Misrepresentation/ manipulation take place when an OD consultant claims that an intervention will

produce results that are unreasonable for the situation 1. The OD consultant works under false
pretences in this case, and therefore this ethical challenge arises. Another way to look at this is when
an OD consultant distorts facts to make them seem more attractive, withholding undesirable
information, and creating false rumours to get employees to accept a change 2. Misrepresentation is
likely to occur in the entering and contracting phases of planned change when the initial consulting
relationship is being established3.

This ethical challenge would impact employees in an organisation. If employees are aware of the
deception, this would damage the credibility of the OD consultant, as employees would feel that
they are being misled, lied to, conned and this would cause distrust between employees, managers
and the change agent.

An example of misrepresentation from an OD

1
Scribd.com
2
Robbins
3
Cummings, T.G, Worley, C.G. 2008. Organization Development & Change. 9 th Ed. Canada. Cengage Learning