Organisational Development CBMHR6T07

Syllabus topics (RTMNU)

• Concepts, Nature and Scope of O.D.
• Historical perspective of O.D.
• Underlying assumptions & Values
• Theory and practice on change and changing: The nature of planned change
• The nature of client Systems: Group Dynamics, Inter group Dynamics and Organisation as System
• Resistance to Change - Individual Factors - Organisational Factors
• Techniques to Overcome Change

Concept, Nature and Scope of OD

Organisational Development (OD) is a planned, long-term, organisation-wide effort, managed from the top, to improve an organisation's effectiveness and health through planned changes in its people, processes and culture, using knowledge from behavioural science.

Nature/features:

1. Planned change, not accidental change.
2. Long-term and continuous process.
3. System-wide: treats the organisation as a whole system.
4. Based on behavioural science — psychology, sociology.
5. Action research approach — diagnose, act, evaluate.
6. Change agent: an internal or external consultant guides the process.
7. Focus on groups and culture rather than only individuals.
8. Participative: people affected take part in decisions.

Scope: individual level (skills, attitudes), group level (teamwork, conflict), inter-group level, and organisation level (structure, culture, strategy, technology).

Objectives of OD: improve organisational effectiveness; build trust and openness; solve problems jointly; develop teams; increase motivation and commitment; help the organisation adapt to a changing environment.

Historical Perspective of OD

• Laboratory training (T-groups): Kurt Lewin and colleagues, National Training Laboratories (NTL), USA, 1946–47 — small unstructured groups learning from their own interaction.
• Survey research and feedback: Rensis Likert and the University of Michigan — surveys fed back to employees to plan change.
• Action research: Lewin's idea of research linked with action.
• Tavistock Institute (UK): socio-technical systems approach.
• Productivity and quality-of-work-life movements, and later strategic change and organisational learning.
• In India, OD spread through companies like Larsen & Toubro, BHEL, SBI and the Indian Society for Applied Behavioural Science (ISABS).

Underlying Assumptions and Values

1. People want to grow and develop, and can contribute more if given a chance (McGregor's Theory Y).
2. Groups are important; teamwork improves results.
3. Feelings are as important as facts.
4. Open communication and trust improve effectiveness.
5. Conflict should be faced, not suppressed.
6. Values: respect for people, participation, democracy, collaboration, openness, and empowerment.

The Nature of Planned Change

Planned change is a deliberate, goal-directed change designed by management. Kurt Lewin's three-step model:

1. Unfreezing: making people ready for change by showing the need.
2. Moving/Changing: introducing new behaviour, systems or structure.
3. Refreezing: stabilising the new behaviour through rewards and policies.

The Nature of Client Systems

• Group dynamics: the forces operating within a group — roles, norms, cohesiveness, leadership, communication. OD uses these to improve teamwork.
• Inter-group dynamics: relations between groups (e.g. production vs sales). Competition can cause conflict; OD uses inter-group team building to build cooperation.
• Organisation as a system: an organisation is an open system with inputs (people, money, material), transformation processes and outputs (goods/services), interacting with its environment. A change in one part affects others.

Resistance to Change

Individual factors: fear of the unknown; economic fear (loss of job or pay); habit; insecurity; selective perception; lack of skills for the new work.

Organisational factors: structural inertia; group norms; threat to expertise; threat to power and resources; past failures of change; limited focus of change.

Techniques to Overcome Resistance

1. Education and communication — explain the reasons.
2. Participation and involvement of employees.
3. Facilitation and support — training, counselling.
4. Negotiation and agreement — e.g. with unions.
5. Manipulation and co-optation (used carefully).
6. Coercion — last resort.
7. Building trust and rewarding those who adopt change.

Likely exam questions

1. (Long, 8/16 marks) Define Organisational Development. Explain its nature, scope and underlying values.
2. (Long, 8/16 marks) What is resistance to change? Explain the individual and organisational factors causing it and the techniques to overcome it.
3. (Short, 4 marks) Explain Lewin's three-step model of planned change.
4. (Short, 4 marks) Write a note on the historical perspective of OD.
5. (Short, 4 marks) Explain the organisation as a system.

Syllabus topics (RTMNU)

• Diagnostic Action and Process – Maintenance – Components
• Human Process Interventions
• T-group
• Process consultation
• Third party interventions
• Team building
• Organizational confrontation meeting
• Coaching and mentoring
• Role focused interventions

Operational Components: Diagnostic, Action and Process-Maintenance

French and Bell describe OD as having three operational components:

1. Diagnostic component: continuous collection of data about the organisation — through interviews, questionnaires, observation and records — to understand its present state, problems and strengths. Diagnosis can be at individual, group, inter-group or whole-organisation level.
2. Action component: the planned activities or interventions designed to improve the situation found in diagnosis (team building, training, job redesign etc.).
3. Process-maintenance component: managing the OD programme itself — checking whether it is on track, whether people are still committed, and correcting the course.

Human Process Interventions

OD interventions are sets of structured activities in which selected units (individuals, teams, whole organisation) take part to improve performance. Human process interventions focus on people and their interactions — communication, decision making, leadership and conflict.

T-Group (Sensitivity Training)

A T-group is a small, unstructured group of 10–15 people who meet with a trainer, without a fixed agenda, and learn about themselves and group behaviour from their own "here and now" interaction.

Objectives: self-awareness, sensitivity to others, listening skills, understanding group processes. Limitations: may cause stress; learning may not transfer to the job.

Process Consultation

Developed by Edgar Schein. A consultant helps the client to perceive, understand and act on the processes happening in the organisation — communication, roles, decision making, group norms, leadership and inter-group relations. The consultant does not give ready answers; he helps the client diagnose and solve its own problems ("helping the client help itself").

Third-Party Interventions

Used to resolve conflict between two persons or groups. A neutral third party (consultant) helps them confront the conflict, understand each other's views and find a solution. Walton's model: diagnosis of the conflict, confrontation meeting, and managing the cycle of conflict (issues, triggering events, behaviour, consequences).

Team Building

Team building is an intervention that helps work teams improve the way they work together — setting goals, clarifying roles, improving relationships and solving problems.

Steps: data collection on team problems → feedback to the team → action planning → implementation → evaluation. Types: family-group team building, special-group team building, role analysis, inter-group team building. Example: outbound team-building camps used by Indian IT companies.

Organisational Confrontation Meeting

Developed by Richard Beckhard. A one-day meeting of the whole management group to quickly identify problems and plan action:

1. Climate setting by top management.
2. Information collection in mixed small groups.
3. Information sharing with everyone.
4. Priority setting in functional groups.
5. Action planning and commitment.
6. Follow-up meeting after 4–6 weeks.

Coaching and Mentoring

Role-Focused Interventions

• Role analysis technique: clarifies what each member is expected to do, and what others expect of him, to reduce role ambiguity.
• Role negotiation (Roger Harrison): members negotiate "more of, less of, continue" behaviours with each other.
• Responsibility charting: a chart showing who is Responsible, who must Approve, who Supports and who is Informed for each decision.

Classification of OD Interventions

Choosing an intervention depends on the diagnosis, readiness of the client, cost, time, and skill of the change agent.

Likely exam questions

1. (Long, 8/16 marks) Explain the operational components of OD — diagnostic, action and process-maintenance.
2. (Long, 8/16 marks) Explain any four human process interventions in OD.
3. (Short, 4 marks) What is a T-group?
4. (Short, 4 marks) Explain the organisational confrontation meeting.
5. (Short, 4 marks) Distinguish between coaching and mentoring.

Syllabus topics (RTMNU)

• Effectiveness of Change Programs
• Change Process
• Job Redesign
• Socio-Technical Systems
• Organizational Change - Meaning, nature, types
• Theories of planned change
• Organizational development – nature and characteristics
• Process of organizational development

Organisational Change: Meaning, Nature and Types

Organisational change means any alteration in the structure, technology, people, processes or culture of an organisation.

Nature: continuous and inevitable; affects the whole system; caused by internal and external forces (technology, competition, laws, economy, employees' expectations); may meet resistance; needs a change agent.

Types:

• Planned vs unplanned (emergent) change.
• Incremental (small steps) vs transformational (radical) change.
• Reactive vs proactive change.
• By area: structural, technological, people-centred, process and cultural change. Example: banks moving to digital banking (technological change).

Forces for change: External — technology (AI, automation), competition, government policy (e.g. GST, Labour Codes), globalisation, customer needs; Internal — new leadership, low productivity, employee demands, mergers, growth.

Theories of Planned Change

1. Lewin's three-step model: unfreeze → move → refreeze.
2. Action research model: problem identification → consultation with expert → data gathering and diagnosis → feedback → joint diagnosis → joint action planning → action → data gathering after action (cycle repeats).
3. Kotter's eight-step model: create urgency; form a guiding coalition; create a vision; communicate the vision; empower others; create short-term wins; consolidate gains; anchor changes in culture.
4. Positive model / Appreciative inquiry: builds on what is working well (discover, dream, design, destiny).

Change Process

Steps: recognising the need for change → diagnosing the problem → planning the change → choosing the change agent and method → implementing → reducing resistance → stabilising (refreezing) → evaluating.

Effectiveness of Change Programmes

A change programme is effective when it achieves its goals and the new behaviour lasts. Factors: top management support; clear vision and communication; employee participation; adequate resources and training; skilled change agent; reward systems aligned to new behaviour; proper timing; continuous evaluation and feedback.

Measuring effectiveness: productivity, quality, absenteeism, turnover, employee satisfaction surveys, customer satisfaction.

Job Redesign

Job redesign means changing the content, methods and relationships of jobs to improve motivation and productivity.

• Job rotation: moving employees between jobs.
• Job enlargement: adding more tasks of the same level (horizontal).
• Job enrichment: adding responsibility and control (vertical) — Herzberg.
• Job Characteristics Model (Hackman and Oldham): skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback.
• Flexible work: flexi-time, work from home, job sharing.

Socio-Technical Systems

Developed at the Tavistock Institute, London (Eric Trist and colleagues, British coal mines study). It says an organisation has two parts — the social system (people, relationships) and the technical system (machines, methods) — and both must be designed together ("joint optimisation"). Features: self-managing work teams, multi-skilled workers, minimum critical specification, and quality of work life.

OD: Nature and Characteristics

1. Planned and long-range.
2. Organisation-wide, system approach.
3. Uses behavioural science knowledge.
4. Action research based.
5. Change agent involvement.
6. Focus on culture and processes.
7. Collaborative and participative.
8. Emphasis on work teams.

Process of Organisational Development

1. Problem identification by top management.
2. Entry and contracting with a change agent/consultant.
3. Data collection and diagnosis.
4. Feedback of data to the client group.
5. Action planning — choose interventions.
6. Implementation of interventions.
7. Evaluation of results.
8. Institutionalisation — making the change permanent; separation of the consultant.

Likely exam questions

1. (Long, 8/16 marks) What is organisational change? Explain its types and the theories of planned change.
2. (Long, 8/16 marks) Explain the process of organisational development in detail.
3. (Short, 4 marks) What is job redesign? State its methods.
4. (Short, 4 marks) Write a note on socio-technical systems.
5. (Short, 4 marks) State the factors that make change programmes effective.

Syllabus topics (RTMNU)

• Organizational development in service sector
• OD Practitioners – role, competencies requirement, professional ethics and value and experiences
• Future trends in OD
• Success and future of OD
• Strategies for success of OD programmes

OD in the Global Context

When organisations work across countries (multinationals like Unilever, Tata Group, Infosys), OD must fit different national cultures. Hofstede's dimensions — power distance, individualism vs collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity vs femininity, long-term orientation — affect which interventions work. For example, open confrontation meetings may work in low power-distance cultures but need care in high power-distance cultures like India. Global OD covers cross-cultural team building, managing virtual teams, integrating merged companies, and building a common global culture while respecting local values.

OD in the Service Sector

Service organisations (banks, insurance, hospitals, hotels, IT services, education) depend heavily on people, because the service is produced and consumed at the same time.

• Customer-focused culture: OD builds service attitude and empathy.
• Employee engagement: happy employees give better service (service–profit chain).
• Team building across front office and back office.
• Quality improvement: TQM, Six Sigma in services.
• Technology change management: core banking, digital payments, hospital information systems.
• Examples: State Bank of India's large-scale change programmes for staff; Taj Hotels' training in service culture; IT firms' leadership development.

OD Practitioners: Role

An OD practitioner (change agent) is a person who helps an organisation plan and carry out change. He may be external (consultant), internal (HR/OD department), or an internal–external team.

Roles: diagnostician, facilitator, educator/trainer, process consultant, coach, researcher, advocate for change, and evaluator.

Competencies Required

1. Self-awareness and emotional intelligence.
2. Interpersonal and communication skills — listening, giving feedback.
3. Consulting skills — contracting, diagnosis, designing interventions.
4. Knowledge of behavioural science and change theories.
5. Research and data analysis skills.
6. Business knowledge and understanding of strategy.
7. Cultural sensitivity for global work.

Professional Ethics, Values and Experiences

Ethics: confidentiality of data; informed consent and voluntary participation; avoid misrepresenting skills; avoid conflict of interest; do not create dependency on the consultant; do not misuse data against employees; honesty about likely results.

Values: respect for people, openness, collaboration, democracy, and effectiveness. Experiences: practitioners learn through real assignments, supervision and reflection; experience improves judgement in choosing interventions.

Future Trends in OD

• OD linked with business strategy and digital transformation.
• Remote and hybrid work — virtual team building.
• Diversity, equity and inclusion programmes.
• Employee well-being and mental health.
• Use of data analytics and AI for diagnosis (people analytics).
• Agile organisations, learning organisations and continuous change.
• Sustainability and corporate social responsibility.

Success and Future of OD

OD has helped many organisations improve teamwork, trust and adaptability. Its future depends on proving measurable results (productivity, engagement, customer satisfaction) and linking to strategy. Criticisms — slow, costly, hard to measure, sometimes seen as "soft" — must be answered by evidence-based practice.

Strategies for Success of OD Programmes

1. Top management commitment and support.
2. Clear objectives linked to business goals.
3. Proper diagnosis before action.
4. Employee participation at all levels.
5. Competent, ethical change agent.
6. Adequate time and resources.
7. Open communication and feedback.
8. Reward systems that support new behaviour.
9. Continuous evaluation and follow-up.
10. Institutionalising change in policies and culture.

Likely exam questions

1. (Long, 8/16 marks) Explain the role and competencies of an OD practitioner along with professional ethics.
2. (Long, 8/16 marks) Discuss OD in the service sector and the future trends in OD.
3. (Short, 4 marks) State any four strategies for the success of OD programmes.
4. (Short, 4 marks) Write a note on OD in the global context.
5. (Short, 4 marks) State any four ethical guidelines for OD practitioners.