Started in 1993, the Advanced Organisational Consultation (AOC) programme is a professional development programme for advanced practitioners of organisational development and change. Society membership is composed of graduates and faculty of the AOC programme and represent a unique pool of expertise in group and organisational consultancy. Covering a wide range of specialisms, they are based in many different countries and have extensive experience of the private, public and voluntary sectors.

Since 1947, The Tavistock Institute London has pioneered approaches for applying social science to the challenges facing  groups and organisations. In the mid-1990s, the Institute established AOC to disseminate findings from its research and consultancy as well as to identify areas of practice that required additional research and development. Thus, consultants working under the banner of The Tavistock Institute’s Advanced Organisational Consultation Society are unique: not only have they been exposed to approaches which combine organisational theory, psychodynamics and consultancy competence, but they retain continuing access to R&D for consultants.

AOC Society consultants help organisations to innovate and change successfully, and groups within them to develop their capabilities. Many organisations today are undergoing rapid, complex, large scale and continuing change in response to changes in their environment. For major organisational change of this kind to be successful, many interconnected developments need to be taken into account: business strategy, human resources, organisation structures and other human and operational processes. By combining management science with thinking about social and psychological behaviour, AOC Society consultants work with both technical and human aspects to help bring about effective organisational change.

AOC Society consultants work individually and in teams. Member profiles indicate that they provide assistance with:

Human Process Interventions	improve work relationships and co-operation on tasks between individuals, within and between groups, and within an overall organisation, network or community. Examples of such interventions include: process consultation, team building, search conferences and inter-group meetings.
Techno-structural Interventions	clarify and alter structures and procedures for completing the primary work tasks of an organisation, both for individual and group jobs as well as in overall flows of communication, control, and co-ordination between departments and authority levels. Examples of such organisational interventions include: work organisational design, socio-technical systems, employee involvement mechanisms and parallel learning structures.
Human Resource Management Interventions	enhance and modernise systems for retaining and developing managers and other employees in the light of strategic cultural and structural developments. Examples of such organisational interventions include: performance and reward systems, leadership development, coaching and mentoring, and workforce diversity.
Strategic Interventions	improve or alter relationships between the organisation and its environment, including planning and implementing necessary changes within the organisation or with customers and suppliers. Examples of such organisational interventions include: self-designing and learning organisations, cultural development, open systems planning, and trans-organisational, large group meetings.