ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT INTERVENTIONS AND STRATEGIES.

1.0 Introduction
Cummings & Worley (2009) define Organization development (OD) as ‘the system wide
application and transfer of behavioral science knowledge to the planned development,
improvement, and reinforcement of the strategies, structures, and processes that lead to
organization effectiveness’. More broadly, OD can be viewed as a process used to enhance both
the effectiveness of an organization and the well-being of its members through planned
interventions (Beer & Walton, 1990).

2.0 Organizational Development Interventions and Strategies

Planned interventions (intervention strategies) refer to ‘sets of structured activities in which
selected organizational units (target groups or individuals) engage with a task or sequence of
tasks where the task goals are related directly or indirectly to organizational improvement’
(French & Bell, 1990). They include:

2.0.1 Human Process-based Interventions

These interventions are aimed at enabling the employees to develop better understanding of their
own and others behaviour for the purpose of improving interpersonal, intragroup, and intergroup
relations..

a) Survey Feedback

Survey feedback is defined as the systematic feedback of survey data to groups with the intent of
stimulating discussion of problem areas, generating potential solutions, and stimulating
motivation for change (Nicholas, 1982). Some common survey feedback interventions include: T
Groups, Third Party Interventions and Process Consultation.

b) Team Building

Team building is a process used to improve a work group’s problem-solving ability and
effectiveness. Like individuals, groups experience problems. Groups can become dysfunctional
when they experience problems that members cannot resolve or when they are unable to adapt to
external changes. Team building helps members diagnose group processes and devise solutions
to problems.
2.0.2 Techno-Structural Interventions
These interventions are rooted in the disciplines of engineering, sociology, and psychology and
in the applied fields of socio-technical systems and organization design.

The purpose of techno-structural interventions is to (1) improve work content, work method, and
relationships among workers, and (2) lower costs by replacing inefficient materials, methods,
equipment, work-flow designs, and costly unnecessary labor with more efficient technology.

a) Job Enlargement

Job enlargement interventions are attempts to increase satisfaction and performance by

consolidating work functions horizontally to provide greater variety and a sense of the whole
task.

b) Job Enrichment

Job enrichment involves varying some aspect of a job in order to increase the potential to
motivate workers

c) Structural Design

This change process concerns the organization’s division of labor, i.e., how to specialize task
performances. Interventions aimed at structural design include moving from more traditional
ways of dividing the organization’s overall work (such as functional, self-contained-unit, and
matrix structures) to more integrative and flexible forms (such as process-based and network-
based structures).

d) Downsizing

This intervention reduces costs and bureaucracy by decreasing the size of the organization
through personnel layoffs, organization redesign, and outsourcing.

e) Re-engineering

This recent intervention radically redesigns the organization’s core work processes to create
tighter linkage and coordination among the different tasks. This results in faster, more responsive
task performance. Reengineering is often accomplished with a new information technology that
permits employees to control and coordinate work processes more effectively.

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 f) Total Quality Management (TQM)

Also known as “continuous process improvement” and “continuous quality”, TQM grew out of a
manufacturing emphasis on quality control and represents a long-term effort to orient all of an
organization’s activities around the concept of quality. Quality is achieved when organizational
processes reliably produce products and services that meet or exceed customer expectations.

g) Work Design

This refers to OD interventions aimed at creating jobs, and work groups that generate high levels
of employee fulfillment and productivity.

2.1.3 Human Resource Management – based Interventions

These are interventions aimed at enhancing overall organisational performance by improving
performance of individuals and groups.

They include:

a) Goal Setting

This change program involves setting clear and challenging goals. It attempts to improve
organization effectiveness by establishing a better fit between personal and organizational
objectives. Managers and subordinates periodically meet to plan work, review accomplishments,
and solve problems in achieving goals.

b) Performance Appraisal

This intervention is a systematic process of jointly assessing work-related achievements,

strengths and weaknesses, it is the primary human resources management intervention for
providing performance feed-back to individuals and work groups. Performance appraisal
represents an important link between goal setting and reward systems.

c) Reward Systems

This intervention involves the design of organizational rewards to improve employee satisfaction
and performance. It includes innovative approaches to pay, promotions, and fringe benefits.

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 d) Career Planning and Development

This intervention helps people choose organizations and career paths and attain career objectives.
It generally focuses on managers and professional staff and is seen as a way of improving the
quality of their work life.

e) Diversity Management

This change program makes human resources practices more responsive to a variety of
individual needs. Important trends, such as the increasing number of women, ethnic minorities,
and physically and mentally challenged people in the workforce, require a more flexible set of
policies and practices.

f) Employee Wellness Programs

These interventions include employee assistance programs (EAPs) and stress management. EAPs
are counseling programs that help employees deal with substance abuse and mental health,
marital, and financial problems that often are associated with poor work performance. Stress
management programs help workers cope with the negative consequences of stress at work. They
help managers reduce specific sources of stress, such as role conflict and ambiguity, and provide
methods for reducing such stress symptoms as hypertension and anxiety.

2.0.4 Strategic / Transformational Interventions

These interventions are implemented organization-wide and bring about a fit between business
strategy, structure, culture and the larger environment. They are intended to transform the
organization to keep pace with changing conditions.

They include:

a) Integrated Strategic Change

This comprehensive OD intervention describes how planned change can make a value-added
contribution to strategic management. It argues that business strategies and organizational
systems must be changed together in response to external and internal disruptions. A strategic

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change plan helps members manage the transition between a current strategy and organization
design and the desired future strategic orientation.

b) Trans - Organization Development

This intervention helps organizations to enter into alliances, partnerships and joint ventures to
perform tasks or solve problems that are too complex for single organizations to resolve.

It helps organizations recognize the need for partnerships and develop appropriate structures for
implementing them.

c) Merger and Acquisition Integration

This intervention describes how OD practitioners can assist two or more organizations to form a
new entity. Addressing key strategic leadership and cultural issues prior to the legal and financial
transaction helps to smooth operational integration.

d) Culture Change

This intervention helps organizations to develop cultures (behaviors, values, beliefs and norms)
appropriate to their strategies and environments. It focuses on developing a strong organization
culture to keep organization members pulling in the same direction.

e) Organization Learning and Knowledge Management

This intervention describes two interrelated change processes: organization learning (OL), which
seeks to enhance an organization’s capability to acquire and develop new knowledge; and
knowledge management (KM), which focuses on how that knowledge can be organized and used
to improve organization performance.

These interventions move the organization beyond solving existing problems so as to become
capable of continuous improvement.

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 References
Beer, M., & Walton, E. (1990). Developing the competitive organization: Interventions and
strategies. American Psychologist, 45, 154-161

Cummings, T. & Worley, C. (2009). Organization development and change. (9th Ed). Mason,
OH: Cengage/South-Western.

French, W. & Bell, C. (1990). Organization development. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

Nicholas, J. (1982). The comparative impact of organization development interventions on hard

criteria measures. Academy of Management Review. 7, 531-542, p. 532

Werner, J. & DeSimone, R. (2012) Human Resource Development. (6th Ed.). South-Western,
Cengage Learning.