Organizational

Development
An Overview of the OD Process
Definition

Planned change effort involving systematic
diagnosis of the total organization that is
managed from the top to increase the
organizational effectiveness and health of
the overall system (Beckhard, 1969, pp. 9-
10)

Approach
Empowerment through the articulation of
the change agent's values designed to
facilitate visioning, organizational learning
and problem solving in the interests of a
collaborative management of the
organization's culture (French and Bell,
1995, p. 28)
a humanistic approach that utilises Action
Research as a mode of enquiry.

Themes
Human relations approach, where the focus was
on man's social needs and ways of meeting
them to increase motivation and organization
productivity. (Beckhard, 1969, p. 2).
Human engineering, to rationalize the way work
was done; the way the work-force was utilized to
increase the output; and the productivity of the
goods and services produced.

OD

Structural Change
Technological Change
Behavioral Change
The first half of the twentieth
century
Unprecedented growth of large-scale formal
organizations which developed hierarchical,
technical and "social" machinery.
OD became informed in an ad hoc way by a
generation of "social technicians" preoccupied
with organizational improvement and efficiency
within organizations characterized by
standardization, routinization and impersonality.

The first half of the twentieth
century
key themes of organizational behavior
motivation and morale
leadership behavior
communication skills
teamwork
job enrichment
enlargement or empowerment.

1980s
The excellence movement furthered the cause of
innovation and entrepreneurship within
organizations and argued the need to think ahead to
a post-industrial future.
Bureaucratic stability was a thing of the past and
flexible organizations became the future driven by
turbulent economic environments.
McKinsey 7-S framework became, for a while, the
vehicle to transform the culture of organizations.
OD in the form of managing change and
empowerment became the ultimate goal.


1990s

Most organizations were beginning to
experience one of the most disruptive and
dramatic types of organizational change
strategies to have hit the world headlines.
Downsizing/Rightsizing.

The last 20 years
movement from centralisation to decentralisation;
a focus on the flexible firm by disaggregating or
outsourcing;
a movement from long-term strategic planning to
short-term tactical planning;
the emergence of downsizing and restructuring with
the team as the central mechanism for innovation
and change;
the movement from training (typifying the division of
labour) to organizational learning, personal growth
and development.

The OD Model

I
Anticipating a need
for change
II
Developing Consultant-
Client Relationship
III
The Diagnostic
Process
IV
Action Plans,
Strategies And
Techniques
V
Self-Renewal
Mobilizing and
Stabilizing
VI
Continuous
Improvement
Process
The Consulting Wheel

Consulting
Skills
Profile
Personal
Skills
Leadership
Skills
Project
Management
Skills
Interpersonal
Skills
Problem
Solving
Skills
Communication
Skills
Managerial Consulting Diagnostic
Model

Basic Planning
Personnel
General Business
Practices
Market Research
Finance
Advertising and
Promotions
Change Forces

Success of Change
Evaluation of
Change
Advocates of
Change
Degree of
Change
Time Frame
Impact of
Culture
The OD Process

Consultant Values
Efficiency - Morale
Consultant Role
Process - Expert
Data Gathering
Diagnosis
The
Performance
Gap
Structural
Behavioral
Technical
Change
Process
Technique
Desired
State
OD Interventions
Team Development High Performing
Teams
Intergroup Development Cooperation
and Conflict Resolution
Systemwide High Performing Systems
Organization Transformation Strategy
Interventions