OD examen!!

8/8/2019 OD examen!!

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just one by one. Marketing, economic,law, finances. multidisciplinary (allcontribute).

Historical Aspects of Organizational Development.

• Scientific administration or Taylorism : Taylor was an engineer that putadministration in a scientific framework (marco de referencia). He based hisstudies on Darwinism or evolutionary biology. Therefore, he proposed:

a) The strongest and best adapted will survive.b) The weaker organisms are destined to disappear.c) Keeping these weaker individuals in the organization is very expensive.

Criticism of this school.1. It is a reductionist theory.2. It is not easy to determine for certain how weak or strong an individual is3. It tends to consider individuals as production objects.4.

• Human Relations Model: Elton Mayo He conducted some studies to observehow changes in environmental conditions affected productivity.His hypothesis was: if environmental conditions are improved, productivityincreases. However, this hypothesis did not work.Elton Mayo explained this by saying people (workers) believe that since theyare being observed they are important to the observer.

This was generalized by what we call the “Hawthorn effect”. This effectproposes that the moment an individual is being observed, his/her behaviorchanges.Besides the Hawthorn effect or as a consequence of it we can say thatindividuals tend to work better, when they are taken into consideration, when

they are important to the authorities (or their representatives) in theorganization.HR School of Thought is based on humanitarianism/humanism. The

basic tenet (idea-propuesta) of this is “humans are rational, capable of developing and good by nature”. Humanism appeared as a protest to thecurrents of psychoanalysis and behaviorism.A humanism quote: “each individual is highly variable and complex due togenetic composition and family, social and work experiences and becomeseven more variable and complex in interaction with other unique individuals”.(Wren, 1979, p.348)Ginzberg (1958) produced what we call a “human capital theory of economics” by using ideas from economics and psychology to try to explain

how human being contribute to productivity.





Hygiene factors:a) Tools and materials to work withb) Salaryc) Place to workd) A given timee) Security safety

Motivators:a) Recognitionb) Bonuses, prizesc) Promotionsd) Creating an atmosphere of

belonging

e) Training and developmentBarriga llena corazón contentHygiene factors motivators

Alderfer’s ERG Theory of MotivationERG- a unit of energy (in the cgs system of units) cgs: centimeter, gram, second

E – Existence – physiological needs and part of safety needsR – Relatedness – socio-psychological needs (safety needs, affiliation, estteem)G – Growth – some of esteem needs and self actualization

Mc Gregor’s X and Y TheoriesTheory X (negative) leaders assumethat people:

o genuine distance for work.o work is unpleasant.o closely supervised.o avoid responsibility.o Have little ambition.

Theory Y (positive) leaders assume that people:o Work is a natural activity.o Selfcontrol if they are committedo Free will to perform, to achieve if goals are

valuable.o Share imagination and creativity to

managemento Free to perform

Reflections on X & Y theories:A. They seem to go to the extremes. There is not a middle point. Probably

humans are not in the extremes but seem to move in the middle area

between the 2.B. Theory Y individuals seem mucho more motivated to work, this probablyhelps them reach their goals.

C. X employees need to be forced to work, while Y workers do not need to beforced and this allows them to be more creative. This leads to a virtuouscycle/circle and they become more motivated to work.

D. Each of these theories can be applied depending on:a) The organizationb) The individualc) The groups the individuals form

E. The 2 theories are too centered on the “subordinates”, but nothing is saidabout leadership styles.

Houle (1961) and Knowles (1972) focused on assumptions about the learningprocess and the learners themselves.

There are 3 basic assumptions for learning:

• People love learning itself • People desire social relationship

• People have also a desire for practical information to solve immediateproblems.



Methodological perspectives of OD

1) Laboratory training: this perspective was created by authors such as KurtLewin, Leland Bradford and Ronald Lippitt.

The most important work on this was done in Britain at the National

Training Laboratories (NTL Institute for applied behavioral science). Here,they created what we call T-groups.

Bradford, Gibb and Benn (1964) defined a T-group as: a relativelyunstructured group in which individuals participate as learners. The data forlearning are not outside these individuals or removed from their immediateexperience within the T-group.

Advantages Disadvantages

• Roles are defined as peoplework, for example, leaders starappearing

• Knowledge, by definition, isshared.

• Sometimes there are enrichingdiversity. Eg. People withdifferent backgrounds andtraining.

• Some people are better atteam work than others. Thismay put obstacles hinder theprogress of the group.

• It is very difficult to implementwith immature workers.

T-groups are rarely used originally defined. Yet, they gave rise to what wecall team-building. Here, there is an emphasis on group dynamics and howthey can be used to really transpose knowledge from the outside world ontothe team.

2) Survey research and feedback : or Survey guided development.

Rensis Likert worked on this from 1950’s to 1970’s. Parenthetically he is theinventor of Likert scale. He found that most managers survey but did notimplement any intervention. Employees became frustrated. Likertrecommended the following: use feedback in a series on 10 conferences. 10conferences allowed for communication of results and feedback starting fromtop management and finishing at the lower levels.

This technique is called the interlocking conference’s, he also found 8characteristics that had an impact on the type of organization:

☆ Leadership☆ Motivation

☆ Intervation☆ Decision making☆ Goal setting☆ Control☆ Communication☆ Performance

From these, he arrived at the following classification:

Likert’s 4 types of organizations & their characteristics.



System IExploitative authoritarian.

I. Dogmatic leadershipII. Manipulative use of rewardsIII. Top-down communication

System IIBenevolent - Authorative.

I. Parental approach tomanagement.

II. Intrinsic rewards but are basedon extrinsic motivators

System IIIConsultative.

I. listen to employees, butreserves the right to take thefinal decision.

System IVParticipative.

I. Leadership based on influence.II. Uses mostly intrinsic rewards.III. Two way communication.

3) Tavistock’s sociotchnical systems :

Tavistock’s is a clinic and research center based on psychologic knowledge.

There was work on this that followed these points:

Research was done with a group of workers.

New equipment was installed.

Production decreased even though the workers knew how to use the equipment.

Workers were not allowed to work in the teams they wanted to form. Thus, the workers

felt unmotivated.

Further investigation showed that if workers were considered to choose who to work with

production increased.

From these 5 points, it was concluded that human beings tend to form productive systems by

combining social aspects (socio) plus machinery equipment (technical). This is why this is called“socio-technical systems”.

Aligning the client’s and consultant’s values

Client.- the company/organization that needs OD interventions that is going to use the services of

the consultant.

Aligning of values is important because:

1. Understanding between them (the client and the consultant becomes easier)

2. Both of them navigate in the same direction.

3. Work is facilitated and can be faster and more effective.

When client and consultant do no share the same set of values, it is better not to work together.The consultant can suggest another OD developer to the client.

Values and OD

1. Values of the organization they have to match2. Values of the consultant they have to be similar

If this does not happen, the OD project is bound to fail because:



1. It will be very difficult for them to work together.2. There will be much conflict between them.3. Probably, they will not trust each other.

Binder of ODLayout

ContentsI. Introduction: general organization of the binder.II. Theoretical framework of referenceIII. Description of the organization (mission, vision, etc.) problem to be solved

(how I was diagnosed, extension, etc).IV. Proposed solution or interventionsV. Conclusions (possible consequences, results / further suggestions for the

future)

Distinguishing features of OD

1) An emphasis, although not exclusively, on group and organizational

processes.2) An emphasis on work team as the key unit for learning more effective ways

of organizational behavior. A team is formed that works for the same goal.3) An emphasis on the collaborative management of work-team culture.4) An emphasis on the management of the culture of the total system.5) Attention to the management of system ramifications.6) The use of action research. (real life / real problems in real organizations).7) The use of a behavioral-scientist change agent, sometimes referred to as a

facilitator or catalyst.8) A view of the change effort as an ongoing (continuous) process.9) A comprehensive process. (complex)10) A long term process.

Question for examHow do you differentiate OD interventions from others?Is apply to almost everyone in the organization, is a long term process, team incharge of the work, uses action research as a tool.

OD has a behavioral science base.a) It is based on any of the 4 schools of psychology:

I. Psychoanalysis.II. Cognitive behavioral perspective systemic approachIII. HumanismIV. Biological perspective

b) Examples of behavioral sciences used in OD:Psychology, sociology, psychiatry. These are the ones directly or indirectly

deriving from Ψ

Anthropology, administration, etc. Not necessarily coming from Ψ butinterested in behavior.

Systems theory, cybernetics and OD



1. Cybernetics : study of communication, control and feedback in systems(biological, engineering, administrative, etc.) Norbert Wiener was the creatorof cybernetics.

2. Systems theory : basically, there are 2 types of systems.

• Closed systems: formed by a series of elements and communication,control and feedback but it does not allow intervention from the

outside.Besides nothing can come in and nothing can come out from thesystem. ARE IDEALIZATIONS

Ex. Manager and a consultant exchanging information without lettinganything come or anything leave.Ex.2 an idealized cell, which processes everything (materials andenergy) without interacting with the environment (nothing comes inand nothing goes out).Ex. 3 organization with no communication to the exterior NO SYSTEMIN REAL LIFE IS CLOSED. However there is a slight problem. No systemin real life is closed. Therefore the idealization of a closed system isonly a model. As we know, models are simplified versions reality. Thissimplicity makes them more manageable than reality.

• Open systems: this is formed by a series of elements andcommunication, control and feedback. However, now there can beinteraction with the outside.

Ex. 1 managers and consultants info going out and getting in.Ex. 4 organization with communication with communication with the

exterior (info+materials +people can go out or get in). as a conclusionwe can say that these 2 types of models are useful to study anorganization. What perspective/model are we going to use? Probably,

at the beginning a closed system to facilitate our work. Afterwards,when we are more acquainted with the organization and itsenvironment an open system approach can be more useful.

A special technique of OD delegation of authority.

Mean dischoring responsabilities on workers they assume parts of repsonsabilitythat originally belong to the boss.

Problems:

• autocratic leaders find it very difficult (keaders are not ready)

• Workers are not ready: lack of skills, inmaturity to assume

responsibility, not motivated to do it, bad experiences in the past.Solutions:

• Training may help n some cases, not everybody can change attitudes.

• Training, wait, explain importance, empower employees.

Empowering: implies delegation responsibility and at the same time giving theworker to power to take decisions. It a worker makes a bad decision, assumeresponsibility for the actions.



Action research: this is the tool where problems are observed diagnosed andpossible solutions are opffered in a real life setting. The basic idea is to detect theproblem in a given org.

6 square model of diagnosis in OD.

1- Purposes of the diagnosis.2- Structure, the division of the work into steps to more it clean.3- Rewards, incentives to do the necessary work4- Helpful mechanisms, technologies, procedures to help us do the job.5- Management, of people and conflict among then.6- Leader of project is a critical actor in the diagnosis project.7- Environment, the events, factors that happen outside the org. and have an

impact.

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OD examen!!