Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Organization Development
Organization development (OD) is a deliberately planned, organization-wide effort to increase an organization's effectiveness or efficiency.
Organization Development
Organization Development is a system wide application and transfer of behavioral science knowledge to the planned development, improvement, and reinforcement of strategies, structures, and processes that lead to organization effectiveness. (Cummings and Worley, 2005)
Organization Development
Organization development is any process or activity, based on the behavioral sciences, that, either initially or over the long term, has the potential to develop in an organizational setting enhanced knowledge, expertise, productivity, satisfaction, income, interpersonal relationships, and other desired outcomes, whether for personal or group/team gain, or for the benet of an organization, community, nation, region, or, ultimately, the whole of humanity. (McLean, 2005)
History
Kurt Lewin (18981947) is widely recognized as the founding father of OD, although he died before the concept became current in the mid-1950s. From Lewin came the ideas of group dynamics and action research which underpin the basic OD process as well as providing its collaborative consultant/client ethos.
Core Values
Underlying Organization Development are humanistic values. Margulies and Raia (1972) articulated the humanistic values of OD as follows:
1. 2. 3. 4. Providing opportunities for people to function as human beings rather than as resources in the productive process. Providing opportunities for each organization member, as well as for the organization itself, to develop to his full potential. Seeking to increase the effectiveness of the organization in terms of all of its goals. Attempting to create an environment in which it is possible to find exciting and challenging work.
5.
6.
Providing opportunities for people in organizations to influence the way in which they relate to work, the organization, and the environment.
Treating each human being as a person with a complex set of needs, all of which are important in his work and in his life. (Margulies, 1972, p. 3)
Objectives of OD
1.
2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Change Agent
A change agent in the sense used here is not a technical expert skilled in such functional areas as accounting, production, or finance.
The change agent is a behavioral scientist who knows how to get people in an organization involved in solving their own problems.
A change agent's main strength is a comprehensive knowledge of human behavior, supported by a number of intervention techniques.
Sponsoring Organization
The initiative for OD programs often comes from an organization that has a problem or anticipates facing a problem. This means that top management or someone authorized by top management is aware that a problem exists and has decided to seek help in solving it.
Systems Context
OD deals with a total system the organization as a whole, including its relevant environment or with a subsystem or systems departments or work groups in the context of the total system.
Organizational self-renewal
The ultimate aim of OD practitioners is to "work themselves out of a job" by leaving the client organization with a set of tools, behaviors, attitudes, and an action plan with which to monitor its own state of health and to take corrective steps toward its own renewal and development. This is consistent with the systems concept of feedback as a regulatory and corrective mechanism. (Johnson, 1976, pp. 219222)
Action Research
Wendell L French and Cecil Bell defined organization development (OD) at one point as "organization improvement through action research" (French & Bell).
If one idea can be said to summarize OD's underlying philosophy, it would be action research as it was conceptualized by Kurt Lewin and later elaborated and expanded on by other behavioral scientists.
Action Research
Lewin's description of the process of change involves three steps: 1. 2. 3. "Unfreezing": Faced with a dilemma or disconfirmation, the individual or group becomes aware of a need to change. "Changing": The situation is diagnosed and new models of behavior are explored and tested. "Refreezing": Application of new behavior is evaluated, and if reinforcing, adopted.
OD Interventions
"Interventions" are principal learning processes in the "action" stage of organization development.
Interventions are structured activities used individually or in combination by the members of a client system to improve their social or task performance.
They may be introduced by a change agent as part of an improvement program, or they may be used by the client following a program to check on the state of the organization's health, or to effect necessary changes in its own behavior.
Formal Definition
Total Quality Management is formally defined in BS 7850-1, paragraph 3.1, as management philosophy and company practices that aim to harness the human and material resources of an organization in the most effective way to achieve the objectives of the organization.
Total quality management can be summarized as a management system for a customer-focused organization that involves all employees in continual improvement. It uses strategy, data, effective communications and involvement of all level employees to integrate the quality discipline into the culture and activities of the organization.
Principles of TQM
The customer defines quality.
Top management must provide the leadership for quality Quality is a strategic issue All functions of the company must focus on continuous quality improvement Quality problems are solved through cooperation among employees and management Use statistical quality control methods in problem solving
Training and education of all employees are the basis for continuous quality improvement.
Juran Trilogy
Joseph M. Juran was one of the first to think about the cost of poor quality. This was illustrated by his "Juran trilogy", an approach to cross-functional management. Without change, there will be a constant waste, during change there will be increased costs, but after the improvement, margins will be higher and the increased costs get recouped.
Three aspects of quality managerial systems: quality planning quality control
quality improvement
Quality Policies
Mission statement outlines the specific need the firms product or service meets
Corporate policies (apply to everyone) Departmental policies (not relevant to any other department worker) Policies must be consistent with companys strategy (buying from a low-cost bidder may be inconsistent with the strategy of high quality products)
Drive out fear, so that everyone may work effectively for the company
Break down barriers between departments
10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the work force asking for zero defects and new levels of productivity 11. Eliminate work quotas. Eliminate management by numbers and numerical goals. Instead substitute with leadership 12. Remove barriers that rob the hourly worker of his right to pride of workmanship. 13. Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement 14. Put everybody in the company to work to accomplish the transformation