ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Organizational development is a generic term embracing a wide range of intervention strategies in
the social processes of an organisation. These intervention strategies arte aimed at the
development of individuals, groups and the organisation as a total system.
Organisational development is a generic term therefore, it can be defined in many possible ways.
An example of a comprehensive definition of OD in the behavioural science sense of the term is
given by French and Bell:
Organizational development is a long-term effort, led and supported by top management, to improve
an organization’s visioning, empowerment, learning, and problem-solving processes, through an
ongoing, collaborative management of organization culture-with special emphasis on the culture of
intact work teams and other team of configurations- utilizing the consultant-facilitator role and the
theory and technology of applied behavioural science, including action research.
A historical review of the subject of organisational development is provided by Grieves, who points
out that OD is a much older tradition of organisational science than conventional wisdom would
suggest. This ‘history’ is only one, albeit very prominent, behavioural perspective on OD.
In a very general sense, OD is concerned with attempts to improve the overall performance and
effectiveness of an organisation. Essentially, it is an applied behavioural science approach to
planned change and development of an organisation. The very broad nature of OD means that, for
example, it can be related to Morgan’s idea on the use of metaphor to see organisation and
management.
When we talk about organisation development it is important to emphasize a pluralistic approach
and remember that, in practice, we are referring to the development and performance of those
individuals and groups of people who comprise the organisation. OD programmes are aimed not
only at improving organisation effectiveness and efficiency, but also at:
Motivational climate, consisting of the set of employee attitudes and morale which influence the
level of performance.
Patching refers to the importance of the relationship between the three levels of business strategy,
management strategy and organisation and management development strategy. Patching maintains
that ‘Management Development is organization development.
Management and organisation development interventions make no direct physical impact on
organisations as such; they create no product; yet they change things. What they change is
managers’ minds… And in changing managers’ minds, such interventions thereby change those
constructs which comprise organisations, markets, careers, and so on. In other words, as managers’
minds change, so do their organisations.
TOPICS ASSOCIATED WITH OD
The effective management of change is a central and critical feature of OD. According to Church, OD
ought to be about large-scale organisational change that is based on people’s perceptions and
behaviours-human data.
‘I would draw the line at that kind of work. I would say that downsizing is not OD. I would say that a
lot of training and development is not OD. Process consultation is, in my way of thinking, not OD. It
is a skill that OD practitioners have, but it is not doing PD. I really think of PD as being systematic
organizational change.’
However, the broad nature of OD means that many interrelated topics could be included under this
heading or ‘label’. Given the importance of people, topics that are normally included under the
heading of organisational behaviour can also be seen as relevant to the study of OD. However, the
emphasis of OD is more on the development of the organisation than the actual processes of
organisation and management. But even in this narrower interpretation many of the topics such as
socio-technical systems, theory X and theory Y, the leadership grid (managerial grid), management
by objectives, delegation, empowerment, job design, T-groups and quality circles, may be seen as
part of OD.
French and Bell summarise the primary distinguishing characteristics of organisation development in
terms of the following.
1. A focus on culture and processes with specific encouragement of collaboration between
leaders and members.
2. A focus on the human and social side of the organisation, the importance of teams of all
kinds, and participation and involvement in problem-solving and decision making. A focus
on total system change.
3. OD practitioners as facilitators, collaborators and co-learners with the overarching goal to
make the client able to solve problems on their own.
4. A reliance on an action research model and the adoption of a developmental view that seeks
betterment of both individuals and the organisation.
TOPICS ASSOCIATED WITH ORGANISATION DEVELOPMENT
1. ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE
2. ORGANISATIONAL CLIMATE
3. EMPLOYEE COMMITMENT
4. ORGANISATIONAL CONFLICT
5. MANAGEMENT OF CHANGE
6. MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF OD
In order to bring about effective change, OD makes use of a number of approaches-often referred to
as intervention strategies-including survey research and feedback, T-groups and teambuilding.
1. Survey research and feedback involves the use of questionnaire surveys to help determine
the attitudes of members to the functioning of the organisation. Results of the surveys are
fed back to top management and then to work groups for interpretation and analysis.
Group members participate in discussions on the implications fo the information, the
diagnosis of problems and the development of action plans to help overcome the problems
identified.
2. T-groups (or sensitivity training) involve small, unstructured, face-to-face groupings who
meet without a planned agenda or set activities. Training is intended to concentrate on
process rather than content: that is, on the feeling level of communication rather than the
informational value of communication. With the guidance of the trainers, participants’
patterns of behaviour become the focus of attention for the group. The objectives are
usually to increase participants’ sensitivity to the emotional reactions in themselves and
others, their diagnostic ability, and their behavioural flexibility and effectiveness.
3. Teambuilding is the process of diagnosing task procedures and patterns of human
interaction within a work group. The basic objective is to improve the overall performance
of the organisation through improvements in the effectiveness of teams. Attention is
focussed on work procedures and interpersonal relationships, and especially the role of the
leader in relation to other members of the group.
There are however, a number of other possible intervention strategies. For example, Naylor
refers also to the following ‘OD techniques’.
1. Role analysis: the systematic clarification of roles and allocation of them among group
members.
2. Life and career planning: people are encouraged to develop and express personal goals with
strategies for integrating these goals with those of the organisation.
3. Quality of work life: links between quality of work life and career planning, and a philosophy
of improving the climate in which work occurs and
4. Counselling: to help individuals better understand what it is like to work with them and,
through this, assist them to attain their goals.
No two organizations are the same. Each organisation has its own types of problems and most
appropriate remedies. OD is action-oriented and tailored to suit specific needs. It takes a number of
forms with varying levels of intervention. OD concerns itself with the examination of organisational
health and the implementation of planned change. This may include training in interpersonal skills,
sensitivity training and methods and techniques relating to motivational processes, patterns of
communication, styles of leadership and managerial behavioural. Although an OD programme is
legitimised by the formal system it focuses on both the informal system, which includes feelings,
informal actions and interactions, group norms and values, and which forms part of the culture of an
organisation.
References
1. Maier, lD., Leban, B. and Orr-Alfeo, D. ‘ A values statement on OD: An interview with
practitioner-scholar Dr. Allan church RODC’, Organisation Development Journal, vol. 19, no.
3, Fall 2001, pp. 69-74
2. Laurie J. Mullins, 2005, Management and Organizational Behaviour, Seventh Edition,
Prentice Hall, ISBN: 0273688766, pps: 888-889