Chapter 1 General Introduction To Organization Development

ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT
 Organization development (OD)—a process that applies a broad range of behavioral science
knowledge and practices to help organizations build their capacity to change and to achieve
greater effectiveness, including increased financial performance, customer satisfaction, and
organization member engagement.
 Organization development differs from other planned change efforts, such as project
management or innovation, because the focus is on building the organization’s ability to
assess its current functioning and to achieve its goals.
 Moreover, OD is oriented to improving the total system—the organization and its parts in the
context of the larger environment that affects them.
ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT DEFINED
 Organization development is both a professional field of social action and an area of scientific
inquiry.
 Examples of OD:
1. Team building with top corporate management
2. structural change in a municipality
3. job enrichment in a manufacturing firm
 Definitions of OD:
 Organization development is a systemwide application and transfer of behavioral science

knowledge to the planned development, improvement, and reinforcement of the strategies,
structures, and processes that lead to organization effectiveness.
 This definition emphasizes several features that differentiate OD from other approaches to
organizational change and improvement:
1. OD applies to changes in the strategy, structure, and/or processes of an entire system,
such as an organization, a single plant of a multiplant firm, a department or work group,
or individual role or job.
2. OD is based on the application and transfer of behavioral science knowledge and
practice, including microconcepts, such as leadership, group dynamics, and work design,
and macroapproaches, such as strategy, organization design, and international relations.
3. OD is concerned with managing planned change, but not in the formal sense typically
associated with management consulting or project management, which tends to comprise
programmatic and expert-driven approaches to change.
4. OD involves the design, implementation, and the subsequent reinforcement of change.
5. OD is oriented to improving organizational effectiveness.
 Organizational development and change management SIMILARITIES:

o OD and change management both address the effective implementation of planned
change. They are both concerned with the sequence of activities, processes, and
leadership issues that produce organization improvements.
 Organizational development and change management DIFFERENCES:
o They differ, however, in their underlying value orientation. OD’s behavioral science
foundation supports values of human potential, participation, and development in addition
to performance and competitive advantage.
o Change management focuses more narrowly on values of cost, quality, and schedule. As
a result, OD’s distinguishing feature is its concern with the transfer of knowledge and skill
so that the system is more able to manage change in the future. Change management
does not necessarily require the transfer of these skills.
o In short, all OD involves change management, but change management may not involve
OD.
 Organizational development and organizational change SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES:
o Organizational change is a broader concept than OD.
o Organization development can be applied to managing organizational change. It is
primarily concerned with managing change in such a way that knowledge and skills are
transferred to build the organization’s capability to achieve goals and solve problems. It is
intended to change the organization in a particular direction, toward improved problem
solving, responsiveness, quality of work life, and effectiveness.
o Organizational change, in contrast, is more broadly focused and can apply to any kind of
change, including technical and managerial innovations, organization decline, or the
evolution of a system over time. These changes may or may not be directed at making
the organization more developed in the sense implied by OD.
THE GROWTH AND RELEVANCE OF ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT
1. Three major trends are shaping change in organizations: globalization, information technology,
and managerial innovation.
1. Globalization is changing the markets and environments in which organizations operate

as well as the way they function. New governments, new leadership, new markets, and
new countries are emerging and creating a new global economy with both opportunities
and threats.
2. Information technology is redefining the traditional business model by changing how
work is performed, how knowledge is used, and how the cost of doing business is
calculated. Information technology, for example, is at the heart of emerging e-commerce
strategies and organizations.
3. Managerial innovation has responded to the globalization and information technology
trends and has accelerated their impact on organizations. New organizational forms,
such as networks, strategic alliances, and virtual corporations, provide organizations with
new ways of thinking about how to manufacture goods and deliver services.
A SHORT HISTORY OF ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT
1. The first was the growth of the National Training Laboratories (NTL) and the development of
training groups, otherwise known as sensitivity training or T-groups.
2. The second stem of OD was the classic work on action research conducted by social scientists
interested in applying research to managing change. An important feature of action research was
a technique known as survey feedback. Kurt Lewin, a prolific theorist, researcher, and
practitioner in group dynamics and social change, was instrumental in the development of T-
groups, survey feedback, and action research. His work led to the creation of OD and still serves
as a major source of its concepts and methods.
3. The third stem reflects a normative view of OD. Rensis Likert’s participative management
framework and Blake and Mouton’s Grid® OD suggest a “one best way” to design and operate
organizations.
4. The fourth background is the approach focusing on productivity and the quality of work life.
5. The fifth stem of OD, and the most recent influence on current practice, involves strategic change
and organization transformation.

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ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT

ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT DEFINED

 Organization development is a systemwide application and transfer of behavioral science

 Organizational development and change management SIMILARITIES:

THE GROWTH AND RELEVANCE OF ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT

1. Globalization is changing the markets and environments in which organizations operate

A SHORT HISTORY OF ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT

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