Organizational Change & Development

Organizational Change: “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.

", -Heraclitus. Change is the one thing that we must all face. Every organization must change not only to survive, but also to retain its relevance in a world of intense competition, constant scientific progress, and rapid communication. It is inevitably necessary because without change organizations would be left behind and looses their competitive advantages. This is no more so than in today’s technological age.New products and innovations come onto the market quicker than ever before. Some companies are able to cut costs and produce a better, cheaper product by taking advantage of the latest technology.

Those companies who are unwilling or unable to keep up generally do not last very long in today’s market. There are many aspects of change including the planning, implementation, and managing thereof. But in order for change to bring a benefit and advance an organization to a higher level of service and operation, that change must be driven by knowledge.Background of Organizational Change: The roots of organization change began to grow almost a century ago, when social scientists and business writers first tried to address the human-organizational conflicts beginning to emerge in modern industrial society. After the Industrial Revolution, by the middle of the twentieth century there were established a defining feature of U. S. culture.

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Hierarchically structured corporations categorized employees neatly into power levels. They also required people to perform as well-oiled parts, subjugating individuality to the good of the whole.Machines became not only the instruments of economic progress, but a metaphor for how organizations should operate. This metaphor was quickly translated into theory. Starting in the 1880s, Frederick Taylor developed a method of "scientific management" that even today influences work design. The method involves dividing tasks into the smallest possible units and enforcing strict performance specifications for each employee. During the early years of the 20th century, the social sciences began to emerge as recognized disciplines engaging in quantitative and qualitative research.

Sociologists and psychologists began to study the "human element" in groups and organizations. During the 1920s, Mary Parker Follett’s visionary work on authority relationships anticipated later theories of participative management and conflict resolution. At about the same time, between 1924-1932, a groundbreaking series of studies took place at the Hawthorne Electric Works in Chicago. Conducted by Fritz Roethlisberger and others under the direction of Elton Mayo, these studies established a new understanding of the effect of social relationships on productivity.Mayo's book on the Hawthorne Studies has been cited as "the first major call for a human relations movement"[1] In the 1930s and into the 1940s, a growing body of literature explored organizational behavior, human motivation, leadership, and the effect of organization structure on individuals. Perhaps the most influential figure during this period was psychologist Kurt Lewin, who is widely considered the "grandfather" of organization change. Lewin’s theories integrated the individual, organization, and environment, proposing that none could be understood without reference to the others.

His Action Research Model provided the first practical application of theory to organization change processes, and this model became the basis for many subsequent theories and applications. In the last few years of his life, between 1944 and 1947, Lewin launched two innovative research organizations: The Commission on Community Interrelations, organized to investigate group dynamics especially in the context of ethnic, racial, and religious diversity. The Research Center for Group Dynamics (at the MassachusettsInstitute of Technology), was organized, in Lewin’s words, to discover "scientific methods of studying and changing group life and the development of concepts and theories of group dynamics. "[2] What is organizational change? Organizational change means any change that occurs in the work environment. The change could be minor of major. Usually Organizational change re-aligns organizational systems and deal with the factors prevailing in the external environment of an organization. Sometimes, a change is effected to revamp the internal systems of the organization.

Organizational change can be described as a situation which emerge due to some management decisions that have an effect on employees. To understand Organizational Change we have to know about ‘change’ at first. In general sense, change is any alteration accruing in the work environment that affects the ways in which employee must acts. This change may be planned or unplanned, catastrophic or evolutionary, positive or negative, strong or weak, slow or rapid, and stimulated either internally or externally. R. M. Hodgetts says, “change is any modification or alteration of the status quo.

Mainly there are two types of change as- 1) Planned change; and 2) Unplanned change. 1) Planned change: when pre-determined change is happened in an organization, its called planned change. According to Griffin, “ Planned change that is designed and implemented in an orderly and timely fashion in anticipation on future events. ” There are two goals of planned change, i) It seeks to improve the ability of the organization to adopt to changes in its environment. ii) It seeks to change employee behavior. Two terms used in planned change, are- ‘First Order Change’ which is linier and continuous change; and - ‘Second Order Change’ is a change that is multidimensional, multilevel, discontinuous and radical. 2)Reactive Change: It is suddenly happened change which is totally unplanned and can be happened in any time, anywhere.

According to Griffin, “Reactive change means a piecemeal response to circumstances as they developed” Now what is the meaning of Organizational Change? In generally,any structural and functional change of organization to adopt the changing nature of organization.It is transformation of an organization from present state to an expected state. R. W. Griffin says,“ Organizational change is any substantive modification to some part of the organization. ” Ivancevich opined, “ Organizational change is the planned attempt by management to improve the overall performance of individuals, groups and the organization by altering structure, behavior and technology. ” So, organizational change is the change of structural, technological and humanistic aspects of organization to achieve a predefined goal.

Pre condition organizational change:Following precondition should be fulfilled for organizational change- - Clear perception about present situation and humanistic aspect of organization; - Problem identification in the way of organizational change; - Change in motivational activities along with organizational change; and - Resistance attitude should be kept in lower level. Forces for Organizational Change: The forces prompting change can be categorized as, 1. External Change  Forces and 2. Internal Change Forces Forces for Change External Forces Marketplace Government laws and regulationsTechnology Labor markets Economic ; legal changes Competition Physical environment Social ; cultural environment World politics Internal Forces Administrative processes People problems Techno-structural change Nature ; attitude of change The domino effect EXTERNAL CHANGE FORCES External driving forces are those kinds of things, situation, or events that occur outside of the company and are by and large beyond the control of the company. Examples of external driving forces might be, the industry itself, the economy, demographics, competition, political interference, etc. Marketplace.The marketplace, in recent years, has affected organizations by introducing competition.

As a result change has occurred in organization. Government laws and regulations: Government laws and regulations are a frequent impetus for change. As a case in point, strict enforcement of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulations cause many organizations to examine carefully their hiring, promotion, and pay policies for women and minorities has had a significant impact on the operation of various organization. Technology: Technological innovations have created the need for change in organizations.It gives new speed in the production level of an organization. In communication sector, Computers have made possible high-speed data processing and retrieval of information and have created the need for new positions. Labor markets: The fluctuation of labor markets forces organizational leaders to initiate change.

For instance, the education, talents, and attitudes of potential managers play an important role in anorganizational effectiveness. Changes in these facets of the labor force can lead to a shortage or a surplus of qualified teachers.Economic and legal changes: Economic and legal changes affect organization as well. During periods of recession, inflation, customs law or downturns in the local or national economy, the attitudes and morale of some staff members suffer, which may hinder organization performance and forces change. Competition: Organization should be change to survive in the present fully competitive , free and open market economy. Not only at structural level but also in production of goods including size, color, package, standard and price etc. Physical Environment:Due to change in physical environment, sometimes organizational change become unavoidable.

For example, if an industry is set up nearby a sea port but the sea p[ort is not usable, then that industry must be change its location ; other necessary matters. Social and Cultural environment: Social process is a dynamic process. Organization should change its activities on the basis of chnge in traditional culture, values and ethics. For example, today man use telephone, mobile to communicate with others instead of letter by post office. World Politics:World politics is another dynamic forces of organizational change. For example, yhe unrest in Middle East, 9/11 of U. S.

A. , open market economy in China, Iraq war etc. certainly forces to change concern organizational pattern. INTERNAL CHANGE FORCES Internal driving forces are those kinds of things, situations, events etc. , that occur within an organization and basically under the organizations control. Once again these internal driving forces can affect the organization in either a positive or negative way. OK, some examples of internal driving forces, which includes,Administrative processes: Processes that act as pressures for change include communications, decision making, leadership, and motivational strategies, to name only a few.

Breakdowns or problems in any of these processes can create pressures for change. Communications may be inadequate; decisions may be of poor quality; leadership may be inappropriate for the situation; and staff motivation may be nonexistent. Such processes reflect breakdowns or problems in the organizations and may reflect the need for change. People problems:Some symptoms of people problems are poor performance levels of managers and worker; poor management-union relations; and low levels of staff morale and job satisfaction. An employee’s strike, numerous employee complaints, and the filing of grievances are some tangible signs of problems in the internal environment. These factors provide a signal to organizational leaders that change is necessary. In addition, internal pressures for change occur in response to organizational changes that are designed to deal with pressures for change exerted by the external environment.

Techno-structural change:Technological innovation and modernization also made bound to change the worker of organization. Nature and attitude of change: If nature and attitude of a worker like his expectation, values, ability are changed, and then organization also will be changed for the development of the organization. The domino effect: An important source of change is the domino effect. Organization is the sum of many department, division, wing and branch. Change of anyone creates impact on the whole organization. This is domino effect. Models of Change Process: Whether they are internal or external driving forces, one thing is certain for both.

Change will occur! A company must be cognizant of these changes, flexible, and willing to respond to them in an appropriate way. There are several models for organizational change. Two important of them will be discussed here. Lewin’s Force-Field Theory of Change Lewin's three step model is one approach to manage planned change. The model suggests that organizations can bring permanent changes in employee behavior by making them unlearn old behaviors and work procedures. To discussing this model he says about two forces, as- i) Driving force; and i) Resisting forces i) Driving force: which force assist to change is known as driving force. ii) Resisting force: which force resist the change is known as resisting force.

Larger impacts of these two force occurs change towards that larger forces. Lewin points out that increasing one set of forces without decreasing the other set of forces will increase tension and conflict in the organization. Reducing the other set of forces may reduce the amount of tension. Although increasing driving forces is sometimes effective, it is usually better to reduce the resisting forces because ncreasing driving forces often tends to be offset by increased resistance. Put another way, when we push people, they are likely to push back. Figure 2 illustrates the two sets of forces discussed earlier: forces for change and resistance to change. These are the types of situations that school leaders face and must work with on a daily basis when attempting to effect change.

Figure 2. Lewin’s force-field theory of change. As Figure 2 depicts, change results when an imbalance occurs between the ratio of driving forces and resisting forces.Such an imbalance alters the current condition (equilibrium)—it is hoped in the direction planned by the school leader—into a new and desired condition. Once the new, desired condition is reached, the opposing forces are again brought into equilibrium. An imbalance may occur through a change in the velocity of any force, a change in the direction of a force, or the introduction of a new force. Moreover, change involves a sequence of organizational processes that occurs over time.

Lewin suggests this process typically requires three steps: i) unfreezing, ii) changing, and iii) refreezing.Unfreezing. This step usually means reducing the forces acting to keep the organization in its current condition. Unfreezing might be accomplished by introducing new information that points out inadequacies in the current state or by decreasing the strength of current values, attitudes, and behaviors. Crises often stimulate unfreezing. Examples of crises are dramatic enrollment declines; demographic shifts in population within an organization; a sudden increase in staff or leader turnover; a costly lawsuit; and an unexpected worker strike. Unfreezing may occur without crises as well.

Climate surveys, financial data, and enrollment projections can be used to determine problem areas in an organization and initiate change to alleviate problems before crises erupt. Changing: Once the organization is unfrozen, it can be changed by moving. This step usually involves the development of new values, attitudes, and behaviors through internalization, identification, or change in structure. Some changes may be minor and involve a few members—such as changes in recruitment and selection procedures—and others may be major, involving many participants.Examples of the latter include a new evaluation system, restructuring of jobs and duties performed by staff, or restructuring the organization, which necessitates relocating faculty to different organizational sites within the system. Coleman identifies changing phase by three issues, as- i) Compliance (by taking imposed others will. ) ii) Identification ( Adjustment of employees personality with changing environment) iii) Internalization ( Facing such problem in work place, employee change his behavior.

)Refreezing: The final step in the change process involves stabilizing the change at a new quasi-stationary equilibrium, which is called refreezing. Changes in organizational culture, changes in staff norms, changes in organizational policy, or modifications in organizational structure often accomplish this. (Figure) Comprehensive approach to change: The comprehensive approach to change takes a systems view and delineates a series of specific steps that often leads to successful change. The model is illustrate here by following figure- Recognition of the need of change Establishment of goals for the change Diagnosis of relevant variablesSelection of appropriate change technique Planning for implementation of the change Actual implementation Evaluation and follow up The first step is recognizing the need for change. Reactive change might be triggered by employee complaints, declines in productivity or turnover, court injunctions, sales slumps, or labor strikes. Recognition may simply be managers’ awareness that change in a certain area is inevitable. For example, managers may be aware of the general frequency of organizational change undertaken by most organizations and recognize that their organization should probably follow the same pattern.

The immediate stimulus might be the result of a forecast indicating new market potential, the accumulation of a cash surplus for possible investment, or an opportunity to achieve and capitalize on a major technological breakthrough. Managers might also initiate change today because indicators suggest that it will be necessary in the near future. The second step is establishment of goals for the change. To increase market share, to enter new markets, to restore employee morale, to settle a strike, and to identify investment opportunities all might be manager set as goal for change.The third steps is diagnosis of relevant variables. Managers must diagnose what brought on the need for change. Turnover, for example, might be caused by low pay, poor working conditions, poor supervisors, or employee dissatisfaction.

Thus, although turnover may be the immediate stimulus for change, managers must understand its cause to make the right change. The next step is to select a change technique that will accomplish the intended goals. If turnover is caused by low pay, a new reward system may be needed. If the cause is poor supervision, interpersonal skill training may be called for.After the appropriate technique has been chosen, its implementation must be planned. Issues to consider include the costs of change, its effects on other areas of the organization, and the degree of employee participation appropriate for the situation. Here the consideration of the question of actual implementation.

If the change is implemented as planned, the results should then be evaluated and continuous follow up is necessary for brings any necessary change. Resistance to Change : There is a human tendency to resist change, because it forces people to adopt new ways of doing things.In order to cope with this recurring problem, organizational authority must understand why people resist change. According Fullan, The most powerful impediments to change include uncertainty, concern over personal loss, group resistance, dependence, trust in administration, and awareness of weaknesses in the proposed change (Fullan, 2009) In order to understand the concept of employee resistance, it is critical to define what is meant by the termresistance. Alvin Zander (1950) an early researcher on the subject, defined resistance to change as "behavior which is intended to protect an individual from the effects of real or imagined change".Folger & Skarlicki (1999) resistance is defined as "employee behavior that seeks to challenge, disrupt, or invert prevailing assumptions, discourses, and power relations" (p. 3) The Nature and Causes of Resistance Symptoms are the specific behaviors individuals’ exhibit when they are resistant to change.

According to Bhutan (1995), it is important to distinguish between the symptoms of resistance to change, and the causes behind it. These behaviors fall into two categories – i) active-resistance or ii)passive-resistance. Symptoms ofActive-resistance include finding fault, ridiculing, appealing to fear, and manipulating. Passive-resistance: Symptoms include agreeing verbally but not following through, feigning ignorance and withholding information. The following are the important resistance in organizational change process- Resistance to Change Uncertainty Concern over personal loss Group resistance Dependence Trust in administration Awareness of weaknesses in the proposed Uncertainty Any change creates some potential uncertainties. Perhaps it is the biggest cause of employee resistance to change.In the facing of impending change, employees may become anxious and nervous about their ability to meet new job demands, their security is threatened or they may dislike ambiguity.

Foe example, A teacher may resist change because they are worried about how their work and lives will be affected by the proposed change. Even if they have some appreciable dissatisfaction with their present jobs, they have learned what their range of responsibilities is and what their administrator's reaction to their behavior will be in certain situations. Concern over Personal LossMost people resist change that might adversely disrupt work arrangements in existing social network which are very important. Organization members may feel change will diminish their decision-making authority, accessibility to information, autonomy, and the inherent characteristics of the job. Besides, appropriate change should benefit the as a whole, but for some staff members, the cost of change in terms of lost power, prestige, salary, quality of work, or other benefits will not be sufficiently offset by the rewards of change. Group Resistance Groups establish norms of behavior and performance that are communicated to members.This communication establishes the boundaries of expected behaviors.

Failure to comply with such norms usually results in sanctions against group members by the group. If organizational leaders initiate changes that are viewed as threatening to the staffs’ norms, they are likely to meet with resistance. The more cohesive the staff is, the greater their resistance to change will be. This may explain partially what causes wildcat strikes by teachers when school districts introduce changes without proper notification and preparation. Awareness of Weaknesses in the Proposed ChangeOrganization members may resist change because they are aware of potential problems in the proposed change. If staff express their reasons for resistance to the leader clearly along with adequate substantiation, this form of resistance can be beneficial to the school district/school. Leaders can use these suggestions to make their change proposals more effective.

Trust in Administration Organization vary substantially in the degree to which organization members trust the leader. On the one hand, if a change is proposed when trust is low, a natural first reaction is to resist it.On the other hand, when trust is high, organization members are more likely to support a proposed change. Further, under conditions of distrust staff members often resist changes, even when they are understood and they can benefit from them. Dependence All humans begin life in a dependent state. Thus, dependence is instilled in all people to a certain extent. Dependency, in and of itself, is not all bad; but if carried to extremes, dependency on others can lead to resistance to change.

For instance, staff members who are highly dependent on their leader for feedback on their performance will probably not adopt ny new methods or strategies unless the leader personally endorses their behavior and indicates how the proposed changes will improve the staff member’s performance. Furtherly S. P. Robbins identifies two types of resistance as: 1) Individual resistance; and 2) Organizational resistance. 1) Individual resistance: we generally tend to comfortable with the status quo and do not change unless change is warranted. Usually he wants to keep present work situation in organization. Because, he is used to with it and he never prefer uncertainty.

So he resist the change in organization.Here the following matters are involved- Habit: usually men rely on habits or programmed responces to copy with life’s complexities. But in the context of change, this accustomed tendency becomes a source of resistence. Security: people with a high need of security are likely to resist change because it threatens their feeling of safety. Economic Resistance: as a result of change worker may become loser economically. For instance, fear of technological unemployment, reducing work hour and salary etc. so worker resist any change in organization.

Social Resistance:Due to organizational change existing social status of worker may hampered. It also hampers inter-personal relationship within organization. So they resist change. Ignorance of the need for change: no clear idea about the consequences of change ( positive or negative) also promote the employee to resist change in organization. Fear of going lose: sometime some people become gainer as a result of change, but most of the people become looser. As people usually not want to become loosers, they resist change. Poorly planned change: if the standard of change is weak, worker may resist change.

Because poor plan of change could not bring success in organization. Reaction to the change agent: If the previous experience of change is not satisfactory, and change agent takes step to bring change in organization, employee usually resists the activities of change agent. Fear of changing the condition of service: As a result of change, if any probability change in basic condition of service, people simply resist this change. Selective information processing: Individuals are guilty of selectively processing information in order to keep their perceptions intact.They hear what they want to hear and they ignore information that challenges the world they’ve created. 2) Organizational Resistance: Organizational change brings structural change in organization, as a result resistance occurs at organization level. The following matters are included in this resistance- Structural inertia: Organizations have built-in mechanisms- like their selection processes and formalized regulations-to produce stability.

When an organization is confronted with change, this structural inertia acts as a counterbalance to sustain stability. Limited focus of change:Organizations are made up of a number of independent subsystem. One can’t be changed without affecting the others. So limited changes in subsystem tend to be nullified by the larger system. Group inertia: Even if individuals want to change their behavior, group norms may act as a constraint. Threat to expertise: Changes in organizational patterns may threaten the expertise of specialized groups. Threat to established power relationships: Any redistribution of decision-making authority can threaten long-established power relationships within the organization.

Threat to established resource allocations: Groups in the organization that control sizable resources often see change as a threat. They tend to be content with the way things are. Overcoming Resistance to Change : There are a number of specific ways that resistance to change may be overcome. According to Anderson, six of the most popular and frequently used approaches to overcome resistance to change are the following: -education and communication, -participation and involvement, -facilitation and support, -negotiation and agreement, -manipulation and co-optation, and -explicit and implicit coercion Education and CommunicationResistance can be reduced when leaders/managers communicate with organization members to help them see the need for change as well as the logic behind it. This can be achieved through face-to-face discussions, formal group presentations, or special reports or publications. The approach works providing the source of resistance is inadequate communication and that leader-member relations are characterized by mutual trust. If trust does not exist, the change is unlikely to succeed.

Participation and Involvement Organization members who participate in planning and implementing a change are less likely to resist it.Prior to making a change, leaders can allow those who oppose the change to express their view on the change, indicate potential problems, and suggest modifications. Such participant involvement can reduce resistance, obtain commitment, and increase the quality of the change decision. Facilitation and Support It is important for leaders to manifest supportive and facilitative leadership behaviors when change is being implemented. This type of leader behavior includes listening to organization member's ideas, being approachable, and using member’s ideas that have merit.Supportive leaders go out of their way to make the work environment more pleasant and enjoyable. For example, difficult changes may require staff development to acquire new skills necessary to implement the change.

Such training will likely diminish resistance to the change. . Negotiation and Agreement Leaders can neutralize potential or actual resistance by providing incentives for cooperation. For example, during collective bargaining between the organization owners and various employee unions, certain concessions can be given to employees in exchange for support of a new program desired by leaders.Such concessions may include salary increases, bonuses, or more union representation in decision making. Leaders can also use standard rewards such as recognition, increased responsibility, praise, and status symbols. Manipulation and Cooptation Manipulation occurs when leaders choose to be selective about who gets what information and how much information, how accurate the information is, and when to disseminate the information to increase the chance that change will be successful.

Cooptation involves giving the leaders of a resistance group (e. g. employees or other staff members who represent their work group) a key role in the change decision. The leaders' advice is sought, not to arrive at a better decision, but to get their endorsement. Both manipulation and cooptation are inexpensive ways to influence potential resisters to accept change, but these techniques can backfire if the targets become aware they are being tricked. Once discovered, the leader's credibility may suffer drastically. Explicit and Implicit Coercion When other approaches have failed, coercion can be used as a last resort.

Some changes require immediate implementation. And change initiators may have considerable power. Such instances lend themselves more readily to the use of coercion to gain compliance to proposed changes. Organization members can be threatened with job loss, decreased promotional opportunities, salary freeze (this technique is used infrequently in public schools), or a job transfer. There are, however, negative effects of using coercion including frustration, fear, revenge, and alienation, which in turn may lead to poor performance, dissatisfaction, and turnover.Organizational Development “Organizations are like kids, it’s all about development. If you give them good, strong values, a clear vision of the future, and the view that everything is possible, they will grow up to be like that and .

. . vice versa. ” (Henrietta Zalkind) Change is unavoidable characteristics of nature. It is also inevitable in organizational structure. Change may either positive or negative. When change occur in a positive way and turned towards the desired level of organization- can be termed as organizational development.

What is Organizational Development?Generally, Organizational development is the process through which an organization develops the internal capacity to be the most effective it can be in its mission work and to sustain itself over the long term. There are many definitions for organizational development. To set the scene here are a few well know definitions: From Wikipedia: Organization development is a system-wide application of behavioral science knowledge to the planned development and reinforcement of organizational strategies, structures, and processes for improving an organization's effectiveness.Organization development, according to Richard Beckhard, is defined as: 1. A planned effort...

2. organization-wide... 3. Managed from the top..

. 4. To increase organization effectiveness and health... 5. Through planned interventions in the organization's 'processes', using behavioural science knowledge.

According to Keith Davis, “Organizational development (OD) is the systematic application of behavioral science knowledge at various levels (group, intergroup and total organization) to bring about planned change. ” S. P.Robbins says, “Organizational development is a collection of planned change interventions, built on humanistic democratic values, that seeks to improve organizational effectiveness and employee will-being. ” By analyzing above definitions we can findout the following attributes for it: Organizational development is- • A planned process of change. • Applies behavioural science knowledge. • Aims at the change of organization culture.

• Aims at reinforcement of organization strategies, structures and processes for improving organization’s effectiveness and health. Applies to an entire system of an organization, department or group as opposed to an aspect of a system. • Targets long term institutionalization of new activities such as operation of self managed or autonomous work teams and other problem solving capabilities. • Encompasses strategy, structure and process changes. • A process managed from the top. Characteristics of Organizational Development : Values of OD This model places human centered values above everything else. They are the engine of its success.

These values include mutual trust and confidence, honesty and open communication, sensitivity and to the feeling and emotions of others, shared goals, and a commitment to addressing and resolving conflict[3] There are organizations who value these human attributes above all other quick fix benefits. Stephen Robbins expresses these human values more concisely as follows: a) The individual should be treated with respect and dignity. b) The organization climate should be characterized by trust, openness and support. c) Hierarchical authority and control are not regarded as effective mechanisms. ) Problems and conflicts should be confronted, and not disguised or avoided. e) People affected by change should be involved in its implementation. These values make OD a unique model and it will be shown later why it is the most suitable approach in resolving human afflictions and problems such as poverty alleviation.

OD Approaches The distinction between Lewin’s model and Action Research model is in the repetitive nature of action research. Lewin’s model is a once only intervention. Buchanan and Huczynski, (1997) give seven steps that are followed in this intervention. 1.Scouting – the initial stages of consultant and client exchanging ideas on the problem and the appropriate approach. 2. Entry – contract is entered into to formalize the relationship of consultant and client.

3. Diagnosis – information gathering to define the problem and identify causes. 4. Planning – consultant and client members jointly establish the goals of an OD intervention and the proposed approach 5. Action – the intervention strategies are implemented. 6. Stabilization and Evaluation – the change is stabilized (freezing takes place) and the outcomes are assessed.

7. Termination – The consultant withdraws from the assignment.The action research model differs in several particular ways with the Lewin’s model. In action research the outcomes are fed back so that further improvements and changes can be made. This distinguishes this model as a cyclical and iterative process. The research aspect connotes a search for knowledge that may be used elsewhere. It is also a collaborative effort between the consultant and the client’s members who engage in joint planning diagnosis, implementation.

Some other characteristics of organizational behavior are- - Humanistic values - Use of change agent - Solving problem - Experimental learning Use of intervention - Intervention at many level; and - Summary and application. Process of Organizational Development: Organizational development is a complex process. Organizational development tries to improve the organization from where it is now to where it is should be. Even then the process continues, since evaluating the outcomes and maintaining the momentum is desirable. The process can be shown here by a figure- Steps of organizational development process: Initial Diagnosis: This is the first step of organizational development process to identifies symptoms and problems and regarding them with importance.It is very important because development activities are taken on the basis of marked problem. Data Collection: Different types of data should be collected for different types of problems.

By analyzing this data effective measure can be taken to solve identified problems. Data Feedback: In this phase, reanalyze the data in a careful manner. Here the facts are identifies where the change is necessary. Action Planning and Problem setting: Here the actions are determined that who, when and how the activities are accomplished. Introduce techniques and apply them to solve organizational problems. Use of Intervention:After formulation of action planning, determined that what types of intervention is needed. Advisor helps participants to apply techniques.

Evaluation and Follow up: It is last step of organizational development process. It is not enough just implementation of the development activities but some follow up and effective evaluation is also needed. If any problem is followed, amendment steps can be taken. Since the steps of organizational development are part of a whole process, all of them need to be applied if a firm expects to gain the full benefits of organizational development. The whole process can produce quite favorable result.For example, ExxonMobil implemented numerous OD programs, and it reports these results: - Improved supervisor-employee communications - Streamline paperwork requirements - More systematic problem analysis and problem solving - Better interdepartmental relationships The company concluded that the most critical step in OD is obtaining permission, active support, and total involvement from top management. [4] Organizational Development Techniques: The Existence of certain conditions in an organization which may be described as the internal environment is sometimes assumed.

Those who have been in an organization for too long cease to be conscious of such an environment and probably only newcomers notice such conditions. Different techniques are used when a need arises to change those conditions. Some of those deserve further explanation here. Cultural Analysis This is perhaps one of the most complex change action. Corporate culture is the result of long term social learning and constitutes of basic assumptions, values, norms and artifacts that have worked well in an organization. These are passed on to succeeding generations of employees[5].Some of these may have arisen from the principles of the founder and subsequently reinforced by succeeding top hierarchies of the organization.

They may have an emphasis on product quality, customer care or employee relations. When problems arise the first question which would arise is how do we do things here? The answer will inform the type of solution that emerges. Therefore the organizational culture influences organizational strategy, performance and policies. To change organizational culture may be a traumatic experience and will require careful analysis and handling.Such is the trauma that was experienced by American companies in the 1980s when they adopted the Japanese approach which was influence by a strong organizational culture of employee participation, open communication, Security and equality. Process Consultation People conceive consultation as that situation where an expert is invited to advise an organization that is experiencing a problem. Edger Schein, (1998) has distinguished three types of consultations as; -the expertise model, -the doctor – patient model and he process consultation model.

The first model assumes that the client purchases from the consultant some expert information or service that he is unable to provide for himself. In the doctor – patient model involves an activity similar to sickness diagnosis. The client who suspects or feels there is something wrong in the organization invites the doctor (consultant) to diagnose the organization so that he can advise on what is not right. The symptoms of the sickness may be low sales, employee instability or falling product quality.The doctor (consultant) diagnoses, prescribes and administers the cure. In this two models the knowledge and expertise remains with the expert and leaves the client fully dependent on the expert for future problems. OD advocates process consultation promoted by Schein who defines the process as: “The creation of a relationship with the client that permits the client to perceive, understands, and act on the process events that occur in the client’s internal and external environment in order to improve the situation as defined by the client (Schein, 1998, p.

0)”. Schein argues that both the expert and the doctor models are remedial models while as the process consultation model is both remedial and preventive. The purport of this model is to engage an external consultant on a flexible advisory capacity to work with the clients members in diagnosing the problems, planning the actions and finding the solutions together. This way the consultant helps the organization’s individuals to understand internal problems and build capacity to identify appropriate problem – solving action.The consultant need not be an expert in the problem at hand but his expertise is in facilitating a process that carries everybody in the search for solutions. This approach follows the rationale that the answers are with the people. So the only help required is leadership in diagnoses and in the process through the various stages.

Structure Change This is a technique that helps change the structure of an organization to make the work more interesting, challenging or productive. It may involve such activities as job enrichment, job enlargement, formation of autonomous work teams or business re – engineering.Other actions may involve decentralization/centralization in an organization, flattening or extending of an organizations structure or even redesigning of focus from region to product or vice versa. Team Building Team work is vital to the functioning of modern organizations. Members of teams bring different strings to the group such as leader, investigator, motivator, finisher, clown, coordinator, thinker, negotiator or politician. These roles are used at different stages of production when such role play becomes essential in the groups work.Teams take over from hierarchical systems where individuals are assumed to know everything depending on their level in the authority ladder.

This system denies the organization the cumulative advantage of skills and strengths in different individuals. Role Negotiation A misunderstanding between two individuals in an organization or group can affect its effectiveness. This is usually caused by lack of shared awareness, misunderstanding or lack of trust. This intervention helps to clarify individual perceptions and mutual expectations so that differences can be identified and reconciled or resolved.Some other techniques are as follows- - Survey feedback to trace out the attitude, idea and satisfaction of employee within organization. It helps organizational development process. - Education for increase employees’ skill, ability and sympathy to others.

- Third party peace making to reduce conflict and difficulties within organization. - Techno-structural activities for restructuring organization with division of work, expansion, rescheduled activities etc. - Process consultation of development consultant. - Life and career planning to develop employees’ socio-economic condition. Coaching and counseling to divert employee attitude towards the development of the organization. Managerial Grid: Professor Robert Blake & J. Mouton introduce a program for organizational development by emphasizing two basic quality of leadership.

This are- 1) Concern for people; and 2) Concern for production. The process can be present here by a figure, 1. 1- Impoverished Management: Here management with employee or production process, no relation between them. Management is not participatory. 9. 1- Task Management: Here, management normally autocrat in nature. Only aim to maximize production.

There is no humanity 1. 9- Country Club management: Here all concern pay to the people, not to the production. 5. 5- Middle of the road management. Here average concern about employee and production. 9. 9- Team management: Here, maximum concern about employee and also for production.

Benefits of Organizational Development: Organizational development is the useful process. Its chief advantage is that it tries to deal with changes in a whole organization or major unit of it. Some other benefits are- • change through organization • greater otivation • increased productivity • better quality of work • higher job satisfaction • improved teamwork • better resolution of conflict • commitment to objectives • increase willingness to change • reduced absence • lower turnover • creation of learning individual and group etc. Limitations of organizational development: As with any complex program, organizational development has some limitations also, including- • Major time requirements • Substantial expense Delayed payoff period • Possible failure • Possible invasion of privacy • Possible psychological harm • Potential conformity • Emphasis on group process rather than performance • Possible conceptual ambiguity

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