Introduction
Organization development (OD) is a planned approach to improve employee and organizational effectiveness by conscious interventions in those processes and structures that have an immediate bearing on the human aspect of the organization (Ramanarayan, Rao, and Singh 1998). OD is an organization-wide planned effort, managed from the top, to increase organizational effectiveness and health through planned interventions in the organizational processes, using behavioural science knowledge. In the initial phase of the development of OD, primary focus was on human as well as the process aspect of the organizations with a view to improve trust, communication, teamwork and interpersonal relationship (Friedlander and Brown 1974).
Characteristics Of Organization Development
A number of special characteristics together distinguish organizational development from other approaches to managing and improving organizational function.
Behavioural science base
It is primarily concerned with improving the organization by focusing on aspects that have a bearing on human and social improvement. Its principles have been drawn largely from the field of organizational behavior and social sciences.
Normative approach to organizational change
OD is a normative process grounded in value-laden assumption of what constitutes ideal individual and organizational growth. Development for the OD practitioners means the movement of individuals and organizations in certain directions consistent with democratic and humanistic values and ideals such as autonomy, self-actualization, etc.
Deliberate intervention in the organization
OD implies deliberate intervention in the ongoing processes of an organization. While all the social systems, in the ordinary course of events, tend to grow in predictable patterns, they may fail to optimize their capabilities due to an inability to recognize their potential or to anticipate and effectively cope with internal and external crisis. Development implies planning and action to ensure that growth takes place consistent with values.
Normative deductive strategy
It is based on the assumptions that the social norms are one of the strong reinforcers of behaviour (Chin and Benne 1976). The culture of the organization is affected by those norms and hence, to change the existing organizational culture prevalent norms have to be reduced, modified and replaced by more effective ones. This approach talks about the
change in the organization, which looks forward to a long-term improvement through internalization of new norms of behavior.
Systems approach to change
Leavitt (1972) has viewed an organization as a social system consisting of different sub- systems such as task, structure, technology and human resource, interlinked by various processes. Any change in one part or process has implications for other parts or processes relevant to the system. OD techniques are used to change or modify the processes to change the system consequently.
Using action-research model
Action-research model is a ―data based, problem solving model that replicated the steps involved in the scientific method of inquiry‖ (French and Bell 1991). OD, using this model, involves a systematic process of diagonising organizational problems through data collection and analysis, feeding the data back to the organizational client group, discussing the findings, planning collaborative action and implementing proposed solutions.
Use of external consultant
Here, the assumption in OD is that the presence of a qualified behavioural scientist as an external consultant can help the process of OD in the following manner:
The specialized knowledge of that consultant becomes available to the organization.
The consultant, as a neutral outsider, is likely to face lesser resistance during the process of change.
He is less likely to have a personal stake in implementation of proposed change.
Process Of Organization Development
A typical OD process can be divided into the following phases:
Problem identification: The first step in OD process involves understanding and
identification of the existing and potential problems in the organization. The awareness of the problem includes knowledge of the possible organizational problems of growth, human satisfaction, the usage of human resource and organizational effectiveness.
Data collection: Having understood the exact problem in this phase, the relevant data is
collected through personal interviews, observations and questionnaires.
Diagnosis: OD efforts begin with diagnosis of the current situation. Usually, it is not
limited to a single problem. Rather a number of factors like attitudes, assumptions, available resources and management practice are taken into account in this phase. According to Rao and Hari Krishna (2002), four steps in organizational diagnosis can be identified:
Structural analysis: Determines how the different parts of the organization are
functioning in terms of laid down goals.
Processes analysis: Process implies the manner in which events take place in a sequence.
It refers to the pattern of decision-making, communication, group dynamics and conflict management patterns within organizations to help in the process of attainment of organizational goals.
Function analysis: This includes strategic variables, performance variables, results,
achievements and final outcomes.
Domain analysis: Domain refers to the area of the organization for organizational
diagnosis.
Planning and implementation: After diagnosing the problem, the next phase of OD, with
the OD interventions, involves the planning and implementation part of the change process.
Evaluation and feedback: Any OD activity is incomplete without proper feedback.
Feedback is a process of relaying evaluations to the client group by means of specific report or interaction.
OD Interventions
OD intervention refers to an activity that is carried on in an organization with the help of
an internal or external OD consultant for achieving a given goal or objective (Prasad
1970). Broadly, OD interventions can be categorized as under:
Human process interventions Techno-structural interventions Human resource interventions Strategic interventions
Human Process Interventions
These interventions are aimed at the social processes occurring within organizations. Some of the important human process interventions are discussed below.
T-groups
T-groups are designed to provide members with experiential learning about group dynamics, leadership and interpersonal relationships. The basic T-group training or sensitivity training is to change the standards, attitudes and behavior of individuals by using psychological techniques and programs. Sensitivity training involves group confession where the individual‘s problems become the problems of the group, which in turn tries to find a solution. After critiquing others and being critiqued, doubt is introduced into the mind of each individual as to whose standards are really proper. The objectives of T-group training are:
Increased understanding, insight and self-awareness about one‘s own and others‘ behavior and its impact on self and others.
Better understanding about the group and inter-group processes (facilitating and inhibiting group function).
Increased diagnostic skills.
Increased ability to transfer learning into action.
Process consultation
It has been defined as a set of activities on the part of the consultant that helped the client to perceive, understand and act upon the process of events that occur in the client‘s environment in order to improve the situation as defined by the client (Schein 1987: 11). It deals primarily with five important group processes:
Communication.
The functional roles of group members.
The ways in which the group solves problems and makes decisions. The development and growth of group norms.
The use of leadership and authority.
Third party interventions
It focuses on interpersonal or inter-group conflicts. Conflicts can arise from two sources:
Substantive issues like work methods, pay rates and conditions of employment. Interpersonal issues such as differences in personality, task orientations,
perceptions among group members, completion over scarce resources.
Team building
It is an effective approach to develop and nurture a team culture in an organization, which helps the group members to enhance their interpersonal and problem-solving skills. It also helps group members to develop a higher level of motivation to carry out the group decisions by overcoming specific problems like apathy, general lack of interest among members, loss of productivity, increasing complaints within the group, confusion about assignments, low participation in meetings, lack of innovation and initiation, increasing
complaints from those outside the group about the quality, timeliness, effectiveness of services and products, etc. This intervention can be used for the following types of teams:
Groups reporting to the same supervisor, manager/executive. Groups involving people with common organizational goals. Temporary group formed to perform a specific, one-time task. Groups consisting of people whose work roles are interdependent.
Groups whose members have no formal links in the organization, but whose collective purpose is to achieve task they can achieve as individuals.
Depending on the types of teams, there are a number of factors that affect the outcome of a specific team-building activity:
The length of time allocated to the activity.
The team‘s willingness to look at the way in which it operates. The length of time the team has been working together.
The permanence of the teams.
Techno-structural Interventions
Due to increasing global competition and rapid technological and environmental changes, the organizations are forced to move away traditional bureaucratic structures (functional, self contained and matrix structure) to more flexible structures (process-based and network-based structures). This involves streamlining of workflows through structural adjustments by breaking down functional barriers. In this context, the techno-structural interventions help the organizations in structural redesigning aiming at reorganizing organizational structure, the alternative methods of organizing work activities and integrating people in a better way.
Human Resource Interventions
These are concerned with methods of managing people in a more effective and efficient way while ushering in the change process in an organization. These interventions are traditionally associated with the human resource management function and are increasingly becoming an integral part of the change management activities, for example, dealing with setting performance goals for groups and individuals, performance appraisal and reward management. Activities such as career planning, managing work-force diversity, managing employee wellness also come under this category.
Strategic Interventions
These interventions focus on organizing the resources of the organization to gain a competitive edge in the market. These generally adopt the top-down management of change approach and require a thorough and in-depth environmental scanning and awareness. The basic philosophy of this approach lies in developing core competencies or getting access to larger market share and technology, hitherto absent in the organization, through alliances with other organizations possessing the same. On the other hand, interventions such as organizational culture change programme and organizational
learning helps organizations to gain the internal capacity to institute their change management process successfully through continuous awareness, self-renewal and learning. Thus, the thrust in this process is mainly on identifying the external sources of change and developing internal capabilities to address them.
Abad Ahmed (1972) has proposed six steps in an OD process:
1. Motivation for change
The motivation for change emerges from pressures, external or internal, felt by the top management or the new strategic decisions of top management.
2. Data collection, problem identification and diagnosis
Throughout the OD programme, especially at the outset, these activities should be acted upon through interviews, surveys and meetings. Both, top management, other organizational members and OD specialist take active part in these activities.
3. Planning strategy for change
At this stage, the diagnosis of problem is transformed into a proper action plan. Specific goals are set and the specific approaches for attaining these goals are also specified sequentially.
4. Intervening in the system
It aims to resolve difficulties, remove hurdles and give momentum to increase the effectiveness of the organization (Dwivedi 2001). Here the OD specialists, and/or the top management take active part in the process. Some examples of these interventions are: job enlargement, process consultation and other laboratory methods, which have been discussed earlier in this chapter.
5. Reinforcement and follow-up
A possibility of regression to the earlier behavioural pattern does exist if adequate care is not taken to adapt mechanisms for reinforcement and follow-up of the planned change. Establishing task force, project teams and temporary systems in the organization can be created to perform the responsibility to implement and monitor the plans defined in the OD programme.
6. Monitoring and evaluation
A need for careful monitoring to get feedback regarding the effectiveness of the OD programme is always felt. In this respect, appraisal of the change efforts, comparative analysis of control groups, pre and post-intervention assessments are some of the methods to get the feedback in this regard.
Role of OD Consultant
According to Maheswari (1979), the role of an OD consultant is of a guru (teacher) who needs to possess the knowledge, wisdom and sensitivity vis-à-vis the problems of an organization. On the basis of his wisdom, he may advise the client (organization) to implement certain changes. However, it has to be remembered that effective implementation of the advices are sole responsibility of the client. The consultant intends to advise the client to take appropriate actions, convinces the client for the required changes and helps it to modify the mindset. OD consultants, in Indian organizations, generally face the following difficulties (Dwivedi 2001):
The perception of the entrepreneurs about OD The owners of the organization, in India,
feel threatened that their power would be reduced if the OD interventions are applied, and it would be difficult to discipline people. They also feel uncomfortable in discussing about their operational methods with their managers or consultants. Moreover, they generally do not trust consultants fully.
Role of the OD consultants There is confusion about the role of the OD consultant. It is
commonly believed that the role of the OD consultant is to diagnose all organizational problems, suggest proper solutions, put these all in a report and leave it to the anagement to take actions on it.