ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: ITS NATURE AND CONTENT

Objectives

1.  To know and have a greater understanding/appreciation of the importance and concept of the following:

                        a. characteristics of organizational development,

                        b. goals of OD,

                        c. basic assumptions of OD,

d. critical factors to consider in OD,

                        e. conditions that call for OD,

                        f. problems confronted in OD, and

                        g. necessary conditions for effective OD

2.  To acquire needed knowledge to implement/ adapt the concepts aforementioned.

3.  To share related experiences of the topic discussed.

Topic Outline

TIME	TOPIC
10 min.	I.   Characteristics of OD
10 min.	II.  Goals of OD
15 min.	III.  Basic Assumptions of OD
15 min.	IV.  Critical Factors to Consider in OD
10 min.	V.   Conditions That Call For OD
10 min.	VI.   Problems Confronted in OD
10 min.	VII. Necessary Conditions for Effective       OD

I. Characteristics of OD

1. OD is an educational strategy to bring about planned organizational change.  It concentrates on “people variable” (values, attitudes, relations, and organizational climate) as a point of entry rather than on goals, structure, and technologies of the organization.

2. The changes sought are coupled directly with exigencies or demands the organization is trying to cope with.  The exigencies are:

                                                     a.  Problems of destiny – growth, identity and revitalization;
                            b.   Problems of human satisfaction and development;
                            c. Problems of organizational effectiveness.

3. OD relies on an educational strategy which emphasizes experienced behavior.  Widely used are data feedback, sensitivity training, confrontation meeting, and other experience-based methods to generate publicly shared data and experience upon which planning and action proceed.

4. Change agents are mostly but not exclusively external to the client system.  The external consultant can manage to affect the power structure at the beginning.

5. OD implies a collaborative relationship between change agent and constituents of the client system.  Mutual trust, joint determination of goals and means, and high mutual influence are involved.

6. Change agents share a social philosophy, a set of values about the world and human organizations, and they believe that the realization of these values will lead to a more humane, democratic and efficient system.

7.  Change agents share a set of normative goals:

1. Improvement of interpersonal competence;
2. A shift in values so that human factors and feelings are considered legitimate;
3. Development of understanding between and within working groups to reduce tensions;
4. Development of effective “team management” which is the capacity for functional groups to work more competently;
5. Development of better methods of  “conflict resolution” which are rational and open rather than bureaucratic which rely on suppression, compromise, and unprincipled power;
6. Development of organic rather than mechanical systems.  Differences lies in the following ways:

Mechanical Systems

- exclusive individual emphasis; authority obedience relationship; delegated and divided responsibility rigidly adhered to; strict division of labor and hierarchical supervision; centralized decision-making; conflict resolution through suppression arbitration and/or warfare.                         

  

Organic Systems

 - relationship between and within groups emphasized; mutual confidence and trust; interdependence and shared responsibility; multi-group membership and responsibility; wide sharing of responsibility and control; conflict resolution through bargaining or problem-solving.

                                   

8. There is a planned program involving the whole system.

9. Top people are aware of and committed to the program and the management of it.

10. OD is related to the organization’s mission.

11. OD is a long-term effort, taking at least two to three years for organizational change to take effect and be maintained.  

                       

12. OD activities are action-oriented.  The groups build in connections and follow-up activities aimed toward action programs.

13. OD focuses on changing attitudes and/or behavior.

14. OD relies on form of experience-based learning activities.

15. OD efforts work primarily with groups.  Towards organization’s health and effectiveness, groups and teams are the basic units to be changed.

16. OD is an ongoing interactive process.

17. OD is a form of applied behavioral sciences.

18. OD is a normative, reeducative strategy of changing.

19. OD views organization from a systems approach.

20. OD is a data-based approach to planned change.
21. OD is experienced-based.

22. OD focus on intact work teams.

II. Goals of OD

1. To increase the basic organizational effectiveness and make the organization a more acceptable place for people to work.

2. To build trust among individuals and groups throughout the organization.

3. To create an open, problem-solving climate for in-group and in-between group.

4. To locate decision-making and problem-solving responsibility as close to the information sources of data as possible.

5. To increase sense of ownership or feeling of belongingness of people in the organization.

6. To shift from an autocratic to participative approach in managing individuals and groups within an organization and to bring about cooperative approach among them as opposed to competitive approach.

7. To increase sensitivity of people to processes underlying their ability to perform in the organization.  This is to examine the process in relation to the task that by awareness of the process, the task will be accomplished more readily.

8. To develop a self-renewing, viable system that can organize in a variety of ways depending on tasks.

9. To optimize the effectiveness of both the stable and temporary systems through an introduction of procedures for analyzing work tasks and resource distribution and for building in continuous “feedback” regarding the way a system or subsystem is operating.

10. To move toward high collaboration and low competition between interdependent units.

11. To create condition where conflicts are brought out, managed and worked out before making adequate decisions.
12. To reach the point where decisions are made on the basis of information source rather than organizational role; the need to move toward a norm of the authority of knowledge as well as the authority of role.

13. To supplement the authority associated with role or status with the authority of knowledge and competence.

14. To develop a reward system which recognizes both the achievement of the organization’s goals (profit or service) and development of people.

15. To increase sense of “ownership” of organization objectives throughout the workforce.

16. To help managers administer according to relevant objectives rather than according to “past practices” or objectives which do not make sense to one’s area of responsibility.

17. To increase self-control and self-direction in people within the organization.

18. To produce an effective and healthy organization.

III. Basic Assumptions of OD

1. People have drives towards personal growth and development which could be actualized in a supportive and challenging environment.

2. Most people desire to contribute to the attainment of organizational goals than most organizational environment will permit.

3. All group members must assist each other for effective leadership so that not just the formal leader is performing the leadership functions.

4. Organizations tend to be characterized by overlapping independent work groups. 

1. What happens in the broader organization affects the small work group and vice-versa.
2. What happens to one subsystem affects and is influenced by other parts of the system.
3. The culture in most organizations tends to suppress the expression of feeling which people have about each other and about where they and their organization are heading.
4. Suppressed feelings adversely affect problem-solving process, personal growth, and job satisfaction.
5. The level of interpersonal trust, support, and cooperation is lower than is either necessary or desirable.
6. Win-lose strategies are not optimal in the long-run to the solution of the most organizational problems.
7. Synergistic solutions can be achieved with much higher frequency.
8. Viewing feelings as data important to the organization tends to open up many avenues  for improved goal-setting, communication, problem-solving, intergroup collaboration, and morale.
9. Improved performance through OD effects should be sustained by appropriate changes in the appraisal, compensation, training, staffing, and task-specialization subsystems of the total personnel system.

5. Values of OD

a.              People are human beings with individual set of needs, not just resources in the productive process.

b.              Each organization member and the organization itself must reach their full potential development.

c.               OD seeks to increase organizational effectiveness in terms of all its goals.

d.              It attempts to create an environment where work is exciting and challenging.

e.              It provides opportunities to influence the way people relate to work, organization, and environment.

6. Directions of OD

a.              To promote the view of man as basically good;

b.              To affirm man as a human being in process;

c.               To encourage acceptance and utilization of individual differences for the benefit of the organization;

d.              To promote the view of man as a whole person not just a position in the organization;

e.              To encourage expression and effective use of feelings;

f.                To work towards use of authentic behavior than markmanship and game-playing;

g.              To develop trust among organizational members;

h.              To present appropriate confrontations as healthy than avoiding facing people involved;

i.           To lead organizational members to view job status in relation to its contribution to the organization and not as a means to maintain power and personal prestige;

j.                To encourage risk-taking;

k.              To emphasize collaboration instead of competition;

l.           To motivate organizational members to regard process work as essential to effective task accomplishment.

7. The underlying assumptions and values about people in groups and leadership are:

a.         One of the most psychologically relevant groups is the work group including peers and superiors.

b.            Most people wish to be accepted and to interact cooperatively with at least one small reference group.

c.              Most attitudinal and motivational problems in organizational are transactional.

8. The OD assumptions about value of the organizations are:

          a.          Members of the system must place value in the collaborative effort and in the constructive end-products of the system, either current or potential.

b.          Value is placed on the welfare of all system members particularly by the people having the most power over others.

                                      

IV. Critical Factors to Consider in OD

  

1. Environmental Factors
2. Organizational Climate
3. Characteristics of the Management
4. Characteristics of Job to be Accomplished.
5. Inter-unit relationship.
6. Organizational practices

V. Conditions that Call for OD

1. The need to change cultural norms.
2. The need to change managerial strategy.
3. The need to make organizational climate more consistent with both individual needs and the changing needs of the environment.
4. The need to change structure and roles.
5. The need to improve intergroup collaboration.
6. The need for better planning.
7. The need to open up the communication system.
8. The need to cope with problems and merger.
9. The need for adaptation to a new environment.

VI. Problems Confronted in OD

1. Integration.
2. Social Influence.
3. Collaboration.
4. Adaptation.
5. Identity.
6. Revitalization

VII. Necessary Conditions for Effective OD

1. A significant pressure for change in organization’s external environment;
2. “Hurting” people are willing to take a searching look at the organization (diagnosis).
3. Strong leadership is provided for the change effort.
4. Active involvement and collaboration in problem-identification and improvement-planning from several levels of organization.
5. Willingness to take risks and to invent and experiment with new solutions to problems on a small scale first.
6. Visibility of concrete short-term and intermediate results.
7. Presence of a realistic long-term perspective for the change effort.

"Do not worry if others do not understand you. Instead worry if you do not understand others."

-Confucius, Chinese Philosopher

551-479 BC

 Doing the “right things” – is knowing “what” to do

Ø    Effectiveness

Doing “things right” – is knowing ”how” to do it

Ø    Efficiency

Source: Organizational Development in the Philippine Setting by Andres