Resources

SEAM is based on more than 45 years of research, however, for many years the articles were written only in French and Spanish. Publications in English began in the early 2000s, which is one of the reasons that SEAM has not be well known in English speaking lands. This page offers a variety of English sources of knowledge about SEAM.

Articles

Socio-Economic Approach to Management: A Successful Systemic Approach to Organizational Change
​​​John Conbere and Alla Heorhiadi. Journal OD Practitioner.

Virtue vs. Virus: Can OD Overcome the Heritage of Scientific Management
​Alla Heorhiadi, John Conbere and Chato Hazelbaker​​. Journal OD Practitioner.

A SEAM Intervention in a Rural Health Care System: Case study 
​John Conbere and Alla Heorhiadi. Journal OD Review.

Escaping the Tower of Babble: Implementing Organizational Change
John Conbere and Alla Heorhiadi. Journal OD Practitioner.

  • Books

    Buono, A. F. & Savall, H. (eds). (2015). The Socio-Economic Approach to Management Revisited: The Evolving Nature of SEAM in the 21st Century. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

    Conbere, J., Savall, H., & Heorhiadi, A (2015). Decoding the Socio-Economic Approach to Management: Results of the First SEAM Conference in the United States. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

    Savall, H. (2010). Work and People: An Economic Evaluation of Job-Enrichment. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing. (First published in 1974.)

    Savall, H., Zardet, V. & Bonnet, M. (2008). Releasing the Untapped Potential of Enterprises through Socio-Economic Management. Geneva: International Labor Office, and Ecully, France: ISEOR. (First published in 1974.)

    Savall, H., Conbere, J. P., Heorhiadi, A., Cristallini, V. & Buono, A. F. (eds). (2014).

    Facilitating the Socio-Economic Approach to Management: Results of the First SEAM Conference in North America. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

    Savall, H., & Zardet, V. (2017). Strategic Engineering of the Reed. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

    Savall, H., & Zardet, V. (2008). Mastering Hidden Costs and Socio-Economic Performance. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing. (First published in French in 1987.)

    Savall, H., & Zardet, V. (2013). Dynamics and Challenges of Tetranormalization. IAP: Charlotte, NC. (First published in French in 2005.)

    Savall, H. & Zardet, V. (2011). Qualimetrics: Observing the Complex Object. IAP: Charlotte, NC. (First published in French in 2004.)

    Articles

    Boje, D., & Rosile, G. A. (2003). Comparison of socio-economic and other transorganizational development methods. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 16(1), 10–20.

    Boje, D., & Rosile, G. A. (2003). Theatrics of SEAM. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 16(1), 21–32.

    Buono, A. F., & Savall, H. (eds). (2007). ISEOR’s socio-economic method. A case of scientific consultancy. In: Socio-Economic Intervention in Organizations. The Intervener-Researcher and the SEAM Approach to Organizational Analysis. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

    Conbere, J, & Heorhiadi, A. (2018). The Socio-Economic Approach To Management: Steering Organizations Into The Future. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Company.

    Savall, H., Peron, M., Zardet, V. & Bonnet, M. (2018). Socially Responsible Capitalism and Management. Abington, UK: Routledge.

    1

    Publications on SEAM

    Conbere, J., & Heorhiadi, A. (2018). The Challenges of Leading Healthcare Organizations. The Theory and Practice of Socio-Economic Management, 3(1), 1-13.

    Conbere, J., & Heorhiadi, A. (2017). Escaping the Tower of Babble: Implementing Organizational Change. Organization Development Practitioner, 43(1), 28-34.

    Conbere, J. P. & Heorhiadi, A. (2017). How transformative learning informs the SEAM process. The Theory and Practice of Socio-Economic Management, 1(2), 26–35.

    Conbere, J. P. & Heorhiadi, A. (2016). Magical thinking as organizational dysfunction. The Theory and Practice of Socio-Economic Management, 1(2), 28–37.

    Conbere, J., & Heorhiadi, A. (2015). Why the Socio-Economic Approach to Management Remains a Well Kept Secret. OD Practitioner, 47(3), 31-37.

    Conbere, J., & Heorhiadi, A. (2012). The Key to SEAM’s Effectiveness. Presentation at the June 2012 ISEOR conference, Lyon, France.

    Conbere, J., & Heorhiadi, A. (2011). Socio-economic approach to management: A successful systemic approach to organizational change. Organization Development Practitioner, 43(1), 6–10.

    Conbere, J., & Heorhiadi, A. (2011). Some Epistemological, Ethical and Theological Aspects of SEAM. Presentation at the June 2011 ISEOR conference, Lyon, France.

    Dobosenski, D. (2018) Improving Effectiveness in a Rural Medical Center: CEO’s Story of his SEAM Journey, The Theory and Practice of Socio-Economic Management, 3(1), 14-25.

    Friesenborg, L. (2017). Exposing single-loop learning and the TFW virus: A case study of the Columbia Accident Investigation. The Theory and Practice of Socio-Economic Management, 1(2), 36–61.

    Heorhiadi, A., Conbere, J. P. & Hazelbaker, C. (2014). Virtue vs. virus: Can OD overcome the heritage of scientific management? Organization Development Practitioner, 46(3), 27–31.

    Heorhiadi, A. & Hartl, R. (2017). Using metaphors and similes to explain the socio economic approach to management. The Theory and Practice of Socio-Economic Management, 2(1), 54–64.

    Heorhiadi, A., La Venture, K. & Conbere, J. P. (2014). What do organizations need to learn to become a learning organization? Organization Development Practitioner, 46(2), 5–9.

    Jensen, L. (2018). The Art of Steering: Insights of a Nurse Executive. The Theory and Practice of Socio-Economic Management, 3(1), 26-35.

    Kalnbach, L. & Swenson, D. X. (2018). Managing Resistance to Change in SEAM, The Theory and Practice of Socio-Economic Management, 3(2), 53-60.

    Kalnbach, L. & Swenson, D. X. (2017). SEAM in higher education: A case study. The Theory and Practice of Socio-Economic Management, 1(2), 16–25.

    Kennedy, A. (2016). Developing human potential and a learning culture in manufacturing. The Theory and Practice of Socio-Economic Management, 1(2), 38–45.

    Kobrossi, J, Bonnet, M, & Tabchoury, P. (2018). Investigating the Root Causes of Patient Delay in the Healthcare Industry. The Theory and Practice of Socio-Economic Management, 3(2), 21-35.

    2

    Publications on SEAM

    Koskiniemi, A. (2018). How SEAM Could Help with Beaker Implementation in an Ambulatory Clinic Department. The Theory and Practice of Socio-Economic Management, 3(1), 36-46.

    Masry, J., Bonnet, M, & Tabchoury, P. (2018). Action research in a Family Business: Example of a Qualimetrics Intervention Research Carried out in a Small Family Company in the Middle-East. The Theory and Practice of Socio-Economic Management, 3(2), 3-20.

    Péron, M. & Péron, M. (2003). Post-modernism and socio-economic approach to organizations. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 16(1), 49–55.

    Quint, S. (2017). The four leaf clover revisited. The Theory and Practice of Socio-Economic Management, 2(1), 30–41.

    Randall, B. (2017). How SEAM addresses the key drivers for employee engagement. The Theory and Practice of Socio-Economic Management, 2(1), 42–53.

    Savall. H. (2017). Macroeconomic roots and fundamentals of the socio-economic approach to management. The Theory and Practice of Socio-Economic Management, 1(1), 3–29.

    Savall, H. (2003). An update presentation of the socio-economic management model. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 16(1), 38–48.

    Savall, H. & Zardet, V. (2016). The difference between management consultancy and research- intervention. The Theory and Practice of Socio-Economic Management, 1(3), 3–15.

    Savall, H. & Zardet, V. (2016). Strategic Bedrock theory and the cohesion leverage effect. The Theory and Practice of Socio-Economic Management, 1(1), 3–15.

    Throgmorton, C. (2018). How Dysfunction Shows Up in Non-Profit Healthcare and Why SEAM May Be the Answer to Overcoming It. The Theory and Practice of Socio-Economic Management, 3(1), 47-54.

    Zardet, V. & Voyant, O. (2003). Organizational transformation through the socioeconomic approach in an industrial context. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 16(1), 56–71.

    Dissertations

    Baune, C. (2016). A Phenomonological Research Study about the Experience of Leaders Who Have Led a SEAM Intervention. [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of St. Thomas, Minneapolis, MN.

    Hazelbaker, C. (2014). Looking for Evidence of the TFW Virus. [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of St. Thomas, Minneapolis, MN.

    Quint, S. (2014). Development of a Business Case for Investment in Analytic Software: An Organization Development Perspective. [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of St. Thomas. Minneapolis,

Why the Socio-Economic Approach to Management Remains a Well Kept Secret
John Conbere and Alla Heorhiadi.  Journal OD Practitioner.

Some Epistemological, Ethical and Theological Aspects of SEAM
John Conbere and Alla Heorhiadi. Presentation at the June 2011 ISEOR conference.

The Key to SEAM’s Effectiveness
John Conbere and Alla Heorhiadi. Presentation at the June 2012 ISEOR conference.

Journal | The Theory and Practice of Socio-Economic Management

The SEAM Institute was instrumental in establishing a peer-reviewed journal dedicated to promoting knowledge of SEAM as an alternative management approach.


The Theory and Practice of Socio-Economic Management is a scholar-practitioner journal that combines academic knowledge and practical perspective of leaders and managers.

Books

The Socio-Economic Approach to Management: Steering Organizations Into the Future

By John Conbere and Alla Heorhiadi

​Many organizational leaders may not even realize that most of their strategic decisions are made without accurate or full information. And yet more than 40 years of socio-economic research indicate that around 40% of what happens economically in organizations is not taken into consideration by traditional accounting. This lack of information affects an organization's effectiveness by turning organizational functions into dysfunctions which leads to hidden costs. The book describes the socio-economic theory and  its application in the US organizations.

​Buy on Amazon
​Buy on Barnes & Noble

Decoding the Socio‐Economic Approach to Management

​Edited by John Conbere, Henri Savall and Alla Heorhiadi

​In May 2014, the French research laboratory ISEOR and the SEAM Institute co-sponsored a second SEAM conference in the United States. The volume captures the ideas, applications, and exchanges of that meeting, attempting to
bring the reader into the conference itself. Chapters include the contributors’ presentations, revised conference
papers, and the question and answer dialogue for the session.

Buy on Amazon

Facilitating the Socio-Economic Approach to Management

Edited by Henri Savall, John Conbere, Alla Heorhiadi, Vincent Cristallini and Anthony F. Buono

In 2013,  ISEOR co-sponsored the first conference on the SEAM paradigm and methodology in the United States. The book attempts to bring the reader into the conference itself. The different chapters include the contributors' presentations, revised conference papers, and the question and answer dialogue for the session.

Buy on Amazon