Organization development

Organization development (OD) is a planned approach to improve employee and organizational

effectiveness by conscious interventions in those processes and structures that have an immediate
bearing on the human aspect of the organization. OD is an organization wide planned effort managed
from the top, to increase organizational effectiveness and health through planned interventions in the
organizational processes, using behavioral science knowledge. In the initial phase of the development
of OD, primary focus was on human as well as the process aspect of the organizations with a view to
improve trust, communication, teamwork and interpersonal relationship.

Characteristics of Organization Development

A number of special characteristics together distinguish organization development from others
approaches to managing and improving organizational function.

 Behavioral science base - It is primarily concerned with improving the organization by

focusing out aspects that have a bearing on human and social improvement. Its principles have
been drawn largely from the field of organizational behaviour and social sciences.
 Normative approach to organizational change - OD is a normative process grounded in
value-lden assumption of what constitutes ideal individual and organizational growth.
Development for the OD practitioners means the movement of individuals and organizations in
certain directions consistent with democratic and humanistic values and ideals such as
autonomy, self actualization, etc.
 Deliberate intervention in the organization - OD implies deliberate intervention in
theongoing processes of an organization. While all the social systems, in the ordinary course of
revenue, tend to grow in predictable patterns, they may fail to optimize their capabilities due to
an inability to recognize their potential or to anticipate and effectively cope wilt internal and
 crisis. Development implies planning and action to ensure that growth takes consistent with
values.
 Normative deductive strategy- It is based on the assumptions that the social norms arc one of
the strong reinforces of behaviour. The culture of the organization is affected by those norms
and hence, to change the existing organizational culture prevalent norms have to be reduced,
modified and replaced by more effective ones. This approach talks about the change in the
organization, which looks forward, to a long term improvement through internalization of new
norms of behaviour.
 Systems approach to change - Leavitt (1972) has viewed an organization as a social system
consisting of different subsystems such as task, structure, technology and human resource,
interlinked by various processes. Any change in one part or process has implications for other
parts or processes relevant to the system. OD techniques are used to change or modify the
processes to change the system consequently.
 Using action research model - Action research model is a "data based, problem solving model
that replicated the steps involved in the scientific method of inquiry". OD, using this model,
involves a systematic process of diagnosing organizational problems through data collection
and analysis feeding the data back to the organizational client group, discussing the findings,
planning collaborative action and implementing proposed solutions.
 Use of external consultant - Here, the assumption in OD is that the presence of a qualified
behaviour scientist as an external consultant can help the process of OD in the following
manner:
The specialized knowledge of that consultant becomes available to the organization.
 The consultant, as a neutral outsider, is likely to face lesser resistance during the process of
change.
 He is less likely to have a personal stake in implement of proposed change.

Process of Organization Development

A typical OD process can be divided into the following phases:

 Problem identification: The first step in OD press involves understanding and identification of
the existing and potential problems in the organization. The awareness of the problem includes
knowledge of the possible organizational problems of growth, human satisfaction, the usage of
human resource and organizational effectiveness.
 Data collection: Having understood the exact problem in this phase, the relevant data is
collected through personal interviews, observations and questionnaires.
 Diagnosis: OD efforts begin with diagnosis of the current situation. Usually, it is not limited to a
single problem. Rather a number off actors like attitudes, assumptions, available resources and
management practice are taken into accounting this phase. According to Rao and Hari Krishna,
four steps in organizational can be identified:
o Structural analysis: Determines how the different parts of the organization are
functioning in terms of laid down goals.
o Process analysis: Process implies the manner in which events take place in a sequence.
It refers to the pattern of decision-making, communication, group dynamics and conflict
management patterns within organization to help in the process of attainment of
organizational goals.
o Function analysis: This includes strategic variables, performance variables, results,
achievements, and final outcomes.
o Domain analysis: Domain refers to the area of the organization for organizational
diagnosis.
 Planning and implementation: After diagnosing the problem, the next phase of OD, with the
OD interventions, involves the planning and implementation part of the change process.
  Evaluation and feedback: Any CID activity is incomplete without proper feedback. Feedback is
process of relaying evaluations to the client group by means of specific report or interaction.

OD Interventions or Techniques
OD intervention refers to an activity that is carried on in an organization with the help of an internal or
external OD consultant for achieving a given goal or objective
These interventions are aimed at the social processes occurring within organizations. Some of
important interventions are discussed below.

1) T groups
Tgroups are designed to provide members with experiential learning about group dynamics, leadership
and interpersonal relationships. The basic Tgroup training or sensitivity training to change the
standards, attitudes and behaviour of individuals by 'using psychological techniques and programs.
Sensitivity training involves group confession where the individual’s problems become the problems of
the group, which in turn tries to find a solution. After critiquing others and being critiqued,doubt is
introduced into the mind of each individual as to whose standards are really proper. The objectives of
Tgroup training are:
 Increased understanding, insight and self–awareness aboutone’s own and others' behaviour
and its impact on self and others.
 Better understanding about the group and intergroup process (facilitating and inhibiting group
function).
 Increased diagnostic skills.
 Increased ability to transfer learning into action;
2) Process Consultation
It has been defined as a set of activities on the part of the consultant that helped the client to perceive,
understand and act upon the process of events that occur in the client's environment in order to
improve the situation as defined by the client. It deals primarily with five important group processes:
 Communication.
 The functional roles of group members
 The way in which the group solves problems and makes decisions.
 The development and growth of group norms
 The use of leadership and authority.

3) Third Party interventions

It focuses on interpersonal or intergroup conflicts. Conflicts can arise from two sources:
• Substantive issues like work methods, pay rates and conditions of employment.
 • Interpersonal issues such as differences in personality, task orientations, perceptions among
group members, completion over scarce resources.

4) Team building
It is an effective approach to develop and nurture a team culture m an organization, which helps the
group members to enhance their interpersonal and problem solving skills. It also helps group members
to develop a higher level of motivation to carry out the group decisions by overcoming specific
problemslike apathy, general lack of interest among members, loss of productivity, increasing
complaints within the group, contusion about assignments, low participation in meetings, lack of
innovation and initiation, increasing complaints front those outside the group about the quality,
timeliness, effectiveness of services and products is, etc. This intervention can be used for the following
types of teams:
• Groups reporting to the same supervisor, manager/executive.
• Groups involving people with common organizational goals;
• Temporary group formed to perform a specific, onetime task:
• Groups consisting of people whose work roles are interdependent.
• Groups whose members have no formal links in the organization, but whose collective purpose
is to achieve task they can achieve as individuals.

Depending on the types of teams, there are a number of factors that affect the outcome of a
specific teambuilding activity:
• The length of time allocated to the activity.
• The team's willingness to look at the way in which it operates.
• The length of time the team has been working together.
• The permanence of the teams.

5) Survey feedback: The intervention provides data and information to the managers. In information
on Attitudes of employees about wage level, and structure, hours of work, working conditions and
relations are collected and the results are supplied, to the top executive teams. They analyse the data,
find out the problem, evaluate the results and develop the means to correct the problems identified.
The teams are formed with the employees at all levels in the organization hierarchy i.e, from the rank
and file to the top level.

6) Goal setting and planning: Each division in an organization sets the goals or formulates the plans
for profitability. These goals are sent to the top management which in turn sends them back to the
divisions after modification. A set of organization goals thus emerge thereafter.

7) Job enrichment:
Job enrichment is currently practiced all over the world. It is based on the assumption in order to
motivate workers; job itself must provide opportunities for achievement, recognition, responsibility,
advancement and growth. The basic idea is to restore the elements of interest that were taken away. In
a job enrichment program the worker decides how the job is performed, planned and controlled and
makes more decisions concerning the entire process.

Organizational culture
Meaning and Definition
“Culture is the set of important understanding that members of a community share in common". It
consists of basic sets of values, ideas, perception, concept of morality, code of conduct etc. which create
distinctiveness among human groups.

"Organizational culture can be defined as a system of shared beliefs and attitudes that develop within
an organization and guide the behaviour of its members."
Changing Organizational Culture
The following condition may be present only then a cultural change can take place:
1. Dramatic Crisis: Any Dramatic crisis in the organisation like a major financial setback, loss of a
major customer or a technological breakthrough by a competitor may force the management to
look into relevance of the existing culture
2. New Top Leadership: IF some top executives leave the organization and new leadership takes
over, they may provide an alternative set of key values or a new culture. This new leadership
may be more capable of responding to the crisis.
3. Young and Small Organization: When the organization is new and its size issmall, it will be
easier for the management to change the culture.
4. Weak Culture: Weak cultures are more amenable to change than strong ones. The higher the
agreement among the members on the organizational values, the more difficult it willbe to
change.

POWER AND POLITICS INTRODUCTION

Power is the ability to make things happen in the way an individual wants, either by self or by the
subordinates. The essence of power is control over the behavior of others.

Managers derive Owes from both organizational and individual sources. These sources are called
position power and personal power, respectively. Power also refersto a capacity that A has, to influence
the behavior of B, so that B acts in accordance with A’s wishes. The, greater B's dependence on A, the
greater is A's power in the relationship. Therefore, power is function of dependency.

Bases of Power
Power can be categorized into two types: Formal and informal
A. Formal Power: It is based on the position of an individual in an organization. Formal power is
derived from either one's ability to coerce or reward others or is derived from the formal authority
vested in the individual due to his/ her strategic position in the organizational hierarchy. For
example, a manager may threaten to withhold a pay raise, of or even recommend the firing of a
subordinate who does not act as desired. Such coercive power is the extent to which a manager can
deny desired rewards or administer punishments to control other people. The availability of
coercive power also varies across organizations. The presence of unions and organizational policies
on employee treatment can weaken this power base significantly. Formal power may be
categorized into four types which are as follows:
 1. Coercive Power: The coercive power base is being dependent on fear. It is based on the
application, or the threat of application, of physical sanctions such as the infliction of pain, the
generation of frustration through restriction of movement, or the controlling by force of basic
physiological or safety needs. In an organization one can exercise power over another if they
have the power to dismiss, suspend, demote another assuming that the job is valuable to the
person on who power is being unleashed.
2. Reward Power: The Opposite of coercive power is rewording power. Reward power is the
extent to which a manager can use extrinsic and intrinsic rewards to control other people.
Examples of such rewards include money, promotions, compliments, or enriched jobs. Although
all managers hate some access to rewards, success in accessing and-tainting rewards to achieve
influence varies according to the skills of the manager.
3. Legitimate Power: The third base of "position" power is legitimate power, or formal authority.
It stems from the extent to which a manager can use subordinates' internalized values or
'beliefs that the "boss" has a "right of command" to control their behavior. For example, the
boss may have the formal authority to approve or deny such employee requests as job
transfers, equipment purchases, personal time off, or overtime work. Legitimate power
represents a special kind of power a manager has because subordinatesbelieve it is legitimate
for a person occupying the managerial position to have the right to command.The lack of this is
legitimacy will result in authority not being accepted by subordinates.

Thus this type of power has the following elements:

 It represents the power a person receives as a result of his/herposition formal hierarchy.
 Positions of authority include coercive and reward powers.
 Legitimate power, however, is not limited to the power t coerce andreward. It encompasses the
acceptance of the authority of a position by members of anorganization.
4. Information Power: This type of power is derived from access to and control over information.
When people have needed information, others become dependent on them,: For example,
managers have access to data that subordinates do not have). Normally the higher the level, the
more information would' be accessed by managers.

B. Personal Power: Personal power resides in the individual and is independent of that
individual'sposition. Three bases of personal power are expertise, rational persuasion, and
reference.
 Expert power is the ability to control another person's behavior by virtue of possessing
knowledge, experience, or judgment that the other person lacks, but needs. A subordinate
obeys a supervisor possessing expert power because the, boss ordinarily knows more about
what is to be clone or how it is to be done than does the subordinate. Expert power is
relative, not absolute. However the table may turn in case the subordinate has superior
knowledge or skills than his/her boss. In this age of technology driven environments, the
Second opposition holds true in many occasions where the boss is dependent heavily on the
juniors for technologically oriented support.

Rational Persuasion is the ability, to control another's behavior, since, through the
individual's efforts; the person accepts the desirability of an offered goal and a viable way of
achieving it. Rational persuasion involves both explaining the desirability of expected
outcomes and "showing how specific actions will achieve these 'outcomes.

Referent power is the ability to control another's behavior because the person wants to
identify with the power source. In this case, a subordinate obeys the boss because he or she
wants to behave, perceive, or believe as the boss does. This obedience may occur, for
example, because the subordinate likes the boss personally and therefore tries to do things
the way the boss wants them done. In a sense, the subordinate attempts to avoid doing
anything that would interfere with the pleasing boss- subordinate relationship.

Empowerment
Empowerment is the process by which managers help others to acquire and use the power
required to make decisions affecting both themselves and their work. Moreover, today,
managers in progressive organizations are expected to be competent at empowering the
people with whom they work. Rather than concentrating power only it higher levels as
found in the traditional "pyramid" of organizations, this concept views power to be shared
by all working in flatter and more collegial structures

The concept of empowerment is part of the decentralized structures which, are found in
today's corporations. Corporate staff is being cut back; layers of management are being
eliminated the number of employees is being reduced as the volume of work increases. The
trend clearly" is towards creating leaner and more responsive organizations which are
flexible and capable of taking decisions with minimum bottlenecks created out of power
struggles, typical of bureaucratic tall structures. The need clearly is towards having fewer
managers who must share more power as they go about their daily tasks. Hence,
empowerment is a key foundation of the increasingly popular self managing work teams
and other creative worker involvement groups.

Organizational Diagnosis
Organizational Diagnosis is an effective way of looking at an organization to determine gaps
between current and desired performance and how it can achieve its goals.
In recent years organizational diagnosis has evolved from a technique used as part of the
organizational development process to a major technique in its own right.
 Effective diagnosis should be an organic process in that as you start to look at an organization and
its structures and what it does and does not do, change starts, as change progresses so does the
‘now’ performance and as such the diagnosis process also needs to re-start.
The BIR methodology looks at taking a ‘snapshot’ in time in a way that is quick and relatively
unobtrusive. This allows decisions to be made, plans developed and actions implemented rapidly…
Then using the benchmarking facility another snapshot of the organization can be made and new
plans developed. A bit like the old story of “how do you eat an elephant? … one bite at a time.
Developing an organization is no different.

The Diagnostic Cycle

The purpose of a diagnosis is to identify problems facing the organization and to determine their
causes so that management can plan solutions.
An organizational diagnosis process is a powerful consciousness-raising activity in its own right, its
main usefulness lies in the action that it induces.
The major steps of a diagnostic cycle include
 Orientation

 Goal setting

 Data gathering

 Analysis/ Interpretation

 Feedback

 Action Planning

 Implementation

 Monitoring/ Measure

 Evaluation

PURPOSE OF ORGANISATIONAL ANALYSIS

The organizational analysis may be done for different purposes. These include:
1) Enhancing the general understanding of the functioning of organizations (i.e. educational
or research purposes.)
(The direct beneficiary is the researcher or the analyst rather than the organization). Such a study
may aim at enhancing the understanding of human behavior through a study of it in an
organisation, or to enhance the understanding of the society as reflected in organizational life.

2) Planning for growth and diversification

An analysis or a diagnostic study may be necessary for planning growth, diversification, expansion,
etc. The organizational analysis may reveal the strengths that could be used for growth and
diversification, weak spots that need to be removed in the new plans, the precautions to be taken,
structural dimensions to be kept in mind, etc. Several insights may be provided on structure,
people, systems, styles, technology, etc. that have implications for growth.

3) Improving Organisational Effectiveness or Planning General Improvements

Organizational Analysis may be used also for improving the general efficiency of an organization.
On the basis of a diagnosis made out of the analysis action steps could be initiated in terms of toning
up administration, introducing new management systems and processes, reduction of wasteful
expenditure, introduction of time savers, change of personnel policies to enhance employee
motivation, restructuring of some parts, training, elimination of unwanted structures and teasers,
improvements in general health of the organisation etc.

4) Organizational Problem Solving

Whenever some subsystems departments, units, etc. fall sick or start creating problems a diagnosis
may be undertaken with a view to identify the source of the problem and take corrective action. A
sick unit, a bottleneck, a communication block, a poor performing department, frequently occurring
conflict between two departments, repeated failures of a management system or an organizational
process, a frequent violation of an organizational norm, fall in discipline, reduction in output
absenteeism, increase in conflicts, etc. can all lead to the need for an organisational diagnosis of a
part of the organization or the entire organisation.
.
METHODS OF ORGANISATIONAL ANALYSIS
Of the various perspectives presented so far the Professional Management and the OD perspective
encompass the Economic, Political and Sociological and Social Psychological perspectives. These are
also more modern and are being more frequently used. Among these two of the professional
management, perspective is vast and covers the entire management field. Since the focus of this
course is on Organisation Design and Development, the OD or the Applied Behavioural Science
Perspective is more appropriate for discussion here. Hence in the subsequent part of this unit and
the subsequent unit, more details are presented relating to the organization’s development.
There are many ways of analyzing and diagnosing organizations and their phenomena. The
following are the most frequently used methods:
1) Questionnaires
2) Interviews
3) Observation
4) Analysis of records, circulars, appraisal reports, and other organizational literature
5) Analysis of hard data of organizations and various units
6) Task forces and task groups
7) Problem identification/problem-solving workshops
8) Seminars, symposia, and training program
9) Recording and examining critical incidents,

PRACTICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ORGANISATIONAL ANALYSIS

This involves a study of the entire organization in terms of its objectives, its resources the allocation
and utilization of these resources for the achievement of its objectives as well as its dynamic
interaction trends with the external environment. The philosophy for the entire organization can be
developed in terms of the following steps:
1) Analysis of Objectives: Analysis of the organisation’s objectives provides a clear understanding
of both short and long-term objectives as well as the priorities that are accorded to various
objectives. Specific goals and strategies should be stated for various divisions, departments, and
sections of the organization as a means of achieving the long-term priority objectives. Through the
continuous review of the objectives and their subsequent modification, it is positive to translate
general objectives into
action plans.
2) Resource Utilisation Analysis: Having analyzed the objectives, the second step involves
evaluating the process of allocation of various human and physical resources in the organization.
Various efficiency indices can be derived to determine the adequacy of specific workflows so that
detailed examination of the inputs and outputs of the total system is possible. The focus should be
on the contribution that human resources make towards these indices.
3) Environmental Scanning: This involves analysis of the enterprise as a subsystem operating in a
socio-cultural, economic, legal, political and competitive environment. This enables the
organization to manage certain aspects of its environment and to accept other constraints which
cannot easily be handled. Yet strategies can be devised to control these.
4) Organization Climate Analysis: The climate of an organization is a reflection of its employee’s
attitudes towards various aspects of work, supervision, company procedures, goals and objectives
and Productivity in the organization.
5) Work Practices: The practices adopted for the execution of various activities in different
functional areas. These practices are like norms, which are followed by all employees in order to
maintain uniformity in performing various tasks.
6) Technology: Technology is responsible for driving various Organisational Processes. The
technology converts raw materials into final Products and Services offered by the organization.
7) Other resources: Other resources are financial resources, business practices, Administrative
Practices, management expertise information
resources, R & D, etc.
8) Systems: Are the overriding set of interacting elements that acquire inputs from the
environment transforms then and discharges outputs to the external
environment.