Growth of OD
First: globalization is changing the markets and environments
in which organizations operate as the way
they function. New governments,new leadership, new markets,and new countrie
s areemerging and
creating a new global economy. The
toppling of
the Berlin Wall
symbolized and energized the reunification
of
Germany: entrepreneurs appeared in Russia, the Balkans, andSiberia as
the former SovietUnion
evolves, in fits and starts, intoseparate, market-oriented states; and China emerg
ed as an open market and
as the governance mechanism overHong Kong to represent a powerful shift in
global economic influence.
Second:information technology is redefining the traditional business model
by changing how work is
performed, how knowledge
is used, and
how the cost of doing
business is calculated. The way an
organization collects, stores, manipulates,
uses, and transmits
information can lower costs or increase the
value
and quality of
products and
services. Information technology, for
example, is at the heart of emerging
e-commerce
strategies and organizations.Amazon.com, E-Trade, are
among many recent entrants to the
information
economy, and the
amount
of business being conducted on
the Internet is projected to grow at
double-digitrates for well over ten years. Moreover, the underlyingrate of innov
ation is notexpected to
decline. Electronic data interchange, a state-of-the-art technology application a
few years ago, is now
considered
routine business practice.
The ability to
move information
easily and inexpensively throughout
and
among organizations has fueled
the
downsizing, delayering, and restructuring of firms. The Internet
and the World Wide Web have
enabled a new form of work
known as
telecommuting; organization
members
can work from their
homes or cars without ever going
to
the office. Finally ,information
technology is changing how knowledge is used. Information that is widely
shared reduces the concentration
of
power
at
the top of
the
organization.
Organization members now share the same key information that
senior
managers once used to control decision making. Ultimately,information technol
ogy will generate
new
business models in which communication and information sharing is nearly free
.
Third:managerial innovation has
responded to
the globalization and
information technology trends and
Has
accelerated their impact on organizations. New organizational forms,such as
networks, strategic
alliances,
and virtual corporations, provide
organizations with new ways of thinking about how to
manufacture
goods and deliver services.
The strategic alliance, for
example, has emerged as one of the
indispensable tools
in strategy implementation.
No single organization, not even IBM,Mitsubishi, or
General Electric, can control the environmental and market uncertainty it faces.
Sun Microsystems'
network is so complex that some products it sells are never touched by a Sun
employee. In addition, new
methods of change, such as
downsizing and
reengineering, have radically reduced the size of organizations
and
increased their flexibility,and new large-group interventions,
such as
the search conferencee and open
space,have increased the speedwith which organizational changecan take place.
Managers, OD
practitioners, and researchers argue that
these forces not only
are powerful in their ownright but are
interrelated. Their interaction makes for a highly uncertain and chaoticenvironm
ent for all kinds of
organizations,including manufacturing and service firms and those in
the public andprivate sector. There
is no question that these forcesare profoundly affecting organizations.
Fortunately, a growing number of organizations are undertaking the kinds of
organizational changes needed
to
survive and prosper in today'senvironment. They are making themselves more st
reamlinedand nimble
andmore responsive to
external demands. They are involving employees in key decisions and paying fo
r
performance rather than for time. Theyare taking the initiative in innovating and
managing change, rather
than simply responding to what has already happened.
Organization Development is
playing
an increasinglykey role in helpingorganizations changethemselves.
It
is helping organizations assessthemselves and their environments, and revitalize
and rebuildtheir
strategies,structures, and processes. OD
is helping organization members go
beyond surface changes to
transform
the underlying assumptions andvalues governing theirbehaviors. The different O
D concepts
andmethods increasingly arefinding their way into government agencies, manuf
acturing firms,
multinational corporations, service industries,educational institutions, andnotfor-profit organizations.
Perhaps at no other time has OD beenmore responsive and practically relevant
to organizations' needs to
operateeffectively in a highly complex andchanging world.
What is Organization Development(OD)?
Whatmakes one organization a winner,whereas another fails to makeuse of
the same opportunities? The
key to survival and success liesnot in the rational, quantitativeapproaches, but rather in a commitment
to
irrational, difficult-to-measure
things like people, quality,customer service, and moreimportantly, develop
the flexibility to meet changing conditions. For example, in a study thatexamined the "high tech-high
touch" phenomenon at Citicorp, the crucial component in adapting to
technological change was the human
factor. Employee involvement and commitment is the true key to successfulchange.
OrganizationDevelopment MGMT628
VU
DefiningOrganization Development(OD):
Thewords organization development refers to something about organizationsand developing them. "
An
organization is the planned coordination of the activities of a number of people for the achievement of
some common explicit purpose or goal,through division of laborand functions, and through a hierarchy
of
authorityand responsibility." Organizations aresocial systems possessingcharacteristics and OD effort
sare
directedtoward organizations or major subparts of them.
Development is the act, process, result, or state of being developed which in turn means to advance, to
promote the growth of, to evolve the possibilities of, to further, to improve, or to enhance something.
Twoelements of this definition seemimportant: first, development may be an act, process, or endstate;
second, development refers to "bettering'something.
Combiningthese words suggests that organization development is
the act, process, or result of furthering,
advancing, or promoting the growth of organization. According to this definition, organization
development is anything done to "better" an organization. But this definition is too broad and allinclusive.
It can refer to almost anything done in an organizational context that enhances the organization hiring a
personwith needed skills, firing an incompetent, merging with another organization, installing a
computer,
removing a
computer, buying a new plant,and so on. This definitionserves neither to identifyand specify
nor to delimit (perhaps something done to "worsen" an organization would be ruled out). The term
organization development must be given added meaning,must refer to something morespecific, if
productivediscourse on the subject is desired.
Anotherway of defining OD is to examine the following definitions whichhave been (suggested in the
literature).
Definition of Organization Development(OD):
OD is an effort (1) planned, (2) organization-wide, and (3) managedfrom the top, to (4)increase
organization effectiveness and health through(5) planned interventions in the
organization's "processes,"
using behavioral science knowledge. (RichardBeckhard)
Analysis of the definition suggests that OD is not just "anything done to better an organization"; it is a
particular kind of change processdesigned to bring about a particular kind of end result.
OD thus represents a unique strategyfor system change, a strategy largely based in
the theory and research
of the behavioral sciences, and a strategy having a substantial prescriptive character. OD is thus a
normative discipline, it prescribes how planned change in organizations should
be approached andcarried
out if organization improvement is to be obtained.
In summary, OD is a process of
planned system change that attempts to make organizations (viewed as
social-technicalsystems) better able to attain their short- and long-term objectives.This is achieved by
teaching the
organization members to manage their organization processes and culture moreeffectively.
Facts,concepts, and theory from the behavioral sciences are utilized to
fashion both the process and the
content of the interventions. A basic belief of OD theorists and practitioners is thatfor effective, lasting
change to take place, the systemmembers must grow in the competence to master their ownfates.
Finally, it is important to note that OD has two broad goals: organization development and individual
development. Although it is not statedexplicitly in the above definitions,improving the quality of lifefor
individuals in organizations is a primary goal of organization development. Enhancing individual
development is a key value of OD practitioners and a key outcome of most OD programs
