LEARNING UNIT 5: ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

Table of Contents
5.1 INTRODUCTION, OUTCOME AND ASSESSMENT CRITERIA............................................................ 2

5.2 DEFINING ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT .............................................................................. 3

5.2.1 Organisational Development Theories .................................................................................. 4

5.2.2 Contributions of organisational development to organisational effectiveness .................... 7

5.3 ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROCESSES ............................................................................ 8

5.3.1 Diagnosis ................................................................................................................................ 8

5.3.2 Collecting, Analysing, and Feeding Back of Diagnostic Information ............................... 9

5.3.3 Identification and Design of the Relevant OD Interventions ............................................... 12

5.3.4 Considerations when Designing Effective OD Interventions ............................................... 15

5.4 MANAGING ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE .................................................................................... 17

5.4.1 Defining Organisational Change .......................................................................................... 17

5.4.2 Recognising the Need And Opportunity For Change ........................................................... 18

5.4.3 Diagnosing what needs to be changed ................................................................................ 19

5.4.4 Effective Change Management Approach ........................................................................... 20

5.5 EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT INTERVENTIONS ......... 21

5.6 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................... 24

5.7 SELF-ASSESSMENT....................................................................................................................... 24

REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................................... 25
5.1 INTRODUCTION, OUTCOME AND ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

In learning unit 5, we explore the concept of Organisational Development (OD) and how it is applied
as a discipline within Human Capital Management with the aim of improving organisational
performance and the wellbeing of the people. An overview of the OD and the applicable OD
interventions will be provided.

You can also consult additional academic peer-reviewed sources such as journal articles to expand
your knowledge base of various concepts and theories covered in this unit.

Outcome Assessment criteria

Organisational Development Section 5.1
and Interventions  Define the organisational development.

Develop a critical  Explain how the organisational development process, in

understanding of how to conjunction with the diagnosis/analysis/measurement

identify and analyse can be used to improve organisational functioning,

organisational performance specifically on organisational behaviour level.

challenges, and how to  Coherently describe the process of the identification of

manage organisational intervention methods related to specific organisational

behaviour to the benefit of the challenges.

organisation and the health

and wellness of employees,
through the effective
utilisation of the human
capital information, and the
design and implementation of
interventions (from an
organisational developmental
process).
Section 5.2
 Develop the capacity to master the process of leading
organisational change through the identification,
conceptualisation, design and implementation of
interventions.
The following are new terms you will encounter while working through this unit. These terms are used
in the landscape design field and in green industry. While working through this learning unit, look out
for these terms and make sure that you know what they mean and how they are used. If you
understand these terms, you will ultimately be able to draw a basic landscape design within the
context of the Southern African environment.
TERM MEANING
Organisational OD is a planned, systematic change in the values or operations of
Development employees to create overall growth in a company or organisation. It
differs from everyday operations and workflow improvements in that it
follows a specific protocol that management communicates clearly to all
employees.
OD Interventions OD interventions are structured programmes designed to solve a
specific organisational challenges , thus enabling an organisation to
achieve the performance objectives and goals. These interventions are
designed to improve the organisation’s functioning and enable managers
and leaders to better manage their teams and to improve the
organisation’s culture. These OD interventions are purposed to address
the issues that an organisation might be facing ranging from process,
performance, knowledge, skill, will, technology, appraisal, career
development, attrition, top talent retention etc.
Change Management Change management is a systematic approach to dealing with the
transition or transformation of an organisation's goals, processes or
technologies. It also provides an enabling framework for managing the
people side of change. Prepare, support and equip individuals to drive
change success.
Organisational Organisational effectiveness is a concept organizations use to gauge
Effectiveness how effective they are at reaching intended outcomes.

5.2 DEFINING ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Based on Richard Beckhard, organisational development is an effort planned organisation-wide, and

managed from the top to increase organisational effectiveness and health through planned
interventions in the organisation’s “processes,” using behavioural science knowledge.
Cummings and Worley summarise OD as a system-wide application and transfer of behavioural
science knowledge to the planned development, improvement, and reinforcement of the strategies,
structures, and processes that lead to organisational effectiveness.

Reading

Read Chapter 1 What is Organization Development? by Richard Beckhard In Gallos, J.V and Schein,
E.H. (2006) .Organisation Development. Jossey-Bass. pp 3-12.

Chapter 1 by Cummings, T. G. and Worley, C.G. (2009). Organisation Development & Change,

Ninth Edition. Cengage Learning. pp 1-17

Reflection

Assess your current company or organisation based on Richard Beckhard views and answer the
below questions:

• Identify and explain at least the five kinds of organisational conditions that call for OD
efforts in your current organisation? Provide reasons for each condition.

5.2.1 Organisational Development Theories

Organisational development has its roots in the area of concepts, models, and theories. Some
theorists take an individual viewpoint, others take a group perspective, and still others take more of a
macro view with the total organisation as the frame of reference. Gallos and Schein (2006)
summarised ten theorists’ views by categorising them according to their perspectives and emphases
and according to potential applications of their theoretical approaches.

Perspective Theorist Emphasis Application

Individual Maslow and Herzberg Individual needs Career development, job
enrichment
Vroom and Lawler Individual expectancies and Reward system design,
values performance appraisal
Hackman and Job satisfaction Job and work design, job
Oldham enrichment
 Skinner Individual performance Incentive systems, reward
system design
Group Lewin Norms and values Changing conformity
patterns
Argyris Interpersonal competence Training and education
and values
Bion Group unconscious, Group behavior diagnosis
psychoanalytic basis
System Likert Management style and Change to participative
approach management
Lawrence and Lorsch Organisational structure Change contingent on
organisational environment
Levinson Organisation as a family, Diagnosis of organisation
psychoanalytic basis according to familial
patterns
Table 5.1. Summary of Primary OD Theorists According to Their Perspectives, Emphases, and
Applications, Gallos and Schein (2006)

The ten theories are presented in three major categories:

• The individual approach to change (Maslow and Herzberg, expectancy theorists Vroom and Lawler,
job satisfaction theorists Hackman and Oldham, and Skinner)
• T-group approach to change (Lewin, Argyris, and Bion)
• The total system approach to change (Likert, Lawrence and Lorsch, and Levinson)

Reading

Read Chapter 2 Where did OD come from? by W. Warner Burke In Gallos, J.V and Schein, E.H.
(2006). Organisation Development. Jossey-Bass.

Theories and models of OD depict, in words, pictures of the importance features of certain
phenomena, describe those features as variables, and specify the relationships among the variables.
Keep in mind that there is no single, all-encompassing theory for organisational development. Several
mini-theories that help us understand certain aspects of organisational behaviour and OD. Taken
together and comparatively, they become more useful to OD/HC practitioners who must cope with
an ever-changing, complex, total organisation.

The Systems and Open System Theory in OD

The systems approach to management theory, commonly viewed as the foundation of organisational
development, views the organisation as an open system made up of interrelated and interdependent
parts that interact as subsystems. Thus, the organisation comprises a unified singular system
composed of these subsystems.

Furthermore, open systems theory refers simply to the concept that organisations are strongly
influenced by their environment. The environment consists of other organisations that exert various
forces of an economic, political, or social nature.

Figure 5.1: The Open-Systems Model

Adapted from Cummings and Worley (2009)
 Reading

Systems Theory

Read Chapter 5, section 5.3 by Cummings, T. G. and Worley, C.G. (2009). Organization Development
& Change, Ninth Edition. Cengage Learning. pp 92-116

Lesson Activity

Based on the open system theory/model, explain how your company/organisation is in exchange
with the external environment, while considering the elements of Inputs, Transformations, and
Outputs, Boundaries, Feedback, Alignment, Environments.

5.2.2 Contributions of organisational development to organisational effectiveness

OD interventions can be used to help organisations develop and implement effective strategies. This
may include analysing the organisation's current situation, identifying areas for improvement, and
developing plans and actions to achieve the desired outcomes.

Reading

Contributions of organisational development

Dharma, B. (2016). A Study on Improvement Process and Benefits of Organizational Development,

Anveshana’s International Journal of Research in Regional Studies Law, Social Science, Journalism
and Management Practices 1(7) .

Videos

Examples of OD interventions: https://www.businesstudynotes.com/2021/04/what-is-

organizational-development-5-Phases-benefits-process-and-elements-of-organizational-
development.html 04:49
 Lesson Activity

Based on the article by Dharma, B. (2016) .

List all the contributions and the value add of OD interventions highlighted in the article.

5.3 ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROCESSES

Cummings and Worley (2014) identified the following six main stages of the effective process of OD:
the first stage involves entering and contracting; the second stage involves diagnosing; the third stage
involves collecting, analysing and feeding back diagnostic information; the fourth stage involves
designing interventions; the fifth stage involves managing change; and the last stage involves
evaluating and institutionalising the OD intervention phase.

Figure 5.2: The Six Main Stages of the Process of Organisation Development
Source: Cummings and Worley (2009)

5.3.1 Diagnosis
Diagnosis is the process of understanding how the organisation is currently functioning.
Moreover, this study provides the information necessary to design change interventions.

Reading

Read Chapter 5 from Cummings, T. G. and Worley, C.G. (2009). Organisation Development &
Change, Ninth Edition. Cengage Learning. Pp 89- 121

Videos

 Organisational Diagnosis : https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3EhHgehJ7c&t=5s 04:50

Take note

The following content is important to understand in detail, so that you are able to explain,
describe and apply in the diagnostic process.

 The role of diagnostic models in OD, especially the open-systems model

 Organisation-level diagnostic processes
 Group-level diagnostic processes
 Individual-level diagnostic processes

5.3.2 Collecting, Analysing, and Feeding Back of Diagnostic Information

A. Data collection
Approaches to collecting OD data can include the use of various methods and sources, such as surveys,
interviews, focus groups, observations, documents, reports, and performance indicators. It is good
practice to collect both quantitative and qualitative data to ensure that the data are valid, reliable,
and representative.
B. Data analysis
(i) Qualitative tools
Content analysis involves attempting to summarise comments into meaningful categories.
Additionally, force-field analysis organises information pertaining to organisational change into two
major categories: forces for change and forces for maintaining the status quo or resisting change.
(ii) Quantitative tools
Descriptive statistics, means, standard deviations, and frequency distributions were calculated.
Relationships Between Measures (correlation) computes a correlation coefficient and p-value, which
measure the direction and strength of the relationship between two variables and the significance of
the relationship or the probability that the relationship differs from the null hypothesis that the
variables are unrelated.
Difference tests (T tests) can be used to compare a sample group against some standard or norm to
determine whether the group is above or below that standard. It can also be used to determine
whether two groups are significantly different from each other. The second use of difference tests
involves assessing whether two or more groups differ from one another on a diagnostic variable, such
as job satisfaction or absenteeism. Difference tests can also be used to determine whether a group
has changed its score on job satisfaction or other variables over time. The same questionnaire can be
given to the same group at two points in time.
A. Feedback
Content of Feedback
1. Relevant Organisation members are likely to use feedback data for problem solving when they find
the information meaningful. Including managers and employees in initial data collection activities can
increase the relevance of the data.
2. Understandable. The data must be presented to organisation members in a form that is readily
interpreted. For example, statistical data can be made understandable through the use of graphs and
charts.
3. Descriptive. Feedback data need to be linked to real organisational behaviours if they are to arouse
and direct energy. The use of examples and detailed illustrations can help employees gain a better
sense of the data.
4. Verifiable. Feedback data should be valid and accurate if they are to guide action. Thus, this
information should allow organisation members to verify whether the findings truly describe the
organisation. For example, questionnaire data might include information about the sample of
respondents as well as frequency distributions for each item or measure. Such information can help
members verify whether the feedback data accurately represent organisational events or attitudes.
5.Timely. The data should be fed back to members as quickly as possible after being collected and
analysed. This approach helps ensure that the information is still valid and is linked to members’
motivations to examine it.
6.Limited. Because people can easily become overloaded with too much information, feedback data
should be limited to what employees can realistically process and understand.
7.Significant. Feedback should be limited to those problems that organisation members can do
because it will energise them and help direct their efforts toward realistic changes.
8.Comparative. Feedback data can be ambiguous without certain benchmarks as a reference.
Whenever possible, data from comparative groups should be provided to give organisation members
a better idea of how their group fits into a broader context.
9.Unfinalised. Feedback is primarily a stimulus for action and thus should spur further diagnosis and
problem solving. For example, members should be encouraged to use the data as a starting point for
more in-depth discussion of organisational issues.

Reading

Read Chapter 6 from Cummings, T. G. and Worley, C.G. (2009). Organization Development &
Change, Ninth Edition. Cengage Learning. Pp 122- 154

Videos

 OD process of Data Collection, Analysis and Feedback

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D6Zk-H1T6M 15:17

Take note

The following content is important to understand in detail, so that you are able to explain,
describe and apply the OD processes of Collecting, Analysing, and Feeding Back Diagnostic
Information.

Lesson activity

 Describe the methods for collecting diagnostic data.

 Understand the primary techniques used to analyse diagnostic data.
 Outline the process issues associated with data feedback.
 Describe and evaluate the survey feedback intervention.
5.3.3 Identification and Design of the Relevant OD Interventions

An organisational development intervention is a sequence of activities, actions, and events intended

to help an organisation improve its performance and effectiveness. Intervention design, or action
planning, derives from careful diagnosis and is meant to resolve specific problems and to improve
particular areas of organisational functioning identified in the diagnosis. OD interventions vary from
standardised programmes that have been developed and used in many organisations to relatively
unique programmes tailored to a specific organisation or department.

Reading

Read Chapter 7 from Cummings, T. G. and Worley, C.G. (2009). Organization Development &
Change, Ninth Edition. Cengage Learning. Pp 157- 175

Videos

 TED-Ed: An Introduction to OD Interventions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfCy-

4p4t0I :14:12

Take note

The following content is important to understand in detail to identify, design and apply the
effective OD interventions:

• The four major types of planned change interventions such as human process
interventions, technostructural interventions, human resource management interventions,
and strategic change interventions.
• Three major criteria that define an effective OD intervention.
• Design effective interventions.

Types of OD Interventions
There are four major categories of OD interventions: (1) human process interventions, (2) techno-
structural interventions, (3) human resource management interventions, and (4) strategic change
interventions.

Figure 5.3: Four major categories of OD interventions retrieved from the AIHR Academy
https://www.aihr.com/blog/od-interventions/

OD interventions can also be applied at various levels:

Videos

1. Individual OD interventions, Team OD Interventions and Whole organisational OD

interventions

Individual OD interventions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZ_SUZ_pgMU 15:18

Team OD interventions
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnyOp8eTn2U 15:18

Whole Organisational OD interventions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIo6KqqpOuE 15:18

• Individual: Interventions pertaining to an individual.

• Group: Interventions pertaining to a group.
• Organisation: Interventions related to the organisation's strategy and policy

Figure 5.4: Types of Interventions and Organisation Levels

Source: Cummings and Worley (2009)
Three major criteria define an effective OD intervention:
(1) the extent to which the tool fits the needs of the organisation;
(2) the degree to which it is based on causal knowledge of intended outcomes; and
(3) the extent to which it transfers change management competence to organisation members.

5.3.4 Considerations when Designing Effective OD Interventions

The OD interventions are required to address the issues that an organisation might be facing, ranging
from process, performance, knowledge, skill, will, technology, appraisal, career development,
attrition, and top talent retention to the list that can actually be exhaustive.
The organisation needs to explore the possible interventions that could address the problem and
achieve the desired performance outcomes. Therefore, there is a need to research and compare
different types of interventions, such as training, coaching, team building, process improvement, or
organisational restructuring, and how they fit to address the diagnosed organisational situation.

The organisation needs to determine the feasibility, suitability, and acceptability of each intervention,
as well as the evidence of their effectiveness and impact. Tools such as an intervention matrix, cost‒
benefit analysis, or best practice review can be utilised to explore various options.

Reading

Cummings, T. G. and Worley, C.G. (2009). Organization Development & Change,

Ninth Edition. Cengage Learning.

Read Chapters 10, 11, 12,13,14,15,16,17,18, 19,20

The above chapters will enable you to understand the various OD interventions and how they can
be best applied to address various organisational performance issues.

Organisational Challenges/Problems Type of intervention & Literature Sources

Strategic Issues Strategic change interventions
Transformational change (chapter 18)
What products, functions, services and Continuous change (chapter 19)
markets? Trans-organisational change (chapter 20)
How to gain competitive advantage?
How to respond and relate to the
environment?
What values will guide the organisational
functioning ?
Technology -structural issues Techno –structural interventions
Restructuring organisations/units (chapter 12)
How to divide labour? Employee involvement (chapter 13)
How to coordinate departments? Work design (chapter 14)
How to produce product and services?
How to design work?
Human Resources Issues Human Resources Interventions
How to attract competent talent/people? Performance management (chapter 15)
How to set goals and reward people? Talent management (chapter 16)
How to plan and develop people’s careers? Workforce Diversity and Wellness (Chapter 17)

Human Process Issues Human process Interventions

How to communicate? Interpersonal and group process approach
How to solve problems? (chapter 10)
How to make decisions? Organisation process approach (chapter 11)
How to interact?
How to lead?

Lesson Activity

Step 1: Assess the current effectiveness of your organisation/company in the areas of :

• Strategy development, planning and implementation
• How the organisation’s department are structured, and work is designed?
 • Effectiveness of systems and processes to enable strategy implementation and productivity
• How department and teams work together to achieve common goals?
• How effective is the organisation in attracting, developing, engaging and rewarding
talented employees?
• Is there effective communication among various department, employees and supervisors,
leadership and employees?
• Is there effective leadership?

Step 2: Identify prevalent issues and challenges in your organisation based on the above
questions

Step 3: Identify the appropriate interventions to solve the challenges

Step 4: Explain the process you will be following to implement the intervention

5.4 MANAGING ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE

5.4.1 Defining Organisational Change

Change management (CM) is a collective term for all approaches to prepare, support, and
help individuals, teams, and organisations in making organisational change. It includes methods that
redirect or redefine the use of resources, business process, budget allocations, or other modes of
operation that significantly change a company or organisation.

Videos

Defining change management

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4jnFqlUMmM 02:36

Reflection

Think about the previous change interventions you have experienced or being through in your
organisations/companies.

• What was the nature of the change?

 • How was the change management process handled?
• Did the change management intervention yield the required business outcomes?
• If you were leading that change project, what will you do better?

Reading
• Cummings, T. G. and Worley, C.G. (2009). Organization Development & Change,
Ninth Edition. Cengage Learning
• Hayes, J. (2014). The theory and Practice of Change Management 4th edition. Palgrave
Macmillan.

5.4.2 Recognising the Need And Opportunity For Change

The start of the process is the recognition that external events, such as financial market performance,
or internal circumstances, such as the turnover of key staff and the development of a new product,
require a change to take place. Recognition involves complex processes of perception, interpretation
and decision making that, if not managed carefully, can lead to inappropriate outcomes; for example,
an organisation might fail to change when needed or may change when change is not needed. Leaders
sometimes fail to recognise the need for change because they pay insufficient attention to what is
happening in the wider environment. Even when organisational members are aware of what is going
on outside, they may fail to recognise the implications that this could have for the organisation. One
way of challenging accepted ways of thinking is to involve new people in the formulation of the change
agenda. Often, this activity is restricted to senior managers at the top of a department or the
organisation, but people located at multiple levels in the hierarchy, for example, members of the sales
team, customer service staff or those who have close contact with suppliers, may be better informed
about emerging threats and opportunities.

Reading
 • Chapter 4 in Hayes, J. (2014). The theory and Practice of Change Management 4th edition.
Palgrave Macmillan.

Reflection

Apply various analytical tools to assess the need for change both internal and externally in your
current organisation :

• Apply the PEST analytical tool , focusing your attention on political, economic, sociocultural
and technological trends which will help you to be aware of the external factors for
identifying opportunities and threads to your organisation.
• Greiner’s organisation life cycle (5 phases) for the management style
• Organisational path dependence and the trap of success
• Indicators of effectiveness – organisational, departmental and at unit level
• Indicators of effectiveness alignment between the internal units, customers, suppliers

5.4.3 Diagnosing what needs to be changed

This stage in the process involves:

1. Assessing problems and opportunities, developing new perspectives, and choosing high-impact
problems or opportunities for attention.
2. Developing a range of possible futures and evaluating alternative possibilities to establish a viable
agenda for change.

Although reviewing the present and identifying the future state may, at first sight, seem to be separate
and distinct activities, they are often integrated in practice. These two steps frequently involve several
iterations, progressing from broad concepts towards a vision of a more desirable state that is
sufficiently concrete and detailed to be implemented. There is some debate about whether the
process should start with looking at the present or the future. The argument for starting with the
present is to ensure that the change is not conceived as a ‘utopian leap’ to an unrealistic future that
cannot be reached from the current situation. On the other hand, focusing too heavily on the present
may limit horizons and lead to the goals of change being too cautious and constrained by current
experience.
 Reading

• Chapter 7 in Hayes, J. (2014). The theory and Practice of Change Management 4th edition.
Palgrave Macmillan.

Reflection

1. Assess the current state of your organisation utilising a guide provided by Hayes, J. (2014),
in chapter 7 ‘’ Examples of the kind of information that might be attended to’’
2. Developing categories for organising your diagnostic information
3. Apply the Weisbord’s six-box model, The McKinsey 7S model, to continue with the diagnosis
whilst looking at the element of Strategy, Structure, Systems, Staff, Style, Shared
Values, Skills, in terms of how they align and need to be aligned during the change process.
4. How does the Burke-Litwin causal model of organisational performance and change, draw
attention to the (i) causal weight of the various elements of the organisation and
(ii)indicates how the requirement for different types of change can affect which
elements of the organisation which might need to be a focus for attention

5.4.4 Effective Change Management Approach

After diagnosing the causes of problems or identifying opportunities for development, organisation
members begin planning and subsequently implementing the changes necessary to improve
organisation effectiveness and performance. A large part of organisational development (OD)
concerns interventions for improving organisations. Change can vary in complexity from the
introduction of relatively simple processes into a small work group to the transformation of the
strategies and design features of the whole organisation. Although change management differs across
situations, in this section, we discuss activities that must be performed in managing any kind of
organisational change.

Successful managers in continuously changing organisations (1) provide employees with clear
responsibility and priorities, including extensive communication and freedom to improvise; (2) explore
the future by experimenting with a wide variety of low-cost probes; and (3) link current projects to
the future with predictable (time-paced rather than event-paced) intervals and choreographed
transition procedures.

Readings

• Chapter 8: Cummings, T. G. and Worley, C.G. (2009). Organization Development & Change,
Ninth Edition. Cengage Learning
Effective change management process

Lesson Activity

Explain in detail the activities involved in implementing effective change with regards to the
following :

o Motivating change
o Creating a vision
o Developing political support
o Managing the transition
o Sustaining momentum

5.5 EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT INTERVENTIONS

Providing useful implementation and evaluation feedback involves two activities: (1) selecting the
appropriate variables and (2) designing good measures.

Selection of Appropriate Variables Ideally: the variables measured in OD evaluation

should derive from the theory or conceptual model underlying the intervention. The
model should incorporate the key features of the intervention as well as its expected
results.

Designing Good Measures:

Operational definitions are extremely important in measurement because they provide
precise guidelines about what characteristics of the situation are to be observed and
how they are to be used. They tell OD practitioners and organisation members exactly
how diagnostic, intervention, and outcome variables will be measured?
Reliability. Reliability concerns the extent to which a measure represents the “true”
value of a variable—that is, how accurately the operational definition translates data
into information.
Validity. Validity concerns the extent to which a measure actually reflects the variable it
is intended for measurement. This is called face validity or content validity.

The use of multiple measures of the same variable, described in the section about reliability, to make
preliminary assessments of the measure’s criterion or convergent validity. That is, if several different
measures of the same variable correlate strongly with each other, especially if one or more of the
other measures have been validated in prior research, then there is increased confidence in the
measure’s validity. A special case of criterion validity, called discriminant validity, exists when the
proposed measure does not correlate with measures that it is not supposed to correlate with.
Predictive validity is demonstrated when the variable of interest accurately forecasts another variable
over time. For example, a measure of team cohesion can be said to be valid if it accurately predicts
improvements in team performance in the future.

The key issue is how to design the assessment to show whether the intervention did in fact produce
the observed results. This is called internal validity. The secondary question of whether the
intervention would work similarly in other situations is referred to as external validity. External validity
is irrelevant without first establishing an intervention’s primary effectiveness, so internal validity is the
essential minimum requirement for assessing OD interventions.

Quasi experimental designs to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of OD interventions

Although several quasi experimental designs are available, those with the following three features are
particularly powerful for assessing changes:
1. Longitudinal measurement. This involves measuring results repeatedly over relatively
long time periods. Ideally, the data collection should start before the change
program is implemented and continues for a period considered reasonable for producing
expected results.
2. Comparison unit. It is desirable to compare results across intervention situations
with those in another situation where no such change has taken place.
 Although it is never possible to obtain a matching group identical to the intervention
group, most organisations include a number of similar work units that can be used
for comparison purposes.
3. Statistical analysis Whenever possible, statistical methods should be used to rule
out the possibility that the results are caused by random error or chance. Various
statistical techniques are applicable to quasi experimental designs, and OD practitioners
should apply these methods or seek help from those who can apply them.

Readings

• Chapter 9: Cummings, T. G. and Worley, C.G. (2009). Organisation Development & Change,
Ninth Edition. Cengage Learning
• Church ,A.H. (2017). The Art and Science of Evaluating Organisation Development
Interventions. OD Practitioner , 49 (2)

Lesson Activity

Read about the various measures of OD evaluation discussed by Church (2017) and Cummings
and Worley (2014)

How would you evaluate interventions implemented in your organisations taking into account the
multilevel approach, multilevel impact, and behavioural outcomes.

Church ,A.H. (2017)

o A Multi-Level Framework for Aligning Evaluation Efforts ((1)Macro: Organisational Unit, (2)
Meso : Team/Group, (3)Micro- Individual Level).
o Multiple levels of impact that can be measured in various ways. Essentially the model which
measures outcomes at the following levels: (1) reaction, (2) learning, (3) application, (4)
business impact, and (5) bottom-line/long-term outcomes.

Chapter 9: Cummings, T. G. and Worley, C.G. (2009)

 o Behavioural Outcomes for Measuring OD Interventions: Definitions and Recording
Categories
o Behavioural Outcomes for Measuring OD Interventions: Measures and Computational
Formula

5.6 CONCLUSION

Organisational development was discussed in detail as an organisational improvement strategy. It is

mainly about how individuals, teams and the organisation function and how to get them to function
better. The various steps of OD processes, such as initial diagnosis, data collection, feedback,
intervention identification, and evaluation of effectiveness, were comprehensively covered.
Additionally, change management was defined, as was change management processes, leading to
effective change implementation.

Now that you have completed this learning unit, you should be able to:
 Define the organisational development.
 Explain how the organisational development process, in conjunction with the
diagnosis/analysis/measurement, can be used to improve organisational functioning,
specifically at the organisational behaviour level.
 Coherently describe the process of identifying intervention methods related to specific
organisational challenges.
 Develop the capacity to master the process of leading organisational change through the
identification, conceptualisation, design and implementation of interventions.

5.7 SELF-ASSESSMENT

Complete all the self-reflection questions and exercises in each section

Complete all the lesson activities in each section
Complete all the forum activities in this learning unit (if applicable)
REFERENCES

Armstrong, M, and Taylor, S. (2017). Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resource Management

Practice. 14th Edition. Kogan Page Limited
Church ,A.H. (2017). The Art and Science of Evaluating Organization Development Interventions. OD
Practitioner , 49 ( 2)
Cummings, T. G. and Worley, C.G. (2009). Organization Development & Change,
Ninth Edition. Cengage Learning.
Dharma, B. (2016) A Study on Improvement Process and Benefits of Organizational Development,
Anveshana’s International Journal of Research in Regional Studies Law, Social Science, Journalism and
Management Practices 1(7) .
Gallos, J.V and Schein, E.H. (2006) .Organization Development. Jossey-Bass
Hayes, J. (2014). The theory and Practice of Change Management 4th edition. Palgrave Macmillan.