All lectures Organization Development
Lecture 1 – OD
Introduction to organization development
What is organization development?
the long-range effort to improve: (inspanning op lange termijn om … te verbeteren)
1. An organization’s/system’s problem-solving capabilities and
2. Its abilities to cope with changes in the external environment
with the help of external or internal behavior-scientist consultants or change agents, as
they are sometimes called
Characteristics of OD
Planned
Effectiveness
Scientific approach (e.g. team dynamics, work design) gives you power to implant an
idea
Systemic approach
Teaching philosophy for reflection assignments: experimential learning (werkgroep)
Lewinian Model of Action Research
- Assumption: Experience plays a central role in learning
Components:
1. Here and now concrete experiences to validate and test abstract concepts
2. Collection of data and observation about the experience
3. Data is analyzed and conclusions are feed-backed to the actors for their use in their
modification of behavior
Characteristics of OD
- Planned; has an structure, with goals
- Effectiveness; one element is money
- Scientific approach (e.g. Team dynamics, work design); gives you power to implant an
idea
- Systemic approach
Organization environment: Changing…
Major trends in shaping change:
- Globalization and environment protection
- Information technology
- Managerial innovation
New forms of organizing…
- “Travail a la chaine” in a VW factory; Control & Command
- Boundaryless, fluent forms of organizing; e.g. Wikipedia, uber, Airbnb
- Multiple teams, multiple tasks, virtuality; connecting multiple organizations; serving
multiple purposes.
Fashion industry example
,Systemic approach
Omdat er zoveel factoren zijn die een organisatie
beïnvloeden kijk naar H&M, is het belangrijk
om op een systematische manier naar
een org te kijken. Een organisatie ligt
niet los van zijn omgeving.
Open systems
- Organizations continually interact with their
environments
- Feed-back from the environment helps the
system to adapt
Process wat doet een organisatie om tot de
output te komen.
Environment is the open part of the system.
Feedback is essential to adapt and therefore to
survive.
Environment heeft invloed op hoe een organisatie
zijn taken gaat uitvoeren.
Forms of
organizational
adaptation: A taxi experience
reactive – management waits for something
to become a problem before reacting
,renewing – management plans for change and make contingency plans
sluggish – bureaucratic
satisficing – management does only what is necessary to get by; management is adequate and
average
Figuur gaat over: How organizations behave.
Een organisatie moet zijn environment bij houden. Hoe reageert de organisatie op de
environment adaptive orientation.
Sluggish thermostat managment: Voorbeelden: public/bureaucratische organisaties bv
universiteit.
Reactive mangagment; Denk aan organisaties nu met corona. Bedrijven zijn niet voorbereid
op een probleem en reageren pas als het probleem er is. Er ontstaan veel problemen omdat ze
meteen reageren, en het niet gepland reageren is.
Renewing: it’s all about anticipate and managing.
Socio-technical systems
You have input, process and
output. Maar je kan ook
kijken naar organisaties als
social systems of technical
systems.
Binnen een bedrijf heb je
verschillende subsystemen.
Die zijn intercontected by
managerial subsystems.
social people + structure
technical task + physical
system
Changing the culture
Culture is system of shared values and beliefs that interact with an organization’s people,
structure and systems to produce behavioral norms;
- “The way we do things around here”
It includes
- Artifacts: Clothes, language, behaviors
- Norms an values: unwritten rules;
- Deep assumptions
Changing is difficult and people will resist to changes. Als je de elementen van cultuur
probeert te veranderen, dan kan deze resistent ontstaan. Om dit te tackelen probeer de cultuur
te snappen, en het te veranderen in een cultuur van veranderingen. Dat het iets normaals
wordt.
Resistance to change (2015 Paris protests against uber)
, Culture change and the #meeto movement
- Norms: “The abuser was a revered coach and no one wanted to tarnish his reputation.
Plus there was always concern that if you rocked the boat you would be ostracised,
you wouldn’t be chosen for the team, you would be blackballed in the sport.”
- Culture for performance: “ Gymnastics and the US Olympic Committee didn’t want
to scare offsponsors and they didn’t want to risk the piles of Olympic medals. So they
covered it up. And at a certain point they were so far in on the cover up that they were
implicated. So they dug in deeper to protect themselves from criminal and civil
liability,”
- Complaints ignored: "Complaints were made to Michigan State University about
Nassar as far back as 1998, but no one did anything. An investigation conducted by
the Indy Star during Nassar’s trial revealed a long pattern in USA Gymnastics of
hushing up or downplaying complaints about sexual abuse in the sport. Repeatedly,
coaches and officials were protected at the expense of the athletes”
- Abuse continued...became part of the culture, or how we do things around here…
(Nassar was sentenced in 2017-2018 for sexual assault accusations - over 250
gymnasts..)
Take-home message
Lecture 2 – OD
The OD process: focus on diagnostics
The OD process
Lecture 1 – OD
Introduction to organization development
What is organization development?
the long-range effort to improve: (inspanning op lange termijn om … te verbeteren)
1. An organization’s/system’s problem-solving capabilities and
2. Its abilities to cope with changes in the external environment
with the help of external or internal behavior-scientist consultants or change agents, as
they are sometimes called
Characteristics of OD
Planned
Effectiveness
Scientific approach (e.g. team dynamics, work design) gives you power to implant an
idea
Systemic approach
Teaching philosophy for reflection assignments: experimential learning (werkgroep)
Lewinian Model of Action Research
- Assumption: Experience plays a central role in learning
Components:
1. Here and now concrete experiences to validate and test abstract concepts
2. Collection of data and observation about the experience
3. Data is analyzed and conclusions are feed-backed to the actors for their use in their
modification of behavior
Characteristics of OD
- Planned; has an structure, with goals
- Effectiveness; one element is money
- Scientific approach (e.g. Team dynamics, work design); gives you power to implant an
idea
- Systemic approach
Organization environment: Changing…
Major trends in shaping change:
- Globalization and environment protection
- Information technology
- Managerial innovation
New forms of organizing…
- “Travail a la chaine” in a VW factory; Control & Command
- Boundaryless, fluent forms of organizing; e.g. Wikipedia, uber, Airbnb
- Multiple teams, multiple tasks, virtuality; connecting multiple organizations; serving
multiple purposes.
Fashion industry example
,Systemic approach
Omdat er zoveel factoren zijn die een organisatie
beïnvloeden kijk naar H&M, is het belangrijk
om op een systematische manier naar
een org te kijken. Een organisatie ligt
niet los van zijn omgeving.
Open systems
- Organizations continually interact with their
environments
- Feed-back from the environment helps the
system to adapt
Process wat doet een organisatie om tot de
output te komen.
Environment is the open part of the system.
Feedback is essential to adapt and therefore to
survive.
Environment heeft invloed op hoe een organisatie
zijn taken gaat uitvoeren.
Forms of
organizational
adaptation: A taxi experience
reactive – management waits for something
to become a problem before reacting
,renewing – management plans for change and make contingency plans
sluggish – bureaucratic
satisficing – management does only what is necessary to get by; management is adequate and
average
Figuur gaat over: How organizations behave.
Een organisatie moet zijn environment bij houden. Hoe reageert de organisatie op de
environment adaptive orientation.
Sluggish thermostat managment: Voorbeelden: public/bureaucratische organisaties bv
universiteit.
Reactive mangagment; Denk aan organisaties nu met corona. Bedrijven zijn niet voorbereid
op een probleem en reageren pas als het probleem er is. Er ontstaan veel problemen omdat ze
meteen reageren, en het niet gepland reageren is.
Renewing: it’s all about anticipate and managing.
Socio-technical systems
You have input, process and
output. Maar je kan ook
kijken naar organisaties als
social systems of technical
systems.
Binnen een bedrijf heb je
verschillende subsystemen.
Die zijn intercontected by
managerial subsystems.
social people + structure
technical task + physical
system
Changing the culture
Culture is system of shared values and beliefs that interact with an organization’s people,
structure and systems to produce behavioral norms;
- “The way we do things around here”
It includes
- Artifacts: Clothes, language, behaviors
- Norms an values: unwritten rules;
- Deep assumptions
Changing is difficult and people will resist to changes. Als je de elementen van cultuur
probeert te veranderen, dan kan deze resistent ontstaan. Om dit te tackelen probeer de cultuur
te snappen, en het te veranderen in een cultuur van veranderingen. Dat het iets normaals
wordt.
Resistance to change (2015 Paris protests against uber)
, Culture change and the #meeto movement
- Norms: “The abuser was a revered coach and no one wanted to tarnish his reputation.
Plus there was always concern that if you rocked the boat you would be ostracised,
you wouldn’t be chosen for the team, you would be blackballed in the sport.”
- Culture for performance: “ Gymnastics and the US Olympic Committee didn’t want
to scare offsponsors and they didn’t want to risk the piles of Olympic medals. So they
covered it up. And at a certain point they were so far in on the cover up that they were
implicated. So they dug in deeper to protect themselves from criminal and civil
liability,”
- Complaints ignored: "Complaints were made to Michigan State University about
Nassar as far back as 1998, but no one did anything. An investigation conducted by
the Indy Star during Nassar’s trial revealed a long pattern in USA Gymnastics of
hushing up or downplaying complaints about sexual abuse in the sport. Repeatedly,
coaches and officials were protected at the expense of the athletes”
- Abuse continued...became part of the culture, or how we do things around here…
(Nassar was sentenced in 2017-2018 for sexual assault accusations - over 250
gymnasts..)
Take-home message
Lecture 2 – OD
The OD process: focus on diagnostics
The OD process
