Q1. Explain the importance of Organisational development to managers. Describe the characteristics of Organisational Development.
Answer:- Organization Development (OD) is the systematic application of behavioural science knowledge at various levels, such as group, inter-group, organization, etc., to bring about planned change. Its objectives are a higher quality of work-life, productivity, adaptability, and effectiveness. It accomplishes this by changing attitudes, behaviours, values, strategies, procedures, and structures so that the organization can adapt to competitive actions, technological advances, and the fast pace of change within the environment (Cunningham, 1990).
The Importance of Organizational Development
Organizational development is the use of organizational resources to improve efficiency and expand productivity. It can be used to solve problems within the organization or as a way to analyze a process and find a more efficient way of doing it. Implementing organizational development requires an investment of time and money. But when you understand its importance, you can justify the costs.
Organizational Change: The process of organizational development identifies areas of company operations where change is needed. Each need is analyzed, and the potential effects are projected into a change management plan. The plan outlines the specific ways in which the change will improve company operations, who will be affected by the change and how it can be rolled out efficiently to employees.
Growth: Organizational development is an important tool in managing and planning corporate growth. An organizational development analysis brings together sales projections and consumer demand to help determine the rate of company growth.
Work Processes: When a company is involved in organizational development, it analyzes work processes for efficiency and accuracy. Any quality control measures required to attain company standards are put in place.
Product Innovation: Product innovation requires the analysis of several kinds of information to be successful. Organizational development is critical to product innovation because it can help analyze each element of product development and create a method for using it effectively.
There are seven characteristics of OD:
1. Humanistic Values: Positive beliefs about the potential of employees (McGregor’s Theory Y).
2. Systems Orientation: All parts of the organization, to include structure, technology, and people, must work together.
3. Experiential Learning: The learners’ experiences in the training environment should be the kind of human problems they encounter at work. The training should NOT be all theory and lecture.
4. Problem Solving: Problems are identified, data is gathered, corrective action is taken, progress is assessed, and adjustments in the problem solving process are made as needed. This process is known as Action Research.
5. Contingency Orientation: Actions are selected and adapted to fit the need.
6. Change Agent: Stimulate, facilitate, and coordinate change.
7. Levels of Interventions: Problems can occur at one or more level in the organization so the strategy will require one or more interventions.
A well-used axiom in organizational behavior thought asserts that values ultimately drive our behavior. In a nutshell, values exert influence over our attitudes, and attitudes influence our behavior. Values are integral to attitude formation and to how we respond to people and situations (Kerns, 2010)..
There seems to be a subset of virtuous values that align with ethical behaviour. In his book, Authentic Happiness, Martin Seligman has reviewed these core virtuous values that influence ethical behavior and appear to have universal appeal (Kerns, 2010).
– Wisdom and Knowledge: The capacity to take information and convert it to something useful. Wisdom comes from capitalizing on one’s experience to interpret information in a knowledgeable manner to produce wise decisions. A prerequisite to doing the right thing when facing an ethical dilemma knows what to do, knowing the difference between right and wrong.
– Self Control: The ability to avoid unethical temptations. The capacity to take the ethical path requires a commitment to the value of acting with temperance. Ethical people say “no” to individual gain if it is inconsistent with institutional benefit and goodwill (Kerns, 2010).
Q2. What is meant by Organizational change? What are the various strategies for change? Explain the positive model of planned change.
