide subordinates’ development);

  • Effectuation of change in the lived reality by coaxing stakeholders out of their comfort zone while an OD consultant remains psychologically available throughout the process.

CEOs, senior managers and management consultants assigned to change programs should be familiar with this method for restoring normal organizational life after a period of emotional abuse and neglect.

The OD method presented was developed using more than 150 cases in both the public and private sector.

Download article

Kampen, J. & Henken, A.M. (2020). Demandingness as OD Change Agent in Restoring Normal Organisational Life in Abused and Neglected Organisations. Paper Conference in the Cloud British Academy of Management September 2 – 4.

This study was conducted in organisations where the implementation of change failed after repeated attempts. We were asked to look into organisational reality for the reasons why these attempts failed and what kind of other intervention strategy could be helpful in overcoming the arrested organizational development (OD). The theory of organisational neglect was used as a lens for the diagnosis. In cases where signs of organisational neglect were detected a previously developed and described method for restoring normal organisational life was applied.

In studying the role and the style of the OD change agents in cases of abused and neglected organisations we discovered that a successful change agent has an authoritative and demanding style. This role is different from the focus on implementing solutions as an empirical-rational strategy or coaching the process of change as a normative re-educational strategy. The change agent in abused and neglected organisations cannot work in a normal relationship with members in the organisational system because reciprocity in interaction is lost.

This study shows how the change agent works and under what conditions he can be successful.

Download article

Interview

The Toxic Triangle of Deficits: Emotional Abuse and Neglect in the Workplace 

Interview with Joost Kampen and Andre Henken 

By Leslie L. McKnight, PhD  

I had the honor and distinct pleasure of interviewing Joost Kampen and Andre Henken, two prominent OD consultants from the Netherlands. Our discussion centered on their research and practice of emotional abuse and neglect in the workplace.

Management Consulting Division Summer 2018 Newsletter, pp.7-10 

Download interview