Issues in Organizational Development - Essay Example

Running Head: ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT Topic: Organizational Development Lecturer: Presentation: Q1: Emerging Issues in Organizational Development and Future Trends As organizations continue to grow and become diverse, more issues regarding the handling of the organization begin to emerge. The organization needs to cope with rapid environmental changes and diverse workplace hence has to change the way it operates. One of the major emerging issues in organizational development is reengineering of the organization. Radical changes in organization structures are being experienced as opposed to continuous improvements (Sisaye, 2001).Structures that promote innovations are also emerging. Organizations management has moved from top-down approach to bottom-up approach whereby all employees in the organization are involved in organization development. Workers participation and empowerment is apparent whereby they are more involved in decision making process, can set own goals and solve problems through action learning (Dunton, 2008). Communication is open to all in the organization hence more commitment to planned programs and a basis for learning organization culture (Salem, 2008). Functional teams are emerging unlike in the past where individual work was encouraged. The top management sets the vision, mission and objectives and the whole organizational is involved in ensuring they are met. Training and development of employees is also evident. Organizations are transforming into learning organizations. A culture of learning through mistakes is also encouraged as opposed to punishing employees for making mistakes hence hindering learning. Total quality management techniques are also emerging and use of internal and external consultants to help the management through change process. Appreciative inquiry method of management is being embraced in organizations to support positive culture (Faure, 2006). The economy is becoming more globalized, workforce more dynamic and educated and environmental responsibility is on the rise. In future organizational development therefore will be more technologically enabled. Organizations will be involved in more networking and e-commerce and have greater productivity. For example, the organization will be able to serve more customers and employees can work from anywhere through use of technology. There will be more innovations and learning and client base will be diverse due to development in information and technology. Organizational development practitioners will require more competence to deal with diverse clients and cross-cultural teams. Transformational leadership will be required to deal with the emerging issues. Q2: Key variables on the critical path to successful organizational change and how to conceptualize their interrelationships. Change is inevitable in organizations due to various environmental, technological or political changes. The success of the change is determined by how well the initiators of the change handle the change process as it may be met by resistance. There are key variables that determine the success of organization change. The management should articulate the goal or purpose for the change. This should be communicated to all employees so as to create readiness for the change and in order not to initiate unnecessary changes. Poor communication of the purpose can lead to resistance (Salem, 2008).Management support for the change is critical. They should help the employees understand the importance of the change and explain the current status of organization and where it opts to be. Employee involvement is also critical to the success of the change. Involve them in planning and implementation so they can own the process and be committed hence overcome resistance (Sisaye, 2001). Proper implementation of the change is inevitable. Workers can be trained or coached to acquire necessary skills needed. Team work is also essential in implementation. Feedback should be given so as to determine whether results are desirable and make amendments and also deal with resistance from employees. Lastly, barriers to effective change process are removed so as for the change to be successful. All these processes are interrelated and are all important in ensuring success. Without a vision, the whole content of change is meaningless. Communication is important in every aspect as vision has to be communicated, implementation process and in overcoming barriers. Employees have to be involved in planning, implementing and without employees consent then change process won’t be achieved, resistance will be inevitable. Q3: Difference between Evolutionary and Revolutionary Change As organizations go through transformation, it is important to understand the kind of changes needed depending on factors prompting the change. Organizational change can be evolutionary or revolutionary. Evolutionary change occurs when an organization undergoes incremental changes or improves its products rather than developing new products (Henry, 2008). Evolutionary change involves changing the way organization does business for increased efficiency. It can involve such changes as; HR policies, use of new technology or changing team works. Changes in strategy, people and organization culture are apparent. Continuous learning is applied for employees to learn new ways of doing things and improve performance. Revolutionary change on the other hand involves changing the whole organization structure, strategies, people and culture. It is total transformation of the organization so as to remain relevant in the changing environment (Henry, 2008). It can involve changing the business the company does to a new venture because current business is outdated. Organizational change involves redesigning or restructuring. People need to acquire new skills to be able to remain relevant in the organization. Management can also hire new employees or train new ones. It is important to differentiate evolutionary and revolutionary change as each change is handled differently. Different kinds of skills and management are required to handle the changes and different preparations are needed. The ability to deal with changes also depends on the type of change the organization is experiencing. For example evolutionary change requires frequent training as the change is frequent and less deliberate. According to Henry (2008), organizations need to consider size and speed with which to effect change. Q4: Can you identify one process or project where you work that you might apply this material to make a difference to improve efficiency or effectiveness? If so how will you do this? The company is involved in garment manufacturing. There have been changes in fashion trends over time due to changing seasons. The organization thus has to change styles frequently and this involves changes in sewing styles by using different machines. It also involves gathering information from different sources so as to know the customer preferences and meet their requirements. The sampling department is entrusted with the work of making designs which are used to cut fabric and make garments. For success, the management can decide to involve the employees in making designs and samples by contributing their ideas by team work. Each team comprising of experienced tailors can produce a garment and then the samples will be compared and the best put into practice. Workers are trained on how to operate different machines to make the garment. Since the workers are involved in the change process, they are committed and motivated and hence produce high quality garment. They would not resist the changes that come with new styles such as job redesigning. Mistakes are allowed as workers learn to make the garment and rewards are given for those who produce high quality garment. References Dunton, D (2008). “Inquiry and Feedback: Using Action Learning for Transformational Change’. Industrial and Commercial Training, 40(2), 109-111. Faure, M. (2006, October). ‘Problem Solving Was Never that Easy: Transformational Change Through Appreciative Inquiry’. Performance Improvement, 45(9), 22. Henry, A. (2008). Understanding Strategic Management. New York: Oxford University Press. Salem, P. (2008). ‘The Seven Communication Reasons Organizations Do Not Change’. Corporate Communications, 13(3), 333. Sisaye, S. (2001). Organizational Development in Management Control Systems: Process Innovation for Internal Auditing and Management Control. UK: Elsevier. Read More