The document discusses organization development (OD) and provides several definitions of OD. It states that OD is a planned process of change involving the whole organization that aims to improve how the organization functions and achieves its goals. Some key characteristics of successful OD efforts mentioned include being long-term, action-oriented, focusing on changing attitudes and behaviors, and working primarily with groups. The objectives of OD programs outlined include individual and group development, developing an empowering organizational culture through collaboration, inculcating team spirit, and achieving organizational transformation and competitive advantage through evaluation and system changes.

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(Based on PTU Syllabus)
ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT-
AN INTRODUCTION
MB 966
By: Monika Singla
Faculty: Gian Jyoti Institue, Mohali

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AN ORGANISATION IS….
 An organisation is a system consisting of
four interacting subsystems
STRUCTURE, TASK, TECHNOLOGY,
PEOPLE
 Organisation as a system can be changed
and developed to achieve its goals in the
best possible way

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OD
3
• Organization development is a process of planned change- change
of an organization’s culture from one which avoids an examination of
social processes(especially decision making, planning and
communication) to one which instituonalizes and legitimizes this
examination.
• Organization development is a response to change, a complex
educational strategy intended to change the beliefs, attitudes, values
and structure of organizations so that they can better adapt to new
technologies, markets and challenges.

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• Organization Development Definition Organization
Development (OD) is an applied discipline that supports
the creation of effective and healthy organizations
consisting of competent, satisfied, and productive
employees.
• Other definitions from other OD practitioners are:
"Organization development (OD) is defined as a long-
range effort to improve an organization’s ability to cope
with change and its problem-solving and renewal
processes through effective management of organization
culture."

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SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF
ORGANIZATION-DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS
Most successful organization-development efforts have the
following
characteristics:
1. There is a planned program involving the whole system.
2. The top of the organization is aware of and committed
to the program and to the management of it. (This does not
necessarily mean that they participate exactly the same
way as other levels of the organization do, but that they
accept the responsibility for the management.)

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SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF
ORGANIZATION-DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS
3. It is related to the organization’s mission. (The organization development effort
is not a program to improve effectiveness in the abstract. Rather it is an effort to
improve effectiveness aimed specifically at creating organization conditions that
will improve the organization’s ability to achieve its mission goals.)
4. It is a long-term effort.
Usually at least two or three years are required for any large organization change
to take effect and be maintained. This is one of the major problems in
organization-development efforts, because most reward systems are based on
rewarding the achievement of short-term “profit” objectives. Most organization
leaders are impatient with improvement efforts which take extended time. Yet, if
real change is to occur and be maintained, there must be a commitment to an
extended time, and a willingness to reward for the process of movement toward
goals, as well as toward the specific achievement of short-term goals.

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SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF
ORGANIZATION-DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS
5. Activities are action-oriented.
(The types of interventions and activities in which organization
members participate are aimed at changing something after the
activity.)
In this respect, OD activities are different from many other training
efforts where the activity itself, such as a training course or a
management workshop, is designed to produce increased
knowledge, skill, or understanding, which the individual is then
supposed to transfer to the operating situation. In OD efforts, the
group builds in connections and follow-up activities that are aimed
toward action programs.

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SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF ORGANIZATION-DEVELOPMENT
EFFORTS
6. It focuses on changing attitudes and/or behavior. (Although processes, procedures,
ways of work, etc., do undergo change in organization-development programs, the
major target of change is the attitude, behavior, and performance of people in the
organization.)
7. It usually relies on some form of experienced-based learning activities. The reason
for this is that, if a goal is to change attitudes and/or behavior, a particular type of
learning situation is required for such change to occur. One does not learn to play golf
or drive a car by getting increased knowledge about how to play golf or drive a car.
Nor can one change one’s managerial style or strategy through receiving input of new
knowledge alone. It is necessary to examine present behavior, experiment with
alternatives, and begin to practice modified ways, if change is to occur.
8. OD efforts work primarily with groups.
An underlying assumption is that groups and teams are the basic units of organization
to be changed or modified as one moves toward organization health and effectiveness.
Individual learning and personal change do occur in OD programs but as a fallout—
these are not the primary goals or intentions.

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Characteristics of OD
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• OD focuses on culture and processes
• OD encourages collaboration between organization leaders and
members in managing culture and processes.
• OD relies on an action research model with extensive participation by
client system members.
• OD focuses on total system change and views organizations as
complex social systems.
• Participation and involvement in problem solving and decision making
by all levels of organisation are hallmarks of OD.
• Attempting to create win-win solution

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Characteristics of OD
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• Behavior science base
• Normative approach
• Deliberate interventions in organization
• Normative Re educative strategy
• Legitimacy of organization and management
• System approach to change
• Use of action research model
• Use of external consultants
• Long term focus

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GOALS OF AN ORGANISATION
The goals of an organisation, generally, are:
survival, stability, profitability, growth and
service to society.
 From one organisation to another, the goal or
goals may differ depending upon at what stage
of development the organisation is
 An organisation can achieve its goal if it is able
to respond to changes within the external and
internal environment

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ORGANISATION DEVELOPMENT (OD) is a
planned approach to respond effectively to
changes in external and internal environments.

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ORGANISATIONAL
ENVIRONMENTS
External Environment
 The external environment is in terms of
forces in the social, political, economic
and cultural factors. Competition from
similar organisations, changing needs of
the public, knowledge explosion, rapid
growth of technology- all constitute
threat to organisational effectiveness

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INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
 Organisation has also to take into
cognizance its internal environment
which includes existing structure,
technology, needs and expectations of
its people, and the changing scenario of
labour force

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SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT
Essentially there are two schools of
thought in OD
1) Programme – Procedure School
2) System- Process School

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PROGRAMME-PROCEDURE
SCHOOL
 It is older approach. According to it, OD is the
effective implementation of the organisation’s
policies, procedures and programmes. It is
concerned with personnel activities and
contribute to the overall growth and
development of the organisation such as
recruitment, training, career development,
compensation, welfare and benefits, labour
relations, etc.
 Personnel development is primarily concerned
with OD activities

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SYSTEM- PROCESS SCHOOL
 While personnel programmes demand conformity for
prescribed policies and procedures, the system process
school encourages openness and collaborative ways of
solving problems so that the outcomes as advantageous to
both individuals and organization.
This school considers organization development in the
context of both its internal and external environment
 Proponents(supporters) of this approach view
organization as a system which can be changed and
developed to best achieve its goals and objectives
 An emerging role for OD is a system based and focuses on
total organization effectiveness and hence goes beyond
the traditional personnel programme
The emphasis is much more on work groups within and
across departments rather than individuals as such


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Differences between the two schools
Programme Procedure System Process
Internal Internal and
external
Personnel oriented Department
Individual Group
Sectional Holistic
Prescriptive Open
System internal Interdisciplinary

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WHAT OD IS?
 OD may be defined as a systematic, integrated
and planned approach to improve the
effectiveness of the enterprise
 It is designed to solve problems that adversely
effect the operational efficiency at all levels.
It is based on scientific awareness of human
behaviour and organisation dynamics
Being an organisation wide effort, it is directed
towards more participative management and
integration of individual goals and
organisational goals

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Organization Development is a systematic application
of behavioral science knowledge to the planned
development and reinforcement of organizational
strategies, structures, and processes for improving an
organization’s effectiveness.
…Cummings & Worley, 1993
Organization development is a planned process of
change in an organization’s culture through the
utilization of behavioral science technologies,
research, and theory.
…Burke, 1994
OD: DEFINITIONS

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• Objectives of OD?????

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OBJECTIVES OF ORGANIZATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
1.Individual and group development.
2.Development of organization culture and processes by
constant interaction between members irrespective of levels of
hierarchy.
3.Inculcating team spirit.
4.Empowerment of social side of employees.
5.Focus of value development.
.

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6. Employee participation, problem-solving and decision-
making at various levels.
7. Evaluate present systems and introduction of new systems
thereby achieving total system change if required.
8. Transformation and achievement of competitive edge of the
organization.
9. Achieve organization growth by total human inputs by way
of research and development, innovations, creativity and
exploiting human talent.
10.Behavior modification and self managed team as the basic
unit of an organization.

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Benefits of planned effort
 The benefits of the planned effort to
the organisation are measured in terms
of improvements noticed in the
performance of the sub-system where
the change has been implemented,
related sub-systems that have an
interface with the changed sub-system,
and the organisation as a whole.

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Organization Development
• System-Wide Organizational
Development
– Structural Change
• Is a comprehensive system-wide rearrangement
of task division, authority, reporting
relationships
• Affects performance appraisal and rewards,
decision-making, communication, information-
processing systems

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Organization Development (cont’d)
• Task and Technological Change
– Task redesign
• Changing tasks involved in doing the work, the
technology, or both
– Technological change
• Changing how inputs are transformed into
outputs

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Organization Development (OD)
• Relatively new field of study – 50’s & 60’s
• OD is about how organizations and people
function and how to get them function better
• Start Point – when the leader identifies an
undesirable situation and seeks to change it.
• Focus - Making organizations function better
(total system change).
• Orientation - Action (achieving results through
planned activities).
• No unifying theory – just models of practice

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History of Organization
Development

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HISTORY OF OD:
1960S : OD was implemented in organizations via
consultants.
1970s-1980s : OD became a more established field.
1990s-till now : OD continued to grow & evolve.

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Four major stems of OD:
 T-group/Laboratory Training
 Action Research and Survey Feedback
 Participative Management background
 Productivity & QWL background

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Laboratory training stem
• The T-group: (T for training) it is an
unstructured small-group situations in which
participants learn from their own actions.
• An Inter-group Relations workshop held at
State Teachers College in New Britain,
Connecticut in 1946.
• Series of events at the new Britain Workshop
of 1946 was later called T-group.
• T-Group consisted of Kurt Lewin, Kenneth
Benne, Leland Bradford and Ronald Lippitt.

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• Each group in addition to group members and a
leader, had an observer who made notes about
interactions among members.
• End of the day, observer met with the staff and
reported what they had seen.
• These sessions soon became the most significant
learning experience of the conference.

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LABORATORY TRAINING BACKGROUND:
• Laboratory training began in 1946, when Kurt
Lewin was asked for help in research on
training community leaders.
• A workshop was developed & the community
leaders were brought together.
• At the end of each session, the researchers
discussed the behaviours they had observed.
• Thus, the first T-group was formed in which
people reacted to data about their own
behavior.

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The researchers drew two conclusions about this first
T-group experiment-
Feedback about group interaction was a rich
learning experience.
The process of ‘group building’ had potential for
learning that could be transferred to ‘back home’
situations.
Applying T-group techniques to organizations
gradually became known as team building.

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Robert Tannenbaum
• Some of the early sessions of what would
now be called “team building” were
conducted by him in 1952 and 1953.
• According to him, term vertically
structured groups was used with groups
dealing with “personal topics” as
interpersonal relations and organizational
topics as responsibilities etc.

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Douglas McGregor
• He was the first to talk about the transfer
problem and to talk systematically about
implementation of T-group skills in complex
organizations.
• He along with others established a small
internal consulting group which used
behavioural science knowledge to help line
managers and their subordinates learn how
to be more effective in groups.

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Herbert Shepard and Robert Blake
• After initiating a series of two week laboratory,
they emphasized on intergroup as well as
interpersonal relations.
• Although working on interpersonal problems
affecting work performance was clearly an
organizational effort, but between group
problem solving had even greater
organizational development implications
because it involved a broader and more
complex segment of the organization.

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ACTION RESEARCH & SURVEY
FEEDBACK BACKGROUND:
• The action research contribution began in 1940
• The research needed to be closely linked to the
actions.
• A collaborative effort was made, to collect the
organizational data.
• To analyze the cause of the problem & then to
devise & implement a solution.
• Further data was collected to assess the results.

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Focus
Change – new state of things, different from old state of
things
Can be viewed as an opportunity or as a threat
Change (making moderate adjustments)
First order change
Second order change
(reinvent, reengineer)

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Three ingredients:
1. Participation
2. OD consultant (as collaborator & co-learner)
3. Iterative process of diagnosis & action
• Change occurs based on the actions taken
• New knowledge comes from examining the
results of the actions.

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Orientation
Diagnosing
Taking Action
Re-Diagnosing
Taking New Action
This process is known as
‘Action Research’

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Survey Research and Feedback stem
• It is specialized form of action research,
the history of this stem revolves around
the techniques and approaches
developed over a period of years.
• Survey Research Center was founded by
Rensis Likert, who is also famous for
giving us the five point rating scale also
known as Likert scale.

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PARTICIPATIVE MANAGEMENT
BACKGROUND:
Participative Management is a means of getting
employees involved in planning & managing changes.
Four types of management systems are:-
• Exploitative authoritative system
• Benevolent authoritative system
• Consultative authoritative system
• Participative group

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PRODUCTIVE & QWL BACKGROUND:
• The contribution of QWL(Quality of work life) is explained in
two phases.
• The first phase was developed in Europe in 1950 based on the
research of Eric Trist.
• This program involved developing a work design which aimed at
better integrating technology & people.
• Participation by unions & management in work design.
• The distinguishing characteristics of this program was developing
self-managing groups.

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• The second phase of QWL continues under the
banner of employee involvement.
• Employee contribution helps in running the
organization so that it can be more flexible,
productive & competitive

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• W.R. Bion, Rickman and others had been
involved with a six-week “Northfield
Experiment” at a military hospital during world
war II. In this experiment each soldier was
required to join a group that performed some task
such as handicrafts as well as discuss feelings,
interpersonal relations.
• Eric Trist in1947 visited a British coal mine, and
observed that the teams that the workers
themselves are better organized and different.
Also result of the team approach was remarkable
in safety and productivity both.

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• Role of OD practitioner

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Role of OD practitioner
– Problem identification
– Consultation/collaboration with OD consultant
– Data gathering and problem diagnosis
– Feedback
– Joint problem diagnosis (with group)
– Joint action planning (with group)
– Change actions
– Further data gathering

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RELEVANCE OF OD
3 major trends are shaping the changes in organizations:
• Globalization– changing markets & environment &
the way they function
• Information technology– has changed the traditional
way of doing business, how work is performed, how
knowledge is used, etc.
• Managerial innovation– new organizational forms,
such as networks, strategic alliances, large
corporations, etc are leading to new methods of
manufacturing goods and providing services.

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WHAT OD CAN DO:
• Helps in bringing change in organizations.
• Helps organizations to assess themselves & their
environment & build their strategies, structures &
processes.
• Helps in changing the assumptions & values in their
behavior.
• Helps in making organizations more responsive to the
needs of operating in highly complex & changing
world.
• Helps managers & staff to perform their tasks more
effectively. Provide skills & knowledge necessary for
effective relations.

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Second-Generation OD
• Organization Transformation
• Organizational Culture(To know more)
• Learning Organization (Senge developed workshops,
exercises and games to create awareness of these disabilities)
• TQM(Total Quality Management)
• Visioning and Future Search(Marvin Weisbord has developed a
“future search conferences” )
• Business Process Reengineering
• Quality of Work Life

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Interest in Organizational
Transformation
• “second-order change (organizational
transformation) is a multi-dimensional,
multi-level, qualitative, discontinuous,
radical organizational change involving a
practical shift.” (Amir Levy and Uri Merry)
• Increasingly, OD professionals distinguish
between the more modest, or evolutionary
efforts towards organization improvement
such as: transitions, fundamental large-
scale change in the organization etc.

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Interest in Organizational Culture
• Schein in particular has written
extensively about culture, he has devised
interventions to help leaders and
employees identify those cultural
assumptions that will assist the
organization in attaining its goal and
those that hinder goal attainment.
• The intervention may involve exploration
of artifacts, values and assumptions as
well as use of questionnaires to identify
old norms and form new ones.

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Interest in Learning Organizations
• Senge writes extensively about the
importance of systems thinking and also
about learning disabilities that plague
organizations.
• Some of the learning disabilities faced by
the organizations are focusing on one's own
job with little sense of collective product,
another is blaming the “enemy out there”,
Senge developed workshops, exercises and
games to create awareness of these
disabilities.

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Intensified interest in teams
• The recent years have seen a widening
and deepening interest in teams
specially high-performing teams, cross-
functional teams, self-managed teams.

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TQM
• The past decade has seen a mushrooming
interest in total quality management
world-wide.
• “ Total Quality is typically a companywide
effort seeking to install and make
permanent a climate where employees
continuously improve their ability to
provide on demand products and services
that customers will find of particular value”

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Visioning and Future Search
• In this approach interventions have been
designed to help organizational
members look to the future.
• Marvin Weisbord has developed a
“future search conferences” in which
organizational members work together
on data by analyzing and drawing
conclusions for future action steps.

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Extent of Application

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Extent of Application
• Business and industry are not the only
kind of institutions involved.
• From public schools to medical schools,
social welfare agencies, police
departments, government units all are
using the OD interventions.
• The rage of occupational roles that have
been involved in OD is limitless ranging
form managers, soldiers, psychologist,
teachers, engineers, lawyers etc.