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Case study
The company
Brighter Futures is a UK‐based, medium‐sized manufacturing company, employing four
hundred workers, supplying computer components to international computer manufacturers.
Initially the company produced traditional computer key boards. However, competition from
cheaper labour markets in other countries forced it to change its products. It now produces
OLED (organic light‐emitting diodes) and designs and produces high‐tech products, such as
thin film keyboards for hand‐held computers, and flexible electronic pages for e‐books. With
Gordon Banks as CEO, the company has experienced rapid growth since it was established
twenty years ago, and is now moving into nanotechnology and advanced electronics.
Gordon Banks, the CEO recently attended a local seminar on the role of Business
Psychologists. After the seminar, he decided to employ an external consultant to determine
to what extent, if any, someone with a background in Business Psychology could help him
achieve the organisational excellence he desired for his company. At one of their meetings,
they decided that Banks should establish an internal Organisational Development (OD) group.
After several rounds of advertisements and interviews, Banks and the external consultant
selected four young applicants. These four, along with one young internal candidate from
Human Resources, comprised what was called the OD Group. See Figure 1 below.
CEO Gordon Banks
Manager Manufacturing
Manager Engineering
Manager Marketing
Manager HR
Finance Controller
The OD Group
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The OD Group
The OD Group was based in an old conference room and began with a high level of enthusiasm
and energy. The members of the group ranged in age from 26 to 34 years old and all had
backgrounds in Business Psychology. The members were: Bobby Moore, 26, a behavioural
specialist who had previously worked in industry; Mary Peters, 27, who had been a sales
representative prior to completing her Masters degree; Jimmy Greaves, 28, specialising in
group dynamics, with no industry experience; Alan Ball, 34 with OD experience in the military;
and Jack Charlton, 26, with three years of experience in Brighter Life’s Human Resources
Department.
The group spent its first month getting to know the members of the organisation. They held
weekly conferences with Gordon Banks, who was very interested and active in the planning
stages of the OD programme.
At that point, the group (the ‘Hot Shots’ as they were known in some areas of Brighter Futures)
started a company‐wide training programme for managers. The programme involved three
one‐day training sessions at an offsite location, an out‐of‐town resort hotel with a golf course
and health spa. This was called the ‘country club’ by disapproving employees.
The OD Group was a highly cohesive work team. Because of their open office, they spent long
hours generating ideas, and providing support and enthusiasm for one another’s creativity.
They were all involved in the design of the OD programme (as was Banks) and worked hard to
make it a success. Often the group would sit around long after close of the working day
discussing and planning new approaches for change.
The group was characterised by diversity of dress, individuality, and openness. Bobby, Jimmy,
and Jack usually dressed informally in jeans and a tee‐shirt, while Alan and Mary dressed in
more of an executive style. The difference in dress reflected a division of thought within the
group. Bobby, Jimmy and Jack tended to be more confrontational and aggressive in their
approach. They wanted innovative changes and an overhaul of the firm’s production
operations. The other two felt that they needed to be accepted first, and favoured more
gradual changes. They felt that the group needed to start ‘where the system was’ if it was to
be effective. About this time, Banks left for a visit to Asia to look into new market
opportunities.
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The activities
As the manager development training continued through all levels of the organisation, the
group conducted a staff survey. The data collated from this exercise was to be used in planning
the next phase of the OD programme. Here the controversy began to emerge.
Some members of the group wanted to hold feedback sessions and confront the members
with the data, then begin a job‐design programme leading to improving the effectiveness of
work teams. The second group, including Alan and Mary, suggested a slower and more gradual
approach. They thought given their low level of acceptance in the organisation, they should
start with something less threatening, such as data gathering and feedback.
A second rift occurred when the group began to see less of Banks as the training progressed.
However, Mary could call Banks’ office and get an appointment anytime, which she often did.
Alan also held a weekly briefing session with Banks when he was in town.
The other members, particularly Bobby, made a large number of jokes about this fact, but
there was often an edge of seriousness lying beneath the humour. For example, Bobby and
Jack had been trying for two weeks to see Banks to explain their ideas, but he was unavailable.
Yet his secretary called Mary Peters to join him for coffee. When the group discussed this,
Alan and Mary simply stated that they were trying to maintain and develop the group’s
relationship with the client, Bobby replied ‘I thought the whole organisation was our client’.
Unfortunately, the evaluation of the management training programme was mixed. Some
managers and departments were full of praise for it, whereas others were highly negative,
dismissing it as ‘a waste of time and money’.
In a meeting with Gordon Banks, the Financial Controller said that in view of the disappointing
results, it would be a good idea to move the OD group to the Human Resources Department
for budgeting purposes. The group was currently costing the company more than £400,000
per year. This was very unpopular among the line managers because the costs of the OD group
were distributed on a pro‐rata basis to managers’ departments. Banks said he would give the
Financial Controller’s proposal some thought and discuss it with the executive committee.
The meeting with the executive committee
Shortly after this (and approximately a year after the group was formed), the members of the
group were invited to an executive committee meeting where the performance of the OD
programme was discussed and evaluated. Gordon Banks and others expressed high praise for
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the work of the group, but the executive committee had suggestions for improving the group
in the future.
Banks suggested that there was a need for more coordination and integration of training
activities and for more budgetary control. Therefore, the committee recommended that the
group be placed for budgeting purposes in the Human Resources Department, reporting to
Paul Balke. The committee insisted that this would not affect the way the group operated.
The committee also suggested that the group designate a central contact person. It was
recommended that Alan Ball undertake this role, claiming that he was the only member
acceptable to a majority of the company’s managers. However, the final decision was left up
to the group.
As the members of the group walked back to their office, several angry comments were made
to the effect that Banks ‘could take his job and shove it!’ Mary and Bobby said they were
considering resigning from the company.
Source: Case study adapted from Brown, D. (2014). Experiential Approach to Organization
Development, 8th edn. Harlow, Essex: Pearson Education Limited.