_______________________________________________________________________________

1. Define organizational development. Discuss the importance of

Organizational Development (OD) to Managers? Highlight some reasons
why people resist to change?
Organizational Developmentis a planned approach to improve employee and
organizational effectiveness. This can be achieved by conscious interventions in
those processes and structures that have an immediate bearing on the human
aspects of the organisation.
OD is the act, process, or result of furthering, advancing or promoting the growth
of an organisation. OD is anything done to better an organisation. But this
definition is too broad and all-inclusive. Another way of defining OD is to
examine the following definitions, suggested by different authors in the
literature.
Definition given by Beckhard in 1969:OD is an effort 1) planned 2) Organisation
wide and 3) managed from the top, to 4) increase organisation effectiveness and
health through 5) planned interventions in the organizations processes using
behavioral science knowledge.
Bennis, 1969 defines OD as a response to change, a complex educational
Strategy intended to change the beliefs, attitudes, values, and structure of
Organizations so that they can better adapt to new technologies, markets, and
challenges, and the dizzying rate of change itself.
Words of French &Bell, 1978 to get a much better understanding of OD: In the
behavioralscience and perhaps ideal, sense of the term, organisation
development is a long-range effort to improve an organizations problem- solving
and renewal process. This is done particularly through a more effective and
collaborative management of organisation culture.
Special emphasis is laid on the culture of formal work teams with the
assistance of a change agent, or catalyst, and use of the theory and
technologies of applied behavioral science, including action research.In the
Sixth Edition, South-western Publishing 1997 of Organisation Development and
Change, you will find Cummings and Worley defining OD as: A system-wide
application of the knowledge of behavioralscience to planned development and
reinforcement of organizational strategies, structures and processes aimed at
improving organizations effectiveness.
The importance of OD to managers can be summed up as:
1. Organizational change: The area of companys operation where change is
needed is identified, analyzedand their effects are projected to draw out
change management plans aimed at increasing the effectiveness of
employees.
2. Growth: It serves as an important tool of planning and managing corporate
growth. OD analysis helps to know the rate of companys growth by
identifying sales projections and consumer demand. This helps the company
to alter its expansion and business plans, allocationof resources and
distribution network to have room for future growth.
3. Work processes: OD analyses work processes to check efficiency and
accuracy. Quality control measures are put in place to attain company

standards. Managers analyses various alternate processes for greater

efficiency and implement plans to improve company methods.
4. Product innovation: Competitive analysis, technology development,
consumer preferences, target market research, patents and trademarks are
some of the processes of OD that assist product innovation.
5.
Reasons why people resist changing
Individuals at all levels are prone to resisting change.
1. Selective perception: You know that people have a natural tendency to
perceive the same thing differently. When changes are initiated, as per their
psychology, individuals tend to focus on how they will be personally affected rather
than seeing the big picture for the entire organisation. For Example, suppose a
manager announces that members of his group henceforth will be paid on
piecework rather than on hourly basis. Manoj, who is fast and highly skilled, may
eagerly embrace the change as an opportunity to increase his pay. Yogesh, a new
employee may object for the fear of lagging behind others.
2. Lack of information: People will resist change if they lack knowledge about
why the change is required and what is expected from them. Suppose, you own an
organisation that is now entering into a merger with a new firm to gain the benefits
of synergies. In such situation, if you
do not give your organisation members the reasons for such a change, they tend to
fill in the missing pieces, with speculation. This often portrays the worst in terms of
our intentions and personal impact and increase their fear of making mistakes.
3. Fear of the unknown: Individuals usually resist change when they are
uncertain about how it will affect their well-being. For example, if a firm is
downsizing, an employee may ask himself how will downsizing, or new web-based
B2B marketing, affect my job security?
4. Habit: It is easy to understand that many people prefer familiar action and
events, even if they are not optimal. For example, ask an individual to leave a bad
habit like smoking,
drinking too much coffee, or not exercising? Quitting a habit is difficult because it
takes hard work and involves giving up perceived benefits from the habit, even if
the new behaviour has more desirable consequences. In the context of the
workplace, employees are often in a comfort zone which makes them secure. Any
attempt to do things differently may be
opposed as they are moving away from that safe zone.
5. Resentment towards the initiator: You would know or have even experienced
that individuals may resist change where they feel that it is illogical or
unreasonable, or when the timing and manner of implementation lacks the concern
for the people expected to carry it out.
You can simply assume the result of such change is either resentment or anger.

2. What is OD Intervention? Discuss its characteristics.

Definition of OD Intervention According to Cummings and Worley, 2001:
The term intervention refers to a set of sequenced planned actions or events
intended to help an organisation increase its effectiveness. Intervention purposely
disrupts the status quo; they are deliberate attempts to change an organisation or
sub-unit towards a different and more effective
state.
Argyris, 1970, defines intervention as follows: To intervene is to enter into
an ongoing system of relationships, to come between or among persons, groups, or
objects for the purpose of helping them.
Additionally, French and Bell, 1999, called OD interventions as a set of structural
activities in which selected enterprise units engage themselves into a sequence of
tasks which will result in organisation improvement. It can be simply phrased as the
actions initiated to produce desired results.
From the above definitions, we can simply understand that OD interventions are:
An entry into the existing system or structures of an organization
Structural and planned activity
Basic aim is improvement and development of organization
Works for improvement at individual, group and organization level
Targeted towards bringing a shift of present position towards a whole new
different desired state.
OD interventions are sets of structured activities in which selected organizational
units (targets, groups, or individuals) engage with a task or a sequence of tasks
where the task goals are related directly or indirectly to organizational
improvement. Interventions constitute the action thrust of organization
development; they make things happen and define what is happening.

Example: Team building, mentoring, performance appraisal, downsizing leadership

development, TQM and large group interventions are some of the best examples of
intervention.

Characteristics of OD intervention

1. Humanistic approach: OD interventions hold a positive belief about the

capabilities and potentials of the employees in undertaking the task of
organisation and staff improvement.
2. Planned and structured approach: You can simply define it to be based
on a set of well-planned and structured strategy for managing change by
recognising the importance of dynamic environment in which an organisation
exists.
3. Problem solving tool: OD interventions works as a tool to identify the
problems the organisation faces, and involves data gathering, taking
corrective actions, assessment of progress, etc.
4. System-oriented approach: OD interventions works for organisation as a
whole involving an extensive participation of structures, technologies and
individuals. All together, this forms a part of the organisation.
5. Practical approach: Though based on the concept of behavioural science,
OD interventions should be both realistic and practical. It should not be
purely based on theories and lectures, rather must aim at providing members
a learning experience to find solution of real-life problems faced at work front.
6. Persuasive: Strategies are planned for individual, group and at organisation
levels to manage the problems encountered at every level.
7. Top-bottom approach: OD intervention recognises the importance of
commitment, support and involvement by top management in a similar way
as supported by the organisation culture.
8. Change agents: The success of OD intervention depends on the sets of
attributes that practitioners use to bring about desired changes. For instance,

the set of values; assumptions about people, organizations and interpersonal

relationships; the goals and objectives both for the practitioners and for the
organisation and its members; and the structured activities that are the
means to implementing the values, assumptions and goals.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

3. What are the reasons for setting up goals in the Organization? List its
advantages and disadvantages.
Goal is an object oriented desired result a person, or a system plans, commits and
tries to achieve in his/her life. It provides direction to the organisation or the
individual. For an organisation, it enhances the operation, contributes to the
maintenance and development of the group and gives a sense of cohesion to the
members of the group.
The reasons for setting up goals in the Organization - Setting up of goals is
done due to the following reasons:
for achieving a better outcome
for changing the individuals behavior
focusing on the development of the employees
channel of communication between superior and subordinate
lead to the positive performance and for more effective reviews
reduction in subjectivity
motivates and encourage the improvement and strategies of the
performance
Advantages and disadvantages/ barriers of goal setting in the
Organization
Advantages -The advantages of setting up of goals are as follows:

Help the people to show them the right path that is where they are going for
the accomplishment of the desired outcome.

Create the environment for constructive feedback, principles of participative

management and enhances the communication between officer and
individual.
Analyse fair and clear evaluation of performance of the organisation.

Barriers -The barriers to goal setting are:

sometimes the goals/actions are difficult to quantify and qualify
Uncertain of what you want
lack of focus
fear of commitment
having inappropriate expectations
inability to visualize the results
afraid to face failure
_____________________________________________________________________________________

4. What do you mean by Learning Organization? List out the attributes of

Learning Organization. Write a short note on impact of technology in
Organization?
Definition and attributes of Learning Organization - Learning organization
refers to an organization which aims at transferring, creating and acquiring
knowledge for modifying the behavior in order to reflect new insights and
knowledge. Thus, it is a place where an individual is having a chance to expand and
enhance his/her skills and knowledge to their capacity for creating the desirable
outcomes which they desire, where the collective aspirations are set free, where the
people continuously have the choice to learn and where their expensive and new
patterns of thinking are nurtured. According to Gephart (Co-author of Learning
Organizations come Alive), the essence of learning organization is:
systematic critical thinking
a spirit of experimentation and flexibility
centred towards people (community)
continuous learning at the systems level
emphasis is on knowledge sharing and generation
Attributes of Learning Organization
Strategic orientation: Before taking any decisions, learning organisations has to
take care of both its customers and employees.

Openness: There should be openness in the learning organisation for both the
tolerant of debate and criticism as well as enquiry also.
Innovation: There must be organic culture and structure in the learning
organisation which allows it to evolve rapidly. Also, it must have the deep skill and
the capacity to deal with internal uncertainty and
complexity.
Impact of technology in Organization As we know business landscapes are
drastically changing because of technology. Though business strategies and
organisation culture shape the application of technology in the organisation, you
can say that the influence is rather stronger the other way round. Technology
critically affects strategic options and result in creation of issues and opportunities
that managers have to take care of in running their organisations effectively.
As you can see, present environment technology is casting an ever increasing
influence in your workplaces and posses a current challenge for the managers.
Whether small or larger, more and more organisations are trying to incorporate the
newest technology in their operations.
A rapid and efficient business expansion can be called for technology implication on
organisation. Both the revolutionary economic and financial models and concepts
used in business are result of technological innovation. Technology provides a more
efficient and faster way of handling and monitoring business transitions and details
providing a new perspective
and approach of modern business dealing.
Example: Technology has enabled huge corporate houses like Microsoft to attend
to their customer needs through use of certain technological tools like emails and
chat sessions. Its internal and external networking has helped it to improve its
business.

The impact of technology on business firms as mentioned in above figure can be

analyzed as:
1. Business strategy and policy: New opportunities for innovation in products
and services have been created by technology. Services which earlier were
delivered in person are now delivered over network. Technology has drastically
changed the service industry by:
providing parallel data base processing
making instant information available
providing twenty four hours round the clock services for whole 365 days
bringing product and services closer to the customers
Providing opportunity of capturing information and using it for someother
purpose like capturing information about transactions and using it for
customer targeting.

2. Organisation culture: Newer types of technology like intranets, groupware and

electronic mail are considerably changing the manner in which information flows
between the groups, departments or between them and their suppliers and
customers. As a result a more innovative
and open cultures have emerged in business environment which are drastically
changing the organisation cultures.
3. Organisation structures: Technology has enabled organisations to have a large
span of control and a flattening group ware which is purely result of initiatives like
Business Process Reengineering (BPR) aimed at cost cuts. With help of technology
you can simply say that many
organisations have centralised their room operation but on the other hand have
decentralised their activities. Therefore it can stand clear to you that technology
actually results in creation of wide variety of structures. You can say that technology
enables creation of fluid and flexible structures, dispersed teams, network
structures and even teams resulting from virtual corporation.
4. Management processes: Technology at present is supporting highly routine
business processes as well as supports unstructured management processes.
Technology now provided you more effective way of accessing information using
multiple sources such as internet
and use of external information on databases. Under the guidance of an expert
facilitator the decision making can be enhanced with help of Decision Support
System.
5. Work/roles: Technology is bringing about a drastic change in organisation and
professional work or roles. In many organisations the work/role is becoming quite
knowledge based requiring extensive information making use of technology a
critical factor. Nowadays work
involves employees to gain the understanding of how the technology can be best
utilised for information accessing, researching sources, connecting with experts,
results and ideas communication etc.
___________________________________________________________________________________
5. Define the term downsizing. List the types of downsizing. Explain
thesignificance, misconceptions and effects of downsizing.
Definition of downsizing - Downsizing refers to reduction in the overall size and
cost of operations of an organization by reducing the total number of employees.
You can simply analyse the fact that when markets are quite severe, companies
frequently use downsizing to fight to survive in a hostile climate at the time of
competing with companies in the same sector. Organisational downsizing
constitutes a set of activities undertaken by the management of an organisation
designed with the purpose of improving the organizational efficiency,
competitiveness and productivity. Example: Nokia would cut 300 jobs in India by
the end of 2012 as part of the Finnish mobile giant's restructuring plan that would
affect 7,000 employees globally.
Listing the types of downsizing A company can downsize using one process
or a combination of types of activities. The manufacturing industry historically uses

employee layoffs to accomplish the goal. Layoffs imply that the company, because
of decreased demand for its products, does not need its current number of
employees. However, the implication is that, when demand increases, it will reemploy some or all of the staff that was laid off.
Example: According to the Business Insider website, HSBC Holdings, an
international banking and financial services concern, laid off 5,000 people in 2011
and has plans to lay off 25,000 more. HSBC Holdings has already shut down its
operations in Russia and Poland, the site notes, and closed 195 branches, many in
New York.
Other common types include termination, early retirement offers, or even "spin offs"
(creating a new smaller company from the existing corporation to produce or offer
products or services). Some companies use a combination of types to reach the
employment level they need.
Significance of downsizing Downsizing often generates both a positive and
negative significance. The negative, employees losing jobs and income, creates the
loudest general headlines. Along with the obvious negatives of workforce,
downsizing implies that the company or the overall economy is having serious
problems.
From a corporate and investor prospective, downsizing can be positive. As expenses
are cut, companies may increase their net profits and improve operating efficiency.
Investors may also believe that company stock prices may rise in the future as
bottom line results improve.
Downsizing activities in public companies (with stock available for purchase and
sale) has more general significance than similar actions at private companies, since
their reporting requirements are less stringent. When many companies choose
downsizing, the significance to the entire economy is usually negative.
Misconceptions The public typically assumes that the company or the economy
is in a serious downturn. If enough people believe this, a self-fulfilling prophesy
sometimes results, causing the company or economy to suffer further. However, this
is often a misconception. For example, a large manufacturer has invested in new
electronics that streamline operations and reduce costs.
The company may downsize their human staff to fully enjoy these improved
processes. This downsizing, from a company perspective, is a very positive event
targeted to make their products better and to increase their profit. Downsizing may
be the outcome of poor results, an economic downturn, or simply a company taking
advantage of business conditions to improve their already successful operations.
Effects of downsizing The effects of downsizing also vary from company to
company. Some
employees are able to keep their jobs and their company's condition may improve.
However, many now-former employees face serious financial problems.
Those employees who have kept their jobs must take on added responsibilities and
duties (usually for no additional compensation) with which they are unfamiliar
and/or untrained.

Therefore, remaining employees and company operating efficiency typically suffer,

at least in the short-term. The ability of the staff to adapt and the company to help
and support them has major effects on the success or failure of downsizing.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

6. Define Learning Organizational? List the characteristics of learning

organization? Explain seven steps of initiating organizational learning?
Definition and characteristics of learning organization - A learning organization is an
organization skilled at creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge, and at
modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights.
Learning organisation refers to an organisation which aims at transferring, creating
and acquiring knowledge for modifying the behaviour in order to reflect new insights
and knowledge. Thus, it is a place where an individual is having a chance to expand

and enhance his/her skills and knowledge to their capacity for creating the desirable
outcomes which they desire, where
the collective aspirations are set free, where the people continuously have the
choice to learn and where their expensive and new patterns of thinking are
nurtured. According to Gephart (Co-author of Learning Organizations Come Alive),
the essence of learning organization is:
systematic critical thinking
a spirit of experimentation and flexibility
centered towards people (community)
continuous learning at the systems level
emphasis is on knowledge sharing and generation
Characteristics of learning organization - The characteristics of the learning
organisation are as follows:

Strategic orientation: Before taking any decisions, learning organisations

has to take care of both its customers and employees.
Openness: There should be openness in the learning organisation for both
the tolerant of debate and criticism as well as enquiry also.
Innovation: There must be organic culture and structure in the learning
organisation which allows it to evolve rapidly. Also, it must have the deep skill
and the capacity to deal with internal uncertainty and complexity.

Steps of initiating organizational learning - The process of increasing an

organisations learning capabilities does not start by having a vision or by selecting
the favourite consultant but must
start with an understanding of what represents the organisations present
capabilities in both learning systems and the performance. The steps for starting
the organisational learning process are shown below:

S
S
T
T
E
E
P
P
-2
1
3
4
5
6
7

Step 1: Knowledge of theory, research, and practice

In the first step, there are multiple researches and theories which address only part
of the organisational learning system that builds a foundation for valuing
information about organisation actions. All the theories are the explanation of social
phenomena that have been tested within the organisation.

Step 2: Understanding of organisational learning systems model

In the second step, theories, researches and stores of practice are integrated into a
map or quilt which provides a dynamic social basis for assessing the organisational
actions of both performing and learning.
Step 3: Asking questions for enquiry - In the third step, the organisation starts
with the generation of new ideas which is concerned with the learning system. Thus,
this analysis is facilitated through the use of the following analytical questions for
each of the subsystems and their interchange medium.
(a) New information and the environmental interface subsystem which
includes questions like
What kind of information does the organisation create?
How does the organisation define its organisational environment?
What role does experimentation play in developing new information, etc.?
What segments of the environment are scanned?
(b) Structuring and dissemination and diffusion subsystem includes
questions like
How well-established technical methods are communicated throughout the
organisation?
How is the role of leadership defined in the organisation?
How are knowledge and information shared: vertically and horizontally?
What is the accuracy and relevance of the information that is communicated
formally and informally?
What extent are performance data available: individual and strategic?
(c) Sense making and memory and meaning subsystem which includes
questions like
What are the basic assumptions of the organisation concerning performance?
How is information about technical expertise stored?
What are the basic assumptions of the organisation concerning performance?
What is the relationship between stored knowledge and the meaning of that
knowledge?
(d) Goal referenced knowledge and action/reflection subsystem includes questions
like:
To what extent are employees involved in the decision-making processes?
How does the organisation evaluate the success of technical methods and
approaches, etc.?
What criteria does the organisation employ to distinguish routine issues from
exceptional issues?
Step 4: Convert the new information into meaningful knowledge
In this step, the questions that are generated in the third step to get information
about organisation, is valued to give the answers. As information is not regarded as
knowledge because if it is got converted into actions the organisation is not
considered as learning but simply, moving information. Thus, it may create lot of
confusion and lack of sense making. Therefore, the learning process starts with
assigning and understanding the meaning to

the information through reflection and hence, identifies the challenges and strength
that the organisation may face in increasing its learning capacity.
Step 5: Analyse inputs and outputs of each subsystem - In this step, the
analysis is done for the new information which allows the organisation to develop
knowledge of its challenges and strengths by using the context of the organisational
learning system.
Step 6: Respond to the challenges of each subsystem - In this step,
challenges of each subsystem are as follows:
(a) Challenges of the meaning and memory subsystem include:
Lack of cultural profile
Lack of alignment in multiple
(b) Challenges of the action/reflection subsystem includes:
Resistance to the dual nature of knowledge
Lack of readiness
Lack of organisational reflection
(c) Challenges of the action/reflection subsystem includes:
Resistance to the dual nature of knowledge
Lack of organisational reflection
Lack of readiness
(d) Challenges of the Environmental Interface Subsystem includes:
Lack of understanding of the role of management cognition and the
environmental interface subsystem
Inappropriate screening
Lack of variety of environmental interface actions (Modes)
Step 7: Take action - In this last step, the organisation learning system contains
necessary functions. The guiding function of memory and meaning subsystem is the
most influential which is impenetrable to change. As it contains major links to the
culture of the organisation, therefore, it is difficult to manipulate. Hence, its power
lies in its cybernetic relation to the other subsystems. The
concept of cybernetics refers to two phenomena associated with the relative control
of the subsystems in their consumption of energy and information and systems
theory the relative source of energy and information for the subsystem.
_____________________________________________________________________________________