Joseph Carl O.

Maglinte December 16, 2017

PA 217 Organizational Development and Design Prof. Isa Romancap

Questions:

1. Define Organization Development (OD). (10 pts)

2. What are the goals of Organization Development? Name at least (4). (20 pts)
3. What are the importance of the quality of work life for an employee whether in private
or public sector? You may give example to support your answer. (20 pts)
4. As Organization Development (OD) Consultant, your client organization asks you to help
them in solving the problem/s relating to the low productivity and poor performance of
the agency. Discuss the steps and processes which you would like to undertake with
your client organization. You may also name and discuss some OD interventions to
support your answer. (50 pts)

Answers:

1. Define Organization Development (OD). (10 pts)

- Is a system-wide process of applying behavioural-science knowledge to the planned
change and development of strategies, design components, and processes that enable
organizations to be effective (Thomas Cummings, 2004)
- It is the application of behavioural science in a long-range effort to improve an
organization’s ability to cope with changes in its external environment and increase its
internal problem solving (Huse, 1980)
- It is an organization-wide and managed from top to increase organization effectiveness
and health through planned interventions in the organization’s processes using
behavioural science knowledge (Richard Berchard, 1969)
- OD is a planned approach to improve employee and organizational effectiveness by
conscious interventions in those processes and structures that have an immediate
bearing on the human aspect of the organization.
- Addresses an entire system, such as a team, department, or total organization
- It also deals with relationship between a system and its environment as well as among
the different features that comprise a system’s design.

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2. What are the goals of Organization Development? Name at least (4). (20 pts)

- Organisational development is about making use of the resources available to the

organisation for improving the efficiency of the organisation and expanding its
productivity. It is used for the purpose of solving problems pertaining to the firm and
gives a methodology for analysing the processes involved. The goals of the
organisation are formulated on the basis of the dynamics the business deals in. Here
is a quick list of the main goals of the organisational development:
a. Aligns Employee With The Organisation’s Mission
It keeps the employees educated and updated about the goals and missions of the
organisation and works towards aligning the employees to achieve the
organisational goal.
b. Problem Solving
One of the prominent goals is to encourage the workers towards solving the
problem instead of avoiding them. When they solve the complicated problems, their
skills are sharpened, which enhances the productivity and performance of the
workers.
c. Encouraging The Employees To Participate In The Planning Process
The employees are encouraged to be a part of the planning process in accordance
with the skills they possess. This way the goals are effectively implemented as the
implementers are the part of goal formulation. There is a sense of responsibility in
the employees, which drive them to give their best performance.
d. Friendly Environment In The Organisation
One of the essential objectives is to create a friendly and stress free environment in
the organisation for smooth functioning. With worker friendly environment present
in the organisation the employees are motivated to work both effectively and
efficiently. It is seen that the level of profitability is quite high in the organisations
where the level of stress is less in the minds of the employees.

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 e. Effective Communication Channel Between Workers And Management
Another significant goal is to develop a good channel of communication between
management and workers. A lack of communication usually results in
communication gap which acts as a hurdle in the growth of the organisation.
Effective communication channel leads to the development of trust and cooperation
within the organisation.

3. What are the importance of the quality of work life for an employee whether in private
or public sector? You may give example to support your answer. (20 pts)

- Improving the Quality of Work Life (QWL) is an important thing because the
contribution can increase organizational effectiveness and reduce the negative
behaviour of workers. In several empirical studies, the implementation of the quality
of work life led to increased compliance and employee satisfaction, increase
confidence, improve relationships between workers and supervisors, improving
safety and health. In addition, can reduce labour complaining, reduce the conflict
between labour and management, improve productivity and strengthen the
organization's position in market competition. The basic objectives of an effective
QWL program are improved working conditions (mainly from an employee's
perspective) and greater organizational effectiveness (mainly from an employer's
perspective).

4. As Organization Development (OD) Consultant, your client organization asks you to help
them in solving the problem/s relating to the low productivity and poor performance of
the agency. Discuss the steps and processes which you would like to undertake with
your client organization. You may also name and discuss some OD interventions to
support your answer. (50 pts)

- As a consultant, introducing change in an organization to solve problems relating to

low productivity and poor performance of the agency is not that easy. You will find
resistance along the way and change would not be achieved. We should prepare

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ourselves as well as the stakeholders involve and encourage active participation
during the change introduction, implementation and monitoring. Organizations
should systematically prepare for major organizational change to manage and
minimize resistance among various parties involved. Here are some step by step
process in achieving organization change effectively and efficiently:

a. "Create a sense of urgency."- Successful transformation efforts usually begin

when leaders examine the market for changes that may lead to new competitive
realities for the organization. These changes can stem from demographic shifts,
social trends, new technology, market or competitor changes, or new
government regulations. The leaders should explain that a potential crisis or
major opportunity is imminent, and they should encourage frank discussion
throughout the organization. Creating a sense of urgency that the status quo is
no longer acceptable is essential to gain the workforce's energetic cooperation.

b. "Build a guiding coalition." Once employees feel a sense of urgency, leaders

should establish a group with enough power to lead the change. Members need
substantial authority based on position, expertise, credibility and leadership, as
well as effective management skills and proven leadership abilities. This coalition
must learn to work together based on trust and set a common goal. Many
guiding coalitions build trust through offsite meetings, joint activities and
conversation.

c. "Form a strategic vision and initiatives." The guiding coalition should craft a
clear vision for the future, motivate people to take appropriate actions and
coordinate their actions. An effective vision is imaginable, desirable, feasible,
focused, flexible and communicable. Creating an effective vision takes time and
can be a challenging process, but the end product provides a clear direction for
the future.

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d. "Enlist a volunteer army." Once the guiding coalition has developed the vision,
its members should provide extensive communications about how the change
will improve the business and how those improvements will benefit employees.
Key elements in effective communications include simplicity, use of examples,
multiple forums, repetition, explanation of apparent inconsistencies and two-
way communication. The group should model the behaviour expected of
employees.

e. "Enable action by removing barriers." To empower workers to support change

and act on the vision, change leaders should identify and remove obstacles. Four
categories of important obstacles are:

e.1. Formal structures that make it difficult for employees to act.

e.2. A lack of needed skills.
e.3. Personnel or information systems.
e.4. Supervisors who discourage actions toward implementing the new vision.

f. "Generate short-term wins." Successful and enduring change takes time, which
can be discouraging to employees at all, levels of the organization. To maintain
urgency, leaders should create conditions that support early successes and
visible improvements. The key is to actively search for opportunities to score
early achievements and to recognize and reward those who made these
accomplishments possible. Good short-term wins have unambiguous results, are
visible to many people and are clearly related to the change effort.

g. "Sustain acceleration." Until major changes are embedded in an organization's

culture (which could take up to a decade), they remain vulnerable to resistance
and regression. It is important to use the early successes as a foundation for

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 larger challenges and to change all systems, structures and policies that do not
fit the change vision. HR can consolidate gains by hiring, promoting and
developing employees who can implement the transformation vision.
Additionally, the change process can be reinvigorated with new project themes
and change agents.

h. "Institute change." The final stage for successful change is linking the changes to
two key components of corporate culture—norms of group behaviour and
shared values.

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