Lectures Intervention in Organisations
Lecture 1 – Introduction
There are organizational problems. Changing the structure can fix these problems. An episodic
intervention (fundamental) changes a problematic structure into a proper structure. Such an
intervention requires an intervention or change organization.
Episodic interventions are difficult to realize. You need a model that guides you in your change
efforts. In the book, they tried to build such a model: 3D-model.
In the 3D-model are three related dimensions.
1. Functional dimension: Changing the structure into a proper one. What are proper structures
in this organization?
2. Social dimension: Acceptance and integration of the change structure.
3. Infrastructural dimension: Who should be part of it? What kind of technology should they
use? It is about the separate intervention structure.
Episodic intervention: changes in structures of organizations, it is fundamental and organization will
need help to do that.
1. What are they? (Theoretical framework)
2. How do you conduct episodic interventions? (3D-model)
Organizations consists out of interactions. These interactions have a societal contribution. The
infrastructure conditions these interactions. The infrastructure consists out of:
HR
Technology
Structure
Infrastructure Interactions Societal contribution
Episodic interventions are in structures of organizations. What are organizations?
An organization is a social system delivering a societal contribution in terms of: products and
services; positive side effects and/or negative side effects. Based on these effects you can define the
impact of CSR.
A social system consists of members interaction with one and another, so it is a system of
interactions. They set goals and realize these goals.
Interactions relate to four basic activities:
1. Performing transformation processes:
2. Operational regulation
3. Setting goals
4. Designing conditions (HR, technology, structure)
Goals and infrastructure conditions the four
activities.
The interactions of an organization do not only
produce goals, products and services and an
infrastructure, but also a culture. So, interaction
produce and reproduce a particular culture.
So far, we see that interactions (four activities)
produce goals, the infrastructure and culture, but
that these three are also conditions. (RELEVANT)
, The relation between interactions and interactions premises is:
Continuous: it doesn’t stop.
Experimental: if you change interaction premises (goals/infrastructure), you don’t know for
sure if this helps you to survive. This is a hypothesis.
A structure is the way tasks are defined and related to each other in a network of tasks. There are
many different types of structures.
Organizational development could be described as intended, continuous improvement of interaction
premises. Development is different as change. Change lacks the idea of improvement.
Structural development is the intended, continuous improvement of the structure. In normal healthy
organization the structural development is in the structure itself.
However, sometimes the structural development can’t no longer happen in an organization. That is
the case for two situations:
1. When there are large strategic changes.
2. When the structure is self-inhibiting. Sometimes structures are so bad, that they block their
own structural development. There are three things problematic in such a structure:
- Efficient/effective production is problematic.
- Employee well-being is problematic.
- Structural development is disabled.
When this is the case, episodic interventions are needed.
Episodic intervention: deliberate, intentional, comprehensive change of the structure of the
organizations, having its own separate, temporary intervention structure.
Intentional: explicit goal to change the structure.
Deliberate: based on explicit deliberation.
Comprehensive: change of large part / whole structure.
Separate structure on top of the standing organization, with a clear beginning and end with
own an own infrastructure.
The overall goal of an episodic intervention is to change the structure of the organization. A well-
designed structure has three goals/criteria:
Enables efficient and effective processes.
Maximized quality of work.
Has capacity for structural development.
An episodic intervention has two main goals:
1. A functional goal: change the structure of the organization.
2. A social goal: make sure that the changes structure is accepted and integrated.
The dimension of the 3D-model is related to what is explained before:
Functional: change a bad structure into a proper one. (goal)
- Diagnosis, design, implementation, evaluation.
Social: structure needs to be accepted and integrated. (goal)
- Integration, adoption, motivation.
Infrastructural: is about the change project of the intervention. What do you need? (means)
HR, structure, technology.
These different dimensions have different subgoals (see above).
Lecture 1 – Introduction
There are organizational problems. Changing the structure can fix these problems. An episodic
intervention (fundamental) changes a problematic structure into a proper structure. Such an
intervention requires an intervention or change organization.
Episodic interventions are difficult to realize. You need a model that guides you in your change
efforts. In the book, they tried to build such a model: 3D-model.
In the 3D-model are three related dimensions.
1. Functional dimension: Changing the structure into a proper one. What are proper structures
in this organization?
2. Social dimension: Acceptance and integration of the change structure.
3. Infrastructural dimension: Who should be part of it? What kind of technology should they
use? It is about the separate intervention structure.
Episodic intervention: changes in structures of organizations, it is fundamental and organization will
need help to do that.
1. What are they? (Theoretical framework)
2. How do you conduct episodic interventions? (3D-model)
Organizations consists out of interactions. These interactions have a societal contribution. The
infrastructure conditions these interactions. The infrastructure consists out of:
HR
Technology
Structure
Infrastructure Interactions Societal contribution
Episodic interventions are in structures of organizations. What are organizations?
An organization is a social system delivering a societal contribution in terms of: products and
services; positive side effects and/or negative side effects. Based on these effects you can define the
impact of CSR.
A social system consists of members interaction with one and another, so it is a system of
interactions. They set goals and realize these goals.
Interactions relate to four basic activities:
1. Performing transformation processes:
2. Operational regulation
3. Setting goals
4. Designing conditions (HR, technology, structure)
Goals and infrastructure conditions the four
activities.
The interactions of an organization do not only
produce goals, products and services and an
infrastructure, but also a culture. So, interaction
produce and reproduce a particular culture.
So far, we see that interactions (four activities)
produce goals, the infrastructure and culture, but
that these three are also conditions. (RELEVANT)
, The relation between interactions and interactions premises is:
Continuous: it doesn’t stop.
Experimental: if you change interaction premises (goals/infrastructure), you don’t know for
sure if this helps you to survive. This is a hypothesis.
A structure is the way tasks are defined and related to each other in a network of tasks. There are
many different types of structures.
Organizational development could be described as intended, continuous improvement of interaction
premises. Development is different as change. Change lacks the idea of improvement.
Structural development is the intended, continuous improvement of the structure. In normal healthy
organization the structural development is in the structure itself.
However, sometimes the structural development can’t no longer happen in an organization. That is
the case for two situations:
1. When there are large strategic changes.
2. When the structure is self-inhibiting. Sometimes structures are so bad, that they block their
own structural development. There are three things problematic in such a structure:
- Efficient/effective production is problematic.
- Employee well-being is problematic.
- Structural development is disabled.
When this is the case, episodic interventions are needed.
Episodic intervention: deliberate, intentional, comprehensive change of the structure of the
organizations, having its own separate, temporary intervention structure.
Intentional: explicit goal to change the structure.
Deliberate: based on explicit deliberation.
Comprehensive: change of large part / whole structure.
Separate structure on top of the standing organization, with a clear beginning and end with
own an own infrastructure.
The overall goal of an episodic intervention is to change the structure of the organization. A well-
designed structure has three goals/criteria:
Enables efficient and effective processes.
Maximized quality of work.
Has capacity for structural development.
An episodic intervention has two main goals:
1. A functional goal: change the structure of the organization.
2. A social goal: make sure that the changes structure is accepted and integrated.
The dimension of the 3D-model is related to what is explained before:
Functional: change a bad structure into a proper one. (goal)
- Diagnosis, design, implementation, evaluation.
Social: structure needs to be accepted and integrated. (goal)
- Integration, adoption, motivation.
Infrastructural: is about the change project of the intervention. What do you need? (means)
HR, structure, technology.
These different dimensions have different subgoals (see above).
