Organizational development is a planned, systematic change in the values or operations of

employees to create overall growth in a company or organization. It differs from everyday

operations and workflow improvements in that it follows a specific protocol that management
communicates clearly to all employees.
Organizational change and development can be a long, sometimes overwhelming process, but
companies usually begin with several objectives:

 Ongoing improvement. Changing company culture to view new strategies as a positive

growth opportunity allows for ongoing improvement and encourages employees to
become more open to change and new ideas. New strategies are introduced
systematically through planning, implementation, evaluation, improvement, and
monitoring.
 Better or increased communication. Organizational development that leads to increased
feedback and interaction in the organization aligns employees with the company’s vision.
Employees feel that they have more ownership in the company’s mission and may be
more motivated as a result.
 Employee development. In today’s business world, employees must constantly adapt to
changing products, platforms, and environments. Employee development comprises
training and work process improvements that help everyone keep up with shifting
demands.
 Product and service improvement. Organizational development leads to innovation,
which can help improve products and services. This innovation often comes as the result
of intensive market research and analysis.
 Increased profit. Organizational development helps increase profits by optimizing
communication, employee processes, and products or services. Each serves to increase a
company’s bottom line.
The key pre-requisites to organizational development are explained as follows.
1. Top level management's commitment: There should be the explicit commitment of the
top management to change and improve the organization, denote its time and resources to
this long term effort. The management should take the risk and experiment, with new
methods of handling the problems, be keen to assess its own behaviours and attitudes for
personal development purpose, and be able to tolerate confusing results which may occur
at the initial stages of OD programme.
2. Strong and influential change facilitator: The existence of strong and competent
internal change facilitators and resourceful individuals, who can perform the role of
internal change agents, provides momentum to the OD work.
3. Successful past experience: Successful experience with the earlier efforts in some parts
of the organization provides momentum to further efforts and thus, forms a significant
prerequisite, to the effective performance of an organization development programme.
4. Capable external consultants: The involvement of capable and experienced external
consultants, especially during the earlier stages of OD work, provides the objectivity and
 variety of skills, which may make the programme highly effective. However, it is
necessary that the consultant develop the internal change facilitators and the problem-
solving ability of the organization instead of making the organization dependent upon
himself.
5. Influential managers: The presence of some influential mangers, who act as like link
pins between crucial groups and we are willing to introduce change and experiment with
new methods of work, forms another prerequisite to a successful OD programme.
6. Internalization of OD efforts: The internationalization of concern for renewal, re-
education, constant assessment of the organizational health and corporate excellence
forms a very crucial prerequisite to effective OD effort.
7. Built-in reward system: There is the prerequisite in the form of built-in reward system.
Attempts should be made to build the reward systems for the effective performance of
results.
The Process of Organizational Development
The organizational development process is a systematic, research-based series of steps. The
seven major steps in the organisational development process, i.e,

1. Initial Diagnosis of the Problem:

In the first step, the management should try to find out an overall view of the situation to find
the real problem. Top management should meet the consultants and the experts to determine
the type of programme that is needed. In the first stage only, the consultants will meet various
persons in the organisation and interview them to collect some information.

2. Data Collection:
In this stage, the consultant will make the surveys to determine the climate of the
organisation and the behavioural problems of the employees.
The consultant will meet groups of people away from their work environment to get some
answers to the questions such as:
(i) What specific job conditions contribute most to their job effectiveness?
(ii) What kind of conditions interferes with their job effectiveness?
(iii) What changes would they like to make in the working of the organisation?
3. Data Feedback and Confrontation:
The data which has been collected in the second step will be given to the work groups, who
will be assigned the job of reviewing the data. Any areas of disagreement will be mediated
among themselves only and priorities will be established for change.
4. Planning Strategy for Change:
In this stage, the consultant will suggest the strategy for change. He will attempt to transform
diagnosis of the problem into a proper action plan involving the overall goals for change,
determination of basic approach for attaining these goals and the sequence of detailed
scheme for implementing the approach.
5. Intervening in the System:
Intervening in the system refers to the planned programmed activities during the course of an
OD programme. These planned activities bring certain changes in the system, which is the
basic objective of OD. There may be various methods through which external consultant
intervene in the system such as education and laboratory training, process consultation, team
development etc.
6. Team Building:
During the entire process, the consultant encourages the groups to examine how they work
together. The consultant will educate them about the value of free communication and trust as
essentials for group functioning. The consultant can have team managers and their
subordinates to work together as a team in OD sessions to further encourage team building.
Following the development of small groups, there may be development among larger groups
comprising several teams.
7. Evaluation:
OD is a very long process. So there is a great need for careful monitoring to get precise
feedback regarding what is going on after the OD programme starts. This will help in making
suitable modifications whenever necessary. For evaluation of OD programme, the use of
critique sessions, appraisal of change efforts and comparison of pre and post training
behavioural patterns are quite effective.

Organisational Development works in India

In today's highly turbulent business environment, 'change' has become an inevitable part of
life. Organizations that do not change when needed or are not sensitive to the need for change
do not survive long. The revolution in the form of IT is reshaping the core competencies
needed in a knowledge environment. Organizations, in order to be successful, need to place a
high priority on proactivity and systematic understanding of organizational issues and on
responding to current and future external customer needs. Workforce mobility and diversity
are creating new employee needs along with new expectations about the work culture, and
these needs, too, have to be systematically understood and responded to. HR leaders are
challenged to become effective strategic partners in the creation of world class learning
culture. Indian organizations are no exception to these compulsions. Today, they face
numerous challenges and complexities, operating, as they do, in a highly volatile political
and economic environment. For decades, the Indian mindset that has governed Indian
organizations is less systems-driven and more people and relationship-oriented. With the
opening up of the economy, standing up to global competition with borrowed technologies &
insecure and relationship-driven employees, organizations need to bring in change rapidly;
and hence the acute need for O.D. in Indianorganizations.

ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA

Organization Development Journal, Spring 2000 by Rao, T V, Vijayalakshmi,
Mhttp://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5427/is_200004/ai_n21465508/pg_9/?
tag=content;col1
IntroductionIn today's highly turbulent business environment, 'change' has become an
inevitablepart of life. Organizations that do not change when needed or are not sensitive to
theneed for change do not survive long. The revolution in the form of IT is reshaping thecore
competencies needed in a knowledge environment. Organizations, in order to besuccessful,
need to place a high priority on proactivity and systematic understanding of organizational
issues and on responding to current and future external customer needs.Workforce mobility
and diversity are creating new employee needs along with newexpectations about the work
culture, and these needs, too, have to be systematicallyunderstood and responded to. HR
leaders are challenged to become effective strategicpartners in the creation of world class
learning culture.Indian organizations are no exception to these compulsions. Today, they
facenumerous challenges and complexities, operating, as they do, in a highly volatilepolitical
and economic environment. For decades, the Indian mindset that hasgoverned Indian
organizations is less systems-driven and more people and relationship-oriented. With the
opening up of the economy, standing up to global competition withborrowed technologies &
insecure and relationship-driven employees, organizationsneed to bring in change rapidly;
and hence the acute need for O.D. in Indianorganizations.Evolution of O.D. in IndiaIn India,
O.D. and planned change started in the early 1960s. A group of Indianprofessionals trained at
the National Training Laboratories (NTL) at Bethel, Maine, USA,brought out a good deal of
O.D. technology in India. Grid programs were initiated andwidely used in the Small
Industries Extension Training (SIET) Institute, Hyderabad,State Bank of India and in the
Indian Institute of Management (UM) programs in the mid1960s. Unfortunately these
remained isolated efforts and did not take O.D. to its logicalconclusions.In the mid-1970s,
O.D. was first introduced in India in Larsen and Toubro as a formaland structured part of the
HRD department. It was expected that the change processwould get institutionalized and
more O.D. specialists would be developed.Unfortunately, this did not happen as the corporate
sector in the country has a veryprotected and secure environment and there were very few
compulsions to change.Hence O.D. remained mostly in academic institutions - the forte of a
few specialists andlargely limited to T-group training and other training based interventions.
That it has aslow growth is indicated by the fact that even after 25 years of existence, the
IndianSociety for Applied Behavioral Science (ISABS), an associate of NTL, produced less
than100 process specialists in the vast country. There have been several efforts to apply O.D.
approach and associated techniques inIndia but it has not created the desired impact.
According to Srinivas (1994), oneplausible explanation for this is that O.D. as it has emerged
to date is culture specific,that it cannot be simply applied to locations outside the US. The
issue of non-transferability of OD technology to cultures such as India has arisen because of
the fearor distrust of its techniques of confrontation. The general practitioner or the
changeagent style of informality and an attitude of openness is also not suited to the Indian

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context. However, a deeper examination of values embedded in Indian religion andpsycho-

philosophy suggests that the cultural values are indeed largely supportive of organizational
renewal and change. The rich cultural heritage also contains a paradigmof change, based on
which new approaches and designs of O.D. interventions may bepossible. And such designs
are likely to be accepted more readily in the country. The scenario has changed thanks to an
increasing number of applied behavioralscientists and T-group trainers, the HRD movement
and establishment of HRDdepartments, contributions of multinationals in India and the
influence of Westerneducation. Professional bodies such as ISABS (Indian Society for
Applied BehavioralSciences), Indian Society for Individual and Social Development
(ISISD), Indian Societyfor Training & Development (ISTD), and the HRD Network, and
academic institutionssuch as the IIMs (Indian Institute of Management) have further
facilitated this. In thepost liberalization period, every one has been forced to seek change. As
a result, theapplication of O.D. technology has increased.Experiences of Indian
Organizations with Various O.D. InterventionsAmong available O.D. interventions and tools,
the most prevalent ones and those thathave met with reasonable success in effecting the
desired change are:* Training* Action research* Survey feedback* HRD and HRD Audit*
Role focused interventions* Person focused interventions Training as an O.D. Intervention
Training, today in organizations is viewed as continuously evolving, dynamic networksof
interactions between different participants and interest groups within and around
theorganization. This doctrine is very much different from the past perception of trainingas
an static and mechanistic activity to address deficiencies. Training raises theconsciousness of
participants, makes people aware of the gaps between reality andideals, provides a common
language to articulate shared problems and difficulties,generates ideas for change, and creates
greater energy for change. As a consequenceof such dynamic and multifaceted approach,
training has proved to be an effective O.D.intervention. One finds that inhouse training
programs are commonly held at variouslevels of the hierarchy, whether or not the
organization has formally launched any O.D.efforts.Any O.D. process is initiated with
athorough diagnosis of the 'symptoms'. Trainingworkshops can be effectively used to
diagnose organizational issues without sacrificingthe educational objectives of these
programs. This is vividly demonstrated through theexperience of two O.D. Indian
consultants, V. Nilakant & S. Ramanarayan at Chemcorp,a large successful public sector unit
in the chemical industry.In 1983, Chemcorp realized an urgent need to train staff (three
groupsseniormanagement, middle management and supervisory staff) throughout the
corporation. The Tata Management Centre was approached for the same. Tata Management
Centerdecided to first conduct a training needs assessment workshop to determine the scope

and content of training followed by a workshop for the Chairman & Managing
Director(CMD) and top management to agree on the strategic direction which would provide
abasis for the training.Some of the observations that were made on the basis of the training
needsassessment workshop were:* Senior management largely saw themselves as technical
specialists rather thanmanagers* Wide discontent regarding personnel polices* Lack of
motivating & supervisory skills at the senior management level* High parochialism with
respect to one's function and department* Highly bureaucratic cultureOn the basis of the
above observations, it was decided to conduct workshops consistingof a series of skill
building exercises based on the themes of learning, interpersonalrelations, teamwork and
leadership. The workshops revolved around real task relatedissues in the organization and
aimed at aiding the participants to reflect on theirexperiences, learn collaboratively, and work
together to generate choices or options tosolve key organizational problems.While the main
focus of the training was on skill building, more issues emerged duringthe workshops. For
e.g., the poor quality of service of the materials departmentsurfaced in one of the workshops.
This lead to a unique workshop for the department inorder to improve its functioning. Other
departments that were studied as a result of thetraining were the personnel department and
the R & D department. As credibility andsupport towards the O.D. consultants grew, they
were asked to design the structureand manpower plan for a new plant and also conduct a
series of motivationalworkshops. This effort of O.D. through training was seen to have a
'convergence' effect on theorganization. Convergence can be described as a slow, incremental
change aimed atmaking the organization more efficient through fine tuning existing
structures, systemsand procedures. The workshops helped highlight the difference between
perceptionsand realities. The training provided the employees a common language to explore
theirconcerns and a forum where they discovered the shared and common conditions of their
frustrations. They initiated incremental changes in the systems and processes,leading to
overall organizational effectiveness. The most significant contribution of theintervention was
that it created a climate that facilitated transformational change.While there was a greater
expression of discontent, there was also a greater energy forchange. The consultants
experienced that the efforts were the first step towards acultural transformation of Chemcorp.
The various reasons why training can be used as an efficient O.D. intervention havebeen
summarized below:* It provides a medium of participation and involvement

* It allows greater personal learning and insight about organizational problems* It facilitates
acceptance of the diagnosis since it emerges in a setting of commonlanguage & symbols* It
facilitates the establishment of trust and collaboration among the participants &between the
participant and the trainersA number of organizations essentially use training as an
intervention. All training basedinterventions are not O.D. interventions. When training is
taken up in a planned way toinitiate change it is classified as an O.D. intervention. A large
number of organizationsand management professionals have been using training as a method
of change at theunit level. For example the Aditya Birla Group has embarked on a large scale
culturalchange to make their units more professional, entrepreneurial and effective.
Thechange was initiated through a world wide survey of the organizational culture of
theirunits. The survey results were presented and a number of areas were identified
forimprovement. A series of training programs are being conducted to orient or reorienttheir
top level managers in terms of their leadership roles, styles, delegation and
othercompetencies. Simultaneously, attempts are also being made to introduce
AssessmentCenters for identifying and developing talent among the current employees for
futureroles. In all these, training is being used as a focal intervention.In most companies that
use Performance Management Systems, training inidentification of Key Performance Areas,
conducting performance review discussions isa common intervention. These organizations
assume that such training in performanceplanning, performance coaching etc. will bring
cultural change.Action Research as an InterventionAction research is a data based problem
solving model that replicates the stepsinvolved in the scientific method of inquiry. As an
O.D. intervention, action research haspointed out to more efficient resolution of practical
problems, better understanding of ground realities by social scientists and generation of new
insights for theory building.How it can be used as an intervention to initiate change is
explained in the case below(Ramnarayan, Rao and Singh, 1998): The Indian Chemical
Company (ICCL) was facing a serious problem of conflict betweenthe materials department
and the user department. The senior managers wereparticularly concerned about increased
downtime of equipment, uncontrolled increasein inventory levels, long lead times in
procuring items, large number of pending indentsand intense mutual hostilities between the
materials departments and the userdepartments. The consultants decided to undertake
preliminary data collection. A taskforce was formed which worked with the consultants to
identify the information needs,undertake a data collection and analyze it to understand the
problems. Analysis of thepreliminary data collection highlighted the following issues:* Poor
coordination between the user departments leading to increase it the number of indents (total
of 3000 indents pending, it took 17-41 weeks for the user department toreceive the materials
from the date of indent)* No change in the structure and functioning of the materials
department over the lastfive years despite increase it the quantum of work as well as change
in the userrequirements

* Raising of indents much before actual requirements arose leading to userdepartments

having their own mini-stores* Pile up of inventories* Interpersonal relations were used by
managers to get things done* High degree of mutual hostility and lack of cooperation even
between stores andpurchase personnel. The above observations, lead to the following
recommendations:* The data suggested system failure rather than incompetence of personnel.
Hence itwas decided to target the system and setting it right. The solution was to create
theposition of an integrating person who will be responsible for all the requirements of
aparticular user department & interface with the procurement executives in thematerials
department which would lead to better responsiveness to customer needs.* Responsibility of
purchase of low value materials was decentralized to the userdepartment themselves. Making
them responsible would then reduce the complaintsabout inordinate delays and allow the
materials department to devote attention to highvalue items* It was envisaged that
computerization of the work system could considerably reducethe work burden of materials
personnel and make their functioning more efficient* Appointment of department level work
force was recommended to monitor thechanges being implemented.On the basis of the above
recommendations, the departments were asked to preparedetailed action plans. A period of 7
months was assigned for implementation and thena follow-up of the results was done by the
consultants. Following were the findings of the follow-up:* Number of pending indents had
dropped down to less than 250* Inventory level showed a marked decrease* Procurement
system by user department was functioning smoothly* Complaints from user departments
has reduced considerably* Formation of multiple task forces had helped increase feelings of
involvement amonglower level employees.While the above observations, indicate a near
fairytale ending to the ICCL problem,computerization had produced less than desired results.
Users had not adapted welland there was considerable resistance to the change. The task
force then realized thatit was time to tackle this issue and formed specific action plans aimed
at securingmaximum benefits from the computerization process.

Thus action research, as an O.D. intervention served in cultivating a climate of increased

collaboration, participation and involvement, increasing interdepartmentalinterface. As the
employees became self reflective, meaningful solutions arose forpractical concerns &
problems, but more importantly there was a development of self-help competencies to deal
with problems of the future.Survey Feedback as an O.D. InterventionAlthough survey
feedback was recognized as a potential O.D. tool for a long time,corporate India used it only
from mid 1970s onward as an important part of HRDfunction. The survey feedback has been
used extensively by T. V. Rao, in a variouscapacities:* As a sensing instrument* For
organizational improvements >* For strategic shifts in structure, styles & personnel policies*
For team building* For initiating cultural changes* For developing motivating
climateAmong Indian organizations that use survey feedback as a sensing instrument
areCrompton Greaves and Larsen & Toubro (L & T). While L & T started its HRD activities
ina systematic way in 1975 and has been using organizational climate survey,
CromptonGreaves used the same in 1982. Both organizations experienced climate surveys
ascritical tools to provide insights into areas requiring improvements. On the basis of initial
experience, Crompton Greaves has even made this survey research aninstitutionalized
biannual affair.Voltas, in 1988-89, decided to initiate organizational improvements using
surveyfeedback. As a part of this study, a survey of the HRD climate was conducted in
thecompany. The interview survey focused on all subsystems of HRD
includingorganizational structure, employee satisfaction, communication meetings,
appraisals,training, promotion policies, etc. The survey led to extensive strengthening of the
HRDsystem in the organization. The cultural change & leadership development experience
of the Mafatlal group is veryillustrative of the use of survey feedback for O.D. This group
had five divisions - eachheaded by a unit head. Since the leadership styles were somewhat
different, each of the units was perceived to have a different style. As the company strove to
establish ahigh degree of quality consciousness, it saw that certain leadership styles
wereconducive the while others had not created a very positive impact. The issue was thento
help the unit heads to recognize the impact they were having on the organization. They then
decided to use survey feedback to bring about change in the entire topteam. Accordingly a
team of consultants was commissioned to survey theorganizational culture at various
locations, and through the feedback assist the

participants to recognize the relationship between their style and the culture they
werebuilding. The following areas were studied with the help of questionnaires:* Present
strength of the division relative to what it was three to five years back* Satisfaction level of
the employees on various aspects such as decision making,autonomy, role clarity, job
satisfaction and team spirit.* Conflict resolution mechanisms used* Organizational learning*
HRD climate* Style of corporate managementAdditional questionnaires were developed to
study managerial effectiveness,leadership styles, influence style, change agent traits and
excellence standards of topmanagement. The consultants then analyzed the data obtained
through the workshop. The topmanagement was given detailed training on conceptual issues.
Detailed feedback onvarious organizational issues was provided which further helped the top
team todevelop a collaborative culture and implement innovative and efficient systems
leadingto overall organizational effectiveness.HRD and HRD Audit as an O.D.
InterventionPerhaps India is the first country to formally establish a totally dedicated HRD
(HumanResources Development ) Department separated from the Personnel Department.
Thiswas designed in the year 1974 when the term HRD itself was not very popular in
theUSA. Two consultants from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad Dr.
UdaiPareek & Dr. T V Rao after reviewing the effectiveness of the performance
appraisalsystem and training in Larsen & Toubro recommended an Integrated HR System to
beestablished and the department dealing with development issues be separated outfrom the
personnel department and be called the HRD department. Thus the first HRDdepartment was
established. It was followed in the banking sector by the State bank of India and its
Associates to start a series of new HRD departments. By late seventies theconcept of HRD
and the need for having separate HRD departments picked upmomentum. In Pareek and
Rao's model of HRD department the objective of thisdepartment is to facilitate learning and
change in the organizations. This department issupposed to have learning specialists who
facilitate change process. In their model,O.D. was conceived as one of the main tasks of the
HRD department. Thus an attemptwas made to institutionalize O.D. through HRD
departments. As the departmentspicked up momentum a lot of O.D. work had begun to be
done through the HRDdepartments. In fact most change interventions have been and are
being made by theHRD departments (as differentiated from the Personnel departments) . The
HRDManagers in India do undertake a number of interventions which may be classified
asO.D. interventions. The nature of interventions undertaken by the HRD
departmentsinclude:

* Cultural change through new performance management systems* TQM based interventions
(in most cases these are undertaken also by a separategroup of professionals)* Survey
Feedback* Role clarity and Role negotiation exercises* Training* Career Planning and
Succession exercise* Assessment Centers and promotion policies* Visioning and value
clarification exercises* Performance coaching workshops* Team building interventions The
Academy of Human Resources Development has come up with a concept of
IOAC(Individual and Organizational Assessment Center) which is becoming popular as
anintervention by the HRD departments. In this concept the HRD department establishesan
Assessment Center with the purposes of assessing and developing thecompetencies of
individuals as individuals, individuals in relation to their current andfuture roles, dyadic
relationships, teams, interteam collaboration and work andorganizational climate and
synergy.A great deal of work has been done in India regarding the use of HRD Audit as an
O.D.intervention and is a unique feature of Indian organizations. The senior
author'sexperience in initiating O.D. with the aid of HRD audit has shown the following
results:1. The audit in several organizations resulted in establishing several
organizationalsystems and processes such as potential & performance appraisal, career
planning,training, mentoring, etc.2. Formulation of clear cut policies including promotion
policy, communication policy,reward and recognition policy, etc.3. Helped in developing
trust, collaboration, team work,4. Human Orientation gets injected into the business process
with opportunities forgrowth and development provided to all employees5. More role clarity
and direction to the employees in terms of their work leading tohigher level of role efficacy
The above consequences indicate that HRD Audit is cost effective and can give manyinsights
into a company's organizations. While various methods like individual & groupinterviews,
workshop, questionnaires and observation can be used as tools, the success

of the audit as an intervention depends on the efficiency of implementation in the post-audit

phaseRole Focused InterventionsA large number of organizations have used role based
interventions. Whenever there isa restructuring exercise, "role clarity" becomes an issue.
Many organizations in Indiakeep conducting role clarity and role negotiation exercises. The
role negotiationexercises normally are between departments. Indian managers tend to
differentiatethemselves fast and develop departmental loyalties too soon. As a result, some
timesthe organizational goals suffer and interdepartmental conflicts increase. Rolenegotiation
exercises, therefore, have been a very common practice to build acollaborative and
synergistic culture. Udai Pareek's book 'Managing OrganizationalRoles' is a classic book and
is widely used in India.Role efficacy lab (REL) is a short process oriented program to
diagnose the level of roleefficacy in a group of employees in the organization and take steps
to raise that level. The objective of such an intervention is to enable understanding of
individual andgroup commitments with the top management, creating an opportunity to get
moralsupport and reinforcement from the top management and providing a forum for
topmanagement to comment on the managers' expectations and accordingly prepareaction
plans. RELs are also very common in India. They are normally done as a part of training or
restructuring interventions. As a training tool it aims at enhancing roleefficacy. Role efficacy
as a concept was formulated by Udai Pareek in the mid-seventies. For a typical design in role
efficacy see Ramnarayan, Rao and Singh (1998,p.110).Role Stress comes to play in a
relationship oriented culture where people who arerequired to play multiple role get
subjected to additional stress. Also dual reporting inmatrix structures creates newer issues.
Role stress programs are also conducted byIndian O.D. practitioners.Person Focused
InterventionsAll person focused interventions focus on individuals working in organizational
contextand have great relevance to various HRD subsystems like training,
performancedevelopment, counseling, etc. These interventions can be mainly classified as
mainly:Participant active interventions: encounter groups, role playing, instrumentation, self
study & reflection and awareness expansion. These are used largely as training interventions.
However organizations areincreasingly using instrument based feedback. Use of MBTI,
FIRO-B, 16 PF and suchother instruments is a common. There are a number of Handbooks
of Psychological andSocial Instruments published in India. Notable among these are the one
by Pareek(1997) and Pareek and Rao (1975), and Pestonjee (1982). Self assessment
throughFeedback on Instruments (SAFI services) was an organizational intervention to
promoteself assessment for managerial effectiveness in late seventies. A few
organizationshave established such centers but they have not taken off due to lack of
trainedmanpower and sustainable interest of HRD departments.Facilitator Active
Interventions: psychodynamic methods, motivation approach,training, feedback and coaching
& mentoring.
360 Degree Feedback Based Interventions: In the recent past some of the Indianorganizations
are using multi-rater assessment methods to initiate change process. Thefirst systematic
program using this method was initiated at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad in
1987. A number of CEOs participated in this program. Theywere provided feedback on their
Management Styles, Leadership Styles, LeadershipRoles, Delegation, and other
competencies. Experiences with this methodology waslimited to the India Institute of
Management till early nineties. As 360 Degree feedbackbecame popular there is a renewed
interest in using this methodology to bring changein the styles and effectiveness of top level
managers. This intervention is beginning togain momentum.Achievement Motivation labs:
Experiential programs intended to develop achievementand power motives among the
participants. The first set of Achievement MotivationDevelopment programs were conducted
by David McClelland and team in midsixties todevelop local entrepreneurs in India. The
success of this experience was reported intheir book on Motivating Economic Achievement
by David McClelland and David Winterin 1967. Subsequent efforts to build entrepreneurs in
India using AMT as a main toolwere found to yield good success rate and were known as the
Gujarat model. A numberof those who worked with McClelland and were associated with his
original work inIndia have been conducting Achievement and Power Motivation labs to
develop changeagents in organizations. A good number of organizations have successfully
used AMTseither to build a culture of competitiveness or a culture of excellence in
theircompanies. Organizations like Larsen & Toubro, Deepak Nitrite, Crompton Greaves,
etc.have used the AMT interventions extensively. Udai Pareek and Somnath
Chattopadhyayhave developed an instrument to measure the motivational climate of
organizationsusing the six motive model: Achievement, Expert Power, Dependence,
Control,Affiliation and Extension. (Of these six motives the concept of extension motivation
wasformulated by Udai Pareek in mid-sixties. Extension motivation was proposed as themain
driver for social change in developing countries. Since then the concept of Extension
Motivation has gained popularity and Extension Motivation labs are beingconducted in the
country. They are very popular interventions for NGOs and the socialservices sector.) This
tool to measure the Motivational climate is used as a diagnostictool and on the basis of the
diagnosis training workshops are normally conducted tohelp the top management or senior
managers of a company to examine and changethe motivational culture. Some of these
interventions essentially deal with enhancingor changing the motivational profiles of
individuals and through them the culture of thecompany. Hence they are mixture of
individual and organization interventions. Typical AMT labs to enhance the Achievement of
young managers or sales persons etc.are also common interventions. The most frequently
used intervention is to buildExtension Motivation (Service Motive) among the social service
agents.Issues Emerging From Indian ExperiencesExperience of Indian practitioners in the
field of O.D. has highlighted several issuesrelevant to the Indian organizational environment.
Some of these issues have beenpresented below:* In traditional methods of managing
change, there is no participation of those affectedby it during the phases of diagnosing, action
planning, action taking, evaluating andspecifying learning. Also actions, if taken are rarely
explained to ip employees; data
shared is minimal. All these factors lead to frustration and alienation amongemployees.
Therefore, interventions should be chosen such that the approach goesbeyond superficial
participation and attempts to tap employees' competencies for theirgreater* O.D. is based on
the human processes approach, focusing on interpersonalrelationships during the course of
interventions. Such an approach may not be feasiblein the Indian context. A directive
approach is soliciting participation may be moreeffective and suitable. Moreover,
participation should always be sought from theemployees who are going to be directly
affected by the change. Adequate attentionneeds to be paid to communication of the right
message to ensure the success of anyintervention.* There should be clarity with respect to the
ultimate change goals and identificationwhere the organization is headed for. The "pull"
effect of future aspirations works muchbetter than to "push" people through change. Also it is
important to sustain theenthusiasm of those involved even after the excitement associated
with initiation andaccomplishment of some early wins. People should be kept continually
informed, smallachievements should be celebrated and steps to sustain the efforts should be
takensuch as linking rewards to the change process.* Another important theme concerns the
role of leadership, articulating the visioningprocess & sharing the vision, establishing and
articulating purpose; developing changeinitiatives and programs to guide implementation;
communicating with and listening topeople, dealing with questions and frustrations;
generating feelings of empowerment inorganizational members during times of significant
change.* In O.D. based change effort in the Indian context, it is sine qua non to take
intoconsideration the prevailing cultural norms, attitudes, beliefs, etc. and leverage
thefunctional ones for making the change effort a success.* In India, the role of the
government in regulating the activities of an organization isconsiderable, particularly in the
public sector and to some extent in the private sector aas well. While initiating the any O.D.
effort, the influencing role of the governmentcannot be ignored.* An issue of concern
primarily in Indian organizations is initiating through O.D.,structure and processes
particularly making functioning flexible and less bureaucratic,decentralizing, but at the same
time strengthening accountability; developing acollaborative culture and reorienting people
and roles to make them more adaptive.* Also since training is widely used as an intervention,
it is important to link it in to longterm goals such as learning how to work better together,
solve problems moreeffectively and improve the learning processes in organizations.* It is
very critical to determine what the organization really needsincremental changesor radical
transformations. The history, culture and business environment needs to beanalyzed
thoroughly before launching any O.D. interventions. Any organizational issuebeing studied
has numerous sensitivities attached to it, and these too should bethoroughly investigated.

* Change of any nature is highly likely to be an intensely political process. One needs
tounderstand the power issues and ensure that the change process does not getdysfunctionally
caught up in political conflicts.* Survey and diagnosis should be conducted very
scientifically using the principle of research methodologyChallenges Faced By an O.D.
Practitioner in India* In India, managing change of any kind requires a great deal of
perseverance andpatience. The organization, may not always be changing in the desired pace
anddirection, but nevertheless, it is changing. O.D. practitioners should respect this andlearn
to observe and facilitate the process with appreciation & tolerance.* O.D. practitioners
should bear in mind that the success of any intervention dependson several factors such as
prevalent mindset, existing work identities, the kind of media and forum available for
unfreezing actions and resources available and shouldestimate the time for change to take
place ? the basis of these critical aspects.* The O.D. practitioner should be mentally and
emotionally prepared for problems hemay encounter along the way. This requires a
combination of creativity, patience,productivity and motivational ability when the pace
slackens.* The practitioner should also focus attention on the timing of interventions.
Theorganization may be most ready for unfreezing and implementing changes when
itexperiences the most difficult times.* The most crucial task that the practitioner needs to
perform is that of a creating alearning culture in the organization. This should be done by
assisting the organizationalmembers reflect on its mindset, its consequences, learn its ways
towards the newmindset and this process has to closely facilitated.* One of the main
functions of the O.D. practitioners is to exercise power; power whichis persuasive and
empowering. Competence, political access, sensitivity, stature,credibility, resource
management and group support - all capacitate the practitioner tohave a positive influence on
the organization and its endeavor towards change, andhave to be developed along with rich
conceptual knowledge.* A very important aspect of the O.D. intervention that the practitioner
needs to focuson is communication. The objectives of the O.D. intervention undertaken, the
changesdesired, the action plans formulated by discussion with the top management should
allbe clearly communicated across the organization. Communication systems andinformation
flow should be well established and transparent.ConclusionO.D. has emerged as a specialized
function in the management profession. About twodecades ago, when O.D. was introduced in
India, there were only one or twoorganizations practicing the concept. Today, one out of ten
business organizations hasan O.D. department or facilitator, or atleast has institutionalized
O.D. mechanisms. Trained O.D. consultants offering their services for initiating and
implementing the O.D.effort are also now available. Even the voluntary, non-profit and
public sector

organizations have realized the importance of O.D. for their survival and growth. Whilethe
basic concepts and mechanisms have been studied in the west, they have beenaltered and
developed to suit the largely relationship driven culture of Indianorganizations leading to
very favorable changes both structurally and culturally inmany of them. The realization that
learning in today's competitive and fast changingenvironment is not a mere desirable luxury
but a frequent necessity , has not onlycreated a conducive milieu for further growth and
intensification of O.D. but also hasthrown open challenges for social scientists & O.D.
practitioners in India.
 T.V. Rao, Ph.D.Chairman, TVRLS T.V. Rao Learning Systems12, Cosmoville, Satyagrah
MargAhmedabad 380 015, Gujarat, IndiaM. Vijayalakshmi, MAResearch Associate T. V. Rao
Learning Systems12, Cosmoville, Satyagrah MargAhmedabad 380 015, Gujarat, IndiaDr. T.
V. Rao is currently Chairman, of T V Rao Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd. and Chairman,
AcademicCouncil, Academy of Human Resources Development, Ahmedabad. He was
Professor at the IndianInstitute of Management, Ahmedabad for over 20 years beginning
1973. He has also worked as L&TProfessor of HRD at XLRI, Jamshedpur during 1983-85.
Dr. Rao is the founder President of the NationalHRD Network and was President of the
Indian Society for Applied Behavioural Science (ISABS). Dr. Raohas several publications to
his credit in the areas of HRD, education, entrepreneurship, health,population and
management training. Dr. Rao worked as a shortterm consultant to UNESCO, Ministry of
Health, Indonesia, National Entrepreneurial Development Association, Malaysia and the
Commonwealthsecretariat, London. Dr. Rao has designed and assisted in implementing
performance appraisal and otherHRD Systems for a number of organizations in India and
Abroad

Practice Gaps in India

There are gaps as it were for OD to be realised more fully in practice. Laying it out in
relatively transactional language is to label the substantive issues in relatively layman terms.
These include and are not limited to the following:
1. Unanchored departures within OD pedagogic systems—as with the free-form adaptations
to satiate idiosyncratic tastes of iconoclast practitioners, whether by Western traditions or
rootedly Indian ones, we have more experimentation than steadfast persistence to see through
logical ends of a sustainable thematic in OD pedagogy for India. Facile analogies of
breakdowns in Indian family–managed enterprises do not accurately capture the tensions and
points of departure within OD traditions in India. Overcoming defensiveness of stereotypes
and the touchiness associated with subjectively anchored styles requires an openness to
wholesome enquiry from a method-of-science perspective. This would aid in the aims of
establishing viable processes and human facilitation aimed at organisational effectiveness. A
modicum of respect would ensue if OD’s art form were self-reflectively honest in action in
the Indian context. Raghu Ananthanarayan’s paper in this edition on potential OD pedagogy
for India’s context is a welcome essay towards this end.
2. Part seen as whole—Such being the generalisation from problem-solving in the physical
world, breaking down complexity to tame a part among a syndrome of issues, often ends up
in the search for silver or golden bullets with which to nail the problems of organisational
dynamics. Hence, claiming fame via systems of feedback for leaders who lack the whole
system view of the organisation, or participatory forums of social constructivist ideology that
eschew socio-technical dimensions of structure and task outcomes, is often to mistake the
part for the whole. Participatory problem-solving, inclusive approaches that are positioned as
diversity today and such parts of the larger whole may stem from humanistic intent all right.
They do not assure whole systems’ effectiveness if the relation of the part to the whole is
poorly understood or cognised for whole system effectiveness. The executive disposition
required of the OD practitioner to confront OD sponsors is a window to the opportunity this
challenge represents.
3. Research scarcity—At a recent forum, in July 2020, hosted by Penn State University, that
reflected on data patterns on OD practitioner values, Dave Jamieson of the UoS fame
lamented, as a curious participant, the lack of studies published from Asia. The demographics
of India in that study of participant practitioners were not to be missed for the observed irony.
The continued offering of education, namely teaching, without research in the Indian context,
is unlikely to sustain the practice. Perhaps, the mastery over research methods is only part of
the dimension of research scarcity. A compassionate review of how practitioners engage the
client organisation in terms of learning and dissemination would be essential to address face-
saving resistances. These fears come up as concerns of prejudice or ridicule for being open to
data scrutiny. This data-shyness is likely true for both the client and the OD practitioner.
4. Lack of resistance in objective manipulation—While access to research materials,
including reference reading as in this journal, is enabled via technology, the medium also
poses its challenges due to reductionisms involved in its extended or maladapted use. There
is a false identification with external validation, as if the objects we need are already ‘out
there’ and is not therefore distinguishable for its value from other data on the Internet, or,
indeed, on the bookshelf.
The expedience value in change practices such as AGILE2 and LEAN3 are options that silos
within functions such as HR or Talent and OD find difficult to cannibalise or even legitimise
in its own fold. This nature of remoteness in one’s own subjective awareness is worth a
deeper review. Laloux’s (2014) book classifies both these practices under the green
organisation, though for its appeal in shared values and ideals of culture mediating the
organisation’s strategy. I have myself witnessed AGILE being almost dictatorially imposed in
technology organisations, with disjointed assumptions between top management aspirations
and the disempowered employees trying amidst constraints to create operational value.
This may seem like an antithetical issue to the espoused value for science in OD, but these
polarities that need integration are grounded in the experience of OD master practitioners.
The healing of organisations, that needs to be felt and experienced among its members, is
projected instead as a matter of objective attainment of target mannerisms or artefacts. That is
when cultures are objectified as packaged deliverables rather than as outcomes that are
realised in intersubjective experience in the pursuit of individual and organisational
effectiveness. The commerce to be made in such forms of inauthentic manipulation of
organisational dimensions finds no effective resistance in the absence of a scientific fortitude
that works with humanistic values such as those in the UoS construct.
This refrain has been earlier called out in dilemmas for HR practice too (Pandey, 2017).
Contrary to common sense, a good amount of evidence indicates that any point of time, there
are a set of prevailing theories. Data running against this trend may not be perceived at all,
and if the evidence is scary to the prevalent theorists, there may be wilful dumping. This is
not exactly an availability bias. This is like a group of scientists, approximating the character
of politicians. They maintain their own narratives, and when opponents get rival evidence,
they dump the earlier paradigm, as in an exclusive either / or reality.
This essential paradox is a management of immense concern. Most of the time, ‘normal
science’ goes on. We work within a framework or ‘paradigm’ that the scientists/practitioners
of that day share. And practitioners blind to this may be vulnerable to irrelevance. Here is
where even Cass Sunstein, in his book on conformity, offers the proposition that ‘a single
dissenter, or voice of sanity, is likely to have a huge impact’. Those who appear confident
and certain and not open to influence or others’ views can otherwise lead apparently identical
groups in dramatically different directions.
5. Performative anxiety in efficiencies—antecedents to the practitioner’s efficacy include
the ecology of performance management systems purportedly aimed at a merit-oriented
reward system. A manipulability of objective criteria within ongoing systems is not unheard
of either. A provocative and yet contemplative poser from Peter Block in this regard is worth
our consideration.
Technology is symbolic of cultures of impatience, the idea that speed is the god and time is
the devil. So, everybody is in a hurry, and many of our clients want to do things in less time.
This means they choose speed over depth. To me that is an enormous loss. (Duncan, 2020)
What works as practice for one context is assumed to be applicable in other contexts, and
reasons for its non-applicability are then examined without pertinent frames of reference. A
variation of the earlier dilemma, this anxiety is socialised as an existential threat to those
beholden to the system in which performance is tied to breadwinning or rewards.
The practitioner identity in OD is in question here, as it gets undifferentiated from the
participants of change whose voices get as excluded as that of the practitioner’s. A client
reduced to a less potent and sentient being is not the same as the espoused notion of
performing to the client’s initially muted or disempowered expectations. Sensing future
possibility in the present moment, and holding that emergence of what will get actualised, is
prevented in performative climates due to our blind spots at the source from which we
operate—our inner worlds of meaning and purpose (Scharmer & Kaufer, 2013). What ails the
OD practitioner from holding space with the client for the more effective longer-term
outcome? The answer may enable us to progressive development beyond naming the
practitioner’s anxieties or pathologies in his/her socio-emotional, ecological and physical
context.
6. Design thinking is not a substitute for OD—the more common misconception regarding
OD has been the dominant attribute of structures or organograms in organisations. While
‘management’ involves aspects of ‘control’, the requisite process for effective organisation
have been acknowledged in the recent popularisations of business literature (Neilson et al.,
2015), where structure may reliably and unfashionably be placed last. That design of any
organisation must align with its chosen strategy is imperfectly evaluated before the design is
put to work. The origins of considerations in organisation design may be a clue to
organisational culture, with people in formal roles setting the climate in which performance
may be accomplished. With the advent of design thinking credos and its appeal to product
and service designers, the face valid mention of ‘design’ has proliferated through social
media. This has reduced attention for the inherent significance of organisation design for
effective organisational outcomes. While questions of what is, what if, what wows and what
works are useful in facilitation of design questions, the elemental aspects of organisation
design are not necessarily prerequisite knowledge for participants in the design thinking
process. Boundaries of positive psychology and social constructivist designs need
discernment in this apparent linguistic trapping. For example, Appreciative Inquiry, with its
bearings in social construction of reality; of and by itself, does not exhaust considerations for
effective organisation design.