TOP THREE ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES

Top Three Organizational Development Challenges



Top Three Organizational Development Challenges

Introduction

Beckhard defines Organization Development (OD) as "an effort, planned organization-wide, and managed at the top, to increase organization effectiveness and health through planned interventions in the organization's processes, using behavioral-science knowledge" (Beckhard, 1969). OD takes a long-range approach to improving organizational performance and efficiency. It focuses on the whole system and is tied to the bottom-line. Its goal is to improve the organization, to make it more efficient and more competitive by aligning the organization's systems with its people.

We usually think of OD only in terms of the interventions themselves. In fact, these activities are only the most visible part of a complex process. This essay will discuss some of the OD tools that are used in business today. These activities include Total Quality Management, Reengineering, strategic planning and team building. It is critical to select the correct intervention(s), and this can only be done with proper preparation.

Top Three Organizational Development Challenges

Development is meant for change. What actually provokes Organizational Change? Usually organizational change is provoked by some major outside driving force, e.g., substantial cuts in funding, address major new markets/clients, need for dramatic increases in productivity/services, etc (French and Bell, 1990). Typically, organizations must undertake organization-wide change to evolve to a different level in their life cycle, e.g., going from a highly reactive, entrepreneurial organization to more stable and planned development. An example is; transition to a new chief executive can provoke organization-wide change when his or her new and unique personality pervades the entire organization, and may lead to a different development approach.

Organizational performance is multidimensional. Collectively, it involves the effective integration of Leadership and Management. It also involves the applied techniques of organization development. There are collective dimensions of organizational performance that consist of processes, measurement, tools, systems thinking, theory, structures and procedures (French and Bell, 1990).

Effective change requires leadership with knowledge, and experience in change management. As a new CEO of a company I can use several tools to attune my organization. These tools are discussed below.

Core knowledge in organization design means knowing how to formulate and align the "elements" of an organization. Elements include, but are not limited to, structural systems, human resource systems, information systems, reward systems, work design, political systems, and organization culture.

This area relates to knowing how to gather the information needed to intervene in some way in an organization. It usually involves one or more of the following: field research, interviewing, content analysis, data collection and analysis, and/or understanding and detecting various types and levels of change.

Knowledge of how organizations evolve and develop over time is also a component of the core knowledge required for success as an OD practitioner. This area includes knowledge related to how planned organization change events lead to success or why failure occurs. As a successful CEO, it is crucial to understand the social, political, economic, and personal forces that led to the emergence and development of OD, including the key thought ...