Published on 14 Feb 2017
School
Department
Course
Professor
Organizational Design (OD) Approach
Top-down focus; change is planned incrementally, and is participative; Outcomes focused on
improved effectiveness of org.; long-term focus to achieve action-oriented goals; focus on changing
attitudes and behaviours of employees,
OD APPROACH: Involves systematic diagnosis of the whole org. system, plan for its improvement,
provision of adequate resources; ideas emerge through;
Top of org. committed to change processes;
Long-term (2-3 years) to achieve effective change; Aim to improve org. effectiveness;
Changing attitudes & behaviour is the focus of the change effort;
Experiential based learning- identify current behaviours and modifications needed;
Groups and teams form key focus for change
Developmental prescriptions for achieving change are based on core set of values
The OD practitioner
Coach organizations and the people in them toward intentional outcomes, shaped by a set of values
that emphasize humanistic, democratic, and developmental aspirations.
Based upon action research
Steps:
Problem identification: someone in org. becomes aware of problem that needs to be addressed
Consultation w. OD practitioner: client & customer come together to create a collaborative dialogue
Data gathering & problem diagnosis: interviews, surveys, observations, analysis of performance
data occur to assist in problem diagnosis
Feedback: consultant provides client with relevant data
Joint problem Diagnosis: as part of action research process, people discuss consideration of info and
what it means in terms of required change
Join action planning: specific actions that need to be taken are identified
Change actions: intro and transition to new techniques and behaviours
Further data gathering: outcomes of change determined, further actions occur
1-3: unfreeze, 4-7: movement: to new behaviours through cognitive restructuring, 8: refreeze:
integrate new behaviours into social and org. relationships
Problems: 1. OD definitions and concepts: difficult to establish relationship between OD and ability
to enhance org effectiveness
2. Internal Validity Problems: whether change was caused by intervention or range of other factors
3. Lack of theory of change
4. Eteal alidit poles: appopiate to all og’s ad settigs?
5. problems w. measuring attitude changes
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6. problems w. normal science approaches to research
Critiques: Does’t deal adeuatel ith leadeship, stategi hage, power, reward systems
Cuet eleae of OD’s taditioal alues: dosizig & eegieeig go agaist fudaetal
values of OD – values of OD not analogous with values of the org.
Dilea: Idiiduals’ deelopet ad og. pefoae ae otadito elements
Good: More inclusive: - multiple levels of involvement in decision making, mutual accountability,
reinforce interdependence
Engaging in large-scale change: traditional OD field was ill-suited to handle second-order, large-scale
change -> OD has moved its focus from micro-org. issues to macro, large-system issues, including
aligning change to the strategic needs of the org.
This led to development of techniques to get reps of all the stakeholders into a room at one and the
same time.
These techniques are designed to work with large groups of people simultaneously. The few are no
longer left in the position of deciding for the many. Provide means for getting the message to the
total system by enhancing eeoe’s understanding of the changes required and becomes the
impetus for concerted actions
Appreciative Inquiry: From Problem Solving to (building on) What works well/ joint envisioning of
future
Participation by large-scale intervention
The OD shifted from problem solving and conflict management, to a focus on joint envisioning of the
future. The assumptions underlying the Appreciative Inquiry approach to change, which seeks to
identify what is currently working best and to build on this knowledge to help develop and design
what might be achieved in the future.
Technique involves 4 steps:
DISCOVERING or appreciating the best of what is currently practiced
Building on this knowledge to help envision (or DREAM)about what the future could be
Designing or co-constructing through collective dialogue what should be
Sustaining the og’s destiny or future
4-D cycle: Discovering what gives life, Dream what might be, Design what should be the ideal? Co-
constructing, Destiny: how to empower, learn, and adjust/improvise sustaining?
-Releases new constructive conversations, self-sustaining learning capacity within the org., creates
the conditions necessary for self-organizing
Involving everyone in decision making makes them more apt to agree with decision and adhere to
new interventions. Difficult to measure outcomes.
POS: fouses o positie aspets of og. life, oahig ethod to assist og’s
Change Management
Focus on strategic, intentional, usually large-scale change
Multi-step models of how to achieve large-scale, transformational change.
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find more resources at oneclass.com