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The case studies I describe in this chapter are based on a series of organizational development (OD) projects at GVB 1 , Amsterdam's public transport company, where I worked as an external organizational development (OD) consultant for over a decade. Resistance to organizational change at the company was rife during my time there. This is exemplified by two case studies in particular. The first of these concerns an organizational change aimed at improving the efficiency and efficacy of traffic control's management. The focus was mainly on redesigning work processes within traffic control. I will describe the change strategy I used based on the characteristics of planned-change strategies (Chin and Benne, 1970). The second case study concerns a transformation in the management structure and workplace culture of the tram, bus, and metro line divisions; this change was dubbed Line-Bound Operation. The objective was to modify the attitude and conduct of drivers and ticket inspectors by increasing supervision and face to face contact with their direct supervisor. I will describe this change strategy in terms of the distinction between positional organization and transactional organization (Wierdsma, 2004). I will then assess and explain the successes and failures of both case studies, using recent OD literature. 2.1 Context: GVB's 20-Year History of Failing Transformation To provide some context for the organizational reality described in these case studies, I will first sketch a brief history of the transformations the company underwent in the 20 years prior to my assignment. I have opted for a narrative approach (Czarniawska, 1997) to bring the OD process to life and for easier reading. The anecdotes set apart in text boxes are symptomatic of the problems the company faced. 2 Kampen Emotional Abuse and Neglect in the Workplace 2015 8 In 1996, interim manager Max de Jong described GVB as 'out of control' (Van der Zwan, 1997). He contended that management had lost its grip on the company years earlier. The media depicted GVB as a communist bastion where hardcore unionists called the shots. In March 1997, a committee charged with exploring whether GVB could be privatized published a report tellingly entitled 'Make or Break Time'. 3 The report provides a reconstruction of the political and administrative developments at GVB starting in 1978. In preparing the report, the committee had analyzed every available financial report and overview and heard testimony from every director, manager and workers' council head who had been in a position of responsibility during the period studied. The record of these hearings reads like a thriller, a real page turner. GVB's problems began in the 1970s and steadily worsened from 1986. On the period from 1986 until 1990, the privatization committee reported: Michael van der Vlis's 12-year term as Amsterdam alderman must be regarded as a factor that added to the compounding of problems at GVB. He was aware of those problems and had a vision, but lacked the consistency to supervise ...

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