Focus on:
- OD five stages
- The open system perspective
- Adaptive orientation
- Socio-technical systems
- Organizational culture and how to deal with resistance to change
- “the diagnostic process” chapter is very important (diagnostic models e.g. force-field
analysis)
- Types of intervention (behavioural, structural, technological)
- (focus on problem areas and interventions at different levels: individual, group, whole
organization)
,OD Five Stages
1. Anticipate a need for change: manager’s perception that organization needs improvement there
must be felt a need to change
2. Develop the practitioner-Client relationship: when organization recognizes need for change and
OD practitioner enters the system, a relationship begins to develop between the practitioner and the
client system. The exchange of expectations and obligations depends to a great degree upon a good
first impression or match between the practitioner and the client system. The practitioner attempts
to establish a pattern of open communication, a relationship of trust, and an atmosphere of shared
responsibility.
3. The diagnostic process: practitioner and client begin to gather data about the system. practitioner
must question the client’s diagnosis of the problem (maybe biased). After acquiring data, analyze the
data to identify problem areas and causal relationships. The diagnostic phase is used to determine
the exact problem that needs solution, to identify the forces causing the situation and to provide a
basis for selecting effective change strategies and techniques.
4. Action plans, strategies and techniques: diagnostic phase leads to a series of interventions,
activities, or programs aimed at resolving problems and increasing organization effectiveness. TQM,
job design, goal setting, team building etc.
5. Self-renewal, Monitor and Stabilize: when action program is implemented, the final step is to
monitor the results and stabilize the desired changes. Stage assesses the effectiveness of change
strategies in attaining stated objectives. The ideal OD program will create a client system that has a
self renewal capability that can maintain innovation without outside support.
, The open system perspective (H2)
A system: is a set of interrelated parts unified by design to achieve some purpose or goal.
Organizations are systems. Every organization can be viewed as a number of interrelated,
interdependent parts, each of which contributes to total organizational functioning and to the
achievement of the overall organizational goal
Systems approach: in solving a given problem, managers
must analyse the organization, departmental subsystem
interrelationships, and possible effects on the internal
environment. This approach provides a way of observing,
analysing and solving problems in organizations.
Concerned with the interrelationship of divisions,
departments, groups, and individuals as interdependent
subsystems of the total organization- relationship among
elements and excellence.
Open systems (most important):
Organizations continually interact with their environments;
Process of reciprocity (=is a social norm of responding to a positive action with another
positive action)
Achieves a steady state of dynamic equilibrium;
Continuously received feed-back from the environment helps the system to adjust/adapt;
The departments also interact with one another, because they have interacting tasks to
perform;
The overall efficiency of the system depends upon the level and degree of interaction with
other elements;
Extra: A closed system is one that is self-contained and isolated from its environment. In the strictest sense, closed systems
exist only in theory, for all real systems interact with their environment
Organizations with open systems continually interact with their environment. This feedback helps
the organization/system adapt to possible changes. This external interaction results in a more mixed
and complex organization that requires the management of resource flows. Below an organization
with an open system is pictured.
- OD five stages
- The open system perspective
- Adaptive orientation
- Socio-technical systems
- Organizational culture and how to deal with resistance to change
- “the diagnostic process” chapter is very important (diagnostic models e.g. force-field
analysis)
- Types of intervention (behavioural, structural, technological)
- (focus on problem areas and interventions at different levels: individual, group, whole
organization)
,OD Five Stages
1. Anticipate a need for change: manager’s perception that organization needs improvement there
must be felt a need to change
2. Develop the practitioner-Client relationship: when organization recognizes need for change and
OD practitioner enters the system, a relationship begins to develop between the practitioner and the
client system. The exchange of expectations and obligations depends to a great degree upon a good
first impression or match between the practitioner and the client system. The practitioner attempts
to establish a pattern of open communication, a relationship of trust, and an atmosphere of shared
responsibility.
3. The diagnostic process: practitioner and client begin to gather data about the system. practitioner
must question the client’s diagnosis of the problem (maybe biased). After acquiring data, analyze the
data to identify problem areas and causal relationships. The diagnostic phase is used to determine
the exact problem that needs solution, to identify the forces causing the situation and to provide a
basis for selecting effective change strategies and techniques.
4. Action plans, strategies and techniques: diagnostic phase leads to a series of interventions,
activities, or programs aimed at resolving problems and increasing organization effectiveness. TQM,
job design, goal setting, team building etc.
5. Self-renewal, Monitor and Stabilize: when action program is implemented, the final step is to
monitor the results and stabilize the desired changes. Stage assesses the effectiveness of change
strategies in attaining stated objectives. The ideal OD program will create a client system that has a
self renewal capability that can maintain innovation without outside support.
, The open system perspective (H2)
A system: is a set of interrelated parts unified by design to achieve some purpose or goal.
Organizations are systems. Every organization can be viewed as a number of interrelated,
interdependent parts, each of which contributes to total organizational functioning and to the
achievement of the overall organizational goal
Systems approach: in solving a given problem, managers
must analyse the organization, departmental subsystem
interrelationships, and possible effects on the internal
environment. This approach provides a way of observing,
analysing and solving problems in organizations.
Concerned with the interrelationship of divisions,
departments, groups, and individuals as interdependent
subsystems of the total organization- relationship among
elements and excellence.
Open systems (most important):
Organizations continually interact with their environments;
Process of reciprocity (=is a social norm of responding to a positive action with another
positive action)
Achieves a steady state of dynamic equilibrium;
Continuously received feed-back from the environment helps the system to adjust/adapt;
The departments also interact with one another, because they have interacting tasks to
perform;
The overall efficiency of the system depends upon the level and degree of interaction with
other elements;
Extra: A closed system is one that is self-contained and isolated from its environment. In the strictest sense, closed systems
exist only in theory, for all real systems interact with their environment
Organizations with open systems continually interact with their environment. This feedback helps
the organization/system adapt to possible changes. This external interaction results in a more mixed
and complex organization that requires the management of resource flows. Below an organization
with an open system is pictured.
