Organization development

Organization development (OD) is a planned, organization­wide effort to increase an 
organization's effectiveness and viability.
 Warren Bennis, has referred to OD as a response to change, a complex educational 
strategy intended to change the beliefs, attitudes, values, and structure of organization so 
that they can better adapt to new technologies, marketing and challenges, and the 
dizzying rate of change itself.
 OD is neither "anything done to better an organization" nor is it "the training function of 
the organization"; it is a particular kind of change process designed to bring about a 
particular kind of end result.
 OD can involve interventions in the organization's "processes," using behavioural 
science knowledge as well as organizational reflection, system improvement, planning, 
and self­analysis.
Kurt Lewin (1898–1947) is widely recognized as the founding father of OD, although he 
died before the concept became current in the mid­1950s. 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. 
The term "Organization Development" is often used interchangeably with 
Organizational effectiveness, especially when used as the name of a department within 
an organization. Organization development is a growing field that is responsive to many 
new approaches including Positive Adult Development.
Overview
At the core of OD is the concept of organization, defined as two or more people working 
together toward one or more shared goal(s). Development in this context is the notion 
that an organization may become more effective over time at achieving its goals.
OD is a long range effort to improve organization's problem solving and renewal 
processes, particularly through more effective and collaborative management of 
organizational culture, often with the assistance of a change agent or catalyst and the use 
of the theory and technology of applied behavioral science. 
Although behavioral science has provided the basic foundation for the study and practice 
of organizational development, new and emerging fields of study have made their 
presence known. Experts in systems thinking, leadership studies, organizational 
leadership, and organizational learning whose perspective is not steeped in just the 
behavioral sciences, but a much more multi­disciplinary and inter­disciplinary approach 
have emerged as OD catalysts. 

These emergent expert perspectives see the organization as the holistic interplay of a 
number of systems that impact the process and outputs of the entire organization. More 
importantly, the term change agent or catalyst is synonymous with the notion of a leader 
who is engaged in doing leadership, a transformative or effectiveness process as 
opposed to management, a more incremental or efficiency based change methodology.
Organization development is a "contractual relationship between a change agent and a 
sponsoring organization entered into for the purpose of using applied behavioral 
science and or other organizational change perspectives in a systems context to improve 
organizational performance and the capacity of the organization to improve itself" 
Organization development is an ongoing, systematic process to implement effective 
change in an organization. Organization development is known as both a field of applied 
behavioral science focused on understanding and managing organizational change and 
as a field of scientific study and inquiry. It is interdisciplinary in nature and draws on 
sociology, psychology, and theories of motivation, learning, and personality.

WHY IS ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT IMPORTANT?

Profitability, productivity, morale and quality of work life are of concern to most organizations
because they impact achievement of organization goals. There is an increasing trend to
maximize an organization's investment in its employees. Jobs that previously required physical
dexterity now require more mental effort. Organizations need to "work smarter" and apply
creative ideas.

The work force has also changed. Employees expect more from a day's work than simply a
day's pay. They want challenge, recognition, a sense of accomplishment, worthwhile tasks and
meaningful relationships with their managers and co-workers. When these needs are not met,
performance declines.
Today's customers demand continually improving quality, rapid product or service delivery;
fast turn-around time on changes, competitive pricing and other features that are best achieved
in complex environments by innovative organizational practices.

The effective organization must be able to meet today's and tomorrow's challenges.
Adaptability and responsiveness are essential to survive and thrive.

WHAT DO ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANTS DO?

OD consultants custom tailor established social science theory and methods to organizations
seeking to improve profitability, productivity, morale and/or quality of work life. Examples of
activities which are facilitated by OD consultants are:

Teambuilding
Goal Setting
Group Facilitation
Creative Problem solving
Strategic Planning
Leadership Development
Management Development
Career Management
Conflict Resolution
Developmental Education
Interpersonal Communication
Human Resources Management
Managing Workforce Diversity
Organization Restructuring
High Involvement Work Teams
Sociotechnical Systems Design
Technical Training
Total Quality Management

Often described as "change agents," OD consultants come from varied backgrounds with
experience and training in organization development, organization behavior, psychology,
education, management and/or human resources. Many have advanced degrees and most have
experience in a variety of organizational settings.

There are both internal and external OD consultants. An internal OD consultant is a full-time
employee with a given organization. External consultants may be self-employed or on the staff
of a consulting firm. "Externals" work with one or more clients contracting for specific
projects.
WHO DO ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANTS SERVE?
OD consultants work with all levels of employees. Examples include:

• The Board of Directors, CEO or Vice Presidents -- during changes in corporate strategy,
mission, leadership development, technology or organization structure.

• Middle Managers -- within specific areas or across functions to identify sources of conflict
and barriers to performance, or help build a broader vision and more effective leadership.

• First-line supervisors -- improve operations and employee involvement, establish high

involvement work teams, improve organizational communication, install statistical process
control (SPC) develop supervisory training or new reward systems.

• Line workers -- to facilitate job redesign improved performance, teambuilding or

improvement in the work environment.

WHAT TO EXPECT:
You can expect an organization development consultant to conduct an OD project in a timely,
cost-effective, well-coordinated and ethical manner.

In reaching an agreement or written contract with a consultant, you may want to discuss these
kinds of questions:

• What approach will be taken?

• Strategy for implementation? Anticipated schedule? How results will be measured?

• Project team members?

• Resources to be made available to the consultant?

• Pricing of consultant's services; payment schedule?

• Confidentiality?

OD SERVICES
Organization Development (OD) consultants provide services to improve organization
effectiveness and/or individual employee effectiveness. The purposes are to increase
productivity, work satisfaction and profit for the client company. The strategies appearing
below "Organization" and "Employee" Effectiveness are defined to help you become an
informed user of OD consultant services.
Organization Effectiveness
Consultants apply organization effectiveness strategies such as those shown below when there
are needs for assessment, planning, growth, quality improvement, teamwork and other
organizational changes.

Action Research - An assessment and problem solving process aimed at improved

effectiveness for the entire organization or specific work units. The consultant helps the client
organization identify the strengths and weaknesses of organization and management issues and
works with the client in addressing problem opportunities. (Some form of action research is
generally applied as a foundation for other consulting strategies.)

Conflict Management - Bringing conflicts to the surface to discover their roots, developing a
common ground from which to resolve or better manage conflict. Consultants serve as
facilitator in a conflict situation or train employees to better understand and manage conflict.

Executive Development - One-on-one or group developmental consultation with CEO's or VP's

to improve their effectiveness.

Goal Setting - Defining and applying concrete goals as a road map to help an organization get
where it wants to go. (Can also be applied to employee development.)

Group Facilitation - Helping people learn to interact more effectively at meetings and to apply
group guidelines that foster open communication, participation and accomplishment.

Managing Resistance to Change - Helping clients identify, understand, and begin to manage
their resistance to planned organizational change.

Organizational Restructuring - Changing departmental and/or individual reporting structures,

identifying roles and responsibilities, redesigning job functions to assure that the way work gets
done in the organization produces excellence in production and service.

Project Management - The general management of specific work, blending diverse functions
and skills, usually for a fixed time and aimed at reaching defined outcomes.

Self-Directed Work Teams - Developing work groups to be fully responsible for creating a
well defined segment of finished work.

Sociotechnical Systems Design - Designing and managing organizations to emphasize the

relationship between people's performance, the workplace environment and the technology
used to produce goods and services in order to effect high level productivity.
Strategic Planning - A dynamic process which defines the organization's mission and vision,
sets goals and develops action steps to help an organization focus its present and future
resources toward fulfilling its vision.

Teambuilding - Improving how well organization members help one another in activities
where they must interact.

Total Quality Management - Through work process analysis, teambuilding, defining quality
and setting measurable standards, the consultant assists the organization in becoming more cost
effective, approach zero-defects and be more market-driven.

Employee Effectiveness
Consultants use employee effectiveness strategies such as those below when there are needs for
employee improvement in skill, commitment and leadership.

Career Counseling - Focused attention on goal setting, career selection and job seeking help
individuals make career decisions.

Coordination & Management of Multi-Disciplinary Consultants - One or several different

technical specialists team up with an OD consultant to design and install new equipment, work
processes, work methods, or work procedures.

Creative Problem Solving - Organization members use practical problem solving models to
address existing problems in a systematic, creative manner.

Customer Service Training - Creating interpersonal excellence in public contact positions

where the individual and the organization are expected to meet or exceed customer
expectations.

Developmental Education - Training in basic requirements like, reading, writing and grammar.

Interpersonal Communication Skills - Increased skill in exchanging needed information

within the organization and providing feedback in a non-threatening, non-judgmental way.

Human Resource Management - Managing the function of hiring, compensation, benefits and
employee relations toward systematic goals of the organization's morale and productivity.

Labor Relations - Facilitation of conflict, planning and problem-solving among management

and workforce union representation.

Leadership Development - Training in select areas which change managers to leaders. Includes
visioning, change management and creative problem solving.
Management Development - Training in various management skill areas with particular focus
on performance management, communications and problem solving.

Outplacement - Providing individual and group job search skills and services to employees
who have been affected by corporate downsizing. Typically paid for by the employer.

Sales Training - Training in the art of selling a product or service.

Stress Management - An individual growth workshop designed to arm and activate healthy
responses to stress. It enables participants to maximize positive stressors and minimize the
negative, both for themselves and others.

Technical Training - Training in a specific technical area, such as computers.

Time Management - An opportunity for individuals and organizations to effect higher levels of
productivity with the time they are allotted.

Training Evaluation - Systematic controlled inquiry grounded in sound statistical practice,

assessing on-line training effectiveness and/or business impact. Assessment focuses on course
relevance, transfer and cost value.

Workforce Diversity - Facilitating understanding between groups toward the goal where
differences among people in an organization become the strengths for competitive advantage,
productivity and work satisfaction.

 Contractual relationship
Although neither the sponsoring organization nor the change agent can be sure at the 
outset of the exact nature of the problem or problems to be dealt with or how long the 
change agents' help will be needed, it is essential that some tentative agreement on these 
matters be reached. The sponsoring organization needs to know generally what the 
change agent's preliminary plan is, what its own commitments are in relation to personal 
commitments and responsibility for the program, and what the change agent's fee will 
be. The change agent must assure himself that the organization's, and particularly the top 
executives', commitment to change is strong enough to support the kind of self­analysis 
and personal involvement requisite to success of the program. Recognizing the 
uncertainties lying ahead on both sides, a termination agreement permitting either side to 
withdraw at any time is usually included. 
 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. He is a behavioral scientist who knows how 
to get people in an organization involved in solving their own problems. His main 
strength is a comprehensive knowledge of human behavior, supported by a number of 
intervention techniques. 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.
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 in­house 
agreement that should probably be explicit with respect to all of the conditions involved 
except the fee.

 Sponsoring organization
The initiative for OD programs comes from an organization that has 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. 

 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 not a physician to the organization's ills; that s/he does not examine 
the "patient," make a 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/organisational psychology, industrial sociology, communication, cultural 
anthropology, 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 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. 

Systems context
OD deals with a total system — the organization as a whole, including its relevant 
environment — or with a subsystem or systems — departments or work groups — 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 is, that change in one part of a system affects the other parts, is 
fully recognized. Thus, OD interventions focus on the total culture 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 group influences rather 
than personality. 

Improved organizational performance
The objective of OD is to improve the organization's capacity to handle its internal and 
external functioning and relationships. This would include such things as improved 
interpersonal and group processes, more effective communication, enhanced ability to 
cope with organizational problems of all kinds, more effective decision processes, more 
appropriate leadership style, improved skill in dealing with destructive conflict, and 
higher levels of trust and cooperation among organizational members. These objectives 
stem from a value system based on an optimistic view of the nature of man — that man 
in a supportive environment is capable of achieving higher levels of development and 
accomplishment. Essential to organization development and effectiveness is the 
scientific method — inquiry, a rigorous search for causes, experimental testing of 
hypotheses, and review of results.

Organizational self­renewal
The ultimate aim of OD practitioners is to "work themselves out of a job" by leaving the 
client organization with a set of tools, behaviors, attitudes, and an action plan with 
which to monitor its own state of health and to take corrective steps toward its own 
renewal and development. This is consistent with the systems concept of feedback as a 
regulatory and corrective mechanism. 
  Case history
The Cambridge Clinic found itself having difficulty with its internal working 
relationships. The medical director, concerned with the effect these problems could have 
on patient care, contacted an organizational consultant at a local university and asked 
him for help. A preliminary discussion among the director, the clinic administrator, and 
the consultant seemed to point to problems in leadership, conflict resolution, and 
decision processes. The consultant suggested that data be gathered so that a working 
diagnosis could be made. The clinic officials agreed, and tentative working 
arrangements were concluded. 
The consultant held a series of interviews involving all members of the clinic staff, the 
medical director, and the administrator. Then the consultant summarized, the interview 
data to identify specific problem areas. At the beginning of a workshop about a week 
later, the consultant fed back to the clinic staff the data he had collected.
The staff arranged the problems in the following priorities
1. Role conflicts between certain members of the medical staff were creating 
tensions that interfered with the necessity for cooperation in handling patients. 
2. The leadership style of the medical director resulted in his putting off decisions on 
important operating matters. This led to confusion and sometimes to inaction on 
the part of the medical and administrative staffs. 
3. Communication between the administrative, medical, and outreach (social 
worker) staffs on mutual problems tended to be avoided. Open conflicts over 
policies and procedures were thus held in check, but suppressed feelings clearly 
had a negative influence on interpersonal and intergroup behavior. 
Through the use of role analysis and other techniques suggested by the consultant, the 
clinic staff and the medical director were able to explore the role conflict and leadership 
problems and to devise effective ways of coping with them. Exercises designed to 
improve communication skills and a workshop session on dealing with conflict led to 
progress in developing more openness and trust throughout the clinic. An important 
result of this first workshop was the creation of an action plan that set forth specific 
steps to be applied to clinic problems by clinic personnel during the ensuing period. The 
consultant agreed to monitor these efforts and to assist in any way he could. Additional 
discussions and team development sessions were held with the director and the medical 
and administrative staffs.
A second workshop attended by the entire clinic staff took place about two months after 
the first. At the second workshop, the clinic staff continued to work together on the 
problems of dealing with conflict and interpersonal communication. During the last half­
day of the meeting, the staff developed a revised action plan covering improvement 
activities to be undertaken in the following weeks and months to improve the working 
relationships of the clinic.
A notable additional benefit of this OD program was that the clinic staff learned new 
ways of monitoring the clinic's performance as an organization and of coping with some 
of its other problems. Six months later, when the consultant did a follow­up check on the 
organization, the staff confirmed that interpersonal problems were now under better 
control and that some of the techniques learned at the two workshops associated with the 
OD programs were still being used. 

                         Understanding organizations
Weisbord presents a six­step model for understanding organization:
1. Purposes: The organization member are clear about the organization’s mission 
and purpose and goal agreements, whether people support the organization’ 
purpose. 
2. Structure: How do we divide up the work? The question is whether there is an 
adequate fit between the purpose and the internal structure. 
3. Relationship: Between individual, between units or department that perform 
different tasks, and between the people and requirements of their job. 
4. Rewards: The consultant should diagnose the similarities between what the 
organization formally reward or punished for doing. 
5. Leadership: Is to watch for blips among the other boxes and maintain balance 
among them 
6. Helpful mechanism: Is a helpful organization that must attend to, in order to 
survive which as planning, control, budgeting, and other information systems that 
help organization member accomplish. 
                            OD in Modern development
In recent years, serious questioning has emerged about the relevance of OD to managing 
change in modern organizations. The need for "reinventing" the field has become a topic 
that even some of its "founding fathers" are discussing critically. 
With this call for reinvention and change, scholars have begun to examine 
organizational development from an emotion­based standpoint. 
For example, deKlerk (2007) writes about how emotional trauma can negatively affect 
performance. Due to downsizing, outsourcing, mergers, restructuring, continual changes, 
invasions of privacy, harassment, and abuses of power, many employees experience the 
emotions of aggression, anxiety, apprehension, cynicism, and fear, which can lead to 
performance decreases. deKlerk (2007) suggests that in order to heal the trauma and 
increase performance, O.D. practitioners must acknowledge the existence of the trauma, 
provide a safe place for employees to discuss their feelings, symbolize the trauma and 
put it into perspective, and then allow for and deal with the emotional responses. One 
method of achieving this is by having employees draw pictures of what they feel about 
the situation, and then having them explain their drawings with each other. Drawing 
pictures is beneficial because it allows employees to express emotions they normally 
would not be able to put into words. Also, drawings often prompt active participation in 
the activity, as everyone is required to draw a picture and then discuss its meaning.

                                  Action research
Wendell L French and Cecil Bell define organization development (OD) at one point as 
"organization improvement through action research". If one idea can be said to 
summarize OD's underlying philosophy, it would be action research as it was 
conceptualized by Kurt Lewin and later elaborated and expanded on by other behavioral 
scientists. Concerned with social change and, more particularly, with effective, 
permanent social change, Lewin believed that the motivation to change was strongly 
related to action: If people are active in decisions affecting them, they are more likely to 
adopt new ways. "Rational social management", he said, "proceeds in a spiral of steps, 
each of which is composed of a circle of planning, action, and fact­finding about the 
result of action".

Lewin's description of the process of change involves three steps 
"Unfreezing": Faced with a dilemma or disconfirmation, the individual or group 
becomes aware of a need to change.
"Changing": The situation is diagnosed and new models of behavior are explored and 
tested.
"Refreezing": Application of new behavior is evaluated, and if reinforcing, adopted.
The processes involved in planned change is through action research. Action research is 
depicted as a cyclical process of change. The cycle begins with a series of planning 
actions initiated by the client and the change agent working together. The principal 
elements of this stage include a preliminary diagnosis, data gathering, feedback of 
results, and joint action planning. In the language of systems theory, this is the input 
phase, in which the client system becomes aware of problems as yet unidentified, 
realizes it may need outside help to effect changes, and shares with the consultant the 
process of problem diagnosis.
The second stage of action research is the action, or transformation, phase. This stage 
includes actions relating to learning processes (perhaps in the form of role analysis) and 
to planning and executing behavioral changes in the client organization. Included in this 
stage is action­planning activity carried out jointly by the consultant and members of the 
client system. Following the workshop or learning sessions, these action steps are 
carried out on the job as part of the transformation stage. 
The third stage of action research is the output, or results, phase. This stage includes 
actual changes in behavior (if any) resulting from corrective action steps taken following 
the second stage. Data are again gathered from the client system so that progress can be 
determined and necessary adjustments in learning activities can be made. Minor 
adjustments of this nature can be made in learning activities via Feedback. Major 
adjustments and reevaluations would return the OD project to the first, or planning, 
stage for basic changes in the program. 

ORGANIZATIONAL DIAGNOSIS

Organizational diagnosis is a process based upon behavioral science theory for publicly
entering a human system, collecting valid data about human experiences with that
system, and feeding that information back to the system to promote increased
understanding of the system by its members (Alderfer, 1981). Purpose of organizational
diagnosis is to establish a widely shared understanding of a system and based upon that
understanding to determine whether change is desirable.

Concept of system

System can be viewed as a linkage of input flows (energy, materials, information,

human resources, economic resources) from sources in the external environment, a
transforming mechanism (a machine or a technical-human organization), and flows of
outputs or outcomes provided to users. System may include one or more feedback
mechanisms for self-regulation.

Focus of attention

Diagnostic activities should focus its attention to two areas (a) subsystem areas (top
management, department, group, individual unit) (b) organization processes or
organizational health (decision-making process, communication patterns and styles,
relationships between interfacing groups, the management of conflict, the setting of
goals and planning methods).

Who will diagnose?

People cannot be diagnosticians in systems in which they are full-fledged members due
to overt or covert vested interests. Diagnosticians must maintain role of researcher
(systematic, objective and result-oriented investigation) and must establish some type of
liaison system between the researcher and the elements of the systems. The liaison may
be an individual or a group.

Internal researchers can work in parts of a larger system in which they have not been or
currently are not members. But they cannot study their own groups and they generally
have a great deal of difficulty with parts of the system in which they have recently been
members.
Phases of organizational diagnosis

Entry

Primary objectives of entry are to determine which units of the system (individual, group
and organization) will participate in the diagnosis and to determine whether the
researcher and respondent can reach agreement about their respective roles during data
collection and feedback. Researchers may experience anxiety related to potential
acceptance or rejection by the respondent system. The more self-awareness and
experience the researchers have, the less these feelings will interfere with their
effectiveness during entry.

Data collection

The primary objectives of data collection are to gather valid information about the
nature of the system systematically and to prepare an analysis of that data for delivery to
respondents during feedback. Collection of data proceeds from less (unstructured
observation) to more structured methods (qustionnaires) to produce more valid data.

In unstructured observation, researchers will be concerned with the relevant documents

offered by the respondent, newsletters, chairman reports, roaming around relevant
selected places, interviewing individuals or group. He must decide how much emphasis
to give to theoretical concepts for understanding the observational data. Researcher
besides observation and theoretical concepts should pay attention to respondents own
explanation of the data. Repeated unstructured observation, explanation of respondents
and use of theory lead the researcher to develop hypothesis about the causal relationship
of the specific events, relationships among the independent, dependent and moderating
variables.

It is better to take a case history of the organization before observational data collection.
The case history should cover the followings:
 1. Identification data: It includes organization name, location, type of organization,

organization affiliation, size (financial condition, stockholders, employees).

2. Historical data: Cheap complaints, duration and possible determinants, short-

range and long-range problems, major crisis of the organization (natural

catastrophy, loss of key personnel, labour problems, financial emergencies,
technological changes), product service history (change and development of
organizational goals, sequence of development in product or service),
organizational folklore.

3. Structural data: Organizational chart, formal job description, ecology of the

organization (spatial distribution of individuals, activities), financial structure,

personnel (size, various educational levels, average tenure, range or skills,
absentee rate, turnover rate, accident rate), structure for handling personnel
(recruitment, orientation, training, growth of the job, promotion, compensation,
performance analysis), rules and regulations (medical, safety, retirement,
recreation, other fringe benefits).

4. Organizational functioning: Organizational perceptions (alertness, accuracy and

vividness), organizational knowledge (acquisition, use and dissemination of

knowledge), organizational language, emotional atmosphere of the organization
and organizational action.

5. Attitudes and relationship: Attitudes towards the task agents, relations to things

and ideas, attitudes about self, inter-organizational relationships.

6. Analysis and conclusions: Appraisal of the effect of the environment on the

organization, appraisal of the effect of the organization on the environment,

reactions, appraisal of the organization, impairments and level of integration.

Feedback
Primary objective of feedback is to promote increased understanding of the client system
by its members. Effective feedback design relates the content of the feedback to the
process by which the analysis is delivered to the system. The process of feedback is the
composition of feedback meetings (i.e., who is present with whom), the ordering of the
meetings (i.e., which groups receive information first, which is second, etc.), the
behavior of the system during feedback and the behavior of the researchers within and
between feedback meetings. feedback is probably the period of maximum anxiety during
the entire diagnosis. If the system could tolerate the anxiety, system could learn its self.

In sum, the methodology of organizational diagnosis calls for the researcher to be

competent in the conventional use of social science tools ( observation, interviews,
questionnaires and archives) ant to possess a sophisticated theory and the related
behavioural skills to enter, collect and feedback information to complex multigroup
systems.

CASE STUDIES

1. Improving organizational health and job satisfaction:

A public sector plant interested to improve organizational health (adequate physical
environmnt, organizational climate and relations with the task environment)and job
satisfaction of managers, supervisors and staffs. Both organizational health and job
satisfaction questionnaire administered to the random samples of three organizational
hierarchies. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis shows managers gave more
importance to organizational satisfaction and organizational awareness. To supervisors,
autonomy in decision making, satisfactory relationship between organization and task
environment, awareness of changes in task environment, and organizational need
satisfaction were important for job satisfaction. To staffs, problem solving opportunity
and good interpersonal trust were important for job satisfaction. The results were
presented to the authority of the company. The authority of the plant discussed the
results with the colleagues and took some measures.

2. Improving organizational health of the hospital :

A government hospital is interested to improve present condition of its organizational
health. Organizational health scale was administered to the doctors and nurses following
random sampling procedure. Results show inadequacy in physical (inadequate machines
and equipments, high level of noise), mental(poor interpersonal trust, inadequate
awareness of safety rules and regulations, less autonomy in patient care, inadequate
financial growth) and social health (poor satisfaction level of organization with its task
agents) of the hospital. Hospital authority was suggested to (i) introduce quality circle
for efficient housekeeping and for awareness of safety rules and regulations (ii)
introduce sensitivity training programme for interpersonal conflict reduction (iii)
introduce vendor development programme in order to collect quality equipment and
tools from various suppliers.

3. Improving organizational awareness:

A public sector plant is interested to improve present status of organizational awareness.
Organizational awareness questionnaire was administered to the employees. Results
show relatively poor awareness of organizational objectives, production process, safety
rules. Suggestions were given related to (i) introduction of written job chart (ii) introduction
of suggestion box system in which employees could give suggestion regarding the
improvement of production process, controlling environmental pollution, safety programme
etc. (iii) both way quality circle programme (iv) organizing safety dramma, safety poem and
song writing and safety poster campaign.

Organisation climate
Organizational climate is a set of properties of the work environment, perceived directly
or indirectly by employees, that is assumed to be a major force in influencing employee
behavior

To understand the concept of organizational climate, it is important to make some

distinctions. First, climate and culture are both important aspects of the overall context,
environment or situation. Culture tends to be shared by all or most members of some
social group; is something that older members usually try to pass on to younger
members; shapes behavior and structures perceptions of the world. Cultures are often
studied and understood at a national level, such as the American or French culture.
Culture includes deeply held values, beliefs and assumptions, symbols, heroes and
heroines, and rituals. Culture can be examined at an organizational level as well. The
main distinction between organizational and national culture is that people can choose to
join a place of work, but are usually born into a national culture.

Organizational cultures are generally deep and stable. Climate, on the other hand, is
often defined as the recurring patterns of behavior, attitudes and feelings that
characterize life in the organization (Isaksen & Ekvall, 2007). Although culture and
climate are related, climate often proves easier to assess and change. At an individual
level of analysis the concept is called individual psychological climate. These individual
perceptions are often aggregated or collected for analysis and understanding at the team
or group level, or the divisional, functional, or overall organizational level.

There are several approaches to the concept of climate, of which two in particular have
received substantial patronage: the cognitive schema approach and the shared perception
approach.

The first approach regards the concept of climate as an individual perception and
cognitive representation of the work environment. From this perspective climate
assessments should be conducted at an individual level.

The second approach emphasizes the importance of shared perceptions as underpinning

the notion of climate (Anderson, & West, 1998; Mathisen & Einarsen 2004). Reichers
and Schneider (1990) define organisational climate as "the shared perception of the way
things are around here". It is important to realize that from these two approaches, there is
no “best” approach and they actually have a great deal of overlap.

Organisational Climate (sometimes known as Corporate Climate) is the process of

quantifying the “culture” of an organisation.

Most of the organisations use this model of Climate to survey staff to identify and
measure those aspects of a workplace which impact on: stress, morale, quality of
worklife, wellbeing, employee engagement, absenteeism/presenteeism, turnover and
performance.

While an organisation and its leaders cannot remove every stressor in the daily life of its
employees, Organisational Climate studies have identified a number of behaviours of
leaders which have a significant impact on stress and morale.

Theories of Cognitive and Neuropsychology and Emotional Intelligence provide

additional scientific rationale for why leaders should improve stress and morale in the
workplace to achieve maximum performance. Climate surveys can provide concrete
evidence of how this works in action.

Organisational Climate surveying enables the impact of HR strategies to be evaluated to

create HR Return on Investment (HRROI) calculations. This data has been found to be
highly effective in changing the perspective of people-based initiatives as being an
“investment” rather than a “cost” and transforming HR into a “mission-critical strategic
partner” from its perception of “personnel administration”.