Three Types of System-Wide, Human Process Interventions - Essay Example

?A Discussion on Three Types of System-Wide, Human Process Interventions: Organizational Behavior Summary Organizational development has various phases and influencing factors which need to be focused in order to attain the ultimate organizational goal. The major influencing factors of organizational development can be stated as the organizational structure, its human processes, internal environment among others. In order to generate a comprehensive understanding of organizational development, three types of system-wide human processes had been identified namely Confrontation Meeting, Intergroup Relation and Large-Group Intervention. Thereby, based on this approach, the paper shall concentrate on describing the various features of the categories and their influence on the organizational behavior. Table of Contents Summary 2 1.0. Introduction 4 2.0. Types of System-wide, Human Process Intervention 5 2.1. Confrontation Meeting 5 2.2. Intergroup Relation 6 2.3. Large-Group Intervention 7 3.0. Conclusion 8 References 9 1.0. Introduction The term ‘Organizational Development’ can be defined as the usage of the behavioral and science-based interventions that have been planned in the work setting in order to improve the functioning of the organization and the individual development. Notably, changes may take place at any point of time in the work setting since the world is continuously changing (Murray & Et. Al., 2006). Contextually, the organizational change (OC) consultants and the change leaders have an important role to play in facilitating human process interventions. The responsibility of the OC consultant is to facilitate the work of aligning the structure of the organization, its culture and the human processes adhering to the organization’s strategic plan. This in turn not only creates a healthier internal environment within the organization but also develops its adaptability and flexibility (Beitler, 2005). 2.0. Types of System-wide, Human Process Intervention It is worth mentioning that there are varieties of organizational development techniques. However, limited effort has been taken to compare their impacts. Notably, the techniques tend to affect the organizational variables in unique ways. There may be certain techniques that would be quite effective in changing a few variables in comparison to others. In the same way, the interventions of different intensities may ultimately yield different results (Porras, 2011). 2.1. Confrontation Meeting The system-wide process intervention techniques help to advance the processes such as vision, organizational problem-solution, task accomplishment and leadership between the groups for the purpose of the major subsystem. The first intervention is the organization confrontation meeting. It is one of the most ancient wide process intervention techniques. It aims at the mobilization of the employees in order to solve their problems at times of stress (Sangamithra, n.d.). At times the top management of the organization may face the problem of accessing accurately the state of the organization’s health in times of stress or change. When there is a major change in the organization such as change in the leadership or the organization structure through mergers and/or acquisitions, or introduction of any kind of new technology, there tends to be great confusions that have a negative impact on the productivity and the morale of the employees. Therefore, at times of such difficulties the group of top management may spend many hours together and try to solve the business problem. They can also try to find out a feasible solution in order to cope up with the problem. Now at the same time these managers may spend less time with their subordinates as well as with the rest of the organization. The people in the lower level often complain as being left out. They report of feeling less sense of possession in the organization. When these kinds of problems are faced by the organization then the top management may take actions in order to bring back the situation at stable position. The top management may hold a few general communication improvement meetings and may even conduct certain kind of attitude surveys in order to determine the priority problems. This is confrontation meeting which is one of the intervention techniques (Beckhard, 1970). 2.2. Intergroup Relation The next and the most important organization process is the intergroup relation. It usually consists of two interventions which are the ‘intergroup conflict resolution meeting’ and the other one is the microcosm groups. The intergroup relation intervention technique can be defined as the process of diagnosing the organization-level processes, for instance, the conflicts that usually arise in the organization, the coordination of organizational units as well as the diversity. It becomes utmost important for the organizational development (OD) practitioners to understand and diagnose the intergroup relation because of several reasons. The group may work with other groups in order to accomplish their goals. They may even create problems and place demands on each other. Moreover, the type of relation that exists between the groups may affect the degree of the effectiveness of the organization. Therefore, the two OD intervention techniques play a vital role in this regards. The first one is the microcosm group that comprises of small number of individuals reflecting the issue being dealt with. This group makes use of members from various groups in order to solve the organizational problem. The other one is the intergroup conflict intervention that has been designed to help two groups in solving the dysfunctional conflicts within the organization. 2.3. Large-Group Intervention The third system-wide process is the large-group intervention that has received much attention in the recent times and is one of the fastest-growing areas in OD. It is also referred as open space meetings, world cafes and decision accelerators. The large group intervention generally tries to focus upon those kinds of issues that tend to affect the whole organization such as responding to the environmental changes, introduction to the new technologies and designing of the new products. One of the main features of the ‘large group intervention’ is to bring together a big number of organizational members and the stakeholders, often more than hundred for a meeting or a conference that usually takes place for a couple of days. The people who attend the conference or the meeting work together on a group basis to identify and resolve the organizational dilemma. They tend to design new approaches in order to structure and manage the firm and also propose certain future directions to the organization (Cummings & Worley, 2009). 3.0. Conclusion ‘Organizational Development’ is an effort that is made by the top management to improve the organization’s learning, vision and problem solving processes. While doing so special emphasis is placed upon the culture of the work teams by utilizing the facilitators and the theories of applied behavioral science. Organizational intervention denotes a set of change activities that aim at boosting the organization’s effectiveness. There are three system-wide human process intervention techniques namely the organizational confrontation meeting, the intergroup relation and the large group intervention. The main advantage of each of the intervention techniques is to help the organization to solve the issues that it confronts in its day-to-day activities. The application of each of the intervention techniques will assist in increasing the organization’s effectiveness. References Beitler, M., (2005). A Practioner’s Guide for Change Leaders and Consultants. Beitler on OC Intervention. Retrieved Online on March 04, 2010 from http://www.mikebeitler.com/freestuff/Beitler%20%20Organizational%20Change%20Interventions.pdf Beckhard, R., (1970). Organisational Change and Development. Dorsey Press: Homeland, IL. Cummings, T. G. & Worley, C. G., (2009). Organization Development & Change. Cengage Learning. Murray, P. & Et. Al., (2006). Contemporary Issues in Management and Organisational Behavior. Cengage Learning Australia. Porras, J. I., (2011). The Comparative Impact of Different OD Technique and Intervention Intensities. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science. Saghamitra, (No Date). Module 6. Planned Change Introduction to OD. Retrieved Online on March 04, 2010 from http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/courses/IIT-MADRAS/Management_Science_II/Pdf/6_3.pdf Read More