UNIT 5

DEFINITIONS

According to Dale S. Beach, organisation development (OD) is, “a complex educational strategy
designed to increase organisational effectiveness and wealth through planned intervention by a
consultant using theory and techniques of applied behavioural service.”

According to J I Porras and P J Robertson, Organisational Development, “is a term used to

encompass a collection of planned change interventions, built on humanistic democratic values,
that seek to improve organisational effectiveness and employee well being.”

According to George R. Terry, “Organisational development includes efforts to improve results

by getting the best from employees, individually and as members of working groups.”

As per Werren G. Bennis, Organisation Development is, “a complex educational strategy

intended to change the beliefs, attitudes, values and structure of organisations so that they can
better adapt to new technologies, markets and challenges and the dizzying rate of change
itself.”

PROCESS OF ORGANISATION DEVELOPMENT

The organizational development process is a systematic, research-based series of steps.

Common implementation steps include the following:

1. Identifying an area of improvement

Organizational change begins with identifying a need that aligns with business goals.
Companies often know that need right away, but they may consider a data-driven
approach to identify problems through formal surveys and feedback. This approach
allows for a more thorough understanding of the area for improvement. Companies
should ask themselves what they want to change, and why that change is necessary.

2. Investigating the problem

Once the area for improvement is identified, companies conduct an investigation to
learn why the problem exists, what the barriers to improvement are, and what solutions
have previously been attempted. This step can also include surveys or focus groups and
individual consultations.

3. Creating an action plan

 The company then creates a plan with allocated resources and clearly defined employee
roles. This plan will include specific support for individuals involved and identify a
measurable goal. During this step, companies should think about how they’ll
communicate changes to staff and manage feedback.

4. Creating motivation and a vision

Once the company has clearly defined and communicated a plan, its leaders must
motivate their employees to share in a vision. This step involves leaders acting as
enthusiastic role models while helping employees understand the plan’s big-picture
goals and desired impact.

5. Implementing
While stability is necessary during implementation, supporting employees during the
transition with mentoring, training, and coaching is equally important. When thinking
about such support, management should consider what new skills employees will need
and what delivery methods will be most effective. Ongoing feedback and communication
can help make the change process easier.

6. Evaluating initial results

Once the company has implemented a plan, its leaders may create space for shared
reflection, asking themselves and their employees if the change effectively met the
business goals. They’ll also evaluate the change management process and consider what
could be done differently. This step can’t be overlooked; if the company doesn’t evaluate
the changes, it won’t know whether interventions have been effective.

7. Adapting or continuing

Depending on the evaluation of the initial results, the company may choose to adapt its
plan. If the results show success, it may continue with the current plan to keep
improving.

ORGANISATION DEVELOPMENT TECHNIQUES

1. Survey Feedback:

Information is collected through survey method. This is the most popular and widely
used method of data collection. The managers use this information collected through
survey for making decisions. The wide range of data is collected regarding working
conditions, quality of work, working hours, wages and salaries, attitude of employees
relating to above.
These data are then analyzed by the team of managers. They find out the problem,
evaluate the results and find out solutions. Information is collected from all the
members of the organisation. Managers conduct meetings with their subordinates and
discuss the information, allow subordinates to interpret the data. After this plans are
prepared for making necessary changes. This procedure is followed at all levels of
management involving all the employees of the organisation.

2. Team Building:

Team Building is another method of organisation development. This method is

specifically designed to make improvement in the ability of employees and motivating
them to work together. It is the organisation development technique which emphasizes
on team building or forming work groups in order to improve organisational
effectiveness.

These teams consist of employees of the same rank and a supervisor. This technique is
an application of sensitivity training to the teams of different departments. The teams or
work groups are pretty small consisting of 10 to 15 persons. They undergo group
discussion under the supervision of an expert trainer usually a supervisor. The trainer
only guides but does not participate in the group discussion.

3. Sensitivity Training:

“Under this technique the different groups of employees are allowed to mix up with
each other and communicate freely and build up interpersonal relationship. They learn
the reflection of their behaviour and try to improve it. In the words of Chris Argyris,
“sensitivity training is a group experience designed to provide maximum possible
opportunity for the individuals to expose their behaviour, give and receive feedback,
experiment with new behaviour and develop awareness of self and of others.”

4. Managerial Grid:

This technique is developed by industrial psychologists duo Robert Blake and Jane
Mouton. The concept of managerial grid identifies two major dimensions of
management behaviour. They are people oriented and production oriented behaviours.
Attempts are made to pay increased attention to both the variables.

In the diagram given below, production oriented behaviour is shown on X axis and
people oriented behaviour is shown on Y axis. The point A having coordinates 1.1
managerial style shows low people oriented and low production oriented behaviour.

It is impoverished management. There are many managers come under this category.
Such managers do not face any trouble and they do not carry any risk too. The point B
having coordinates 1.9 represents a managerial style which is highly people oriented and
low production oriented. This is a Country Club pattern of management. This type of
management style keeps the employees happy without much concern for production.

The next point C or 9.1 represents a managerial style which shows high concern for
production and low in people orientation. The managers who come under this category
who usually fix high targets of production for their subordinates and employees and do
not pay any attention to the needs and wants of their people.

The point D having coordinates 9.9 represent a managerial style which is highly
production oriented and highly people oriented. Robert Blake and Jane Mouton say that
this is the most effective managerial style. Under this category of management style
managers put their best efforts and have commitment to the people and organisation.
This is the most favoured style and efforts must be made to develop the style
accordingly.

5. Management by Objectives (MBO):

MBO is a technique of management development which was put forward for the first
time by Peter Drucker in 1954. It is a method of achieving organisational objectives and a
technique of evaluation and review of performance. Under this method objectives of the
organisation are fixed and responsibility to achieve them lie on the managers and results
are expected from them.

Achievement of organisational objectives is considered as the joint and individual

responsibility of all managers. It also provides a perfect appraisal system. Performance of
the managers is measured against the specific objectives. It is result oriented technique.

6. Brain Storming:

It is a technique where a group of five to eight managers come together and find a
solution to a problem. As the name suggests it involves storming of the brain to develop
creativity in thinking. It gives rise to new ideas. The principle involves in it is that any
idea, thought or plan put forward in a meeting must be critically evaluated. The
participants are asked to come forward with novel ideas generated in their mind. It
works on a premise that everyone has a creative mind and capability to generate new
ideas.

7. Process Consultation:

In process consultation the consultant or expert provides the trainee feedback and tell
him what is going around him as pointed out by E H Schein that the consultant, “gives
the client ‘insight’ into what is going on around him, within him, and between him and
other people.”

Under this technique the consultant or expert provides necessary guidance or advice as
to how the participant can solve his own problem. Here the consultant makes correct
diagnosis of the problem and then guides the participants.

8. Quality Circles:

Under this system a group of 5 to 12 come together at their own free will during working
hours once in a week and discuss out the problems and suggests solution to the
management for implementation. The supervisors remain present during the meeting.
Quality Circles have their origin in Japan in nineteen sixties which improved the quality,
reduced cost and heightened the morale of the workers. The success was due to
workers’ participation. Total quality management or TQM is the recent development.
This concept was adopted by the USA in 1980.
 9. Transactional Analysis:

Transactional analysis helps people to understand each other better. It is a useful tool for
organisational development but it has diverse applications in training, counselling,
interpersonal communication and making analysis of group dynamics. Nowadays, it is
widely used as OD technique. It helps in developing more adult ego states among people
of the organisation. It is also used in process consultation and team building.

ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE

Organisational change refers to the process of growth, decline and transformation within
the organisation. Though one thinks that organisations are enduring structures in a
changing society. However, the truth is that organisations are changing all the time.
Organisational change takes different forms.

An organisation must make changes continuously in order to cope up with changes in-

· Customer needs

· Technological breakthrough

· Economic shocks

· Government regulations etc.

Process of Organisational change

1. Prepare the Organization for Change

For an organization to successfully pursue and implement change, it must be prepared

both logistically and culturally. Before delving into logistics, cultural preparation must first
take place.

In the preparation phase, the manager is focused on helping employees recognize and
understand the need for change. They raise awareness of the various challenges or
problems facing the organization that are acting as forces of change and generating
dissatisfaction with the status quo. Gaining this initial buy-in from employees who will
help implement the change can remove friction and resistance later on.

2. Craft a Vision and Plan for Change

Once the organization is ready to embrace change, managers must develop a thorough
and realistic plan for bringing it about. The plan should detail:
Strategic goals: What goals does this change help the organization work toward?

Key performance indicators: How will success be measured? What metrics need to be
moved? What’s the baseline for how things currently stand?

Project stakeholders and team: Who will oversee the task of implementing change? Who
needs to sign off at each critical stage? Who will be responsible for implementation?

Project scope: What discrete steps and actions will the project include? What falls outside
of the project scope?

3. Implement the Changes

After the plan has been created, all that remains is to follow the steps outlined within it to
implement the required change. Whether that involves changes to the company’s
structure, strategy, systems, processes, employee behaviors, or other aspects will depend
on the specifics of the initiative.

During the implementation process, change managers must be focused on empowering

their employees to take the necessary steps to achieve the goals of the initiative. They
should also do their best to anticipate roadblocks and prevent, remove, or mitigate them
once identified. Repeated communication of the organization’s vision is critical throughout
the implementation process to remind team members why change is being pursued.

4. Embed Changes Within Company Culture and Practices

Once the change initiative has been completed, change managers must prevent a
reversion to the prior state or status quo. This is particularly important for organizational
change related to processes, workflows, culture, and strategies. Without an adequate
plan, employees may backslide into the “old way” of doing things, particularly during the
transitory period.

By embedding changes within the company’s culture and practices, it becomes more
difficult for backsliding to occur. New organizational structures, controls, and reward
systems should all be considered as tools to help change stick.

5. Review Progress and Analyze Results

Just because a change initiative is complete doesn’t mean it was successful. Conducting
analysis and review, or a “project post mortem,” can help business leaders understand
whether a change initiative was a success, failure, or mixed result. It can also offer
valuable insights and lessons that can be leveraged in future change efforts.
WHAT IS RESISTENCE TO CHANGE?

It is the reluctance of adapting to change when it is presented. Employees can be open or

shy anout their willingness to adapt to organisational change.

Reasons for organisational change resistence-

· Mistrust and lack of confidence

· Emotionl responses

· Fear of failure

· Poor communication

· Unrealistic timelines

How to overcome resistence to change?

· Show the value in the new change by educating employees

· Collect employees input before a change

· Come to an argument with your employees

· Include employees in the change management plan

· Support your employees during organisational transformation