WHAT IS

ORGANIZATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT?
The Organizational Development Landscape
IT consultants
Major consulting “Design thinking” Clients often ask
have also
firms have takes a similar for Business
encroached on OD
cornered change. approach to OD. oriented support.
territory.
Sample of Hybrid
Organizational Development Roles

People and
Business Manager of Culture Organizational Director of DE&I
People and Culture Organizational
Transformation Change and Strategy and and Organizational
Consultant Performance
Specialist Teaming Culture Consultant Development
Manager

Global Director of Global Organizational and Organizational

VP of DE&I and Director of Culture
Organizational Talent and People Design and
Organizational and Organizational
Culture Business Organizational Development Transformational
Effectiveness Effectiveness
Partner Development. Specialists Manager

Director of Organizational Excellence,

Organizational Learning and
Organizational & Design and Future of Work Strategy, and
Transformational Organizational
Leadership Effectiveness Strategy consultant Innovative
Manager Consultant
Development Manager consultant
It Can Feel
Overwhelming Knowing
Where to Begin
More than 40 Definitions

What: a field of knowledge to guide the effectiveness

of organizations, especially during change.

How: Using group and human dynamic processes from

applied behavioral science methods, research, and
theories to facilitate the movement of groups and
organizations.

Outcome: To improve the health and effectiveness of

organizations and people that work within in a
sustainable way.

Cheung Judge and Holbeche 2011

Our View of Organizational
Development
Improved organization
effectiveness in the service of
achieving organizational goals
 Better aligned structure,
culture, and strategy with the
realities of work.
Increase employee
collaboration and cooperation
Increase interpersonal trust
 Increase levels of satisfaction
and commitment of employees
The View of Organizational
Development
 It’s scientific– Applies behavioral science and practice to facilitate
change and transformation
 It’s systematic– Treats the organization as a system and addressing
the systematic challenges
 It’s humanistic– Puts people at the heart of the process and values
human capital
 It’s participative and inclusive– Involves members of the
organization in understanding and responding to the challenge
 It’s sustainable– Builds capability, skills and knowledge to allow
people to solve future problem unaided.
Understand the System before you change it

“If you want truly to

understand something,
try to change it”
Kurt Lewin
Who practices OD?

Internal OD
practitioners
Everyone External OD
practitioners
Should
Public Sector
Have an Private sector

Managers and OD HR Practitioners

leaders
mindset
Non-profit
Charities L&D Practitioners
What can it improve?
Organization
design +
process
Strategy
Leadership
and
Management
Future of
Performance
work Values
Management
readiness

Culture Change Ways of

working e.g
Hybrid
working
How do we do OD?
Organization Small group
Design Interventions

Large group
Interventions
Feedback
1-2-1 and/or and
group Training
Reflection
Coaching

Conflict
Resolution
Workshop/ Capability
Meeting Development
Process
facilitation Consulting
The Organizational
Development Practitioner
Organizational Development
Practitioners

- People who are entrusted with

the job of carrying out the
planned change process in the
organization.
- Professionals who help organizations
diagnose problems, design interventions,
and facilitate change.
OD Specialist These are people who a specialists in the field of Organizational Development
• Normally Referred to as OD Consultants

These are people who a specialist in the field of Organizational

• Can be BothDevelopment
Internal and External

•Normally Referred to as OD Consultants • OD Practitioner may be from HR department or Separate OD groups may exist in
the organization
•Can be Both Internal and External
•OD Practitioner may be from HR department or Separate OD groups may exist in the organization
Leader or Managers Leaders and Managers may apply OD techniques to their
domain of work and work as OD Practitioners, it is important
Leaders and Managers may apply OD techniques to help
as this would their domain
highlight of and
the need work and of the
importance
work as OD Practitioners, it is important aschange
this would help
initiative, and aid highlight the need
in lessen the resistance to Change.
Organizational Development Practitioners may be Internal or
and importance of the change initiative, and aidBoth
External, in have
lessen the resistance
its advantages to
and disadvantages.
Change.
Types of Organizational Development
Practitioners
External OD Practitioners
Advantages Disadvantages
▪ Brought in from outside so not associated with the ▪ Outsiders are unfamiliar with the
system, which makes them less dependent on the system organizational culture, Norms,
and makes them work independently Practices
▪ They are more formal in their approach and since they are ▪ May have difficulty in Obtaining the
Specialist they are more Involved in the process, as this is information due to lack of
what they to for living information on data repository and
▪ Sees from Different point of view, with Objectivity informal channels of communication
▪ Greater freedom of operation
▪ Viewed by top managers to have more positive influence,
as they cannot be influenced with ease, and are not really
a part of the organizational structure
▪ Less Influenced by power politics of the organization
▪ More Independent and Risk Takers
Types of Organizational Development
Practitioners
Internal Practitioners
Advantages Disadvantages
•Familiar with Organizational culture and norms •Lack of Specialized Skills
•They know the Structure of the Organization •Lack of Objectivity as they may be
•They know the people influenced by the Management
•Have personal interest in making the organization •May not have necessary power and
succeed authority
 Intrapersonal skills
Self-awareness

Interpersonal skills
Competencies Ability to work with others and groups
of an OD
Practitioner General Consultant skills
Ability to manage consulting process

Organization development theory

Knowledge of change processes
THREE MODELS OF HELPING
Consultant (Schein, 1990)

PROVIDE EXPERT PROCESS CONSULTANT PLAYING DOCTOR

INFORMATION
 Consultant
(Schein,1990)
Determine the relevant client
▪ Those who will impact the
change
▪ Those who resist the change
▪ Who is needed to be part of
change
▪ This may not be the people
you think that it will be at the
onset of the project
-END-
 MODULE 1

Introduction and Overview

of Organizational Development
Organization Development
• Organization Development is both a professional
field of social action and an area of scientific
inquiry. It covers a wide spectrum of activities, with
seemingly endless variations upon them.

• Team building with top corporate management,

structural change in a municipality and job
enrichment in a manufacturing firm are all
example of organizational development
 Definition Of Organizational Development
• is a planned process of a change in a organization’s culture
through the utilization of behavioural science technology,
research and theory.
• is an effort PLANNED , ORGANIZATION-WIDE , MANAGE FROM THE
TOP , TO INCREASE ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND HEALTH
through PLANNED INTERVATIONS IN A ORGANIZATION’S
“PROCESSES” using behavioral science knowledge.
• It refers to a long range effort to improve an organizations
problem-solving capabilities and it’s ability to cope with changes
in its external Environment.
Growth and relevance
of organization
development
Globalization
• is changing the the markets and environments in
which organizations operate as well as the way in
function. The word is rapidly becoming smaller and
more tightly interconnected economically, socially ,
and ecological.
• globalization opens new markets and sources of
innovation capital for organization . But at the risk of
economical problems in one sector of the world
spreading rapidly to other sector
 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 .
• it is the heart of emerging e-commerce strategies and
organization
• Amazon.com and eBay are among the survivors of a busted dot-
com bubble; facebook,LinkedIn and twitter are revolutionizing
the way that we converse and interact with each other both
personally and professionally.
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 manufactured goods and deliver
services.
Five stems of OD Practices
1.Laboratory Training
2.Action Research/Survey Feedback
3.Normative Approaches
4.Quality of Work Life
5.Strategic Change
1. Laboratory Training Background
• Laboratory training or T- group a small, unstructured group in
which participants learn from their own interactions and
evolving group processes about such issues as interpersonal
relations, personal growth, leadership and group dynamics.

2. Action Research/Survey Feedback Background

• It refers to the processes of action research and survey
feedback. A collaborative effort was initiate between
organization members and social scientists to collect
research data about an organizations functioning, to analyse
it for causes of problems, and to device and implement
solution .
3. Normative Approaches
Background
• The intellectual and practical advances from the laboratory
training stem and the action research and survey feedback stem
were followed closely by the belief that a human relations
approach represented a “one best way” to manage organizations.

Four type of management system

1. Exploitive Authoritative System
2. Benevolent Authoritative System
3. Consultative System
4. Participative Group System
 4.Productive and Quality of Work Life
Background
• The definition QWL defined it as an approach or method.
• It was viewed as synonymous with methods such as job
enrichment, self – managed teams, and labor – managemen
committees.
• Referred to as “sociotechnical systems”, these QWL programs
generally involved joint participation by unions and management
in the design of work and resulted in work designs giving
employees high levels of discretion, task, variety and feedback
about results.
• The most distinguishing characteristic of these QWL programs was
the discovery of self – managing work groups as a form of work
design.
 Strategic Change
• The strategic change background is recent influence on OD’s
revolution. As organizations have become more global and
information intensive and their environments have become more
complex and uncertain, the scale and intricacies of organizational
change have increased.
• The strategic change involves improving the alignment among an
organization’s design, strategy and environment. Strategic change
interventions seek to improve both the organization’s relationship to
its environment and the fit among its technical, structural,
informational, human resource and cultural components.
• The need for strategic change is usually triggered by some major
disruption to the organization, such as the lifting regulatory, a
technological breakthrough or a new chief executive officer coming
in from outside the organization.
MODULE 2

THE NATURE OF
PLANNED CHANGE
Organization
Development

 Is directed at bringing
about planned
change to increase
an organization’s
effectiveness and
capability to change
itself.
 It is generally initiated
and implemented by
managers with the
help of an OD
practitioner from
either inside or
outside of the
organization.
Organization can
use planned:

1. To solve the problem

2. To learn from
experience
3. To reframe shared
perceptions
4. To adapt to external
environmental changes
5. To improve
performance
6. To influence future
changes
Objectives of Organization
Development
1. Describe and compare three major theories of planned
change
2. Introduce a general model of planned change that will
be used to organize the material presented in book.
3. Explain how planned change can be adopted to fit
different contexts.
4. Critique the practice of planned change.
 Three Major Theories of
Organization Change
Lewin’s Change Model

Unfreezing Movement Refreezing

one of the earliest models of planned change, a

particular set of behaviors at any moment in time is
the result of two groups, those striving to maintain
the status quo and those pushing for changes.
Lewin’s Change Model

Unfreezing
- reducing those forces maintaining the
organization’s behavior at its present level
- a process of “psychological disconfirmation”
Movement
- This step shifts the behavior of the organization,
department, or individual to a new level.
- It involves intervening in the system to develop new
behaviors, values and attitudes through changes in
organizational structure and process.
Lewin’s Change Model

Refreezing
- Stabilize the organization at a new state of equilibrium,
through the use of supporting mechanisms that
reinforce the new organizational state, such as
organizational culture, rewards, and structures.
Action Research
Model
It focuses on
planned change as
cyclical process in
which initial research
about the
organization
provides information
to guide subsequent
action. The result of
the action are
assessed to provide
further information to
guide further action,
and so on.
 Three Major Theories of
Organization Change
Action Research Model

Problem Joint action

Action
Identification planning

Consultation with
Joint diagnosis of Data gathering
behavioral
problem after action
science expert

Data gathering Feedback to key

and preliminary client or group
diagnosis
Eight Main Steps
1. Problem Identification - this stage begins when an
executive in the organization or someone with power and
influence sense that the organization has one or more
problems that might be solved with the help of an OD
practitioner.
2. Consultation with a Behavioral Science Expert - during
the initial contact, the OD practitioner and the client
carefully assess each other. The practitioner has his or her
own normative, developmental theory or frame of
reference and must be conscious of those assumptions
and values. Sharing them with the client from the
beginning establishes an open and collaborative
atmosphere.
Eight Main Steps
3. Data Gathering and Preliminary Diagnosis - this step is
usually completed by the OD practitioner, often in
conjunction with organization members. It involves
gathering appropriate information and analyzing it to
determine the underlying causes of organizational
problems.
4. Feedback to a Key Client or Group - because action
research is a collaborative activity, the diagnostic data are
fed back to the client, usually in a group or work-team
meeting. The feedback step, in which members are given
the information gathered by the OD practitioner, helps
them determine the strengths and weaknesses of the
organization or the department understudy.
Eight Main Steps

5. Joint Diagnosis of the Problem - member discuss the

feedback and explore with the OD practitioner whether
they want to work on identified problems
6. Joint Action Planning - the OD practitioner and the
client members jointly agree on further actions to be taken.
This is the beginning of the moving process Lewin’s change
model as the organizational decides how best to reach a
different quasi stationary equilibrium.
Eight Main Steps

7. Actions - involves the actual change from one

organizational state to another. It may include installing
new methods and procedures, reorganizing structures and
work designs and reinforcing new behaviors.
8. Data Gathering after Action - because action research is
a cyclical process, data must also be gathered after the
action has been taken to measure and to determine the
effects of the action and to feed the result back to the
organization.
 Three Major Theories of
Organization Change
Positive Model

Design and
Initiate the Envision a
deliver ways to
inquiry preferred future
create the future

Inquire to best Discover

practices themes
Positive Model

Represents an
important departure
from Lewin’s model
and the action
research process.
Focuses on what the
organization is doing
right “Positive
organizational
scholarship”.
Five Phases that are Depicted

1. Initiate the inquiry- this 1st phase

determines the subject of change.
It emphasizes member involvement
to identify the organizational issue
they have the most energy to
address.
Five Phases that are Depicted

2. Inquire into best practices - it

involves gathering information
about the “best of what it is” in
the organization.
Five Phases that are Depicted

3. Discover the themes - members

examine the stories, both large and
small, to identify a set of themes
representing the common dimensions
of people’s experiences. The theme
represent the basis for moving from
“what is” to “what could be”.
Five Phases that are Depicted

4. Envision a preferred future -

members then examine the
identified themes, challenge the
status quo, and describe a
compelling future. The vision
becomes a statement of “what
should be”
Five Phases that are Depicted

5. Design and deliver ways to

create the future - involves the
design and delivery of ways to
create the future. It describes the
activities and creates the plans
necessary to bring out the vision.
 The General Model of
Planned Change

Planning & Evaluating &

Entering and
Diagnosing Implementing Institutionalizing
Contracting Change Change
The General
Model of Planned
Change
Entering and Contracting -
Those events help manager
s decide whether they
want to engage further in a
planned change program
and to
commit resources to such
a process.
Diagnosing - diagnoses can
focus on understanding
organizational problems,
including their causes and
consequences, or
identifying the
organization’s positive
attributes.
The General
Model of Planned
Change
Planning and Implementing
Change - They design
interventions to achieve
organization’s vision and
make plans to implement
them.
Evaluating and Institutionali
zing Change - Feedback to
organization members
about the intervention’s
results provides information
about whether the
changes should be
continued, modified or
suspended.
Four Major Types of Intervention
in OD
1. Human process interventions at the individual group, and total
system levels
2. Interventions that modify an organization’s structures and
technology
3. Human resources interventions that seek to improve member
performance and wellness.
4. Strategic interventions that involve managing the organization’s
relationship to its external environment and the internal structure
and process necessary to support a business strategy
Different of Planned Change

The general model of planned change describes how the OD

process typically un-folds in organizations. In actual practice, the
different phases are not nearly as orderly as the model implies. OD
practitioners tend to modify or adjust the stages to fit the needs of
the situation.
Magnitude of Change

Planned change efforts can be characterized as falling along a

continuum ranging from incremental changes that involve fine-
tuning the organization to quantum changes that entail
fundamentally altering how it operates. Incremental changes tend
to involve limited dimensions and levels of the organization, such as
the decision-making processes of work groups. They occur within the
context of the organization's existing business strategy, structure, and
culture and are aimed at improving the status quo. Quantum
changes, on the other hand, are directed at significantly altering
how the organization operates.
Four Steps of the Traditional phase
for planned and change
1. IDENTIFICATION - this step identifies the relevant people or groups who
need to be involved in the change program
2. CONVENTION - the relevant people or departments in the company
are brought together to begin organizing for task performance.
3. ORGANIZATION - it required interactions among people and
departments. This might include creating new leadership positions,
establishing communication channels, and specifying appropriate
plans and policies.
4. EVALUATION - the outcome of the organization step are assessed.
- It signal the need for adjustments in the organizing
process or for further identification, convention, and organization
activities
 MODULE 3

THE PROCESS OF
CHAPTER 3 DEVELOPMENT
ORGANIZATIONAL
 ENTERING AND CONTRACTING

• The organization might be successful yet have room for improvement. It might
be facing impending environmental conditions that necessitate a change in
how it operates.

• The organization could be experiencing particular problems, such as:

o Poor product quality

o High rates of absenteeism

o Dysfunctional conflicts among departments

• Conversely, the problems might appear more diffuse and consist simply of
feelings that the organization should be “more innovative,” “more
competitive,” or “more effective.”
• Entering and Contracting are the initial steps in the Organization Development (OD)

• Entering and Contracting set the initial parameters for carrying out the subsequent
phases of OD:
o Diagnosing

o Planning

o Implementing Changes

o Evaluating

o Institutionalizing

• Entering and contracting can vary in complexity and formality depending on the
situation. In those cases where the manager of a work group or department serves
as his or her own OD practitioner, entering and contracting typically involve the
manager and group members meeting to discuss what issues to work on and how
they will jointly meet the goals they set.
• They involve all relevant members directly in the
process—with a minimum of formal procedures. In
situations where managers and administrators are
considering the use of professional OD practitioners,
either from the inside or from the outside organization,
entering and contracting tend to be more complex and
formal

• Organization Development practitioners may need to

collect preliminary information to help define the
 ENTERING INTO AN OD
RELATIONSHIP
• An OD process generally starts when a members of an organization or
unit contacts an OD practitioner about potential help in addressing an
organizational issue.

• The organization member may be a:

o Manager

o Staff Specialist

o Some other key participant

o Practitioner may be an OD professional from inside or outside of

the organization
 ENTERING INTO AN OD
RELATIONSHIP
• Determining whether the two parties should enter
into an OD relationship typically involves clarifying
the nature of the organization’s current functioning
and the issue(s) to be addressed:
oThe Relevant Client System
oThe Appropriateness of the particular OD
practitioner
CLARIFYING THE ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUE
• When seeking help from OD practitioners, organizations typically start with a
presenting problems—the issue that has cause them to consider an OD process.

• It may be:
➢ Specific (decreased market share, increased absenteeism)

➢ General (“we’re growing too fast,” “we need to prepare for rapid changes”)

• In many cases, however, the presenting problem is only a symptom of an underlying

problem.

• The issue facing the organization or department must be clarified early in the OD
process so that subsequent diagnostic and intervention activities are focused
correctly.
 CLARIFYING THE ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUE

• Gaining a clearer perspective on the organizational issue may require

collecting preliminary data. OD practitioners often examine company records
and interview a few key members to gain an introductory understanding of
the organization, its context, and the nature of the presenting problem.

• The diagnostic phase of OD involves a far more extensive assessment of the

problematic or development issue than occurs during the entering and
contracting stage. The diagnosis also might discover other issues that
need to be addressed, or it might lead to redefining the initial issue that
was identified during the entering and contracting stage.
 DETERMINING THE RELEVANT
CLIENT
• Generally, the relevant client includes those organization members who can
directly impact the change issue, whether it is solving a particular problem or
improving an already successful organization or department. Unless these
members are identified and included in the entering and contracting process,
they may withhold their support for or commit to the OD process.

• Determining the relevant client can vary in complexity depending on the

situation. In those cases where the organizational issue can be addressed in a
specific organization unit, client definition is relatively straightforward.
Members of that unit constitute the relevant client. They or their
representatives must be included in the entering and contracting process.
 DETERMINING THE RELEVANT
CLIENT
• Determining the relevant client is more complex when the
organizational issue can not readily be addressed in a single unit.
Here, it may be necessary to expand the definition of the client to
include members from multiple units, from different hierarchical levels,
and even from outside of the organization.

• In such complex situations, OD practitioners need to gather additional

information about the organization to determine the relevant client,
generally as part of the preliminary data collection that typically occurs
when clarifying the issue to be addressed.
 SELECTING AN OD PRACTITIONER

• The last activity involved in entering an OD relationship is selecting an OD

practitioner who has the expertise and experience to work with members on
the organizational issue. Unfortunately, little systematic advice is available on
how to choose a competent OD professional, whether from inside or outside of
the organization. To help lower uncertainty of choosing from among
external OD practitioners, organizations may request that formal
proposals be submitted. In these cases, the OD practitioner must take all of
the information gathered in the prior steps and create an outline of how the
process might unfold.
ESSENTIALS OF AN EFFECTIVE OD
PROPOSALS

Element Description
• Objectives of proposed project • A statement of the goals in clear and concise terms,
including measurable result, if any
• Proposed process or action plan
• Provide an overview of the process to be used.
• Roles and Responsibilities
Usually includes a diagnosis (including how the data
• Recommended Interventions will be collected), feedback process, and action-
planning or implementation process.
• Fees, terms and conditions
• A list of key stakeholders in the process, including the
OD practitioner, and the specific responsibilities for
which they will be held accountable.
• A description of the proposed change strategies,
including training, off-site meetings, systems or
processes to be redesigned, and other activities.
• Provide an outline of the fees and expenses
associated with project
• Certainly, OD consulting is as much a person specialization as it is a
task specialization. The OD professional needs not only a repertoire of
technical skills but also the personality and interpersonal competence
to use himself or herself as an instrument of change. Regardless of
technical training, the consultant must be able to maintain a boundary
position, coordinating among various units and departments and
mixing disciplines, theories, technology, and research findings in an
organic rather than in a mechanical way. The practitioner is potentially
the most important OD technology available.

• The burden of choosing an effective OD practitioner should not rest

entirely with the client organization.
 DEVELOPING A CONTRACT
• The activities of entering an OD relationship are a necessary prelude to
developing an OD contract. They define the major focus for contracting,
including the relevant parties.

• Contracting is a natural extension of the entering process and clarifies

how the OD process will proceed. It typically establishes the
expectations of the parties, the time and resources that will be
expected, and the ground rules under which parties will operate.

• The goal of contracting is to make a good decision about how to carry

out the OD process. It can be relatively informal and involve only a
verbal agreement between the client and the OD practitioner.
• Regardless of the level of formality, all OD processes require some form of
explicit contracting that results in either a verbal or a written agreement. Such
contracting clarifies the client’s and the practitioner’s expectations about how
the OD process will take place. Unless there is mutual understanding and
agreement about the process, there is considerable risk that someone’s
expectations will be unfulfilled. That can lead to reduced commitment and
support, to misplaced action, or to premature termination of the process.

• The contracting step in OD generally addresses three key areas:

o Setting mutual expectations or what each party expects to gain from the
OD process

o The time and resources that will be devoted to it

o The ground rules for working together

 MUTUAL EXPECTATIONS
• This part of the contracting process focuses on the expectations of the client and the
OD practitioner. The client states the services and outcomes to be provided by the OD
practitioner and describes what the organization expectation expects from the
process and the consultant. Clients usually can describe the desired outcomes, such
as lower costs or higher job satisfaction. Encouraging them to state their wants in the
form of outcomes, working relationships, and personal accomplishments can facilitate
the development of a good contract.

• The OD practitioner also should state what he or she expects to gain from the OD
process. This can include opportunities to try new interventions, report the results to
other potential clients, and receive appropriate compensation or recognition
 TIME AND RESOURCES

• To accomplish change, the organization and the OD practitioner must commit

time and resources to the effort. Each must be clear about how much energy
and how many resources will be dedicated to the change process. Failure to
make explicit the necessary requirements of a change process can quickly
ruin an OD effort.

• Peter Block has suggested that resources can be divided into two parts.
Essential requirements are things that are absolutely necessary if the
change process is to be successful. Desirable requirements are those things
that would be nice to have but are not absolutely necessary, such as access to
special resources or written rather than verbal reports.
 GROUND RULES

• The final part of the contracting process involves specifying how the client and
the OD practitioner will work together. The parameters established may
include such issues as confidentiality, if and how the OD practitioner will
become involved in personal or interpersonal issues, how to terminate the
relationship, and whether the practitioner is supposed to make expert
recommendations or help the manager make decisions.

• For internal consultants, organizational politics make it especially important to

clarify issues of how to handle sensitive information and how to deliver “bad
news”
INTERPERSONAL PROCESS ISSUES IN
ENTERING AND CONTRACTING
• The previous sections on entering and contracting addressed the activities and
content-oriented issues associated with beginning an OD project.

• In most cases, the client’s expectations, resources, and working relationship

requirements will not fit perfectly with the OD practitioner’s essential and desirable
requirements. Negotiating the differences to improve the likelihood of success can be
personally and interpersonally challenging.

• Entering and contracting are the first exchanges between a client and an OD
practitioner. Establishing a healthy relationship at the outset makes it more likely that
the client’s desired outcomes will be achieved and that the OD practitioner will be
able to improve the organization’s capacity to manage in the future.
 Factors Affecting Client-Practitioner Dynamics

Trust
Role Differing
conflict Blocked expectations
Insecurity energy
Lack of Motivation
objectivity Compulsive
action
Threat of Vulnerability
expert Intrusion
Power Fear of outsider Authority
Hidden
agenda Diseng-
agement
Feeling Resistance Unrealistic
Credibility Dependency
coerced to change hopes

Misunder-
standing
MODULE 4

DIAGNOSING
What is Diagnosis?
 is a collaborative process , involving both organization members and OD
practitioners in collecting pertinent data, analyzing them, and drawing
conclusions for action planning and intervention.
 Diagnosis may be aimed at discovering the causes of specific problems, or it
may be directed at assessing the organization or department to find areas for
future development.
 Diagnosis provides the necessary practical understanding to devise
interventions for solving problems and improving organization effectiveness.
 Diagnosis is based on conceptual frameworks about how organizations
function. Such diagnostic models serve as road maps by identifying areas to
examine and questions to ask in determining how an organization or
department is operating.
 Open – Systems Model

 A set of concepts and relationships describing the properties and

behaviors of things called systems – organizations, groups, and jobs.
 For example, systems are viewed as unitary wholes composed of parts or
subsystems; the system serves to integrate the parts into a functioning
unit.
 For example, organization systems are composed of groups or
departments, such as sales, operations and finance. The organization
serves to coordinate behavior of its departments so that they function
together in service of an organization goal or strategy.
 The general framework that underlies most of the diagnosing in OD is
called the “open – systems model.”
THE OPEN – SYSTEM MODEL

ENVIRONMENT

Transformation Outputs
Inputs • Finished goods
• Social component
• Information • Services
• Technological
• Energy • Ideas
component

FEEDBACK
Environment – everything outside of the system
that can directly or indirectly affect performance and
outcomes.. Open system, such as organization and
groups, exchange information and resources with
their environments.
Inputs, Transformations, and Outputs
-Inputs consist of human capital or other resources
such as information energy and materials.

-Transformations are the process of converting inputs

into outputs.

- Outputs are the results of what is transformed by

the system and sent to the environment.
Inputs are part of and acquired from the
organization’s external environment.

Transformation. The social component consists of

people and their work relationships, whereas the
technological component involves tools, techniques,
and methods of production or service delivery.

Outputs. Thus, inputs that have been transformed

represent outputs ready to leave the system.
Boundaries – the idea of boundaries helps to
distinguish between organizational systems and
their environments. Boundaries – the borders or
limits of the system – help to protect or buffer
the organization’s transformation process from
external disruptions.
Feedback – is the information regarding the
actual performance or the outputs of the
system. It can be used to maintain the
system in a steady state or to help the
organization adapt to changing
circumstances.
Equifinality a direct cause-and-effect
relationship exists between the initial
condition and the final state of the system.
The idea of equifinality suggests that
similar results or outputs may be achieved
with different initial conditions and in
many different ways.
Alignment –refers to a characteristic of
the relationship between two or more
parts. It represents the extent to which
the features, operations, and
characteristics of one system support
the effectiveness of another system.
Comprehensive Model for Diagnosing Organizational Systems
A. ORGANIZATION LEVEL

Inputs Design Components Outputs

Management Processes
General
Environment Organization
Effectiveness
Task Strategy Culture
Environment e.g., performance,
Work Structure productivity,
Processes stakeholder
Enacted
Environment satisfaction
Human Resources
 Environmental Types

General Environment – consist of all external forces that can directly or

indirectly affect an organization. This can include a variety of social,
technological, economic, ecological, and political forces.

Task Environment – represented by five forces – supplier power, buyer

power, threats of substitutes, threats of entry, and rivalry among
competitors.

Enacted Environment - consist of organization members’ perception and

representation of the general and task environments.
 Design Components

Strategy – represents the way an organization uses its resources to achieve

its goals.

Technology – the way an organization converts inputs into products and

services.

Structure – basic organizing mode dividing overall work of organization.

Human Resources Systems – mechanism for selecting, developing,

appraising, and rewarding organization members.

Organization Culture – represents basic assumptions, values and norms.

B. GROUP LEVEL

Inputs Design Components Outputs

Goal Clarity
Organization
Team
Design Task Team
Effectiveness
Structure Functioning
e.g., quality of
work life,
Culture Group Group performance
Composition Norms
 Design Components

Goal Clarity – involves how well the group understands its objectives.

Task Structure – concerned with how the group’s work is designed.

Group Composition - concerns the membership of the group.

Team Functioning – is the underlying basis of group of life.

Performance Norms – are member beliefs about hw the group should

perform its task and what levels of performance is acceptable.
 C. INDIVIDUAL LEVEL

Inputs Design Components Outputs

Organization Skill Variety Individual

Design
Task Effectiveness
Culture Identity Autonomy
e.g., job
satisfaction,
Group Design
performance,
Task Feedback absenteeism,
Personal Significance about Results personal
Characteristics
development
 Inputs

Organization Design – concerned with larger organization within which

the individual job is the smallest unit.

Culture – represents values and norms shared by organization members.

Group Design – concerns the work group containing the individual job.
 Design Components

Skill Variety – the degree to which a job requires a range of activities and abilities to
perform the work.

Task Identity – measures the degree to which a job requires the completion of a
relatively whole, identifiable piece of work.

Task significance – identifies the degree to which a job has a significant impact on
other people’s lives.

Autonomy – indicates the degree to which a job provides freedom and discretion in
scheduling work and determining work methods.

Feedback - degree to which job provides employees with direct and clear
information about the effectiveness of task performance.
 MODULE 5

DESIGNING INTERVENTION
Overview of Interventions

Organization development (OD) interventions represent the major

organization change methods used in OD today. They include four major
types of planned change:

• Human process interventions

• Technostructural interventions
• Human resource management interventions
• Strategic change interventions

Chapter 7 Slide 2
Human Process Interventions
❑Interventions focusing on people within organizations and the
processes through which they accomplish organizational goals.

❑ This is deeply rooted in OD’s history and represents the earliest stage
programs characterizing the field.

❑ Practitioners applying these interventions generally value human

fulfillment and expect the organizational effectiveness follows from
improved functioning of people ands organizational processes.

Chapter 7 Slide 3
Human Process Interventions
Human Process Interventions related to interpersonal
relationships and group dynamics include the following three
change programs: (PROCESS, THIRD PARTY AND TEAM
BUILDING)

▪ Process Consultation– focuses on interpersonal relations

and social dynamics occurring in work groups.

Chapter 7 Slide 4
Human Process Interventions
Human Process Interventions related to interpersonal
relationships and group dynamics include the following three
change programs:

▪ Third-party intervention - This change method is a form of

process consultation aimed at dysfunctional interpersonal
relations in organizations

Chapter 7 Slide 4
Human Process Interventions

Human Process Interventions related to interpersonal

relationships and group dynamics include the following
three change programs:
▪ Team building– helps work groups become more effective
in accomplishing tasks.

Chapter 7 Slide 4
Human Process Interventions
Human Process Interventions that are more system-wide and
typically focus on the total organization or an entire department, as
well as on the relations between groups, include the following three
interventions:
▪ Organization confrontation meeting– mobilizes organization
members to identify problems, set action targets, and begin working
on problems.

Chapter 7 Slide 5
Human Process Interventions
Human Process Interventions that are more system-wide and
typically focus on the total organization or an entire department, as
well as on the relations between groups, include the following three
interventions:

▪ Intergroup relations– designed to improve interactions among

different groups or departments in organizations.

Chapter 7 Slide 5
Human Process Interventions

▪ Large group– involve getting a broad variety of stakeholders into

a large meeting to clarify important values, to develop new ways
of working, to articulate a new vision for the organization, or to solve
pressing organizational problems.

Chapter 7 Slide 6
Technostructural Interventions
❑ Interventions focusing on an organization’s technology (e.g., task
methods and job design) and structure (e.g., division of labor and
hierarchy).
❑These are rotted in the disciplines of engineering, sociology, and
psychology and in the applied fields of sociotechnical systems and
organization design.
❑Practitioners generally stress both productivity and human fulfillment
and expect that organization effectiveness will result from appropriate
work designs and organizations structures.
Chapter 7 Slide 7
Technostructural Interventions
The following three technostructural interventions
concerned with restructuring organizations:

▪ Structural design– concerns the organization’s

division of labor–how tasks are subdivided into work
units and how those units are coordinated for task
completion.

Chapter 7 Slide 8
Technostructural Interventions
The following three technostructural interventions
concerned with restructuring organizations:

▪ Downsizing– reduces costs and bureaucracy by

decreasing the size of the organization through
personnel layoffs, organization redesign, and
outsourcing.

Chapter 7 Slide 8
Technostructural Interventions
The following three technostructural interventions
concerned with restructuring organizations:

▪ Reengineering– radically redesigns the

organization’s core work processes to create tighter
linkage and coordination among the different tasks.

Chapter 7 Slide 8
 Technostructural Interventions
The following technostructural interventions concerned with methods for involving
employees in decision making:

▪ Parallel structures– involves organization members in resolving ill-defined,

complex problems.
▪ Total Quality Management– involves organization members in continuously
improving quality as part of normal work operations.
▪ High-Involvement organizations– designs almost features of the organizations
to promote high levels of employee involvement.

Chapter 7 Slide 9
 Technostructural Interventions
The following technostructural interventions concerned with designing work for
individual jobs and interactive groups:

▪ Job enrichment– based on motivational principles, this intervention creates jobs

that employees are likely to experience as meaningful with high levels of
autonomy and feedback from performing the work.
▪ Self-managed work teams– designs work for teams performing
highly interrelated tasks that require real-time decision making.

Chapter 7 Slide 10
Human Resource Management Interventions
❑ Focuses on interventions used to select, reward, develop, and support
people in organizations.

❑ These are rooted in labor relations and in the applied practices of

compensation and benefits, employee selection and placement, performance
appraisal, career development, and employee diversity and wellness.

❑ Practitioners in this area typically focus on the people in organizations,

believing that organizational effectiveness results from improved practices for
integrating employees into organizations.
Chapter 7 Slide 11
Human Resource Management Interventions
Human Resources Management Interventions concerning performance
management, including the following change programs:

▪ Goal Setting– involves setting clear and challenging goals.

▪ Performance appraisal– a systematic process of jointly
assessing work-related achievements, strengths, and weaknesses.
▪ Reward systems– involves the design of organizational rewards
to improve employee satisfaction and performance.

Chapter 7 Slide 12
 Human Resource Management Interventions
Human Resources Management Interventions focuses on managing,
developing, and retaining organizational talent include the following change
methods:
▪ Coaching and mentoring– helps executives and employees to clarify
their goals, deal with potential stumbling blocks, and improve their performance.
▪ Management and leadership development– focuses on building the
competencies needed to lead the organization in the future and included
traditional lectures as well as simulations, action learning, and case studies.
▪ Career planning and development– helps people choose organizations
and career paths and attain career objectives.

Chapter 7 Slide 13
Strategic Change Interventions
❑ An interventions that link the internal functioning of the
organizations to the larger environment and transform the organization
to keep pace with changing conditions.

❑These change programs are among the newest additions to

organizational development.

❑Derive from the disciplines of strategic management, organization

theory, economics, and anthropology.

Chapter 7 Slide 14
 Strategic Change Interventions
The following strategic change interventions concerned with the characteristics of
transformational change in the way the organizations relates to its environment or
operates internally:
▪ Organizational design– address the different elements that comprise
the “architecture” of the organizations, including structure, work design,
human resources practices, and management processes.
▪ Integrated strategic change– describes how planned change can make a
value-added contribution to strategic management.
▪ Culture change– helps an organizations develop a culture (behaviors,
values, beliefs, and norms) appropriate to its strategy and
competitive environment.

Chapter 7 Slide 15
 Strategic Change Interventions
The following strategic change interventions that are designed to support
continuous organizational change in response to rapidly changing environments:

▪ Self-designing organizations– helps organizations gain the capacity

to alter themselves fundamentally.
▪ Learning organizations– involves increasing the organization’s capability to
acquire and develop new knowledge, including how that knowledge can
be organized and used to improve organization performance.
▪ Built-to-change organizations– challenges the traditional assumption that
stability Is the key to organizational success.

Chapter 7 Slide 16
Strategic Change Interventions
The following strategic change interventions that shape organizations
collaborate with each other:
▪ Mergers and acquisitions– describes how OD practitioners can assist two or
more organizations to form a new entity.

▪ Alliance– helps two organizations pursue common goals through the sharing
of resources, including intellectual property, people, capital,
technology, capabilities, or physical assets.

▪ Networks– helps to develop relationships among three or more

organizations to perform tasks or solve problems that are too complex
for single organizations to resolve.

Chapter 7 Slide 17
 What are Effective Interventions?
OD interventions involve a set of sequenced and planned actions or events
intended to:

▪ Help an organization increase its effectiveness. Interventions purposely disrupt the

status quo:

▪ They are deliberate attempts to change an organization or subunit toward a different

and more effective state.

Chapter 7 Slide 18
What are Effective Interventions?
Three major criteria define an effective OD intervention:

1. The extent to which it fits the needs of the organization

2. The degree to which it is based on causal knowledge of intended outcomes

3. The extent to which it transfers change management competence to organization

members.

Chapter 7 Slide 19
 What are Effective Interventions?
➢ First Criterion
– Concerns the extent to which the intervention is relevant to the organization and its
members.
➢ Second Criterion
– Involves knowledge of outcomes. Because interventions are intended to produce
specific results, they must be based on valid knowledge that those outcomes actually
can be produced.
➢ Third Criterion
– Involves the extent to which it enhances the organization’s capacity to manage
change.

Chapter 7 Slide 20
 How to Design Effective Interventions
Designing organization development interventions requires paying careful
attention to the need and dynamics of the change situation and crafting a
change program that will be consistent with the previously described criteria
of effective interventions.

Two Major Sets That Can Affect Intervention Success:

• Those having to do with the change situation
• Those related to the target of change

Chapter 7 Slide 21
 Contingencies Related to the Change Situation
Identified a number of contingencies present in the change situation that can affect
intervention success. These include individual differences among organization
members, organizational factors and dimension of change itself. Unless these
factors are taken into account, designing intervention will have a little impact on
organizational functioning , it may produce negative result.

National Culture
Cultural Values play a major role in shaping the customs and practices
that occur within organization as well, and influencing how members
react to phenomena having to do with power, conflict, ambiguity,
time, and change.

Chapter 7 Slide 22
Contingencies Related to the Change Situation
Cultural Values and Organization Customs

Value Definition Organization Customs Representative

When the Value is at Countries
One Extreme

Context Words carry the meaning of Ceremony and routines High: Asian and Latin
a message; how time is are common Low: Scandinavian and
viewed United States

Power Members of society accept Decision making is High: Latin American and
Distance that power is distributed autocratic Eastern
unequally in and Powerful people are Low: Scandinavian
organization entitled to privilege Countries

Chapter 7 Slide 23
Cultural Values and Organization Customs (cont.)
Value Definition Organization Customs Representative
When the Value is at One Countries
Extreme
Uncertainty Members of an Experts have status High: Asian Countries
Avoidance organization tolerate the Clear roles are preferred Low: European
unfamiliar and Change is resisted Countries
unpredictable

Achievement Organization members Achievement is reflected in High: Asian and Latin

Orientation value assertiveness and wealth and recognition and South Africa
acquisition of material Low: Scandinavian
goods Countries

Individualism People believe they should Personal initiative is High: United States
be responsible for encouraged Low: Latin American and
themselves Time is valuable to Eastern European
individuals

Chapter 7 Slide 24
 Contingencies Related to the Change Situation

Five Key Values of National Cultures and Influence

Organizational Customs
•Context Orientation
This value describes how information is conveyed and time is valued in culture.
•Power Distance
This value concerns the way people view authority, status differences, and influence patterns.
•Uncertainty Avoidance
This value reflects a preference for conservative practices and familiar and predictable situations.
•Achievement Orientation
This value concerns the extent to which the culture favors the acquisition of power and resources.
•Individualism
This value concerned with looking out for oneself as opposed to one’s group or organization.
Chapter 7 Slide 25
 Contingencies Related to the Change Situation

Economic Development
Economic development can be judged from social, economic, and political
perspectives. Country’s development level can be reflected in its information
systems and skills; decision-making and action-taking capabilities; project planning
and organizing abilities; evaluation and control technologies, etc.

Three Broad Stages of Economic Development

• Subsistence Economies
• Industrializing Economies
• Industrial Economies
Chapter 7 Slide 26
 Contingencies Related to the Change Situation

Three Broad Stages of Economic Development (cont.)

•Subsistence Economies
Countries such as Pakistan, Nepal, Nigeria, Uganda and Rwanda have relatively low
degree of development and their economies are primarily agricultural based
•Industrializing Economies
Malaysia, Venezuela, India, Turkey, Philippines Iran and China are moderately developed
and tend to be rich in natural resources.
•Industrial Economies
Highly developed countries, such as Sweden, Japan, France and United States, emphasize
nonagricultural industry.

Chapter 7 Slide 27
Contingencies Related to the Change Situation
How National Culture and Economic Development Affect
Organizational Development (OD) Interventions
➢The situational contingencies of national culture and economic development
can have powerful effects on the way OD interventions are designed and
implemented in various countries.
➢They can determine whether change proceeds slowly or quickly; involves
few or many members; is directed by hierarchical authority or by
consensus; and focuses on business, organization, or human process
issues.
➢When the two situational contingencies are considered together, they reveal
four different international settings for OD practice.
Chapter 7 Slide 28
 Contingencies Related to the Change Situation
The Cultural and Economic Contexts of International OD Practice

Chapter 7 Slide 29
 Contingencies Related to the Change Situation
The Cultural and Economic Contexts of International OD Practice(cont.)

The four international settings include the following:

1. Low cultural fit, moderate industrialization

2. High cultural fit, moderate industrialization

3. Low cultural fit, high industrialization

4. High cultural fit, high industrialization

Chapter 7 Slide 30
 Contingencies Related to the Change Situation
The Cultural and Economic Contexts of International OD Practice(cont.)

Low cultural fit, moderate industrialization

▪ Executives in industrializing economies frequently equate OD with human process

interventions, such as team building, training, and conflict management.
▪ These settings requires OD interventions that fit local customs and that address
business issues.
▪ For example, Egyptian and Filipino managers tend to be autocratic, engage in
protracted decision making, and focus on economic and business problems.

Chapter 7 Slide 31
 Contingencies Related to the Change Situation
The Cultural and Economic Contexts of International OD Practice(cont.)

High cultural fit, moderate industrialization

▪ this context includes industrializing economies with cultures that align with
traditional OD values.
▪ Support the kinds of OD processes especially technostructural and strategic
interventions that focus on business development
▪ For example, South Africa political and cultural changes (e.g. abolishment of
Apartheid) forced corporations to modify specific human resources and organizational
practices.

Chapter 7 Slide 32
 Contingencies Related to the Change Situation
The Cultural and Economic Contexts of International OD Practice(cont.)

Low cultural fit, High industrialization

▪ this international setting includes industrialized countries with cultures that fit poorly
with traditional OD values.
▪ For example, Mexico, Venezuela, China, Japan, and Korea are high-context
cultures where knowledge of local mannerisms, customs, and rituals is required to
understand the meaning of communicated information.
▪ OD interventions that focus on social processes and employee empowerment are
not favored naturally in this cultural context and consequently need to be modified to
fit the situations.
Chapter 7 Slide 33
 Contingencies Related to the Change Situation

The Cultural and Economic Contexts of International OD Practice(cont.)

High cultural fit, High industrialization

▪ this setting includes industrialized countries with cultural contexts that fit well with
traditional OD values.

▪ For example, Scandinavians enjoy a high standard if living and strong economic
development. Because their cultural values most closely match those traditionally
espoused in OD, organizational practices are highly participative and egalitarian.

Chapter 7 Slide 34
Contingencies Related to the Target of Change

OD interventions often seek to change specific features or parts of

organizations. These targets of change are the main focus of many
interventions, and researchers have identified two key contingencies related
to change targets that can affect intervention success.

Chapter 7 Slide 35
 Contingencies Related to the Target of Change
Organizational Issues

Organizations need to address certain issues to operate effectively.

Figure 7.2 lists these issues along with the OD interventions that are intended
to resolve them. (The parts and chapters of this book that describe the specific
interventions are also identified in the figure.) It shows the following four
interrelated issues that are key targets Of OD interventions:

Chapter 7 Slide 36
 Contingencies Related to the Target of Change
Organizational Issues (cont.)
1. Strategic issues.
Organizations need to decide What products or services they will provide and the markets in which
they will compete, as well as how to relate to their environments and how to transform themselves
to keep pace with changing conditions. These strategic issues are among the most critical ones
facing organizations in today's changing and highly complex environments. Strategic change
interventions address these issues.

2. Technological and structural issues.

Organizations must decide how to divide work into departments and then how to coordinate among
those departments to support strategic directions. They also must make decisions about how to
deliver products or services and how to link people to tasks. Technostructural interventions deal
with these structural and technological issues.
Chapter 7 Slide 37
 Contingencies Related to the Target of Change
Organizational Issues (cont.)

3. Human resources issues.

These issues are concerned with attracting talented people to the organization, setting
goals for them, appraising and rewarding their performance, and ensuring that they
develop their careers and sustain their wellness. Human resources management
interventions attend to these issues.

4. Human process issues.

These issues have to do with social processes occurring among organization members,
such as communication, decision making, leadership, and group dynamics. Human
process interventions focus on these kinds of issues.
Chapter 7 Slide 38
 Contingencies Related to the Target of Change
Types of OD Strategic Change Interventions
(Part 6)
interventions Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20

and Organizational Transformational Change Continuous Change Transorganizational Change

Issues
Strategic Issues
What functions, products, services and markets
How to gain competitive advantage
How to relate to environment
What values will guide organizational functioning

Technostructural Interventions Human Resource Interventions (Part 5)

Technology Structure Issues
(Part 4) Human Resources Issues Chapter 15
Human Process Issues
Chapter 12 Performance Management
How to divide labor
Restructuring Organizations How to attract competent people
How to communicate
How to coordinate departments How to solve problems Chapter 16
Chapter 13 How to set goals and reward people Talent Management
How to make decisions
Employee Involvement
How to produce products or services How to Interact
How to lead How to plan and develop careers Chapter 17
Chapter 14 Workforce Diversity and Wellness
How to design work
Work Design

Human Process Interventions (Part 3)

Chapter 10 Chapter 11
Interpersonal and Group Process and Approaches Organization Process Approaches

Chapter 7 Slide 39
 Contingencies Related to the Target of Change
Organizational Levels

➢ In addition to facing interrelated issues, organizations function at different levels:

individual, group, organization, and trans organization. Thus, organizational levels
are targets of change in OD. Table 7.2 lists OD Interventions in terms of the level of
organization that they primarily affect.
➢ It is important to emphasize that only the primary level affected by the intervention
is identified in Table 7.2. Many OD interventions also have a secondary impact on
the other levels. For example, structural design affects mainly the organization
level, but it can have an indirect effect on groups and individual jobs because it
sets the broad parameters for designing work groups and jobs.
Chapter 7 Slide 40
 MODULE 6

MANAGING CHANGE
 MANAGING CHANGE

A large part of organization development

is concerned with interventions for
improving organizations. Change can
vary in complexity from the introduction
of relatively simple processes into a small
work group to transforming the strategies
and design features of the whole
organization
 Activities Contributing To Effective Change Management

Motivating Change
Creating readiness for change
Overcoming resistance to change

Creating a Vision
Describing the Core Ideology
Constructing the envisioned future

Developing Political Support

Assessing change agent power
Identifying key stakeholder EFFECTIVE
Influencing stakeholders
CHANGE
MANAGEMENT
Managing The Transition
Activity planning
Commitment planning
Management structures

Sustaining Momentum
Providing resources for change
Building a support system for change agents
Developing new competencies and skills
Reinforcing Behaviors
Staying the course
❖ Motivating Change - organizational change involves moving from the
known to the unknown. The future is uncertain and may adversely affect
people’s competencies, worth and coping abilities, organization members
generally do not support change unless compelling reasons convince them
to do so.

➢ Creating Readiness for Change – involves making people so

dissatisfied with the status quo that they are motivated to try new work
processes, technologies, or ways of behaving. Creating such
dissatisfaction can be difficult, as anyone knows who has tried to lose
weight, stop smoking, or change some other habitual behavior.
The following 3 methods can help generate sufficient dissatisfaction
to produce change:
1. Sensitive organizations to pressures for change
2. Reveal discrepancies between current and desired states
3. Convey credible positive expectations for the change
 ➢ Overcoming Resistance to Change- can generate deep resistance in
people and in organization, thus making it difficult, if not impossible, to
implement organizational improvements.
There are at least 3 major strategies for positively dealing with
resistance to change:
1. Empathy and support
2. Communication
3. Participation and involvement

❖ Creating a Vision – involve of what members want the organization to

look like or become. A vision describe the core values and purpose that
guide the organization as well as an envisioned future toward which
changed it directed. It provides a valued direction for designing,
implementing, and assessing organizational changes. Compelling vision are
composed of two parts: (1) a core ideology or relatively stable identity that
describe the organization’s core value and purpose (2) an envisioned future
with bold goals and a vivid description of the desired future state that
reflects the specific change under consideration.
 Core Ideology
Core Values Core Purpose
• Integrity of the individual and To improve the health of
the enterprise communities
• A passion for performance and a Core Roles of the Enterprise
bias for action, creating real • Improve quality, reduce costs
value for all stakeholders, and • Improve financial health
leading the pace • Create value for owners
• Innovation: seeking • Improve organizational health
breakthrough opportunities, • Facilitate knowledge transfer
taking risks and initiating
meaningful change • Grow the enterprise

• Focus on people: showing

concern and respect for all with
whom we work, building
collaborative relationships with
the community, our customers,
co-workers and business
associates
❖ Developing Political Support – organizations can be seen as loosely structured
coalitions of individuals and groups having different preferences and interests.
➢ Assessing Change Agent Power – this agent may be the leader of the
organization or department undergoing change, or he or she may be the
organization development practitioner if professional help is being used.
➢ Identifying Key Stakeholders – can thwart or support change, and it is
important to gain broad-based support to minimize the risk that a single
interest group will block the changes.
➢ Influencing Stakeholders – it involves determining the needs of particular
stakeholders and presenting information about how the changes can benefit
them. This relatively straightforward approach is based on the premise that
information and knowledge can persuade people about the need and
direction for change.
 Sources of Power and Power Strategies
Individual Sources Power Strategies
of Power

Knowledge Playing It Straight

Others’ Support Using Social Networks

Personality Going Around the

Formal System
❖ Managing the Transition – implementing organization change
involves moving from an existing organization state to a desired future
state. They identified 3 major activities and structures to facilitate
organizational transition: activity planning, commitment planning, change
– management structures and learning processes.

➢ Activity Planning – involves making a road map for change, citing

specific activities and events that must occur if the transition is to be
successful. It should clearly identify, temporally orient and integrate
discrete change tasks and it should explicitly link these tasks to the
organization’s change goals and priorities. It also should gain top
management approval, be cost-effective, and remain adaptable as
feedback is received during the change process.
➢ Commitment Planning – is a part of developing political support,
discussed above, specific plans for identifying key stakeholders and
obtaining their commitment to change need to be made early in the
change process.
➢ Change-Management Structures – should include people who
have the power to mobilize resources to promote change, the
respect of the existing leadership and change advocates, and the
interpersonal and political skills to guide the change process.
Alternative management structures include the following:
• The chief executive or head person manages the change
effort.
• A project manager temporarily is assigned to coordinate the
transition.
• A steering committee of representatives from the major
constituencies involved in the change jointly manages the
project.
• Natural leaders who have the confidence and trust of the
large numbers of affected employees are selected to manage
the transition.
• A cross section of people representing different
organizational functions and levels manages the change.
• A “kitchen cabinet” representing people whom the chief
executive consults with and confides in manages the change
effort.
➢ Learning Processes – most organization changes involve the
acquisition of new knowledge and skills that support new behaviors.
• The first learning practice, creating a systems view of the
organizational members to see how their efforts contribute to
organizational functioning and performance.
• The second learning practice, creating shared meaning, describes the
use of models, language, tools, and processes, that provide people
with a way to making sense of the change.
• The third learning practice is engaging in “After-action reviews” or
other processes that reflect on change experience. In this activity,
initial attempts to try out new activities, new processes, or new
behaviors are assessed and reviewed.
• The last learning is involves decentralizing implementation
processes and decisions to the lowest levels possible in the
organization, what the researchers called “local self-design”.
Complex organization change contains too many variables,
uncertainties, and local contingencies to be completely programmed
from the top of the organization.
❖ Sustaining Momentum – once organizational changes are under way,
explicit attention must be directed to sustaining energy and commitment
for implementing them. The initial excitement and activity of changing
often dissipate in the face of practical problems of trying to learn new
ways of operating. The following five activities can help to sustain
momentum for carrying change through to completion:

➢ Providing resources for change – requires additional financial and

human resources, particularly if the organization continues day to
day operations while trying to change itself. These extra resources
are needed for such change activities as training, consultation, data
collection, and feedback, and special meetings.
➢ Building a support system for change agents – the organization
often must give members emotional support, but they may receive
little support themselves. They often must maintain “psychological
distance” from others to gain the perspective needed to lead the
change process. This separation can produce considerable tension
and isolation and change agents may need to create their own support
system to help them cope with such problems.
➢ Developing new competencies and skills –
organizational change frequently demand new
knowledge, skills, and behaviors from organization
members.
➢ Reinforcing new behaviors – in organizations, people
generally do those things that bring them reward. One of
the most effective ways to sustain momentum for
change is to reinforce the kinds of behaviors needed to
implement the changes. This can be accomplished by
linking formal rewards directly to the desired behaviors.
➢ Staying the course – change requires time and many of
the expected financial and organizational benefits from
change lag behind its implementation. Organization
members need time to practice, develop and learn new
behaviors; they do not abandon old ways of doing things
and adopt a new set of behaviors.