Organization

Development
Values, Assumptions, and Beliefs in OD

Values,
Assumptions, and
Beliefs in OD
constitute an integral
part of and
distinguishes OD from
other improvement
strategies

provide structure
and stability for people
as they attempt to
understand the world
around them
humanistic,
optimistic, democratic

Value foundation
Early significant statements
Implications

Events in Management and Organization Thought

< 1939

1940s 1960s

Frederick Taylor
-the scientific
management
Max Weber

-bureaucracy
Mary Parker Follett
-participative
leadership
Hawthorne Studies

-primacy of social
factors on productivity
and morale
Chester Barnard
-acceptance theory of
authority

Lewin, Lippitt, White

- Democratic
leadership

Kurt Lewin

-group dynamics
-laboratory
training
Wilfrid Bion
-the Tavistock
method
Rensis Likert
-survey research
and feedback
methods
Eric Trist
-sociotechnical
approach
Robert
Tannenbaum
-team building

Late 1960s
Douglas McGregor

-Theory X and Y
Burns and Stalker
-two forms of
organization
structure
Rensis Likert
-democratic
leadership style
Katz and Kahn
-open systems
Addison-Wesley
Six-Pack/OD SixPack
-theory, practice,
values of OD

Second Wave
Edgar Schein
-group process
consultation
David
Cooperrider
-appreciative
inquiry
Marvin Weisbord

-future search
Harrison Owen

-open space

Prevailing paradigms for organizations zeitgeist

1900s to Scientific management as the way to organize work
1920s

Bureaucracy as the way to organize people

Hawthorne studies gave way to human relations

movement advocating participative management
and a general humanizing of the workplace
1940s to Emergence of laboratory training movement where
1960s
humanistic and democratic values filled the

movement
Survey feedback systematically assessed employee
morale and attitudes in organizations

Sociotechnical approach viewed social and

technical systems as interdependent where a change
in one system will directly affect the other

Prevailing paradigms for organizations zeitgeist

1960s Recognition of four major stems of OD: (1)application
and
of laboratory training insights to complex
beyond
organizations, (2) survey feedback technology, (3)

emergence of action research, (4)sociotechnical and

socioclinical approaches

Changing Context and Second-wave OD

1980s to 1990s has dramatically changed the

context of the business environment (globalization,
tech innovations etc.)
Considerable attention is being given to new
concepts, interventions, and areas of application
Second generation OD includes interest in
organizational transformation, culture, learning
organization, TQM, and visioning

Early Statements of OD Values

and Assumptions
Warren Bennis
OD practitioners share a set of normative goals

Richard Beckhard
Several assumptions about the nature and
functioning of organizations

Robert Tannenbaum and Sheldon Davies

Values in transition

Normative goals
by Warren Bennis

1. Improvement in interpersonal competence

2. A shift in values so that human factors and

feelings come to be considered legitimate
3. Development of increased understanding
between and within working groups in order to
reduce tension
4. Development of more effective team
management

5. Development of better methods of conflict

resolution
6. Development of organic rather than mechanical
systems

Organic versus mechanical systems

from Normative goals by Warren Bennis

Mechanical System

Organic System

Authority-obedience
relationships

Mutual confidence
and trust

Strict division of labor

and hierarchical
supervision

Multi-group
membership and
responsibility

Centralized decision
making

Wide sharing of
responsibility and
control

Assumptions about the nature and

functioning of organizations
by Richard Beckhard

1. The basic building blocks of an organization are

groups (teams)
2. An always relevant change goal is the reduction
of inappropriate competition
3. Decision making is located where the
information sources are
4. Controls are interim measurements, not the basis
of managerial strategy
5. Develop open communication, mutual trust, and
confidence between and across levels

6. People support what they help create

Values in transition
from 1969 Industrial Management Review
by Robert Tannenbaum and Sheldon Davies

Away from

Towards

People are bad

People are good

Negative evaluation of
individuals

Confirming as human beings

Individuals as fixed

Seeing as being in process

Resisting and fearing individual

differences

Accepting and utilizing

A job description

A whole person

Walling off expression of feelings

Making appropriate expression

and effective use

Maskmanship and game playing

Authentic behavior

Values in transition
from 1969 Industrial Management Review
by Robert Tannenbaum and Sheldon Davies

Away from

Towards

Status and prestige to maintain Status for organizationally relevant

power
purposes
Distrusting people

Trusting people

Avoiding facing others

Making appropriate confrontation

Avoidance of risk taking

Willingness to risk

Process work as unproductive

Process work as essential

Competition

Collaboration

 The democratic values prompted a critique of

authoritarian, autocratic, and arbitrary
management practices
dysfunctions of bureaucracies

The humanistic values prompted a search for

Better ways to run organizations
Develop the people in them

Implications of OD values and

assumptions

For dealing with individuals

For dealing with groups
For designing and running organizations

Implications for dealing with individuals

Two basic assumptions

Most individuals have drives toward personal growth
and development
Most people desire a higher level contribution to the

attainment of organization goals than most

environments permit

Implications for dealing with individuals

Implications:
Ask
Listen

Support
Challenge

Encourage risk taking

Permit failure
Remove obstacles and barriers
Give autonomy
Give responsibility

Set high standards

Reward success

Implications for dealing with groups

Assumptions

What occurs in the work group greatly influences

feelings of satisfaction and competence
Most people wish to be accepted and to interact
cooperatively with at least one reference group
Most people are capable of making greater
contribution to a groups effectiveness and
development
Group members should assist the leader for group
effectiveness

Attitudinal and motivational problems require

interactive and transactional solutions

Implications for dealing with groups

Implications:
Let teams flourish
Leaders should invest in groups

In time required for group development

Training time and money to increase group members skills
Energy and intelligence in creating a positive climate
Leaders adopt a team leadership style

Give important work to teams, not individuals

Implications for dealing with groups

Implications:
Group members receive training in group effectiveness skills
Problem solving and decision making

Conflict management
Facilitation
Interpersonal communication
Encourage to deal with positive and negative feelings

A shift in perspective
From viewing problems as within the problem person to
viewing problems and solutions as transactional and as
embedded in a system

Implications for designing and running

organizations

Assumptions

The needs and aspirations of human beings are the

reasons for organized effort in society
It is possible to create organizations that on one hand
are humane and on the other hand are high

performing and profitable

Implications for designing and running

organizations
Implications:

An optimistic, developmental set of assumptions about people

is likely to reap rewards to both organization and its members

The belief that people are important tends to result in their

being important

The belief that people can grow and develop competently

tends to produce that result

People are an organizations most important resource

OD rests in the foundation of values and

assumptions about people and organizations
These beliefs help to define what OD is and
guide its implementation

Creating the Best Workplace on Earth

by Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones

In a nutshell, its a company where individual

differences are nurtured; information is not
suppressed or spun; the company adds value to

employees, rather than merely extracting it from

them; the organization stands for something
meaningful; the work itself is intrinsically rewarding;

and there are no stupid rules.

http://hbr.org/2013/05/creating-the-best-workplace-on-earth/ar/1

References
French, W., & Bell, C. (1995). Organization
Development: Behavioral Science Interventions for
Organization Improvement. 5th Ed. New Jersey, USA:
Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Sikes, W., Drexler, A., & Gant, J. (1989). The Emerging

Practice of Organization Development. Alexandria,
Virginia; San Diego, California, USA: NTL Institute of
Applied Behavioral Science; University Associates, Inc.
French, W., Bell, C., & Zawacki, R. (2005). Organization
Development and Transformation: Managing Effective
Change. 6th Ed. NY, USA: McGraw-Hill.
The Foundations and Future of Organization
Development presented by Sandhya Johnson
(http://www.slideshare.net/)

Organization
Development
Values, Assumptions, and Beliefs in OD