Editing Organization development (section)

== Overview ==
Organization development as a practice involves an ongoing, systematic process of implementing effective organizational change. OD is both a field of applied science focused on understanding and managing organizational change and a field of scientific study and inquiry. It is interdisciplinary in nature and draws on [[sociology]], [[psychology]], particularly [[industrial and organizational psychology]], and theories of [[motivation]], learning, and [[personality]].  Although behavioral science has provided the basic foundation for the study and practice of OD, new and emerging fields of study have made their presence felt. Experts in [[systems thinking]], in [[organizational learning]], in the structure of intuition in decision-making, and in [[coaching]] (to name a few) whose perspective is not steeped in just the behavioral sciences, but in a much more multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary approach{{cn|date=April 2017}}, have emerged as OD catalysts or tools.{{cn|date=April 2017}}

===History===
[[Kurt Lewin]] (1898–1947) is the founding father of OD, although he died before the concept became mainstream in the mid-1950s.<ref>Child, John: 'Organization Contemporary Principles and Practice',292. Blackwell Publishing,2005></ref> From Lewin came the ideas of [[group dynamics]] and [[action research]] which underpin the basic OD process as well as providing its collaborative consultant/client ethos. Institutionally, Lewin founded the "Research Center for Group Dynamics" (RCGD) at [[MIT]], which moved to Michigan after his death. RCGD colleagues were among those who founded the [[National Training Laboratories]] (NTL), from which the [[T-groups]] and group-based OD emerged.

[[Kurt Lewin]] played a key role in the evolution of organization development as it is known today. As early as [[World War II]] (1939-1945), Lewin experimented with a collaborative change-process (involving himself as a consultant and a client group) based on a three-step process of planning, taking action, and measuring results. This was the forerunner of action research, an important element of OD, which will be discussed later. Lewin also initiated a learning method known as laboratory training, or T-groups. After Lewin's death in 1947, his close associates helped to develop survey-research methods at the [[University of Michigan]]. These procedures became important parts of OD as developments in this field continued at the [[National Training Laboratories]] and in growing numbers of universities and private consulting-firms across the US. Leading universities offering doctoral-level<ref>exampl_OD</ref> degrees in OD include [[Benedictine University]] and the [[Fielding Graduate University]].

Douglas and Richard Beckhard, while "consulting together at General Mills in the 1950s [...] coined the term ''organization development'' (OD) to describe an innovative bottom-up change effort that fit no traditional consulting categories" (Weisbord, 1987, p.&nbsp;112).<ref>Weisbord, Marvin. (1987). Productive Workplace: Organizing and managing for dignity, meaning and community.  Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco.</ref>

The failure of off-site laboratory training to live up to its early promise was one of the important forces stimulating the development of OD. Laboratory training is learning from a person's "here and now" experience as a member of an ongoing training group. Such groups usually meet without a specific agenda. Their purpose is for the members to learn about themselves from their spontaneous "here and now" responses to an ambiguous situation. Problems of [[leadership]], structure, status, [[communication]], and self-serving behavior typically arise in such a group. The members have an opportunity to learn something about themselves and to practice such skills as listening, observing others, and functioning as effective group members.<ref name="Johnson">{{cite book|author= Richard Arvid Johnson|title= Management, systems, and society : an introduction|publisher= Goodyear Pub. Co.|location= Pacific Palisades, Calif.|year= 1976|pages= [https://archive.org/details/managementsystem00john/page/223 223–229]|isbn= 0-87620-540-6|oclc= 2299496|url= https://archive.org/details/managementsystem00john/page/223}}</ref> [[Herbert A. Shepard]] conducted the first large-scale experiments in Organization Development in the late fifties.<ref>Herbert Shepard Foundation. ''About the Author Herbert Allen Shepard, Essence of a Proactive Life'' [http://www.executive.org/shepard/shepard.pdf shepard.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303181245/http://www.executive.org/Shepard/Shepard.pdf |date=2016-03-03 }}</ref> He also founded the first doctoral program in organizational behavior at Case Western State University, and his colleague, Robert Blake, was also influential in making the term "organizational development" a more widely recognized field of psychological research. <ref>{{cite book|last1=Cameron|first1=Kim S|first2=Gretchen M|last2=Spreitzer|title=The Oxford Handbook of Positive Organizational Scholarship|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=2011-08-22|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=xPIVDAAAQBAJ&q=shepard+blake+organizational+development&pg=PA738|page=738|isbn=9780199989959}}</ref>

As formerly practiced (and occasionally still practiced for special purposes), laboratory training was conducted in "stranger groups"—groups composed of individuals from different organizations, situations, and backgrounds. A major difficulty developed, however, in transferring knowledge gained from these "stranger labs" to the actual situation "back home". This required a transfer between two different cultures, the relatively safe and protected environment of the T-group (or training group), and the give-and-take of the organizational environment with its traditional values. This led the early pioneers in this type of learning to begin to apply it to "family groups"—that is, groups located within an organization. From this shift in the locale of the training site and the realization that culture was an important factor in influencing group members (along with some other{{which?|date=April 2017}} developments in the behavioral sciences) emerged the concept of organization development.<ref name="Johnson"/>

===Core values===

Underlying Organization Development are [[humanistic]] values. Margulies and Raia (1972) articulated the humanistic values of OD as follows:

# providing opportunities for people to function as human beings rather than as resources in the productive process
# providing opportunities for each organization member, as well as for the organization itself, to develop to their full potential
# seeking to increase the effectiveness of the organization in terms of all of its goals
# attempting to create an environment in which it is possible to find exciting and challenging work
# providing opportunities for people in organizations to influence the way in which they relate to work, the organization, and the environment
# treating each human being as a person with a complex set of needs, all of which are important to their work and their life<ref name="Margulies">{{cite book |author= Newton Margulies|title= Organizational Development: Values, Process, and Technology|publisher= McGraw-Hill Book Co.|location= New York, NY|year= 1972 |pages= 3}}</ref>

This is a separate concept from change efforts known as:
# Operation management
# [[Training and development]]
# Technological innovations....etc.

==== Objectives ====
The objectives of OD are:

# to increase the level of inter-personal trust among employees
# to increase employees' level of satisfaction and commitment
# to confront problems instead of neglecting them
# to effectively manage conflict
# to increase cooperation and collaboration among employees
# to increase organizational problem-solving
# to put in place processes that will help improve the ongoing operation of an organization on a continuous basis

As objectives of organizational development are framed{{by whom?|date=April 2017}} keeping in view specific situations, they vary from one situation to another. In other words, these programs{{which?|date=April 2017}} are tailored to meet the requirements of a particular situation. But broadly speaking, all organizational development programs try to achieve the following objectives:

# making individuals in the organization aware of the vision of the organization. Organizational development helps in making employees align with the vision of the organization
# encouraging employees to solve problems instead of avoiding them
# strengthening inter-personal trust, cooperation, and communication for the successful achievement of organizational goals
# encouraging every individual to participate in the process of planning, thus making them feel responsible for the implementation of the plan
# creating a work atmosphere in which employees are encouraged{{by whom?|date=April 2017}} to work and participate enthusiastically
# replacing formal lines of authority with personal knowledge and skill
# preparing members to align with changes and to break stereotypes 
# creating an environment of trust so that employees willingly accept change

According to organizational-development thinking, organization development provides [[management | manager]]s with a vehicle for introducing change systematically by applying a broad selection of management techniques. This, in turn, leads to greater personal, group, and organizational effectiveness.

===Change agent===
A change agent in the sense used here is not a technical expert skilled in such functional areas as accounting, production, or finance. The change agent is a behavioral scientist who knows how to get people in an organization involved in solving their own problems. A change agent's main strength is a comprehensive knowledge of human behavior, supported by a number of intervention techniques (to be discussed later). The change agent can be either external or internal to the organization. An internal change agent is usually a staff person who has expertise in the behavioral sciences and in the intervention technology of OD. Beckhard reports several cases in which line people have been trained in OD and have returned to their organizations to engage in successful change-assignments.<ref>{{cite book|author= Richard Beckhard|title= Organization development: strategies and models|publisher= Addison-Wesley|location= Reading, Mass.|year= 1969|page= [https://archive.org/details/managementsystem00john/page/114 114]|isbn= 0-87620-540-6|oclc= 39328|url= https://archive.org/details/managementsystem00john/page/114}}</ref>

Researchers at the [[University of Oxford]] found that [[leader]]s can be effective change-agents within their own organizations if they are strongly committed to "knowledge leadership" targeted towards organizational development. In their three-year study of UK healthcare organizations, the researchers identified three different mechanisms through which knowledge leaders actively "transposed", "appropriated" or "contended" change concepts, effectively translating and embedding these in organizational practice.<ref>[https://www.academia.edu/17556851/Knowledge_leadership_Mobilising_management_research_by_becoming_the_knowledge_object.html Fischer M.D. Dopson, S. Fitzgerald, L. Bennett, C. Ferlie, E. Ledger, J. & McGivern, G. (2015) "Knowledge leadership: Mobilizing management research by becoming the knowledge object" Human Relations, doi:10.1177/0018726715619686]</ref>

The change agent may be a staff or line member of the organization who is schooled in OD theory and technique. In such a case, the "contractual relationship" is an in-house agreement that should probably be explicit with respect to all of the conditions involved except the fee.

===Sponsoring organization===
The initiative for OD programs often comes from an organization that has a problem or anticipates facing a problem. This means that top [[management]] or someone authorized by top management is aware that a problem exists and has decided to seek help in solving it. There is a direct analogy here to the practice of [[psychotherapy]]: The client or [[patient]] must actively seek help in finding a solution to his problems. This indicates a willingness on the part of the client organization to accept help and assures the organization that management is actively concerned.<ref name="Johnson1">{{cite book|author= Richard Arvid Johnson|title= Management, systems, and society : an introduction|publisher= Goodyear Pub. Co.|location= Pacific Palisades, Calif.|year= 1976|pages= [https://archive.org/details/managementsystem00john/page/219 219–222]|isbn= 9780876205402|oclc= 2299496|url= https://archive.org/details/managementsystem00john/page/219}}</ref>

===Applied behavioral science===

One of the outstanding characteristics of OD that distinguishes it from most other improvement programs is that it is based on a "helping relationship". Some believe that the change agent is a physician to the organization's ills; that s/he does not examine the "patient", make a [[organizational diagnostics|diagnosis]], and write a prescription. Nor does s/he try to teach organizational members a new inventory of knowledge which they then transfer to the job situation. Using theory and methods drawn from such [[behavioral sciences]] as [[industrial and organizational psychology|industrial/organizational psychology]], [[industrial sociology]], [[communication]], [[cultural anthropology]], [[Administration of business|administrative]] theory, [[organizational behavior]], [[economics]], and [[political science]], the change agent's main function is to help the organization define and solve its own problems. The basic method used is known as action research. This approach, which is described in detail later, consists of a preliminary diagnosis, collecting data, feedback of the data to the client, data exploration by the client group, action planning based on the data, and taking action.<ref>
{{cite book 
|author= Wendell L French; Cecil Bell
|title= Organization development: behavioral science interventions for organization improvement
|year= 1978
|url= https://archive.org/details/organizationdev00fren
|url-access= registration
|publisher= Prentice-Hall|location= Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
}}{{pn|date=January 2019}}</ref>

===Systems context===

===The holistic and futuristic view of organization===
OD deals with a total system—the organization as a whole, including its relevant environment—or with a subsystem or systems—departments or workgroups—in the context of the total system. Parts of systems—for example, individuals, cliques, structures, norms, values, and products—are not considered in isolation; the principle of interdependency—that change in one part of a system affects the other parts—is fully recognized. Thus OD interventions focus on the total cultures and cultural processes of organizations. The focus is also on groups, since the relevant behavior of individuals in organizations and groups is generally a product of the influences of groups rather than of personalities.<ref name="Johnson1"/>