QAM5034:

Organisational Development & Change

Meeting 5
Designing Interventions

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nor Zairah Ab. Rahim

nzairah@utm.my

1
 LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this topic, you should be able to:
1. Identify the features and types of interventions for organisation development.
2. Discuss the intervention design process.
3. Explain the types of organisation intervention designs.
INTRODUCTION
intervention is “a set of activities, actions, and events” which are designed to
help an organisation improve its performance and efficiency.
purposely implemented to make an organisation or part of an organisation more
efficient.
“the planned program activities undertaken to increase the efficiency of a
program or an organisation”. (French & Bell, Robert Zawacki 2005)
Intervention design refers to the process of analysing problems and designing
ways to resolve them and increase efficacy
 They are planned.
An effective
intervention should
relate to the needs
of the client. It
should be based on
valid information as
well as a free and
informed choice.
Their success is
They are selected
dependent on the
by the client and
know-how of the
consultant.
consultant.

General
Characteristics of
Interventions in
Organisation They are selected
They differ in each Development after a careful
business centred
diagnosis of the
around its specific
current state of a
requirements.
Business.

Their
They focus on implementation
social and task requires
performance participation and
enhancement. involvement of a
client system.

Figure 5.1: General characteristics of interventions in od

 Types of OD
Intervention

Techno-
Human process
structural
interventions
interventions
 Classification Description
Diagnostic activities These are assessment activities aimed at analysing the state of a client system.
Team building activities Team building activities are designed to enhance the effective operation of teams.
Inter-group activities Inter-group activities are designed to improve the effectiveness of interdependent groups.
Survey/feedback These involve collecting information that helps to identify problems or opportunities.
activities
Education and training These are undertakings designed to improve an individual’s skills abilities and knowledge.
activities
Techno structural This refers to activities intended to improve the effectiveness of a business’s structure and job
activities design.
Process consultation These are designed in consultation with the client to identify the client’s environment and address
activities them.
Grid OD activities Robert Blake and Mouton Model: The model has six phases involving the whole Business. The
model includes:
 Upgrading skills and leadership abilities of managers;
 Improving team;
 Improving intergroup relations;
 Corporate planning;
 Developing implementation tactics;
 Assessing culture change; and
 Designing way forward.
 Classification Description
Third-party peace- This refers to activities that are planned and conducted by a consultant to manage inter-
making activities personal conflict in the process of organisational change. They are based on
understanding the conflict resolution process.
Coaching and These are activities that help an individual to define learning goals, to understand others
counselling activities behaviour and to see how others see their behaviour while under the guidance of a
consultant.
Life and career These activities enable an individual to focus on their life and career objectives and
planning activities design a way to achieve them. This is achieved by conducting an inventory of life &
career objectives, discussing an individual’s goals and objectives; assessment of
individuals’ capabilities; assessment of the training needed and identifying the strengths
and weaknesses of individuals.
Planning & goal setting These activities include goal setting, problem-solving, discrepancies if any to achieve
activities objectives.
Strategic Management Activities that link the inter-mediations with the basic mission & environmental scanning
activities & which helps in long-range planning.
Transformation Activities that involve large scale system changes or fundamental change in the nature of
activities a group.
 Intervention Techniques Description
Individual Mediations These encompass training individuals on behaviour and technical aspects as a way of bringing change.
they include the following:
 Training;
 Workshops;
 Seminars; or
 Lectures including.
Team Building This helps teams improve the way they accomplish a task and also help the team members enhance
their interpersonal & problem-solving skills. In the complex environment. They can be effective in
improving teamwork and team accomplishment.
Inter-group OD The interdependence of functions is a potential source of conflict in business due to competition &
interventions conflict resulting from varied objectives, values, efforts and interests between groups. This impacts
effectiveness negatively. Inter-group activities may take the form of:
 Inter-group teambuilding: This involves the consultant intervening to open communication
between two groups.
 Organisation Mirror interventions: This involves activities in which an Organisational unit called a
host group gets feedback from other groups about how it is perceived
 Walton’s approach to third-party peace-making: It is because each group must confront the
exiting conflict. The consultant helps each group confront conflict and develop resolution action
plans.
System-wide mediations They involve a range of Mediations aimed at improving Organisational effectiveness through changes
in the task, structural, technological & goal processes of a business.
Sensitivity training The aim of sensitivity training is to use group interactions to change behaviours. Friction between
individuals is reduced and better relationships built.
 Intervention Techniques Description
Team building Team building brings about effective interpersonal relationships and is a useful way to assess
interpersonal issues.
Survey feedback This is a method that uses data collection, analysing data and giving feedback from data to the survey
participants. They discuss the data with the aim of generating solutions. An action plan is then developed,
and follow-ups are done.
Grid training This is based on the Blake Mouton Managerial Grid Through Grid training, a consultant can understand
and analyse the following:
 Concern for People: this is the degree to which a leader considers team members' needs, interests
and areas of personal development when deciding how best to accomplish a task.
 Concern for Results: this is the degree to which a leader emphasises concrete objectives,
organisational efficiency and high productivity when deciding how best to accomplish a task. Using
the Blake Mouton Managerial Grid, the leadership ‘concerns for production’ versus ‘concerns for
people’, Blake and Mouton defined five leadership styles which is shown in Figure 5.4:

Process consultation
Management by Objectives (MBO) This is an organisation-wide intervention technique whereby a joint goal setting between employees and
Role negotiation technique
Role analysis
It helps leaders to improve the processes that are used in organisations. it entails a consultant coming
into an organisation, defining the relationship, he chooses an approach, gathers data, diagnoses problem
and comes up with an intervention.
managers take place. Periodic progress reviews of the initial objectives are done to solve problems and
remove obstacles to goal achievement.
This is whereby employees meet and clarify their psychological contract. It leads to less ambiguity as each
gains a clear understanding of what he expects to give and get.
It entails analysing individual task demands and individual capabilities to redesign jobs to fit new
techniques or organisation structures.
Blake Mouton Managerial Grid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSvVdEKq9io
EFFECTIVE INTERVENTIONS
1. Relevance
This gauges concerned with the relevance of an intervention to the organisation and its members. This
implies that an effective intervention /action is determined by the extent to which it fits the needs of the
organisation. An intervention needs to have the following for it to be termed as effective:
a. Be based on valid information about the organisation’s functioning: Valid information is obtained
through an accurate diagnosis of the organisation. The information should objectively reveal members’
perception and feelings on their primary concerns and issues.

b. Provide organisation members with opportunities to make free and informed choices: Members
of the organisation should be actively involved in making decisions about the changes and the intervention.
Members can choose not to participate, and the intervention will not be imposed on them since the aim of
the change process is building capacity for change and increase effectiveness and not to impose change on
members
C. Gain members’ internal commitment to those choices: Management, staff, and other relevant members
must be committed to carrying them out if interventions are to result in meaningful changes. This means
that members must accept and own the intervention and take responsibility for implementing it.
2. Knowledge of outcomes
The aim of an intervention is to lead to results. For it to be effective, an
intervention must, therefore, be based on solid knowledge that the intended
outcomes are being produced.

3. Increasing the organisation’s capacity to manage change

Competence in change from active participation in designing and
implementing the intervention.
The principal values of OD recommend that “organisation members should be
better able to carry out planned change activities on their own after an
intervention”. Organisations members should gain knowledge and skill in
managing change.
Factors affecting the effectiveness of interventions
Possibility Description
Factors related to change can target
the Change • different issues
Situation • different levels.
organisation issues maybe:
• strategic (concerned with key decisions on product
offering, markets etc)
• technological/structural (issues to do with work division
and interdepartmental coordination);
• human resource issues eg. appraisals, goal setting etc;
• human resources processes eg communication.
Factors related to These relate to individual groups eg. different offices of the
organisational organisations; different organisational functions etc.
levels
Factors affecting the success of
interventions
•Diverse needs among
organisation members
(for example, needs
for autonomy)

•Dimensions of the
•Organisational
change process itself
factors (for example,
(for example, degree
management style and
of top-management
technical ambiguity)
support)
General factors that can affect intervention success
The organisation’s
readiness for
change

The capability of
The organisations’
the change agent
capability for
(the change agent’s
change
skills and abilities)

The cultural context

 Discussion of each factor
1. The organisation’s readiness for change
An organisations readiness for change is revealed through sensitivity to
pressures for change, dissatisfaction with the prevailing situation, availability of
resources to support change, and management commitment to change.
2. The organisations’ capability for change
An organisations’ capability for change depends on:
a. The change related knowledge and skills
b. The resources and systems dedicated to change
c. The organisation’s experience with change
 Discussion of each factor
3. The cultural context
The organisation’s culture can greatly influence how members react to
change.

4. The capability of the change agent (the change agent’s skills and
abilities)
Consultants should hence evaluate their experience and know-how
against the requirements needed to implement some actions to
improve the problem effectively.
Integrated Approach to Change
 Why Intervention Fail
1. Wrong Problem
2. Wrong Intervention
3. Unclear or overambitious goals
4. Implementing an event rather than a program
5. Not enough time devoted
6. Poorly designed intervention
7. Unskilled change agent
8. Ownership not transferred to client
9. Resistance to change
10. Lack of readiness for change
 Integrated Approach to Change
1. Behavioural Strategy
These changes emphasise on better utilisation of human resources by improving morale, motivation as well as the
commitment among members.

2. Structural Strategy
They relate to the elements of an organisation to one another. Examples include the following:
a. Removing or adding layers to the hierarchy;
b. Downsizing associated with restructuring; and
c. Decentralisation and centralisation.

3. Technological Strategy
They include changes in machinery, methods, automation, and job design. Changes help companies become more
productive.