Organization Development

Dr. Radhika Kapur

Introduction

Organization development (OD) is any process or activity, based upon the behavioral
sciences that either in the short term period or the long term period have the potential to develop
in an organizational setting. Enhanced knowledge, expertise, productivity, satisfaction, income,
interpersonal relationships, team spirit, and other desired outcomes such as goodwill are the
factors that are meant to prove to be advantageous to the individual, group, team, society, region,
nation or the whole humanity. Organization development’s primary emphasis has been laid upon
the relationships between individuals and groups, so that there is cooperation and mutuality
between them so that they can work together in harmony towards the progress of the
organization.

The meaning and the definition of organizational development is very comprehensive,

hence from the definitions of organizational development desired outcomes have been identified
which are as follows: (McLean, 2005).

1. Advanced organizational renewal

2. Engage organization culture change
3. Enhance profitability and competitiveness
4. Ensure health and well being of organizations and the employees
5. Facilitate learning and development
6. Improve problem solving
7. Increase effectiveness
8. Initiate and/or manage change
9. Strengthen system and process development
10. Support adaptation to change.
All these above stated factors adds involvedness and intricacies to the field of
organizational development, making the jobs of the organizers and the practitioners more
convoluted and creative. The environmental conditions, internal and external to the organization
always demand for progress, innovation, novelty and productivity.

Organization development is a planned effort, which is organization wide, it is managed

from the top most level in the hierarchy with the main aim to increase organization effectiveness
and health through planned interventions in the organization’s processes using behavioral
sciences knowledge, set of values that are largely humanistic, and open systems theory. Overall
organization effectiveness is aimed at improvement by way of improving the organizational
dimensions such as the external environment, mission, strategy, leadership, culture, structure,
information and reward systems, and work policies and procedures (OD, n.d.).

Characteristics of Organization Development

1. OD is an approach that has been drawn from various areas such as organization
behavior, management, business, psychology, sociology, anthropology, management,
economics, education, counseling and public administration. Its main aim is to
improve organizational effectiveness.
2. OD recognizes the significance of top management’s commitment, support and
contribution. The target is to enhance the whole organization, individuals,
departments, work groups and it may get extended to region, nation and the whole of
humanity.
3. OD is a planned and long term strategy to bring about change and development not
only within the organizational structure, but also its interdependent parts.
4. OD is an education based program designed to develop values, attitudes, norms and
management practices that lead to a healthy organizational climate and healthy
behavioral traits on the part of the personnel.
5. OD is a data based approach to understanding and diagnosing organizations. It is
guided by a change agent, change team, or line management whose primary role is
that of a facilitator, coach and a teacher. The task involves planned interventions and
improvements in an organization’s processes and structures and requires expertise
and skills in working with individuals as well as the groups (McLean, 2005).
 Organization as System and Living Organism

An organization is a kind of complex configuration, comprising of many interrelated

components and elements. In the organizational structure there are several departments such as
production, finance, accounts, secretarial, clerical and so forth, all the departments are directly or
indirectly correlated with each other, hence it can be stated that organizational structure is a
system which means to combine, to set up and to place together (Gazaryan, 2006). There have
been some concepts and principles which are important to be aware of for understanding the
organizational development. These have been stated as follows: (Gazaryan, 2006).

Chaos - Chaos theory describes the performance of certain nonlinear dynamical systems
that under assured conditions exhibit a phenomenon known as chaos, which is characterized by
sensitivity to initial conditions. As a result of this feeling, the actions of systems that exhibit
chaos appear to be random, even though the model of the system is well defined and contains no
random parameters. Chaotic behavior is considered to be more stable, structured and
deterministic; chaos in an organization is what management and the members influences
everyday but find no means to control.
Coherence – Coherence is always a mode of coordinated behavior, oriented in a single
direction, harmonized, or associated in any other sense of elements. Coherence comes directly
from both freedom and interdependence. Where no elemental freedom exists – there is no
opportunity for correlated behavior. Where interdependence does not exist – there is similarly no
possibility for connection. Each element does not see and does not need to see or feel others, and
does whatever it wants on its own. Elements interact in this case also, but casually, and such an
interaction causes a causal effect. In such systems, elements may be kept together only by some
third external force.
Structure - It is also reasonable to state the structure of processes, or the dynamic
structure of an organization. In contrast to the static structure that usually defines formal
subordination in work relations, the dynamic structure defines how elements interact in a
widespread process and generate a common result. The correlation of behaviors and attitudes of
interrelated components means that their independence is limited and bounded by acceptable
models of coordinated actions. These models depend on results that are expected to be achieved.
In this way, the providence of an organization determines the structure of the organization.
 Emergent features - Some features of a system may directly shoot from the separate
features of the system’s components; in this respect the system may be no more than the
calculation of its parts. But some other features are specific to the entity itself and do not exist
within the separate components; then the system is more than the calculation of its parts. A radio
set can receive a broadcast, but no individual resistor or capacitor can do so alone. Any part of
machinery may not have the ability to be self-moving, but some set of parts, properly assembled,
may have this quality. Such emerging properties were called emergent features.
Substructures - Substructures are often seen as informal relations between members of an
organization and/or with outsiders. The formal relations and means of communication are not
always particularly strong or defined within the organizational structure. When some formal
relations are weak and apparent only in particular circumstances, they should be considered as a
part of substructure. On the other hand, some informal relations may be obviously crucial for
organizational survival and may determine the basic qualities of an organization. Therefore –
substructures should be viewed not in terms of formal versus informal, but in terms of essential
versus non-essential.
Synergy - Synergy or synergism most often refers to the phenomenon of two or more
discrete influences or agents acting in common to create an effect which is greater than the sum
of the effects which each are able to create independently. Thus, synergy is the evolving
superiority of a system. In Greek, synergy means collective action, working together and team
work. Synergy also means that the actions and performance of the whole organization structure
may not necessarily be predicted by the actions of their parts taken independently. Synergetics as
a discipline that addresses self-organizing processes within the organizational structure and
society has been in existence for 35 years and has become extremely accepted.
Self-emerging Order - The basic preconditions for a particular self-emerging order to
appear in a group are: 1) interdependence, and 2) unpredictable interaction. The unpredictability
supposes a certain freedom of interaction. At the same time, if elements are not interdependent –
meaning each one depends on another – there is no clue to build a system. The group will remain
a set of odd, isolated pieces without any communication between them; hence for the effective
functioning of the organization, interdependence is essential (Gazaryan, 2006).
Diagnosing Organizations
 Diagnosis is the process of understanding a system’s current functioning. It involves
collecting significant information about current operations, analyzing the data, and drawing
conclusions for potential change and improvement. Effective diagnosis provides the systematic
knowledge of the organization needed to design appropriate interventions. Thus, OD
interventions derive from diagnosis and include specific actions intended to improve
organizational functioning (Worley, 2008).
Diagnosis is the process of understanding how the organization is currently functioning,
and it provides the information indispensable to design change interventions. It generally follows
from successful opening and contracting, which set the stage for successful diagnosis. Those
processes help OD practitioners and client members jointly determine organizational issues to
focus on, how to collect and analyze data to understand them, and how to work together to
develop action plans from the diagnosis. In another sense, diagnosis is occurring all the time.
Managers, organization members, and OD practitioners are always trying to understand the
drivers of organization effectiveness, and how and why change is proceeding in a particular
direction (Worley, 2008).
In organization development, diagnosis is used more broadly than a medical definition
would suggest. It is a collaborative process between organization members and the OD
consultant to collect relevant information, analyze it, and draw conclusions for action planning
and intervention. Diagnosis may be aimed at revealing the causes of specific problems, focused
on understanding effective processes, or directed at assessing the overall functioning of the
organization or department to determine the areas for future development. Diagnosis provides a
systematic understanding of organizations so that appropriate interventions may be developed for
solving problems and enhancing effectiveness (Worley, 2008).
Organization Change

Organization change is defined as the state of transition between the current state and the
future one, towards which the organization is directed. Changes come about within the processes,
policies and functioning of the organization; changes come about in the techniques, practices,
resourcefulness and productivity of the organization. The final objective of organization change
is accomplishment which is to bring about effectiveness and efficiency in all the operations that
the organization is carrying out (Tripon, n.d.).
 Types of Organization Changes

Organization changes may be categorized in various ways; change has been described in
three main dimensions which are origin, result and process. The origin of change means the way
that change appears in an organization, the internal as well as the external environmental
conditions, the way the organization has been established, the ways in which its policies, norms,
rules, procedures and operations have been framed and the ways in which tasks are carried out.
Changes do get influenced by outside controls and external forces which are taking place in the
environment, external to the organization. There have been different types of changes that have
been described as follows: (Tripon, n.d.).

1. Tectonic Change – It is described as the major difference between the existing

organizations and the ideal ones. It depicts the need for a change but does not show any
pressure as compared to other types of changes; this type of change is interesting and
useful.
2. Planned Change – It is a formal type of change which is imposed within an organization;
it is a proactive change initiated by the members of the organization, they are engaged in
the implementation process with the view to anticipating the environmental changes or
responding to new opportunities with the purpose of making an improvement.
3. Random or Emerging Change – This change occurs from the activities that are carried out
continuously from the organization members, as they gradually address the problems and
the opportunities; this change is implemented from the external forces, leaders create the
vision of change, and the employees apply the execution which is done progressively.
Organization Development Functions
The following steps are the components of making a successful change and transition

from training and development to organization development: (CC, 2010).

Step 1: Clearly identify the work of the OD unit - First step in building a team is to
determine what will be the job assignments for the new unit. Thinking about the levels within an
organization that can benefit from OD interventions. Will the OD practitioners focus on
individual, team, or whole system solutions? Will the OD practitioners lead change projects, or
develop tools and methodologies to educate others in leading change? Will the OD practitioners
coach or shadow consult on important organization-wide projects? In essence, how will the
organization view this team: as leaders, doers, coaches, teachers, or consultants? Will the range
of services change over time?
Any of these are appropriate roles and work assignments for an OD team. However, it
can be overwhelming to commit to everything at once. Spending time in planning for what the
OD team will engage in and then determining how the group’s services and roles might evolve
over 1 to 5 years. This upfront planning will help in determining what skill sets are needed on the
team, and what development plans to put in place for team members selected for these roles.

Step 2: Determine what the jobs will be in the new OD unit - Once the work of the unit is
clear, it should be much easier to determine how to break up the work and what type and number
of jobs will be required. Creating job profiles that specify the knowledge, experience,
competencies, and attributes needed for success; these will prove useful for any subsequent
staffing or selection processes and decision making.
What kind of personnel should be employed? For example, is it mandatory that staff
members with a training and development or HR generalist background will be figured into OD
roles? Is it assumed that all the necessary competencies for OD work can be trained? Will there
be different types of roles on the OD team, such as analysts, project managers, and senior
consultants? If so, what are the differences in roles and responsibilities between these jobs
functions?

Step 3: Determine the Team Mechanics - The type of work that OD practitioners perform
can be immeasurable and multifaceted. Even after narrowing down the work of the unit, it is
important to determine the basic viewpoint of the team. For example, some OD departments
purposefully develop staff members to be specialists in delivering different types of
interventions. There may be a few team members focused on coaching, leadership development,
guidance and mentoring programs, all of which are aimed at the individual, while others are
more practiced at facilitating large scale change processes across the enterprise. When a
customer need arises under this model, the team members assemble a consulting team with the
right blend of specialties to assist in that particular condition.

Step 4: Start Re-branding and Marketing the Services of the OD Function – The OD
functions in this area are building an assistant and advocate network, create an advisory council,
influence all the available data, access your ignorance by communicating and demonstrating
curiosity, facilitate key organizational initiatives, identifying the weaknesses, communicating
effectively, and checking the progress and improvement that has taken place (CC, 2010).

Discussion

Organization development is a very wide-ranging term, that covers number of elements

and components; the changes that take place within the organizational setting with respect to
norms, policies, procedures, methods, rules and regulations can be positive which may be seen as
developmental changes, whereas some of the changes are also viewed as undesirable changes by
the managements and the members which are termed as deterioration. In order to bring about
organization development in a positive manner, the management needs to effectively look at the
characteristics of the organization, the diagnostic procedures, all the concepts and principles
those are necessary for organizational change, types of changes and the functions of organization
development.

The management needs to control the factors that are complicated and tedious and ensure
that the organizational process goes in the direction that best controls the effective and efficient
fulfillment of the goals and objectives. In the competitive market, it becomes difficult for the
organization to exist if it is not implementing its tasks and operations in a useful manner. In order
to survive, the organization must carry out the right procedures in a right way at the right time; in
order to accomplish the tasks in a right approach; the personnel and the OD practitioners are
required to organize all the tasks and functions in a right way in order to achieve the desired
objectives.

Organization development is termed as the process of development applied to an

organization; it refers to any effort made by the management, supervisors, personnel and OD
practitioners to improve the organization. The individuals involved need to develop the actual
knowledge and skills that are required to meet the challenges that occur within the organization
development process. Changes that occur within the development process may be technological,
cultural, psychological, social, environmental etc, and the individuals should be aware about how
to carry out these changes in order to meet the developmental goals more efficiently.
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