LARGE-GROUP INTERVENTIONS
Large-group interventions have been referred to variously as “search conferences”, “open-space meetings”, “open-systems planning”, and “future searches”. They focus on issues that affect the whole organization or large segments of it, such as developing new products or services, responding to environmental change, or introducing new technology. The defining feature of large-group intervention is the bringing together large numbers of organization members and other stakeholders, often more than one hundred, for a two, to four-day meeting or conference. Here, conference attendees work together to identify and resolve organizationwide problems, to design new approaches to structuring and managing the firm, or to propose future directions for the organization.