THE UNIVESITY OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS and PUBLIC POLICY

Human Resource Management Division

Gordon Montoru

[email protected]

Organisation Development & Change

 Welcome
SCHOOL OF BUSINESS and PUBLIC POLICY

Human Resource Management Division

3.31306 – Organisation Development & Change

Organisation Development & Change

 Course Outline
Course: Organisation Development and Change

Course Number: 3.31306

Credit Points: 3 points

Organisation Development & Change

 Objectives
 This course highlights some of the management issues in Business Organization and
its operations. Particular references are given to the foundations of organization
theories and management. It looks at classical and contemporary Organization
theories, structure and design of organizations, and management functions. The
course explores human resource development interventions like training,
management development, career planning and development and organisation
development interventions like team building activities, survey feed back, process
consultation and third-party peace-making..
 This course also has the following specific objectives:
• To introduce to students the basic understanding of Business Administration
Principles, Concepts, Management Theories, and Practices in Human Resource and
Organisational Development.
• To understand and explain the synergies between Human Resource and
Organisational Development.
• To equip students with the knowledge and skills to apply the conceptual underpins of
the course in research and application.
 These objectives make the following contributions to your graduate profile.
• Understand the course content and get to know the basic insight into the respective
topics
• To utilize and put into practice in necessary knowledge and skills in Organisational
Development and Change.
• To master the changing environment in the management and to shape students’
cognitive abilities to fit into the management of business and organizations
• To enhance students to make constructive
Organisation managerial
Development & Change decision-making in the
development of human resources as well as the organsition as a whole.
 Assessment

 Continuous Assessment - 50%

• Test one - 20% Due in week eight

• Individual Reflections - 10 % From week ten onwards

and Presentation

• Major Essay - 20% Due in week ten

• Final Examination - 50% Date to be advised later

Organisation Development & Change

 Resources
You need to purchase the following books available in UPNG
Bookshop:
• Cummings T. G and C.G. Worley (2008), Organisation Development and Change – 9th edition, South-
Western Cangage Learning.

•  Wendell Etal (1995) “Organisation Development, 5th Edition” Behavioural Science, Intervention for
organisation development, Prentice Hall, New Jersey

• Wendell Etal (2000) “Organisation Development and Transformation, 5th edition, Managing, Effective,
Change, Irwin, Mcgraw Hill
 
• Referred Articles
• Subba Rao, P (2004), “Management and Organisational Behaviour”, Mumbai: Himalaya Publishing House

•  Subba Rao, P (2009), Essential of Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations: Text &
games. Mumbai: Himalaya Publishing House

• Apart from the prescribed textbook, you can also use other Human Resource Management and Business
Management textbooks available at the library.

Organisation Development & Change

 Syllabus and Schedule of Learning Activities
Week No - Topic
8. Organisational Change: An
1. Introductory session on OD & C
Introduction
2. Foundation of Organisation
9. Models and Strategies of Change
Development
10. Change and its impact
3. Managing the Organisation
11. Organisation Culture and Change
Development Process
12. Systematic Approach to Making
4. Managing OD Process and
Change
Organisation Diagnosis
13. Revision of OD & C
5. Action Research and OD
14. Study week
6. OD Interventions (Team Building)
15. Examination
7. Power and Politics
Organisation Development & Change
Lecture Topic - # 1

Overview of OD & C

Organisation Development & Change

 Learning Objectives
After studying this topic, you should be able to:
• Explain the significance of HRD
• Define the concept of HRD
• Understand the scope of and need for HRD
• Analyse the HRD framework outlining the
techniques/subsystems of HRD and its
outcomes
• Discuss functions and attributes of HRD
Managers
Human Resource
Organisation and Organisation
Development & Change
Development
 Lecture Topic 1

Organisation Development

Organisation Development & Change

 Introduction
"Some 5 decades ago came the birth of another discipline,
called organizational development ... It is in fact the subject of
change management, which is of profound interest to
management scholars as well as to consultants who see
organizational performance as the sum of individual
performance." (Beckhard, Hard, & Trahant, 1996, p. 184.)
OD is a field that is both constantly evolving and yet constantly
struggling with a dilemma regarding its fundamental nature
and unique contribution as a collection of organizational
scientists and practitioners. Although OD practitioners have
been thinking, writing, and debating about the underlying
nature of the field for decades the field itself has yet to come
to agreement on its basic boundaries or parameters.
Moreover, various practitioner surveys conducted in the 1990s
have suggested that the field is no closer to finding the answer
to these important questions than it was thirty years earlier.

Organisation Development & Change

 What is OD?
 Organizational development is an ongoing,
systematic process to implement effective
change in an organization. Organizational
development is known as both a field of applied
behavioral science focused on understanding
and managing organizational change and as a
field of scientific study and inquiry. It is
interdisciplinary in nature and draws on
sociology, psychology, and theories of
motivation, learning, and personality.

Organisation Development & Change

 History of OD
• In the late 1960s organizational development was implemented in
organizations via consultants, but was relatively unknown as a theory
of practice and had no common definition among its practitioners. In
1969 Richard Beck-hard, an authority on organizational development
and change management, defined organizational development as “an
effort, planned, organization-wide, and managed from the top, to
increase organization effectiveness and health through planned
interventions in the organization's processes, using behavioral-science
knowledge.”

• Throughout the 1970s and 1980s organizational development became

a more established field with courses and programs being offered in
business, education, and administration curricula. In the 1990s and
2000s, organizational development continued to grow and evolve and
its influences could be seen in theories and strategies such as total
quality management (TQM), team building, job enrichment, and
reengineering. The global marketplace and working remotely with
telecommuting teams are aspects of business today that are theorized
in up-and-coming organizational development ideologies.

Organisation Development & Change

 Definition of OD
• The organisation development has been defined
by the several scholars and authors are as
follows:
- Burke and Hornstein
- Porras and Robertson
- Burke
- Beckhard
- Bennis
- Vaill
- Beer
- Cummings and Worley
- Schmuck and Miles
Organisation Development & Change
 Reasons for Studying OD
 Understanding what OD is and how it is practiced is important for
several reasons:
1. OD programs can improve individual performance, create better morale,
and increase organisational profitability. Many chronic problems or
organisations can be cured by OD techniques.
2. The use of OD is growing The approach and methods of OD are applied
throughout the garnut of today's organisations and industries.
Manufacturing and servtce companies, high technology and low
technology organisations and public and private sector institutions all
have sponsored successful OD programs.
3. It is now recognized that the most important assets of an organization
'are human assets, the men and women who produce the goods and
make the decision. Finding ways to protect, enhance, and mobilize
human assets doesn't just make good human relations sense, it makes
good economic sense. OD offers a variety of methods to strengthen the
human side of the organisations to the benefit of both the individual and
the organisation.
4. OD is a critical managerial tool. It is believed that the concepts and
techniques of OD will soon be as much a part of the well-trained
manager's repertoire as knowledge of accounting, marketing and
finance.
Organisation Development & Change
 Features of OD are:
1. Planned change in needed due to factors both external and internal to the
organization. Embrace change as an opportunity rather than threat. So
organization has to make deliberate change either incremental moderate
adjustments (modifications) or fundamental total change in culture.
2. OD’s major focus is to improve the functioning of individuals, teams and
the total organization.
3. OD aims at teaching members in the organization to continuously learn to
improve their functioning and able to solve their own problems.
4. Applying the action research process which has three major components:
(a) participation of members in all activities;
(b) change agent to play the role of collaborator and co-learner; and
(c) initiating a process of diagnosis and action.
5. OD emphasis is in improving organization effectiveness and culture. For
this OD focus is three-fold i.e.:
(a) by improving organization processes;
(b) redesign the organization structure to make it function better, and
(c) change organization as a system.

Organisation Development & Change

 Characteristics of OD
Organisational development, as the term is
used in contemporary management
practice, has certain distinguishing
characteristics:
a. It involves learning principles
b. It’s action-oriented
c. It reflects a systems approach
d. It is problem-oriented
e. It involves change agent
f. It is planned and long term
Organisation Development & Change
 Assumptions of OD
1. Assumption about people as individuals
2. Assumption about People in Groups and
about Leadership
3. Assumption about People in
organisational Systems

Organisation Development & Change

 Benefits of OD
1. OD represents a viable strategy for improving organization
effectiveness and enhancing the quality of work life of
members.
2. It makes organization better able to achieve both the goals of
the organization and goals of individuals within the organization.
3. OD keeps work organization productive as well as hospitable
for members.
4. It is a strategy for intelligently facing the requirements of
changing world. Coping up effectively the environment.
5. Its focus is on developing total organization.
6. OD is collaborative management of organization culture (beliefs
and values).
7. OD is far different from “efficiency system” introduced to speed
up production in the past. OD is a collaborative effort by the
members of an organization to develop their capabilities so that
organization can attain optimum level of performance.
Organisation Development & Change
 The Field of OD
• Organisation development is about how people
and organization function better. The field is
based on knowIedge from behavioural science
disciplines such as psychology, social
psychology, sociology, anthropology, systems
theory, organizational behaviour, organisation
theory, and management.
• OD practitioners are consultants trained in the
theory and practice of organisation
development, with knowledge from the
underlying behavioural sciences.

Human Resource
Organisation and Organisational
Development & Change
Development
 Rationale and Implementation
• Organizational development takes into consideration how the organization and its constituents
or employees function together. Does the organization meet the needs of its employees? Do
the employees work effectively to make the organization a success? How can the symbiotic
relationship between employee satisfaction and organizational success be optimized?
Organizational development places emphasis on the human factors and data inherent in the
organization-employee relationship. Organizational development strategies can be used to help
employees become more committed and more adaptable, which ultimately improves the
organization as a whole.
• The organizational development process is initiated when there is a need, gap, or
dissatisfaction within the organization, either at the upper management level or within the
employee body. Ideally, the process involves the organization in its entirety, with evidenced
support from upper management and engagement in the effort by all members from each level
of the organization.
• To launch the process, consultants with experience in organizational development and change
management are often utilized. These consultants may be internal to the company or external,
with the cautionary understanding that internal consultants might be too entrenched in the
existing company environment to effectively coordinate and enforce the action plans and
solutions required for successful change. Analysts contracted jointly with consultants can also
be an effective problem-solving method, and this route is often employed when issues arise
among executive leaders.
• Data analysis through task forces, interviews, and questionnaires can illuminate likely causes
for disconnects throughout an organization. These gaps can then be analyzed, an action plan
formed, and solutions employed. This is by no means a linear process, nor is it a brief one.
Feedback from all constituents should be elicited throughout the process and used to make
adjustments to the action plan as necessary. Constant monitoring during the entire
implementation effort is important for its success
Organisation and &acceptance.
Development Change
OD Function in Organisation

Organisation Development & Change

 Future of OD
• The future of organizational development includes an international
focus and more thought and theory where multiple cultures
collaborate in the world of business. An emphasis on the individual
and how he should be counseled will include ideas about ethnicity,
culture, and a broader worldview, rather than merely the Euro-
American perspective.
• The opinions on the future direction of the field vary among its
practitioners. Nevertheless, the continuing interest in and value of
optimizing an organization's needs and goals with the needs, wants,
and personal satisfaction of its employees indicate that
organizational development will continue to be relevant to and vital
for organizational reform in the future, either in its present form or
through evolution into other theories and practices.

Organisation Development & Change

Organisation Development & Change
 Topic # 2: Foundation of OD
• The Evolution of Organisation
Development
• NTL - Laboratory Training Methods
• Survey Research and Feedback

Organisation Development & Change

1. Theoretical Development of OD
2. Systems Theory

Organisation Development & Change

Theoretical Development of OD
• French & Bell ……OD emerged from applied
behavioural science and social psychology
• Two major historical roots for OD laboratory
training and survey feedback

Organisation Development & Change

Theoretical development of OD

Organisation Development & Change

 Systems Theory
• Ludwig Von Bertalanffy first aticulated the
principles of general systems theory in
1950, and Katz and Kahn were the first to
apply open systems theory to
organisations in 1966.

Organisation Development & Change

 The nature of systems
• Katz, Kahn & Hanna ………..All open
systems are input-throughput-output
mechanisms.

Organisation Development & Change

Systems Theory

Organisation Development & Change

 Congruence among Systems
Elements
• Three major input factors are.
(i)the environment, which imposes constraints and
opportunities about what the organisation can and can
not do;
(ii)resources available to the organisation, such as capital,
people, knowledge, and technology; and
(iii)history, which consists of memories of past successes,
failures, important events, and critical decisions that still
influence behaviour today. Outputs are performance at
the total organisation level, unit /group level, and
individual level.
Organisation Development & Change
Congruence Model of Organizations

Inputs Informal Outputs

System

Environmen
System
t
Formal
Strategy Work System
Resources Unit

History Individual

People

Organisation Development & Change

 Congruence model
(i) assessing the characteristics and
functioning of each of the elements, and
(ii) evaluating the "goodness of fit" or how
well the elements "go together."

Organisation Development & Change

Socio-technical Sytems Theory and
Open Systems Planning
• Two major variations of open systems
theory – socio-technical systems theory
(S'I'S) and open systems planning (OSP)
-play an especially important role in
organisation development.

Organisation Development & Change

 Socio-technical systems theory

• Socio-technical systems theory was

developed by Erie Trist, Fred Emery, and
others at the Tavistock Institute in the
1950s.

Organisation Development & Change

 Open systems
• Open systems planning entails (I) scanning the
environment to determine the expectations of external
organisations and stakeholders; (2) developing scenarios
of possible futures, both realistic (likely to happen if the
organisation continues on its current course) and ideal
(what the organisation would like to sce happen); and (3)
developing action plans to ensure that a desirable future
occurs. Most OD practitioners engaged in redesign
projects use a combination oi sociotechnical systems
theory and open systems planning.
• For example, his combination is often used in designing
high-performance
• organisations.

Organisation Development & Change

 Open Systems Thinking
• It is the discipline that integrates the disciplines,
fusing them into a coherent body of theory and
practice. It keeps them from being separate
gimmicks or latest organization change fads.
Without a systemic orientation, there is no
motivation to look at how the disciplines
interrelate. By enhancing each of the other
disciplines, it continually reminds us that the
whole can exceed the sum of its parts.

Organisation Development & Change

 Learning Principles in the OD
context
• Managers can design a theoretically
sound organisational development
program and not achieve any of the
anticipated results because they
overlooked the importance of providing
motivation, reinforcement, and feedback to
employees. These principles of Iearning
serve to unfreeze old Iearning, instill new
learning, and refreeze that new learning.
Organisation Development & Change
Systems Model of Action-Research
Process

Organisation Development & Change

 NECESSITY FOR OD
There are three main reasons why Organisational Development was necessary

(i) Conventional training in the past ofen failed to carry over the learning to the
job. Transfer of training i.e, use of the learned skills on the job is imperative lor
organisations to justify its expenses.

(ii) The piecemeal approach to training taken by many organisations was not
sufficient. Employers trained a lot of people but tailed to recognise that
organisations are systems with dynamic interpersonal relationships holding
them together. The reasonable next step was to try to change groups, units,
and entire organisations so that they will support training. This is exactly what
Organisation Development tries to do.

(iii) The third cause is the dramatic pace of change itself which requires
organisations to be extremely flexibie in order to survive and prosper.

• Organisational Development attempt.s to develop the culture of the entire

organisation so that it can respond to change more uniformly and capably.The
general objective of Organisational Development is to change all parts of the
organisation in order to make it more humanly responsive, more effective and
more capable of self renewal.
Organisation Development & Change
Organisation Development & Change
 Topic # 3
Managing The OD Process
and Organisation Diagnosis

Organisation Development & Change

 Managing The OD Process and
Organisation Diagnosis
• A well-designed OD program unfolds according to a game
plan, called the overall OD strategy. This strategy may
be planned in advance or may emerge as events dictate.
The strategy is based on answers to such questions as:
What are the overall change improvement goals of the
program? What parts of the organisation are most readily
and receptive to the OD program? What are the key
Ieverage points (individuals and groups) in the
organisation? What are the most pressing problems of the
client organisation?
What resources are available for the program in terms of
client time and energy and internal and external
facilitators? Answers to these questions lead the
practitioner to develop a game plan for where to intervene
in the system, what to do, how to sequence interventions,
and so forth.
Organisation Development & Change
 The program Management
Component
• Just as OD practitioners apply behavioural science principles
and practices to improve organizational functioning and
individual development, they apply these same principles and
practices as they manage OD programs.
• They attend equally to task and process. They consider system
ramifications of the program, involve organisation members in
planning and execution, use an action research model, create
feedback loops to ensure relevance and timeliness, and so
forth. Managing the OD program effectively means the
difference between success and failure. The aim of this topic is
to provide guidelines to help ensure success in managing OD
programs. SpecificalIy, we examine the phases in OD
programs, several change management models, and a
procedure for creating parallel learning structures.

Organisation Development & Change

 Phases of OD programs
1. Entry
2. Contracting
3. Diagnosis
4. Feedback
5. Planning change
6. Intervention
7. Evaluation

Human Resource
Organisation and Organisation
Development & Change
Development
A Model for Managing Change
1. Motivating change,
2. Creating a vision,
3. Developing political support,
4. Managing the transition,
5. Sustaining momentum

Human Resource
Organisation and Organisation
Development & Change
Development
 Managing OD Process
1. Initial diagnosis
2. Data collection
3. Data feedback and confrontation
4. Action Planning and problem solving
5. Use of interventions
6. Evaluation and follow up

Human Resource
Organisation and Organisation
Development & Change
Development
 Conditions for managing change
through OD
(i) Management and all those involved must have high and visibIe
commitment: to the effort.
(ii) People who are involved need to have advance information
that enables them to know what is to happen and what they are
to do.
(iii) The effort (especially the evaluation and reward systems) must
be connected to other parts of the organisation.
(iv) The effort needs to be directed by line managers and assisted
by a change agent if necessary.
(v) The effort must be based on good diagnosis and must be
consistent with the conditions in the organisation.
(vi) Management must remain committed to the effort throughout
all its steps, from diagnosis through implementation and
evaluation.
(vii) Evaluation is essential and must consist of inore than asking
people how they felt about the effort.
(viii) People must see clearly the relationship between the effort and
'the organisation's mission and goals.
(ix) The change agent, if used,
Human Resource
Organisation must be clearly competent.
and Organisation
Development & Change
Development
 Managing change and OD
• The management of change and the development of organisations have,
traditionally been called organisation development.
• French and Bell offered this classic definition: Organisation development is a long-
range effort to improve an organisation's problem-solving and renewal processes,
particularly through a more effective and collaborative management of organisation
culture with special emphasis on the culture of formal work teams-with the
assistance of a change agent, or catalyst, and the use of the theory and
technology of applied behaviour science, including action research.
• Burke had a more simple definition: Organisational development is a planned
process of change in an organisation's culture through the utiIisation of
behavioural science technology, research, and theory.
• Black and Margulies suggest that the following elements make up the
organisational development approach to the management of change :
(i) The organisational development approach to change is planned.
(ii) It is system wide or at least takes a systems perspective.
(iii) It is designed to improve the organisation in both the short and long terms.
(iv)The organisatlonal development approach to change is aimed primarily at
organisational processes rather than substantive content.
(v) It is designed to soIve problems.
(vi) It is focused primarily on human and social relationships.
Human Resource
Organisation and Organisational
Development & Change
Development
 Model for Managing OD
• Introduction

Organisation Development & Change

 Evaluation of the Program
• Six step evaluative research
1.Determining the objectives of the program.
2.Describing the activities undertaken to achieve
the objectives.
3.Measuring the effects of the program.
4.Establishing baseline points against which
changes can be compared.
5.Controlling extraneous factors, preferably through
use of a control group.
6.Detecting unanticipated consequences.
Human Resource
Organisation and Organisational
Development & Change
Development
Organisation Development & Change
 Topic # 4
Diagnosing Organisational Process
• Introduction
• Organisation diagnosis is often mentioned as the most critical
element in the OD process.
• It is aimed at providing a rigorous analysis and data on the
structure, administration, instruction, procedure, interfaces and
other essential elements of the client system. The diagnosis then,
provides a basis for structural, behavioural, or technical
interventions to improve organisational performance. Diagnosing
a problem requires a systematic approach throughout the
process. If organisation change is to be effective, it must be
based on a specific diagnosis of the problem.
• An OD programme must be based on a sound analysis of
relevant data about the situation perceived to be in disequilibrium.
To make a sound diagnosis, it is important to have valid
information about the situation and to arrange available data into
a meaningful pattern.
Organisation Development & Change
 What is Diagnosis?
• Diagnosis is a systematic approach to understanding
and discussing the present state of the organisation. The
purpose of the diagnostic phase is to specific the nature
of the exact problems requiring solutions, to identify the
underlying causal forces, and to provide a basis for
selecting effective change strategies and techniques.
The outcome of a weak, inaccurate, or faulty diagnosis
will be a costly and ineffective programme. Organisation
diagnosis, then, involves the systematic analysis of data
regarding the organisation structure and culture with the
intention of discovering problems and areas of
improvement.

Organisation Development & Change

The Process

Organisation Development & Change

 What is OD ?
OD is not the mere fact finding or the prescription
system. Rather it is a process based upon behavioral
science theory for publicly entering a human system,
collecting valid data about human experiences with
that system, collecting valid data about human
experiences with that system, and feeding that
information back to the system to promote increased
understanding of the system by its members. Its
purpose is to establish a widely shared understanding
of a system and based upon that understanding to
determine whether change is desirable.

Organisation Development & Change

 Who will diagnose ?
• People cannot be diagnosticians in systems in which they
are full-fledged members due to overt or covert vested
interests. Diagnosticians must maintain role of researcher
(systematic, objective and result-oriented investigation) and
must establish some type of liaison system between the
researcher and the elements of the systems. The liaison may
be an individual or a group.
• Internal researchers can work in parts of a larger system in
which they have not been or currently are not members. But
they cannot study their own groups and they generally have
a great deal of difficulty with parts of the system in which
they have recently been members.
Organisation Development & Change
 Diagnostic Models
1. THE ANALYTICAL MODEL
2. THE EMERGENT GROUP BEHAVIOURAL
MODEL (EGB MODEL)
3. THE SOCIO-TECHNICAL SYSTEMS
MODEL
4. THE FORCE FIELD ANALYSIS MODEL
5. WEISBORD’S MODEL FOR
ORGANISATIONAL DIAONOSIS

Organisation Development & Change

 Methods of Obtaining Diagnostic Information

• Data collection is a continuous process that should not be viewed as

consisting only of formal procedures like interviews and questionnaires.
For example, valuable information about the organisation can be picked
up even during the discussion on feedback of survey results. Data
collection has content and process aspects. The process refers to the
method used, and the content of the aspects of the organisation covered
by the diagnosis. It is the distinction between how and what of data
collection.
• OD literature recommends that diagnostician should consider using a
combination of methods getting similar results. Using different methods
increases one's confidence in the validity of the results. The sequence of
multiple methods should also be considered. Methods like the interview
and participant observations tend to develop the OD practitioner's
relationship with the client, while questionnaire method tends to be
impersonal and sometimes even alienating.

Organisation Development & Change

 GUIDELINES ON QUESTIONNAIRE CONSTRUCTION
FOR ORGANISATION DIAGNOSIS
• General questionnaire items from a variety of sources -
different sets of people writeups, reports, conversations,
previous questionnaire, etc.
• Try to maintain the language of the organisation.
• Keep items simple - an 'and' or 'or' in an item may well imply
that you are asking two questions in one. This contributes to
low reliability.
• It is better to have 3-4 items focusing on the same variable.
• Keep the question short. One questionnaire need not answer
all organizational issues. A lengthy questionnaire, items that
don't correlate with anything, seem irrelevant or are
ambiguous to participants may be dropped after the pilot
study. Thus it is a good idea to run a pilot round with a similar
group, weed out and revise items, and shorten the
questionnaire.
• Statistical analysis (correlation, item analysis, factor analysis,
etc.) gives insights on the different
Organisation Development & dimensions
Change / aspects of the
questionnaire.
 GUIDELINES ON INTERVlEW FOR
ORGANSATlONAL DIAGNOSIS

• As the purpose of the interview is to obtain valid

information, the interviewers should be neutral, non-
evaluative, non-confronting and accepting.
• The interviewer should be able to develop a crust
relationship with the members and listen to
members' opinions.
• The interviews should develop an empathetic
relationship with employees, frequently resulting in
disclosure of pertinent information.

Organisation Development & Change

 Phases of OD
• Entry
• Collection of data
• Formulation of hypotheses
• Analysis of data
• Feedback the result

Organisation Development & Change

 ENTRY
• Primary objectives of entry are to determine which
units of the system (individual, group and
organization) will participate in the diagnosis and to
determine whether the researcher and respondent
can reach agreement about their respective roles
during data collection and feedback. Researchers
may experience anxiety related to potential
acceptance or rejection by the respondent system.
The more self-awareness and experience the
researchers have, the less these feelings will
interfere with their effectiveness during entry.

Organisation Development & Change

 Data collection
• In unstructured observation, researchers will be concerned with
the relevant documents offered by the respondent, newsletters,
chairman reports, roaming around relevant selected places,
interviewing individuals or group. He must decide how much
emphasis to give to theoretical concepts for understanding the
observational data. Researcher besides observation and
theoretical concepts should pay attention to respondent’s own
explanation of the data. Repeated unstructured observation,
explanation of respondents and use of theory lead the
researcher to develop hypothesis about the causal relationship
of the specific events, relationships among the independent,
dependent and moderating variables.
• It is better to take a case history of the organization before
observational data collection. The case history should cover the
followings: Organisation Development & Change
 Identification data
• It includes organization name, location,
type of organization, organization
affiliation, size (financial condition,
stockholders, employees).

Organisation Development & Change

 Historical data:
• Chief complaints, duration and possible
determinants, short-range and long-range problems,
major crisis of the organization (natural catastrophy,
loss of key personnel, labour problems, financial
emergencies, technological changes), product
service history (change and development of
organizational goals, sequence of development in
product or service), organizational folklore.

Organisation Development & Change

 Structural data
• Organizational chart, formal job description, ecology of
the organization (spatial distribution of individuals,
activities), financial structure, personnel (size, various
educational levels, average tenure, range or skills,
absentee rate, turnover rate, accident rate), structure for
handling personnel (recruitment, orientation, training,
growth of the job, promotion, compensation,
performance analysis), rules and regulations (medical,
safety, retirement, recreation, other fringe benefits).

Organisation Development & Change

 Organizational health
• Physical Health
• Mental Health
• Social health
• Spiritual health

Organisation Development & Change

 Physical health
• Illumination, Noise, passageways,
cleanliness, dust, safety equipment,
closures, conditions of machines etc.

Organisation Development & Change

 Mental health
• Organizational awareness
• Autonomy
• Creativity
• Trust
• Organizational evaluation
• Organizational Satisfaction
• Organizational involvement

Organisation Development & Change

 Social health
• Awareness of task environments
• Task environment satisfaction

Organisation Development & Change

 Spiritual health
• Honesty
• Work as worship
• Meditation

Organisation Development & Change

 Analysis of data
• Develop conceptual model about the pattern of
relationship between antecedents and the criteria.
Consider intervening or moderator variables in your
model
• Define variables
• Develop hypotheses to test your models.
• Sampling : Random or incidental
• Methods : Development of tailored instrument or use of
standard instruments to measure the variables.

Organisation Development & Change

 Use of statistical tools
• Descriptive statistics
• Inferential statistics

Organisation Development & Change

 Feed back the data
• Use bar diagram, pie chart for
presentation of descriptive results
• Use path model to present the results of
relationship and regression

Organisation Development & Change

 Alertness in feedback
• Primary objective of feedback is to promote increased
understanding of the client system by its members. Effective
feedback design relates the content of the feedback to the
process by which the analysis is delivered to the system. The
process of feedback is the composition of feedback meetings
(i.e., who is present with whom), the ordering of the meetings
(i.e., which groups receive information first, which is second,
etc.), the behavior of the system during feedback and the
behavior of the researchers within and between feedback
meetings. feedback is probably the period of maximum anxiety
during the entire diagnosis. If the system could tolerate the
anxiety, system could learn its self.

Organisation Development & Change

 Conclusion
• In sum, the methodology of organizational diagnosis
calls for the researcher to be competent in the
conventional use of social science tools ( observation,
interviews, questionnaires and archives) and to possess
a sophisticated theory and the related behavioural skills
to enter, collect and feedback information to complex
multigroup systems.

Organisation Development & Change

Organisation Development & Change
 Topic # 5
Action Research
• Action research is described as a process, that is, as an ongoing series
of events and actions.
• Action Research can be defined as a process of systematically collecting
research data about an ongoing system relative to some objective. goal
or need of the system; feeding these data back in the system; taking
actions by altering selected variables within the system based both on
the data and on hypotheses; and evaluating the results of action by
collecting more data (French & Bell, 1978).
• Stephen Corey, an early advocate of action research in education, states
that, "The process by which practitioners attempt to study their problems
scientifically in order to guide, correct and evaluate their decisions and
actions is what a number of people have called action research"
(Stephen Corey, 1953). Elsewhere, Corey defines action research more
in terms of a practitioner's tools: "Action research in education is
research undertaken by practitioner in order that they may improve their
practices" (1953). Human Resource
Organisation and Organisational
Development & Change
Development
 Model of OD - Action Research
• A basic model underlying most OD activities is the action
research model - a data based,problem solving model
that replicates the steps involved in the scientific method
of inquiry.
• The processes involved in the action research are: data
collection, feedback of the data to the client, and action
planning based on data (Beckhard, 1969).
• Action research is both an approach to problem solving -
a model or a paradigm - and a problem solving process
– a series of activities and events.

Organisation Development & Change

Action Research Model

Organisation Development & Change

 Phases of AR Model
• PHASES OF THE MODEL
There are seven main steps.
(1) Problem Identification  
(2) Consultation with a Behavioural Science Expert
(3) Data Gathering and Preliminary Diagnosis
(4) Feedback to the Key Client or Group
(5) Joint Diagnosis of problem
(6) Action
(7) Data Gathering after Action

Human Resource
Organisation and Organisational
Development & Change
Development
 Features of AR
An analysis of action research model reveals
several characteristics of this approach. A
synthesis of the characteristics is presented
below:
(a) Problem Focus
(b) Action Oriented  
(b) Cyclical Process
(d) Collaborative
(e) Experimental
(f ) Learning and Capability Building to tackle
future Problems
Human Resource
Organisation and Organisational
Development & Change
Development
 WHEN AND HOW TO USE ACTION RESEARCH
IN OD
• The OD process is basically an action research programme in an organisation
desired to improve the functioning of that organisation. Effective improvement
programmes almost always require a data base, that is, they rely on systematically
obtained empirical facts for planning action, taking action, and evaluating action.
Action research supplies an approach and a process for generating and utilising
information about the system itself that will provide a base for the action
programme.
• The collaborative inquiry features of action research suggest to practitioners and lay
persons alike the desirability for jointly determining central needs, critical problems,
and hypotheses and actions. The potential experimental nature of actions inherent
in action research provides a different 'set' for managers as they try to solve
problems, that is, viewing problems in cause-effect terms and viewing solutions to
problems as only action hypotheses from a range of several alternatives.
• The nature of OD and action research are very similar. They are both variants of
applied behavioural science, they are both action oriented; they are both data
based, they both call for collaboration between insider and outsider; and they are
both problem-solving social intervention. This is why a sound organisation
development programme rests on an action research model.

Organisation Development & Change

 SOME IMPORTANT CHOICE POINTS
There are some contentious issues usually faced by action
researchers. Obviously, no standard solution can be
offered to handle these dilemmas. The discussion is
intended merely to sensitise the OD practitioners

(a) Extent of involvment

(b) Problem Solving versus Learning
(c) Action or Research
(d) Values
 

Organisation Development & Change

 Summary
• OD as an emerging discipline concerned with
applying behavioural science knowledge and
practice to help organisations achieve greater
effectiveness.
• OD has multiple meanings. The history of OD
reveals its two roots: laboratory training and
survey feedback.
• OD activities rest on a number of assumptions
about people as individuals, in groups, and in
total systems.

Organisation Development & Change

Organisation Development & Change
 Topic # 6 - OD Interventions
• Introduction
• OD interventions are sets of structured activities in which
selected organisational units engage in a sequence of
tasks that will lead to organisational improvement.
• OD Interventions are actions taken to produce desired
change
• OD intervention different from traditional intervention
which focuses on content. Organisation Development
intervention covers the whole organisational process.
• OD intervention focuses on work team and intends to
change towards effective behaviour. It relies on
collaborative management of work culture.

Organisation Development & Change

Why organisations need OD interventions
1.the organisation has a problem; something is
broken,
2. the organisation sees an unrealized opportunity;
something it wants is beyond its reach,
3. features of the organisation are out of
alignment; parts of the organisation are
working at cross-purpose,
4. the vision guiding the organisation changes;
yesterday's vision is no longer good enough,

Organisation Development & Change

 Generalisation of Intervention
Activities
Choosing and sequencing intervention activities.
MichaeI Beer suggests the following guidelines:
1. Maximize diagnostic data:
2. Maximize effectiveness:.
3. Maximize efficiency:
4. Maximize speed:
5. Maximize relevance:
6. Minimize psychological and organisational
strain:
7. Good advice:

Organisation Development & Change

 Types of Interventions
• Robert Blake and Jane Mouton identified the
following types of interventions based on the
underlying causal mechanisms:
(I) Discrepancy intervention,
(2) Theory intervention,
(3) Procedural intervention,
(4) Relationship intervention,
(5) Experimentation intervention,
(6) Dilemma intervention,
(7) Perspective intervention,
(8) Organisation structure intervention,
(9) Cultural intervention,
Organisation Development & Change
Classification of OD Intervention
• the major "families" of OD intervention.
(I) Diagnostic activities:
(2) Team-building activities:
(3) Intergroup activities:
(4) Survey feedback activities:
(5) Education and training activities:
(6) Technostructural or structural activities:
(7) Process consultation activities:
(8) Grid organization development activities:
(9) Third-party peacemaking activities:
(10) Coaching and counseling activities:
(11) Life- and career- planning activities:
(12 ) Planning and Goal setting activities:
(13) Strategic management activities:
(14) Organisational transformational activities:
Organisation Development & Change
 Interventions in OD
• An intervention, in organisational
development terms, is a systematic
attempt to correct an organisational
deficiency uncovered through diagnosis.
Management teams, working either alone
or in collaboration with an outside
consultant are responsible for selecting
organisational development interventions.

Organisation Development & Change

Targets of Interventions

Organisation Development & Change

• Contemporary practitioners of organisational
development classify interventions according to their
intended depth. They use the term technostructural to
refer to interventions in the formal components of
organisations and human process to refer to those in the
informal components.
• Multifaceted interventions intervene in multiple
components, both formal and informal, in the
organisation.
• (i) Formal-target interventions:
• {ii) Informal-target interventions:
• (iii) Multi-target intervention:

Organisation Development & Change

 Agents of Intervention
• A number of agents of intervention are used in
organisations.

(1)External Change Agents

(2) Internal Change Agents

(3) External-internal Change Agents

Organisation Development & Change

 Advantages and Disadvantages of the
three Agents of intervention

• The external change agent is often viewed as

an outsider.
• The internal change agent often viewed as
being more closely associated with one unit or
group of individuals than with any other.
• The combination external - internal team, is
the rarest, but it seems to have an excellent
chance for success.

Organisation Development & Change

 Interventions in formal organisational
components

(1) Job Redesign

• Job redesign as an organisational development intervention reflects
theories indicating that production, efficiency, satisfaction, quality,
and flexibility increase to the extent that jobs include high levels of
autonomy, feedback, and variety.
(2) System-4 Organisation
• System-4 organisation is an important application of the organic
organisational design.
(3) STS
• STS attempts to integrate an organisation's social system and its
technical system after diagnosis has indicated that problems have-
arisen because of a mismatch between the two.
(4) Management by Objectives (MBO)
• Management by objectives encourages individuals to participate in
establishing job-related objectives for themselves and their units.

Organisation Development & Change

Interventions in informal organisational
components
(1)The Managerial Grid
(i) Laboratory-seminar training:
(ii) Intragroup development:
(iii) Intergroup development:
(iv) Organisational goal-setting:
(v) Goal attainment:
(vi) Stabilisation:
(2) Team Building
(3) Sensitivity Training
(4) Process Consultation
(5) Survey Feedback
(6) lntergroup Development

Organisation Development & Change

Interventions in both formal and informal
organisational components
(1) Combined Organisational Development
Interventions
(2) Comprehensive Organisation Development
Intervention – TQM
(i) Strategic Management Activities
(ii) Real Time Strategic Change
(3) Stream Analysis
(4) Survey Feedback
(5) Systems 1-4T

Organisation Development & Change

 Overcoming Limiting Conditions
(1) Leadership Climate
(2) Formal Organisation
(3) Organisational Culture

Organisation Development & Change

 Implementing the interventions
• The implementation of the organisational
development intervention has two
dimensions: timing and scope
• Timing refers to the selection of the
appropriate time at which to initiate the
intervention.
• Scope refers to the selection of the
appropriate scale.

Organisation Development & Change

 Effectiveness of OD Interventions

• The critical test of organisational

development interventions is whether they
help to improve organisational
effectiveness

Organisation Development & Change

 Team Intervention
INTRODUCTION TO TEAM
• When people perform task together, it is called a team or
they act as a team. It is one way of interaction of people
and when groups seek to develop a cooperative state
called teamwork. Team is a group of persons
irrespective of their number. A team may consist of
thousands of workers engaged in an organisation or a
few say five or ten. But here we use the term to a limited
definition, i.e, a smaIl group of members interacting
regularly. A team is a group whose members have
complementary skills and are committed to a common
purpose for which they hold themselves mutually
accountable.
Organisation Development & Change
 TEAM BUILDING
• Team building is the process of improving the functioning of team members.
Here the members are trained and motivated through lectures, discussions,
training ,program to go for better cooperation, how to get the work done
more easily & effectively.
• Team building generally follows the classic change procedure formulated by
Kurt Lewin
(i) Unfreezing: The first task is to make the team aware of the need for change.
A climate of openness and trust is developed so that the group is ready for
change.
(ii) Moving: Using a survey feedback technique the team makes a diagnosis of
where it is and develops action plans to get to where it wants to go.
(iii) Refreezing: Once the plans have been carried out and an evaluation has
been made the team starts-to-stabilise its more effective performance
• Team building is directly concerned with obtaining and analysing data about
a team and how it junctions and then using this data to make changes in
order; to make the team more effective.

Organisation Development & Change

 TEAM BUlLDING PROCESS
(1) Problem Sensing
(2) Examining Perceptual Differences
(3) Giving and Receiving Feedback
(4) Developing Interaction Skills
(5) Follow up Action

Organisation Development & Change

 TEAM EFFECTIVENESS
• An effective team is one which contributes
to the achievement of organisational
objectives by performing the task assigned
to it and providing satisfaction to its
members.

Organisation Development & Change

 FACTORS AFFECTING TEAM
EFFECTIVENESS
1. Skills and role clarity
2. Supportive environment.
3. Superordinate goals:
4. Team rewards:

Organisation Development & Change

 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TEAMS AND WORK
GROUPS
(a)The work group has a strong, clearly focused leader.
(b)The work group has individual accountability.
(c)The work groups purpose is same as that of the
organisation.
(d)The work group has individual work products.
(e)The work group runs efficient meetings.
(f) The work group measures effectiveness indirectly e.g.
financial performance overall business.
(g)The work group discusses decides and delegates.

Organisation Development & Change

 TEAM FUNCTIONS
(1)Orientation
(2) Cost Reduction
(3) Increased Motivation
(4) Synergy
(5) Teaching
(6) Improved quality of Work Life
(7) Improved Orqanisational Communication
(8) improved Quality and Productive
(9) Benefits of Expanded Job Training
(10) Commitment to Team Goals
(11) Collective Thinking
(12) Creation of Social Life
(13) Increased Innovation and Flexibility

Organisation Development & Change

 CLASSIFICATION OF TEAM
• Institutional and Operations Team.
• A work-team

Organisation Development & Change

 TEAMS VERSUS GROUPS
• Groups and teams are not the same thing.
• Work groups have no need or opportunity
to engage in collective work that requires
joint effort.
• A work team generates positive synergy
through coordinated effort.

Organisation Development & Change

 TEAM AND TEAMWORK
• A fundamental belief in organisation
development is that work teams are the building
blocks of organisations. A second fundamental
belief is that teams must manage their culture,
processes, systems, and relationships if they are
to be effective. Theory, research, and practice
attest to the central role teams play in
organisational success. Teams and teamwork
are part of the foundation of organisation
development.

Organisation Development & Change

 IMPORTANCE OF TEAM
• Teams are important for a number of reasons. First,
much individual behavior is rooted in the sociocultural
norms and values of the work team. If the team, as a
team, changes those norms and values, the effects on
individual behavior are immediate and lasting. Second,
many tasks are so complex they cannot be performed by
individuals; people must work together to accomplish
them. Third, teams create synergy, that is, the sum of
the efforts of team members is far greater than the sum
of the individual efforts of people working alone. Synergy
is a principal reason teams are so important. Folirth,
teams satisfy people's needs for social interaction,
status, recognition, and respect-teams nurture human
nature.

Organisation Development & Change

 Lecture Topic: 7
Power, Politics and OD
• INTRODUCTION
• The concept of power characterises interactions among
people-more than one person must be involved for the
concept to apply. Further, power is never absolute or
unchanging. It is dynamic relationship that changes as
situations and individuals change. Power is extremely
difficult to identify and measure objectively. Researchers
exhibit an aversion to deal with matters of power because it
defies precise definition and quantification. Much difficulty is
due to the muiti-dimensional nature of power. Power is an
exchange process-a person who commands services
needed by others exchange them for compliance with his or
her requests. Power is a function of ties of mutual
dependence in social relationships. Power is the ability of
one to control the actions of others. In the organisational
context, power is the ability of one person (or department) to
influence the behaviour of others in the organisation to bring
about desired outcomes forDevelopment
Organisation power-holders
& Change
 Definition of Power
• "Power is defined simply as the capacity to effect (or affect)
organizational outcomes. The French word 'pouvoir' stands for both
the noun 'power' and the verb 'to be able.' To have power is to be
able to get desired things done, to effect outcomes-actions and the
decisions that precede them."
• According to Robbins, power in more elaborate way when he says,
"Power refers to a capacity and A has to infuence the behaviour of
B, so that B does something he or she would not otherwise do.. This
definition implies : (a) A potential that need not be actualised to be
effective. (b) A dependence relationship, and (c) That B has some
discretion over his or her own behaviour. An oversimplified definition
of power states that "power is the ability to get things done 'the wav
one wants them to be done."
• Power is the potential ability of a person or group to exercise control
over another person or group. Power is defined differently by
different theorists because power can be used as a means of
influence in different ways. Max Weber has defined power as :
"Power is the probability that an actor withn the relationship will be
in a position to carry out his own will despite resistance."

Organisation Development & Change

 Two Faces of Power
• David McClelland proposed an important distinction
when he identified "two faces of power-positive and
negative. McClelland observed that while power has a
negative connotation for most people, it is through the
use of power that things get things done in the world.
According to him, the negative face of power is
characterised by a primitive, unsocialized need to
dominate others. The positive face of power is
characterized by a socialized need to initiate, influence,
and lead. This positive face of power enables others to
reach their goal, as well as lets the person exercising
power reach his or her goals. The negative face of power
seeks to dominate and control others; the positive face
of power seeks to empower self and others. We think
this distinction provides a good insight into the concept
of power.

Organisation Development & Change

 Characteristics of Power
• Power has the following characteristics:
(i) Power is distinguished from influence due in the elements of control.
More powerful people control the less powerful people Power is an
extreme form of influence.
(ii) Power is extra organisational in nature and any one in the organisation
may have this type of influence through the use of power provided one
is capable of doing so.
(iii) Power is used not only in getting certain results achieved but it also
includes negative decisions, or the action of non-decision. Thus, power
is not only one's influence over the decision making, hut also one's
capability of limiting the scope of actual decision making.
(iv)Power may reside in individuals, formal groups or informal groups.
(v) Power is one of the means to influence others for getting results. It
implies that influence can be exercised by other means too, like use of
authority, leadership, and communication.
(vi)Power affects decisions ranging from choice of strategies to more
routine decisions/
(vii)Influence process occurs in a particular way when it is attempted by the
use of power.
Organisation Development & Change
 Theories about the sources of
Social Power
• How do some people come to possess
power? How is power generated,
bestowed, or acquired? We will examine
four different views about who gets power
and how: Emerson's "power - dependence
theory," French and Raven's ' bases of
social power," Salancik and Pleffer's
"strategic contingency model of power,"
and Mintzberg's observations on the
genesis of power in organisations.
Organisation Development & Change
 Classification of Power sources
In general power sources in an organisation
may be categorised as:
• (1) Interpersonal Power.
• (2) Structural Power

Organisation Development & Change

 Interdepartmental power
 Different Forms of Interpersonal Power
(i) Referent Power
(ii) Expert Power
(iii) Connection Power
(iv) Position Power
(v) Personal Power
(vi) Coercive Power
(vii) Reward Power
(viii) Legitimate Power
Organisation Development & Change
 Structural Sources of Power
 Structural and situational sources of power
reflect the division of labour and
membership in different departments, teams,
and groups. These work assignments,
locations, and roles naturally result in
unequal access to information, resources,
decision-making, and other people.
(i) Knowledge as Power
(ii) Resources as Power
(iii) Decision Making as Power
(iv) Networks as Power
(v) Lower Level Employee Power
Organisation Development & Change
 Interdepartmental Power

(1) Coping with Uncertainty

(2) Centrality
(3) Substitutability

Organisation Development & Change

 Upward Flow of Power
 Power can also be exercised up the
organisation.

Organisation Development & Change

 Power tactics
• The power tactical dimensions or strategies are:
(i) Reason: Use of facts and data to make a logicaI or rational presentation of
ideas.
(ii) Friendliness: Use of flattery, creation of goodwill, acting humble, and being
friendly prior to making a request.
(iii) Coalition: Getting the support of other people in the organisation to back up
the request.
(iv) Bargaining: Use of negotiation through the exchange of benefits or favours.
(v) Assertiveness: Use of a direct and forceful approach such as demanding
cornpliance with requests, repeating reminders, ordering individuals to do
what is asked, and pointing out that rules require compliance.
(vi) Higher authority: Gaining the support of higher levels in the organization to
back up requests.
(vii)Sanction: Use of organisationally derived rewards and punishments such
as preventing or promising a salary increase, threatening to give an
unsatisfactory performance evaluation, or withholding a promotion.
Additionally, researchers uncovered four contingency variables that affect the
selection of a power tactic: the manager's relative power, the manager's
objectives for wanting to influence, the manager's expectation of the target
person's willingness to comply, and the organisation's culture.

Organisation Development & Change

 Dependancy
• Dependency is increased when the
resource you control is important, scarce,
and nonsubstitutable
1. Important,
2. Scarce, and
3. Nonsubstitutable

Organisation Development & Change

 Power relationships
• Thus power is balanced if both have equal power and dependency
upon each other. The relationship is imbalanced when either of them has more
power or dependency than the other. This is the situation when power can be
exercised. However, it does not mean that power always brings desired result.
(i) Resistance: The target person on whom the power is exercised may resist
the influence and may not behave in accordance to influencer's wishes. 'the
attempt of influence may be thwarted by the person.
(ii) Obedience: The person may succumb to influence though he would rather
not. When people are forced to behave against their wishes, it is referred to as
obedience.
(iii) Compliance: The person may comply with the desire of the influencer.
– Compliance refers to a person's acceptance of influence because he is
expected to be rewarded for responding to a request or punished for not
responding to it.
(iv) Conformity: The person may conform to the influencer's desire.
Conformity refers to acceptance of influencer because people desire to be
in mainstream of social behaviour. Often, people who are free to behave in
different ways, will simply do what they see others doing.
(v) Commitment: The person may show commitment to the desire of the
influencer.
This is the most desirable outcome from the use of power as there is
enthusiastic release of energy and talent to satisfy the influencer's requests.
Organisation Development & Change
 Empowerment
• Empowerment occurs when employees are
adequately trained, provided with all relevant
information and the best possible tools, fully
involved in key decisions, and fairly rewarded
for results. Most work organizations have a
number of employees who believe that they
are dependent on others and that their own
efforts will have little impact on performance.
This powerlessness contributes to the
frustrating experience of low self efficacy.
Organisation Development & Change
 Approaches to empowerment
(i) Helping employees achieve job mastery by
giving proper training, coaching and guided
experience that will result in initial successes.
(ii) Providing successful role models by allowing
them to observe peers who already perform
successfully on the job,
(iii) Using social reinforcement and persuasion by
giving praise, encouragement, and verbal
feedback designed to raise self confidence.
(iv) Giving emotional support by providing
reduction of stress and anxiety though better
role definition, task assistance, and honest
caring.
Organisation Development & Change
 Techniques of empowerment
 Many managers today prefer the term empowerment' over participation
because it implies a more comprehensive involvement. Two common
techniques used in empowerment are discussed below:
(1) Use of Work Teams
This is a method used by some organisations to empower their workers.
This method grew out of early attempts to use what Japanese firms call
Quality Circles'. A quality circle is a group of volunteer employees who
voluntarily meet regularly to identify and propose solutions to problems
related to quality. This use of quality circles quickly grew to encompass a
wider array of work groups now generally called work teams. These
teams are collection of employees empowered to plan, organise, direct
and control their own work. Their supervisor is more of a coach than a
boss.
(2) Change in the Method of Organising
The other method some organisations use to facilitate empowerment is
to change their overall method af organising. The basic pattern is for an
organisation to eliminate .layers from its hierarchy, thereby becoming
much more decentralized. Power, responsibility and authority are
delegated as far down the organisation as possible, so control of work is
squarely in the hands of those who actually do it.
Organisation Development & Change
 Process of Empowerment
(i) Remove conditions of powerlessness: The feeling of
powerlessness must be removed before any training or coaching
can be provided to the employees. Changes in the organisation,
leadership, reward system and job design can lead to reducing and
removing the conditions of powerlessness.
(ii) Enhance job related self efficacy: Conviction that people can be
successful can be brought about by enhancing job mastery, by
support and giving a role model they would want to follow.
(iii)Perception of empowerment: The above steps wiIl lead to a
perception of empowerment among employees.
(iv)Performance: The conviction that people are of use and have the
authority to take their own decisions has a positive effect on the
performance of the employees. An empowered employee is more
efficient and productive then a nonpowered employee.

Organisation Development & Change

 Organisational Politics
 Politics refers to the structure and process of the use of authority and
power to affect definition of goals, directions and the other major
parameters of the organisation. Decisions are not made in a rational or
formal way but rather through compromise, accommodation and
bargaining. It can be observed that every one plays some kind of
politics at some point of time in the organisation.
 We can find references that define politics as one or more of the
following: self-serving behaviour, acquisition of power, protection of
one's own domain, building of support through group formation, or
influence manoeuvring. In all these cases, politics involves acquisition
of power or be around power and engage in self-serving behaviour.
Therefore, politics can be referred to as actions for seizing, holding,
extracting, and executing of power by individuals and groups for
achieving personal goals. Because of organisational politics,
organisational decisions are affected in such a way that they
contribute to personal goals rather than organisational goals.

Organisation Development & Change

 Organisational Politics Defined
• Organisational politics involve those activities taken
within organizations to acquire, develop and use power
and other resources to obtain one's preferred outcomes
in a situation in which there is uncertainty or dissensus
about choices. Organisational politics involve intentional
acts of influence to enhance or protect the self-interest of
individuals or groups. Organisational politics is the
management of influence to obtain ends not sanctioned
by the organisation or to obtain' ends through non-
sanctioned influence means.
• We view politics as a subset of power, treating it as
informal power, illegitimate in nature. Likewise we also
treat authority as a subset of power, but in this sense,
formal power, the power vested in office, the capacity to
get things done by virtue of the position held.

Organisation Development & Change

 Key Elements of Politics
• Based on the definition of politics, its main elements can be described as
follows:
(i) Politics takes place when an individual recognises that achievement
of his goals is influenced by the behaviour of others. In such a
case,politicking involves the elimination of adversaries by the influential
manoeuvres of a member of the organisation.
(ii) Politics involves behaviour that is self-serving. It suggests that either
organisational resources are used for personal benetits or benefits
to be given to one person are given to another. In both the cases,
the decision is not rational from organisation's point of view.
(iii) All self-serving behavjours which do not involve use of power or
threat of use of power cannot -be termed as politics. For example, an
employee's asking for a rise in pay is not political behaviour, but the
use of threat to unionise to obtain in pay rise amounts to political
behaviour.
(iv) Political behaviour involves some kind of power either directly or
indirectly. Power can be exercised by those who are informal positions
and enjoy authority. It can also be influenced by other persons
close to those who hold formal authority.

Organisation Development & Change

 Dimensions of politics
(i) Legitimate political behaviour: It refers to
normal everyday politics, i.e. complaining to
your supervisor, bypassing chain of
command, forming coalitions, obstructing
organisational policies or decisions through
inaction or excessive adherence to rules
developing contacts outside ' the
organisation through one's professional
activities.
(ii) Ilegitimate Political behaviour: That violates
the implied rules of the game. It includes :
sabotage, symbolic protests e.g.. wearing
unorthodox dress or groups of employees
simultaneously calling in sick.
Organisation Development & Change
 Factors leading to organisational
politics
(1) Limited resources turns potential conflict into a reaI
conflict. Also, gain by one individual or group is
perceived as being at the expense of others. These
forces create competition among the members.
(2) Another factor leading to politics is the realisation
that most of the "facts" used to allocate limited
resources are open to interpretation. It is in the large
and ambiguous middle ground of organisational life,
where the facts don't: speak for themselves, that
politics flourishes.
(3) Because most decisions have to be made in a
climate of ambiguity people within the organisation will
use what ever influence they can to taint the facts to
support their goals and interests.

Organisation Development & Change

 Factors contributing to political behaviour
(1) Individual Factors
(i) Highly self motivated: They are more sensitive to social cues, exhibit higher level
of social conformity and are more likely to be skilled in political behaviour
(ii) Individual with an internal locus of control: They believe that they can control
their environment.
(iii) Machiavellian personality: Characterised by a will to manipulate and the desire
for power. Is comfortable using politics as a measure to fullfil their self interest.
(ivl Individuals investment in the organisation; The more a person has invested in
the organisation in terms of expectations of increased future benefits, the more
he has to loose if forced out, the less likely he is to use illegitimate means.
(v) Alternative available: The more alternative job opportunities an individual has the
more likely he is to risk illegitimate political action.
(vi) Expectation of success: If an individual has a low expectation of success in using
illegitimate means it is unlikely that he will use it.
(2) Organisational Factors:
(i) Declining resources.
(ii) Opportunity for promotions.
(iii) low trust.
(iv) Role ambiguity.
(v) High pressure for performance.
(vi) Top level management involvement in politics.
(vii) Unclear performance evaluation system.
Organisation Development & Change
Framework for analysing power
and politics

Organisation Development & Change

 Playing politics
• If anything, the available (albeit scanty) research
indicates that politics exists in organisations and that
some individuals are very adept at political behaviour.
Herbert Mintzberg and others describe these adept
politicians as playing games. The games that managers
and non managers engage in are intended to (i) resist
authority (e-g., the insurgency game), (ii) counter the
resistance to authority (e.g., the counterinsurgency
game), (iii) build power bases (e.g., the sponsorship
game and coalition-building game), (iv) defeat reveals
(e.g., the line versus staff game), and (v) effect
organisational change ( e.g. the whistle-blowing game).
In all, Mintzberg describes and discusses 13 political
games. Six are briefly presented here.
Organisation Development & Change
 Playing politics…cont..
• Mintzberg describes and discusses 13 political
games. Six are briefly presented here.
(i) Insurgency game:
(ii) Countersurgency game:
(iii) Sponsorship game:
(iv) Coalition-building game:
(v) Line versus staff game:
(vi) Whistle-blowing game:

Organisation Development & Change

 Factors contributing to political
behaviour
• Not all groups or organisations are equally
political. In some organisations, for instance,
politicking is overt and rampant,' while in others,
politics plays a small role in influencing
outcomes. Why is there this variation?
• Recent research and observation have identified
a number of factors that appear to encourage
political behaviour. Some are individual
characteristics, derived from the unique quatities
of the people the organisation employs; others
are a result of the organisation's culture or
internal environment.
Organisation Development & Change
 Research on organisation Politics
• Researchers in widely cited study of organisational politics conducted structured
interviews with eighty-seven managers employed by thirty electronics firms in
southern California. Included in the sample were thirty chief executive officers,
twenty-eight middle managers, and twenty-nine supervisors. Significant results
included the following:
(i) The higher the level of management, the greater the perceived amount of political
activity.
(ii) The larger the organisation, the greater the perceived amount of political activity.
(iii) Personnel in staff positions were viewed as more political than those in line
positions.
(iv) People in marketing were the most political; those in production were the least
political.
(v) "Reorganisation changes" reportedly prompted more political activity than any
other type of change.
(vi) A majority (61 per cent) of time interviewed believed organisational politics helps
advance one's career.
(vii)Fourty-five per cent believed that organisation politics distracts from
organisational goals,

Organisation Development & Change

 Antidotes to Political Behaviour
• Each of the foregoing political tactics varies in degree. The average
person will probably acknowledge using at least one of these
strategies. But excessive political manoeuvring can become serious
threat to productivity when self-interests clearly override the
interests of the group of organisation.
• Organisational politics can be kept within reasonable bounds by
applying the following five tips:
(i) Strive for a climate of openness and trust.
(ii) Measure performance results rather than personaIities.
(iii) Encourage top management to refrain from exhibiting political
behaviour that will be imitated by employees.
(iv) Strive to integrate individual and organisational goals through
meaningful work and career planning.
(v) Practice job rotation to encourage broader perspectives and
understanding the problems of others.

Organisation Development & Change

 Political tactics
 As defined earlier, organisational politics takes in a lot ul behavioural territory. The following
six political tactics are common expressions of politics in the workplace:
(i) Posturing: Those who use this tactic look for situations in which they can make a good
impression. "One-upmanship" and taking credit for other people's work are included in this
category.
(ii) Empire building: Gaining and keeping control over human and material resources is the
principal motivation behind this tactic. Those with large budgets usually feel more safely
entrenched in their positions and believe they have more influence over peers and
superiors.
(iii) Making the supervisor look good: Traditionally referred to as "apple polishing," this
political strategy is prompted by a desire to favourably influence those who control one's
career ascent. Anyone with an oversized ego is an easy target for this tactic.
(iv) Collecting and using social IOUs: Reciprocal exchange of poIitical favours cab be done in
two ways: (1) by helping someone look good or (2) by preventing someone from looking
bad by ignoring or covering up a mistake. Those who rely on this tactic feel that all favours
are coins of exchange rather than expressions of altruism or unselfishness.
(v) Creating power and loyalty cliques: Because there is power in numbers, the idea here is
to face superiors and competitors as a cohesive group rather than alone.
(vi) Destructive competition: As a last-ditch effort, some people will resort to character
assassination through suggestive remarks, vindictive gossip, or outright lies. This tactic also
includes sabotaging the work of a competitor.
• Obvious illegalities notwithstanding, one's own values and ethics and organisational
sanctions are the final arbiters of whether or not these tactics are acceptable.

Organisation Development & Change

 Some Devious Political Tactics
• Politics is considered as a dirty game for a simple reason that politicians would use any and all possible
means; irrespective of their validity on ethical grounds, in order to obtain and retain their power base.
While it is possible to acquire political strength through honest means such as expertise, seniority and
integrity, there are other devious tactics which may be difficult to defend on moral grounds but
nevertheless used extensively. Some of these techniques are:
(i) Embrace or demolish: Sometimes it becomes necessary to make decisions and take act ions that are
unpopular such as demoting or transferring some one. Such a person who is demoted or transferred
against his will, is likely to become your political enemy. It may be politically advantageous move to have
this person fired so that he will not be there to take revenge at a later date. This is specially significant
during corporate takeovers. According to Anthony Jay : "The guiding principle is that senior men in
taken-over firms should either be warmly welcomed and encouraged or sacked; because if they are
sacked they are powerless, whereas if they are simply downgraded they will remain united and resentful
and determined to get their own power back."
(ii) Divide and rule: If effective, this is the most successful and powerful tactic to retain political power.
Historians have recorded the fact that the British ruled India by pursuing the policy of dividing the
Indians on the basis of caste and religion and thus ruling India for a long time. The assumption
underlying this strategy being that those who are divided will not form coalitions thernselve thuss making
them weak in any confrontations. By encouraging bickering among possible rivals, it is possible to keep
them continuously off balance so that they will never get together to mount a successful attack against
you.However, it is a risky technique in that should the rivals become aware ok your such devious
schemes they can get together for the sole purpose of unseating you from your power base.
(iii) Exclude and opposition: Another technique of getting your own way is to make sure that any opposition
is absent at important meetings where such oppositions block your desired outcomes. This could be
done by holding such meetings at a time when rivals are away either on business trips or on vacation.
With the opposition absent, it is possible to influence the decision-making process in your favour. One
historically significant incident relating to ths technique occurred at the United Nations during the Korean
War. In order to send UN troops to Korea, it was necessary to have a unaninmous decision to do so at
the Security Council. However, the representative from the Soviet Union was holding out and was
vehemently against this resolution. By keeping the heated discussion on, and by frustrating the efforts of
the Soviet Union representative, it was made possible for him to walk out in anger and protest. Thus the
opposition being absent, the resolution to send UN troops to Korea was passed.
Organisation Development & Change
 Ethics, Power and Politics
• Issues of power and politics often involve ethical issues as well. For example, if power is used within
the formal boundaries of a manager's authority and within the framework of organisational policies,
job descriptions, procedures, and goals, it's really nonpolitical power and most likely doesn't involve
ethical issues. But use of power outside the bounds of formal authority, politics, procedures, job
descriptions, and organisational goals is political in nature. When this occurs, ethical issue are likely
to be present. Some examples might include bribing government officials, lying to employees and
customers, polluting the environment, and a general "ends justify the means" mentality. Managers
confront ethical dilemmas In their jobs because they frequently use power and politics to accomplish
their goals.
Each manager, therefore, has an ethical responsibility. Recently, researchers have developed a
framework that allows a manager to integrate ethics into political behaviour. Researchers
recornmend that a manager's behavjour must satisfy certain to be considered ethical.
(i) Utilitarinn outcomes: The manager's behaviour results in the optimal satisfaction of people both
inside and outside the organisation. In other words, it results in the greatest good for the greatest
number of people.
(ii) Individual right: The manager's behaviour respects the rights of all affected parties. In other words,
it respects basic human rights of free consent, free speech, freedom of conscience, privacy, and due
process.
(iii) Distributive justice: The manager's behaviour respects the rules of justice.
It treats people equitably and fairly, and not arbitrarily.
• What does a manager do when a potential behaviour cannot pass the three criteria? Researchers
suggest that it may still be considered ethical in the particular situation if it passes the criterion of
overwhelming factors. To be justified, the behaviour must be based on tremendously overwhelming
factors in the nature of the situation, such as conflicts among criteria (e.g., the manager's behaviour
results in both positive and negative- results), conflicts within the criteria (e.g., a manager uses
questionable means to achieve a positive result), and/or an incapacity to employ the first three
criteria (e.g., the manager acts with incomplete or inaccurate information).

Organisation Development & Change

The Role of Power and Politics in the
practice of Organisation Development
• Organisation development was founded on the belief that
using behavioral science methods to increase collaborative
problem solving would increase both organisational
effectiveness and individual well-being. This belief gave rise
to the field and is a guiding premise behind its technology.
• To increase collaborative problem solving is to increase the
positive face of power and decrease the negative face of
power. Thus from its inception OD addressed issues of
power and politics by proposing that collaboration,
cooperation, and joint problem solving are better ways to get
things done in organisations than relying solely on
bargaining and politics. The nature of OD in relation to
power and politics can be examined from several
perspectives - its strategy of change, its interventions, its
values, and the role of the OD practitioner.

Organisation Development & Change

 Summary
 In summary, organisation development
represents an approach and method to
enable organisation members to go beyond
the negative face of power and politics. This
major strength of OD derives from the
strategy of change, the technology, the
values, and the roles of OD practitioners.

Organisation Development & Change

 Topic # 8
Organisational Change:

An Introduction

Organisation Development & Change