OD & EFFECTIVENESS IMP QUESTIONS

Q1. What is Organization Development and Organization Change? How are they
related?
Ans. Focus of OD
Organization development (OD) is a process that focuses on improving the overall
effectiveness and health of an organization. This involves a systematic approach to
change that includes assessing the current state of the organization, identifying
areas for improvement, and implementing interventions to address those areas. The
goal of OD is to create a more productive, efficient, and healthy organization that is
better equipped to achieve its goals and objectives. OD interventions can include
team building, leadership development, and process improvement initiatives.

Focus Of Organization Change

Organization Change, on the other hand, is a more focused approach to change that
involves managing specific projects or initiatives within an organization. It includes
planning, implementing, and monitoring changes to ensure they are successful. This
could include changes to processes, systems, or structures. The goal of change
management is to ensure that these changes are implemented smoothly and
effectively, with minimal disruption to the organization.

While both approaches involve change, OD is more holistic and focuses on the
overall health of the organization, while OC is more project-focused and aims to
achieve specific goals.

To grasp the relationship between Organization Development (OD) and Organization

Change (OC), consider OD the architect of change—designing the long-term strategic
plan for your company's future. OC, on the other hand, is the builder—it takes the
architect's designs and turns them into reality, one step at a time. Here's a
straightforward way to put this into practice:

 Map it out – Use OD to create a clear vision and strategy for change within your
organization.
 Make it happen – Deploy OC to execute the plan, manage the details, and guide
your team through the transition.

OD draws up the big plans, making sure the company's goals match its culture and
how it works. OC, on the other hand, manages the details, making sure every project
and person moves forward without a hitch.

Q2. Why is OD essential for any business organization?

Ans. i. One of the key benefits that OD can provide to the organization is continuous
improvement in the organization. This is because OD helps the organization to
commit and engage in a continuous cycle of improvement where various strategies
and actions are planned, evaluated, implemented, monitored, and improved to
ensure change can be proactively achieved for long-term stability and growth.

ii. OD also helps the organization to achieve increased communication. This is

because it facilitates feedback and interaction in the organization. This improves
communication as they are able to align all their employees to the shared values and
goals of the organization thus leading to a better understanding of the change in the
organization.

iii. Since OD is focused on organizational development, it also allows organizations to

focus on employee development. This is because the increased communication
facilitated by the OD influences employees to bring changes and causes
organizations to enhance the skills of their employees to meet the changing market
requirements. Thus, helping the employees to reach the next level.

iv. Another benefit OD provides is that it allows for increased business success. This
is because OD directly influences the bottom line of the organization. OD facilitates
increased productivity, efficiency, and innovation and this helps in increasing profits
and reducing costs. Therefore, organizations are also able to minimize their
employee turnover and achieve employee satisfaction.

v. As the organization embraces innovation due to OD, this leads to enhancements in

their product and services. This is because they are focused on rewarding success
and thus leading to creativity and out-of-the-box thinking that helps in product and
service innovation and enduring strategic edge can be achieved.

Q3. What are the determining factors/forces of changes?

Ans. External Forces
1. Competition: Competition is a force for change because it pushes organizations to
effectively improve themselves and create competitive advantage over competitors.
One way of creating competitive advantage is through innovation. An organization
may adopt the latest technologies in order to create superior products.
2. Political: Such as strikes, road blocks, protests and boycotts would disturb the
supply chain and distribution processes of the company.
3. Economic: Economic fluctuations, such as recessions or inflation, can impact
organizations and necessitate external change. Companies may need to adjust their
pricing, cost structures, or workforce to navigate economic challenges.
4. Technological: Digitalization, AI, Iot, and social media platforms were unknown to
businesses and companies two decades ago, but they now became a significant
element of companies.
5. Government: Govts and legal institution of different countries set labor laws,
industry regulations, taxation, and trade policies for businesses. They set a protocol
on how companies should operate their business. Companies should be careful
about the country’s regulations while implementing any type of strategy.
Internal Factors
1. Structure: The company’s structure is the chain of command that defines how the
orders flow internally. If a company has a flexible structure that promotes
collaboration, then it would make things flow smoothly inside the organization.
2. Organization System: An organization is made up of subsystems similar to that of
the sub-personalities in the human brain. The sub-personalities in the brain are in
constant interaction with each other creating changes in human behaviour. Similarly,
subsystems within an organization are in constant and dynamic interaction. The
factors that influence the alignment and relationships among the various subsystems
are, for example technology, internal politics, dominant groups/cliques, and the
formal and informal relationships within.
3. Administrative Changes: An organization functions through a set of procedures,
rules and regulations. With changing times and the revision of organizational goals
and objectives, some of the existing rules, procedures and regulations could be at
variance with the demands of reality. To continue with such functionally
autonomous processes can lead to organizational ineffectiveness. Realization of their
inadequacy is a force that induces change.
4. Individual and group speculations: The organization as an entity is a confluence of
people, each one raring to satisfy his/her needs and aspirations. In an
anthropological context, man is a social animal whose needs and desires keep
changing. This creates differing expectations among individuals and groups. Positive
factors such as one’s ambitions, need to achieve, capabilities, career growth, and
negative aspects such as one’s fears, insecurities, and frustrations induces changes in
an organization's functioning and performance.
5. Resource Constraints: Resources refer to money, material, machinery, personnel,
information and technology. Depletion, inadequacy or non-availability of these can
be a powerful change force for any organization.

Q4. Types of Changes.

1. Happened Change: This type of change is rather unpredictable and takes place
naturally due to external factors. It is profound and traumatic as it is out of direct
control and produces a future state that is largely unknown. For example, currency
devaluation, over which it has no control, adversely affects the company that has to
import its raw materials. Some political and social changes are also unpredictable, as
was the case in India during Indira Gandhi’s years of Emergency.
2. Reactive Change: Changes that are clearly in response to an event or a series of
events are termed reactive changes. Generally, most companies are engaged in
reactive, often incremental change. These changes are attempted when the demand
for a company’s products/services registers an increase or decrease, or a
problem/crisis occurs or develops. Technological changes, for example, force the
organization to invest in modern technologies. The incorporation of the latest
technology could be in reaction to the increased demand for the product.
3. Anticipatory Change: Change that is carried out in expectation of an event or a
series of events is called anticipatory change. Pepsi recently announced that it would
invest $750 million over the next five years for its operations in Mexico. Pepsi, which
began its operations in Mexico in 1938, had a 31% market share of Mexican cola
sales and plans to improve this figure. Organizations, in terms of their anticipation,
may tune in or reorient themselves to future demands. Tuning-in would involve
making incremental changes (dealing with a subsystem or a part of the system) in
anticipation of external events. Reorientation is moving from ‘here’ to ‘there’ in
anticipation of a changing environment. It involves changing the organization from
the existing state towards a desired future state, and managing the transition
process.
4. Planned Change: Planned change occurs when changes are intentional and
developed strategically. This is a deliberate and structured approach to change
within an organization. Management identifies a need for modification and outlines
a systematic process to implement it.
For e.g., Enhancing employees’ communication skills and technical expertise,
building teams, restructuring the organization, introducing new technologies,
introducing new products and services, challenging the incentive system, improving
employee welfare measures, etc.
5. Fundamental Change: This involves a redefinition of the current purpose or
mission of the organization. It may be necessitated by drastic changes in the
business environment, the failure of the current corporate leadership, problems with
employee morale, or a sharp fall in turnover.
6. Transformational Change: Think of a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly.
Transformational change in an organization means a complete overhaul, shaping
something entirely new. It often involves a fundamental overhaul of an
organization's systems, processes, or culture. It’s a radical process that may alter the
company’s direction, vision, or mission. It often requires strong leadership and a
willingness to challenge the status quo.
Some examples of transformational change include:
 Converting an existing brick-and-mortar business into an e-commerce or omni-
channel business
 Redesigning a company’s website and rebuilding it from scratch
 Retiring an existing product to divert funds and resources to the development of
a new product
 Launching a new department, or rethinking company structure by reforming
teams

Q5. Foundational theories and models of OD.

a. KURT LEWIN Change theory
Ans. This theory is based on Planned Change. Kurt Lewin observed that people
generally do not accept change and if they accept it, they tend to revert to the
original behaviour after some time. To make change have lasting impact, it should
become part of their attitudes and value system. Lewin suggested a three step model
to initiate change in organizations and behaviour of individuals and groups.
1. UNFREEZING- Ready To Change
The objective of this phase is to make individual realize that his beliefs, feelings and
behaviour are no longer needed in the current situation of the organization.
Unfreezing is the process by which people become aware of the need for change
that they have to undergo the whole process. Once convinced, people may change
their behaviour. Unfreezing means getting people to gain perspective on their
routine activities, unlearn their bad habits, and open up to new ways of reaching
their objectives.

2. CHANGE- Implementation
Once team members have opened up their minds, change can start. Under this
phase, one learns to behave in new ways. The individual is placed in a situation
where new behaviour is demanded of him if he is to operate successfully. In the
moving stage, new attitudes, values and behaviors are substituted for old ones.
Organizations accomplish moving stage by initiating new options and explaining the
reasons for the change, as well as by providing training to help employees develop
the new skills needed. The transformation stage requires altering one or more
characteristics of the work setting:
(a) The structure and systems of the organization;
(b) Social factors – characteristics of employees, the way they interact, the
organizational culture;
(c) The organization's technology and/or
(d) The physical setting.
The implication is that changes in the work setting will lead to changes in individual
behaviour, which in turn will improve the organization's outcomes.

3. REFREEZING
Refreezing is the final step in the change process. In this step, new attitudes, values
and behaviors are established as the new status quo. Refreezing makes new
behaviour relatively permanent and resistant to further change. Managers should
ensure that the organizational culture and formal reward system encourage the new
behaviors and avoid rewarding the old ways of operating. It will give the people the
opportunity to thrive in the new organization and take full advantage of the change.

b. Force Field Analysis

Force Field Analysis is a decision-making tool developed by Kurt Lewin inspired by
force field in physics. It helps you to weigh the pros and cons of a decision by
analyzing the 'Driving Forces' (positive forces) and 'Restraining Forces' (negative
forces) affecting the decision.
One side of the Force Field Model represents the driving forces that push
organizations towards a new state of affairs. There are several driving forces in the
environment like information technology, global and local competition and
demographics. Along with these are internal forces, such as competition across
divisions of the company and the leader’s need to impose his or her image on the
organization.

The other side of the Lewin’s model represents the restraining forces that maintain
the status quo. These restraining forces are commonly called “resistance to change”
because they appear as employee behaviour that block the change process.

Stability occurs when the driving and restraining forces are roughly in equilibrium;
that is, they are of approximately equal strength in opposite directions. To better
understand this model, lets understand with the below diagram.

An organization’s performance at level X is in balance. Forces for change and

resistance to change are equal. Management, however, decides that the
organization should strive to achieve performance level Y. To get to level Y, the
managers must increase the forces for change (the increase is represented by the
lengthening of the up arrows), reduce resistance to change (the reduction is
represented by the shortening of the down arrows), or do both. If they pursue any of
the three strategies successfully, the organization will change and reach
performance level Y.

c. Systems theory of change

The Systems Model of Change or Organization-Wide Change lays more emphasis on
the fact that a change must be implemented organization-wide instead of
implementing it in piecemeal.
The Systems Model of Change describes the organization as six interacting variables
that could serve as the focus of planned change: people, culture, task, technology,
design, and strategy.
The people variable applies to individuals working for the organization, including
their individual differences- personalities, attitudes, perceptions, attributions, needs
and motives. The culture variable reflects the shared beliefs, values, expectations,
and norms of organizational members. The task variable involves the nature of work-
whether jobs are simple or complex, novel or repetitive, standardized or unique. The
technology variable involves the problem solving methods and techniques used and
the application of knowledge to various organizational processes. It includes the use
of information technology, robots, and other automation, manufacturing process
tools and techniques. The design variable is the formal organizational structure and
its system of communication, control, authority, and responsibility. Finally, the
strategy variable comprises the organization's planning process. It typically consists
of activities undertaken to identify organizational goals and prepare specific plans to
acquire, allocate, and use resources in order to accomplish those.

As Figure 2.2 indicates, these six variables are interdependent. A change in anyone
usually results in a change in one or more of the other. For example, a change in the
organization strategic plan might dictate a change in organization design to an
adaptive or network form. This change, in turn, could result in the reassignment of
people. At the same time, the redesign may also lead to a change in the technology
used by the organization, which affects the attitudes and behaviors of the employees
involved, and so on. All these changes would occur within a particular organization
culture, which might either support or resist them.

d. Organization Growth model

One of the models to describe business growth life cycles is the Greiner Model. The
five stages in the life cycle of a business venture are depicted in Figure 1. Greiner
proposed that business growth can be examined through the dimensions of size and
age of the business.
The first phase, is growth through creativity. This starts at the beginning, when the
business starts to develop through the efforts of the founder. In the early phase, the
business operation and structure is relatively informal. The size of the business is
small, with a minimal numbers of workers. The founders (entrepreneurs) work out
the venture with a high entrepreneurial spirit and focus on producing new products
and services for the market. As the business expands, the venture begins to
encounter problems, such as production inefficiencies, managing an increasing
number of workers and finding additional resources to fulfil the needs of the
expanding business. At this stage, the business faces a leadership crisis as the
current leadership becomes incapable and unable to continue developing the
business venture. The businesses that manage to overcome the leadership crisis will
merge into the growth through direction phase.

The second phase, is growth through direction. The business ventures are more
structured and formalized, as specialization of functional units, standard procedures
and organized systems are adopted. Again, as the business grows, another crisis
emerges: the autonomy crisis. The entrepreneurs face challenges in coordinating
diverse units and activities due to the expanding scope and structure of the
organization. The crisis needs to be resolved through the delegation of authority.

The third phase, is growth through delegation. The functional units are
decentralized and each unit is able to perform its tasks efficiently and effectively. To
a certain extent, the situation continues into another growth crisis known as the
control crisis. This crisis can only be managed by effective coordination to realign the
various activities of the entire units.

The fourth phase is known as growth through coordination, which leads to a growth
crisis known as the red-tape crisis. The red-tape crisis emerged due to the
implementation of various coordination tools that eventually distort the business
efficiencies.

The fifth phase is growth through collaboration. The final crisis in the Greiner model
is the growth crisis. At this point, the business have reached their maximum internal
growth capacity. In order to grow bigger, the venture needs another strategy, which
may involve finding a new market, new industries or business. Nevertheless, the
businesses are restricted by scarce resources and a lack of capital, knowledge and
technology. Thus, the next growth phase must be realized through alliances that
involve the acquisition of new elements from outside to enrich growth capabilities.

Q6. What do you understand by organizational effectiveness? Essential

dimensions.
Ans. Organizational effectiveness refers to how effectively an organization achieves
its desired goals. There are several factors to measuring organizational effectiveness,
including: employee performance, effective leadership, company culture, business
process efficiency.
Achieving organizational effectiveness relies on the collaboration of employees,
leaders, and processes. Every part of the organization works together like a well-
oiled machine; if one area is lacking, the whole system slows down. This system also
applies to nonprofit organizations.

OE Model
The organizational effectiveness model can be presented in a more complex way i.e.
at three different levels such as the individual, group and organizational levels in
order to make the organization more effective. The effective organization is built of
effective individuals who work collectively in groups.

Dimensions driving organizational effectiveness: 

i. Strategy: Organization's mission, vision, goals, objectives, intent policies – the
organization's defined identity. 
ii. Structure: Organization's hierarchy, functional separation, physical separation.
iii. Culture: Organization's assumptions, values, group norms. 
iv. Technology: Organization's transformation including rules, regulations, ad
equipment. 
v. Human resources: Organization's training & development, recruitment &
selection, performance management, reward management, career
management.

How to maximize OE
• Improving the organizational culture: Learning cultures, data cultures, customer
experience cultures, and similar mindsets can improve teamwork and employee
productivity.
• Improving the employee experience: As mentioned, the employee experience
affects employee performance, productivity, and output. Improving that experience
is yet another way to improve organizational effectiveness.
• Increasing business process efficiency: The right experts – or even front-line
employees – can identify areas of improvement in business systems. Improving these
processes will result in improved organizational effectiveness.
• Getting better tools and technology: Modern tools and technology can offer a
significant competitive advantage. This is why digital adoption and digital
transformation initiatives are becoming more common every day.

Q7. What is OD interventions?

Ans. When a person shows some symptoms of ill health, the doctor diagnoses the
sickness and then starts the treatment by giving him the right medicine. Similarly,
whenever the organizations feel that they are under any problem, they engage an
external consultant, who diagnoses the problem and then undertakes a series of
measures to cure the problem. These are known as the organizational development
interventions. By OD interventions we mean the various activities and steps which
the consultants and the client organization takes for improving the organizational
functioning. Organizational interventions are the set of structured activities in which
selected organizational units engage with a task or sequence of tasks which are
directly or indirectly engaged to organizational improvement. They are like tools or
weapon to bring organizational development.
There are following tools, which are used as organizational development
interventions.
1. Sensitivity Training 2. Role Playing 3. Management by Objectives 4. Grid
Development 5. Organizational Redesign 6. Job Enrichment 7. Work Design 8. Survey
Feedback 9. Process Consultation 10. Team Building 11. Third Party peace Making
12. Structural Techniques

Q8. Action Research Model

Ans. This model emphasizes collaboration and active involvement of organizational
members in the change process. It consists of several steps, which are:

i. Identify the problem: The first step is to identify the problem or issue that
needs to be addressed. In the case of the Lifeline Organization, this could be a
specific challenge or opportunity that requires change.

ii. Gather data: Once the problem is identified, data needs to be collected to gain a
deeper understanding of the issue. This can be done through surveys,
interviews, observations, or other data collection methods. For example, the
Lifeline Organization could conduct employee surveys to gather feedback on the
current state of the organization.

iii. Analyze the data: After gathering the data, it needs to be analyzed to identify
patterns, trends, and root causes of the problem. This analysis helps in
developing a clear understanding of the situation. For instance, the Lifeline
Organization could analyze survey responses to identify common themes or
areas of concern.
iv. Develop an action plan: Based on the analysis, an action plan is developed to
address the identified problem. The action plan should include specific goals,
strategies, and timelines for implementation. For example, the Lifeline
Organization could develop an action plan to improve communication and
collaboration among different departments.

v. Implement the plan: The action plan is put into action, and the necessary
changes are implemented. This step involves actively involving organizational
members in the change process and fostering collaboration. For instance, the
Lifeline Organization could organize cross-functional teams to work on specific
projects.

vi. Evaluate the results: After implementing the changes, it is important to evaluate
the results to determine the effectiveness of the intervention. This can be done
through follow-up surveys, performance metrics, or other evaluation methods.
For example, the Lifeline Organization could measure employee satisfaction and
productivity after implementing the communication and collaboration
initiatives.

vii. Reflect and learn: The final step is to reflect on the entire process and learn
from the experience. This reflection helps in identifying lessons learned and
areas for improvement in future change initiatives. For instance, the Lifeline
Organization could hold a debriefing session to discuss what worked well and
what could be improved in the change process.

By following the Action Research Model, the Lifeline Organization can actively
involve its members in the change process, foster collaboration, and effectively
address the identified problem or issue.

Q9. OD Characteristics/Approaches to OE
Ans. Certain characteristics should be maintained for OE.
1. Productivity: it is the input and output together.
2. Profit: How much profit it is making
3. Wastages: it should be minimized.it is connected to productivity. If wastage is
minimized, productivity will increase.
4. Quality: quality should be increased
5. Accidents: avoiding accidents to increase the productivity.
6. Employee morale: it should be high
7. Employee conflict: it should be reduced.
8. Flexibility/adaptation
9. Planning and goal setting
10. Training and development
11. Organization stability
12. Leadership
13. Managerial acumen (ability, skills of manager)
14. Employee turnover (rate at which employees are leaving the company)
15. Absenteeism
16. Employee participation