Assignment Topic: Definition of Organization Development (Chapter 02)

Submitted to: Prof. Shayam Sundor Karmakar Chairman

Submitted by: Group: UNIQUE 13th Batch, HRM, MBA.

Name Israt Jahan Kumkum Piana Monsur Mindia Alvy Riasat Malik Rabeya Akter Shumi Md. Sahinur Rahman Abul Kasem Md.Ahiduzzaman Mintu Kumar Debnath Md.Nazrul Islam Md.Atiqul Islam Md. Saiful Islam

Roll 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111

Marks

Department of Management Studies University of Dhaka Date of Submission: 5th January, 2012

Definition of Organization Development There is no single definition of "Organizational Development." If we were to break it into its parts we can discover one meaning: "Organization" has come to mean the coming together of people and resources to form a unit. "Development" in its simplest form suggests change and growth. So OD could be defined as "the practice of changing people and organizations for positive growth." Organization Development: Collaborating with organizational leaders and their groups to create systemic change on behalf of root-cause problem-solving toward improving productivity and employee satisfaction through strengthening the human processes through which they get their work done. Organization development (OD) is a new term which means a conceptual, organization-wide effort to increase an organization's effectiveness and viability. Warren Bennis has referred to OD as a response to change, a complex educational strategy intended to change the beliefs, attitudes, values, and structure of an organization so that it can better adapt to new technologies, markets, challenges, and the dizzying rate of change itself. OD is neither "anything done to better an organization" nor is it "the training function of the organization"; it is a particular kind of change process designed to bring about a particular kind of end result. OD can involve interventions in the organization's "processes," using behavioral science knowledge, organizational reflection, system improvement, planning and self-analysis. An Old Standard Definition of OD The nature and needs of organizations are changing dramatically. Correspondingly, the profession of organization development (OD) has been changing to meet the changing needs of organizations. Therefore, it may be most useful to consider several definitions of organization development. Here's a standard definition. The next section gives some contrasting definitions. For many years, the following definition was perhaps the standard definition for OD. The following definition was developed in 1969 at a time when an organization was considered to be much like a stable machine comprised of interlocking parts. Organization Development is an effort planned, organization-wide, and managed from the top, to increase organization effectiveness and health through planned interventions in the organization's 'processes,' using behavioral-science knowledge. -- Beckhard, Organization development: Strategies and Models, Reading, MA: AddisonWesley, 1969, p. 9.

Today's organizations operate in a rapidly changing environment. Consequently, one of the most important assets for an organization is the ability to manage change -- and for people to remain healthy and authentic. Consider the following definition of OD: Organization Development is the attempt to influence the members of an organization to expand their candidness with each other about their views of the organization and their experience in it, and to take greater responsibility for their own actions as organization members. The assumption behind OD is that when people pursue both of these objectives simultaneously, they are likely to discover new ways of working together that they experience as more effective for achieving their own and their shared (organizational) goals. And that when this does not happen, such activity helps them to understand why and to make meaningful choices about what to do in light of this understanding. -- Neilsen, Becoming an OD Practitioner, Englewood Cliffs, CA: Prentice-Hall, 1984, pp. 2-3. Experts might agree that the following definitions of OD represent the major focus and thrust of many of today's OD practitioners. "Organization development is a system-wide application of behavioral science knowledge to the planned development and reinforcement of organizational strategies, structures, and processes for improving an organization's effectiveness." -- Cummings and Worley, "Organization Development and Change", Sixth Edition, SouthWestern Publishing, 1997, p.2. "Organization Development is a body of knowledge and practice that enhances organizational performance and individual development, viewing the organization as a complex system of systems that exist within a larger system, each of which has its own attributes and degrees of alignment. OD interventions in these systems are inclusive methodologies and approaches to strategic planning, organization design, leadership development, change management, performance management, coaching, diversity, and work/life balance." -- Matt Minahan, MM & Associates, Silver Spring, Maryland The literature contains numerous definitions of organization development. We examine several here and present one of our own. A good way to gain an appreciation for what OD is all about is too see how various authors have described the field over the years. No single accepted definition of OD exists, but there is general agreement on the nature of the field and its major characteristics. Some early definitions of organization development follow, Organization development is an effort (1) planned, (2) organization-wide, and (3) managed from the top, to (4) increase organization effectiveness and health through (5) planned interventions in the organizations processes, using behavioral-science knowledge. (Bennis,1969)

Organization Development (OD) is a response to change, a complex educational strategy intended to change the beliefs, attitudes, values, and structure of organizations so that they can better adapt to new technologies, markets, and challenges, and the dizzying rate of change itself. (Bennis,1996) OD can be defined as a planned and sustained effort to apply behavioral science for system improvement, using reflexive, self-analytic methods. (Schmuck and Miles, 1971) Organization development is a process of planned change- change of an organizations culture from one which avoids an examination of social processes (especially decision making, planning and communication) to one which institutionalizes and legitimizes this examination. (Burke and Hornstein, 1972) "OD is a planned intervention aimed at improving individual and organizational health and effectiveness." Jac Fitz-Enz Recent definitions of organization development There are some recent definitions of organization development given by some renowned authors. These recent definitions of organization development are with some new features and unique insights. These recent definitions of OD are as followings. 1. Beer (1980): Beer specially focused on 3 aims of organization development. The aims of organization development are 1. Enhancing congruence between organizational structure, processes, strategy, people and culture; 2. Developing new and creative organizational solutions; and 3. Developing the organizations self renewing capacity. 2. Vaill (1989): Vaill described the organization development as a process of developing processes. Organizational development is an organizational process for understanding and improving any and all substantive processes an organization may develop for performing any task and pursuing any objectives. 3. Porras and Robertson(1992): They viewed the organization development as a set of behavioral science based theories. Organizational development is a set of behavioral science based theories, values, strategies and techniques aimed at the planned change of the organizational work setting for the purpose of enhancing individual development and improving organizational performance through the alteration of organizational members on-the-job behaviors. 4. Cummings and Worley (1993): They tried to describe organizational development as a systematic application of behavioral science knowledge. Organizational development is

a systematic application of behavioral science knowledge to the planned development and reinforcement of organization strategies, structures and processes for improving an organizations effectiveness. 5. Burke (1994): He described organization development as a process of change in an organizations culture. Organization development is a planned process of change in an organizations culture through the utilization of behavioral science technologies, research and theory. We can draw a summary now that the definitions overlap a great deal of encouraging features and contain some unique insights. Here all authors agree that organization development applies behavioral science to achieve desired and planned change. They believe that these definitions are for the increase of organizational effectiveness and individual development. There is no single definition of "Organizational Development." If we were to break it into its parts we can discover one meaning: "Organization" has come to mean the coming together of people and resources to form a unit. "Development" in its simplest form suggests change and growth. So OD could be defined as "the practice of changing people and organizations for positive growth." The traditional view of Organizational Development tended to focus on top-down activities to improve organizations systems and 'processes. However, experience in both the publicand private sectors has shown that to raise organizational performance effectively, Organizational Development needs to take account of both internal and external factorsrather considering individual components in isolation. There are widely different images of what OD is and widely different claims made for its value and worthiness.Although there is no fixed definition of the term, some current attempts to capture this broader, more holistic view of Organizational Development include: Organizational Development can be defined as a planned and sustained effort to apply behavioral science for system improvement, using reflexive, self-analytic methods.(Schmuck and Miles, 1971).In OD, Organizational members systematically critique how they are doing to learn how to do better. Several definitions emphasize the importance of organization process. Vail depicts OD as a process for improving process. Likewise, several definitions emphasize the crucial role of organizational culture. Organizational programs are high priority in most OD programs. Such as, according to Burke and Hornstein and Burke: Organizational Development is a process of planned change of an organization culture from one which avoids an examination of social process to one which institutionalizes and legitimizes this examination.

Another definition given by Beer and Cummins and Worely,in which they emphasize achieving congruence among the components of the organization. They suggest getting the component right and keeping them right. According to their words: A system-wide application of behavioral science knowledge to the planned development and reinforcement of organizational strategies, structures and processes for improving an organizations effectiveness". Cummins and Worley (1997) On the other hand Porras and Robertson suggest that OD is a package of theories, values, strategies, and techniques. Another definition was given by Bennis, in which he calls Organizational Development both a response to change and educational strategy intended to change beliefs,attitudes,values, and organization structure- all directed toward making the organization better able to respond to changing environmental demands. Accordind to him: Organization development (OD) is a response to change, a complex educational strategy intended to change the beliefs, attitudes, values and structure of organization so that they can better adapt to new technologies, markets, and challenges and dizzying rate of change itself.(Bennis 1969). Collectively all these definitions convey a sense of what Organizational Development is and does. They describe in broad outline the nature and methods of OD. Putting all of these definitions together we can say that: y y y y OD is supportive of the organizations long range vision and mission. It improves organizations ability to create change and also to cope up with change. It continually identifies, allocates, and develops resources. It Increases organizational effectiveness and efficiency through planned interventions based on research findings and theoretical hypotheses of behavioral sciences.

There is no set of definition of OD and no agreement on the boundaries of the field that is what practices should be included and excluded.But these are not serious constraints given that the field is still evolving. And the practitioners share a central core of understanding, as shown in the preceding definitions. A Perfect definition of Organization Development: Already various definition of organization development has been discussed. Some scholars have been mentioned it as an effort, while another person has been said it as a process of planned change of an organization. But, no perfect definition has been discussed till now which may cover the whole aspect of organization development. We do not propose it as the right

definition, but as one that includes characteristics we think are important for the present and future of the field. Organization Development process is consists of the following aspects. It isy y y y y y y y y y a long term effort led and supported by top management to improve an organizations visioning empowerment processes learning and problem solving processes through an ongoing collaborative management of organization culture with special emphasis on the culture of intact work teams and other team configurations using the consultant- facilitator role and the theory and technology of applied behavioral science including action research

Now, it has been discussed the various dimensions of this definition. Long-term Effort: By long-term effort we mean that organizational change and development take time so that it may become a sustainable change. It may take several years in most of the cases. Ralph Kilmanns Book, Beyond the Quick Fix: Managing Five Tracks to Organizational Success (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1984; Washington, DC: Beard, 2004) tells the story correctly. There is no quick fix when it comes to lasting organization improvement. Anyone who has worked for an organization has experienced the quick fix: a band-aid applied directly to the symptom of a problem while ignoring the true complexities of organizational life. But patch-up jobs cannot possibly lead to long-term success. In today's complex world, a non-quick fix is needed for creating and maintaining organizational success: a completely integrated program. When an organization changes its policy and it develops quickly, then the employee cannot match them with the change. So, the policy maker should give them adequate time to cope up them with the change. Led & Supported by top management: The Top management must lead and actively encourage the change effort, because change is very necessary for any type of organization to sustain in the competitive market. Organization change is hard, serious business which includes pain and setbacks as well as successes. An organization does not change in one day; it may take several steps and a huge time to change gradually. There are planned activities in which clients and consultants participate during the course of an organization development program. There are set of planned activities which aim to bring desired change. There refer to action component to improve organization fit between individual and organization. These planned activities are formed by the top management. So, top

management must initiate the improvement journey and be committed to seeing it through. Most Organization Development programs that fail to do so because top management was ambivalent, lost its commitment, or become distracted with other duties.

Visioning Process:
Visioning process mean by those processes through which organization members develop amiable, coherent, and shared picture of the nature of products and services the organization offer, the ways those goods will be produced and delivered to customers, and what the organization and its members can expect from each others. Definition of Vision A Vision of Success is a clear and succinct description of what the organization or community should look like after it successfully implements its strategies and achieves its full potential. It is an expression by the people about what they want the organization to be a preferred future, a word or picture of an organization you choose to create. A Vision statement for an organization should include the organizations: y y y y y y y Mission Basic philosophy, core values or cultural features Goals (if established) Basic strategies Performance criteria Important decision making rules Ethical standards of all employees

A Vision statement for an organization often includes a description of what the organization will look like in the future, and how it will embody opportunities and challenges. Benefits of a Creating a Vision y y y y y y y Organizational members can see how they fit in an organization Conception precedes perception Agreement on vision gives the organization more power The more specific and reasonable the vision, the greater the realization Can help members recognize barriers to realizing the vision May reduce organizational conflict Helps the organization stay attuned to its environment

Empowerment Process:
Empowerment is the process of enabling or authorizing an individual to think, behaves, take action, and control work and decision making in autonomous ways. It is the state of feeling selfempowered to take control of one's own destiny. A good definition of empowerment is the authority and the ability to take independent action, within well defined parameters, which will actively influence the outcome. A group cannot be empowered. Empowerment takes place on an individual level. It is relative. Empowerment depends on the situation and the ability of the individual. A wise manager does not empower an employee until the employee has shown that he/she understands the effects of his/her actions on the success of the company and has demonstrated the ability to perform appropriately. A Five Step Strategy for Empowerment Empowerment requires an implementation strategy. The following 5 steps have proven successful in creating a culture of empowered employees, focused on improving the value of the business. 1. Clearly Define the Outcome: In terms of Empowerment, clearly define what the organization wants, and why. 2. Provide Management with the Skills: It is essential to help all levels of management develop the ability to allocate responsibility and release control. This requires education, training and may require individual coaching. 3. Develop Your Employees: Empowerment, on an individual level, is accepting responsibility and acting accordingly. To develop an empowered workforce it is necessary to grow peoples capacity to assume more responsibility. This requires education and training that develops key skills.
4. Develop a Common Understanding: Empowerment is only effective when everyone has a

common understanding of the concept, the performance objectives and their part in the effort. Empowerment relies on a well defined set of Values that are subscribed to by all. Beliefs and values create a sense of identity and clear expectations. They become the moral criteria by which decisions are made and prioritized. It is essential that the members of the group hold similar values. To nurture the proper values, we must develop a common mind-set around shared responsibility. 5. Establish Accountability: Empowerment without accountability is a recipe for chaos. Accountability is that aspect of responsibility where results and outcomes are discussed. Accountability is a form of trust and trusting people empowers them.

The Advantages of Employee Empowerment y y y y y

y

Gain Competitive Advantage Increased Productivity, Efficiency and Effectiveness Better Job Satisfaction, Retention and Motivation Employee Satisfaction Employee Retention
Accepting Change

Learning processes:
According to Peter Senge (1990: 3) learning organizations are: organizations where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning to see the whole together. A learning organization therefore is an organization whose people are in a continuous search for new and better ways to adapt to change and enhance performance. Therefore, learning processes mean by those interacting, listening, and self-examining processes that facilitate individual, team, and organizational learning. Inherent in a learning organization is an environment that values learning and where inquisitiveness and creativity are a way of organizational life. There is an optimistic view of change and thinking about new possibilities is the norm. Types of Learning A learning organization is not about 'more training'. While training does help develop certain types of skill, a learning organization involves the development of higher levels of knowledge and skill. We have a 4-level model: Level 1. Learning facts, knowledge, processes and procedures: Applies to known situations where changes are minor. Level 2. Learning new job skills that is transferable to other situations: Applies to new situations where existing responses need to be changed. Bringing in outside expertise is a useful tool here. Level 3. Learning to adapt: Applies to more dynamic situations where the solutions need developing. Experimentation and deriving lessons from success and failure is the mode of learning here.

Level 4. Learning to learn: Is about innovation and creativity; designing the future rather than merely adapting to it. This is where assumptions are challenged and knowledge is reframed.

Problem-solving processes:
Problem-solving processes refers to the ways organization members diagnose situations, solve problems, make decisions, and take actions on problems, opportunities, and challenges in the organizations environment and its internal functioning. The Six-Step Problem-Solving Process 1. Identify and Select the Problem: The objective of this step is to identify the problem. That sounds simple enough, but problems usually are tied to very emotional issues. Egos are usually connected to the problem or the possible solution. Because the emotions are a part of the process, people can miss reading the problem. 2. Analyze the Problem: Now that the problem is defined, analyze it to see what the real bottomline root cause is. Often people get caught up in symptoms or effects of a problem or issue and never get down to the real cause. Analyze means to gather information. If there is not enough information, figure out how to research and collect it. Once the information is gathered, take a very close look at what is going on. Try to come to consensus on why the particular problem or issue occurs. 3. Generate Potential Solutions: Now that the problem has been analyzed, the group can begin to develop possible solutions. This is a creative as well as practical step where every possible solution or variation is identified. 4. Select and Plan the Solution: Now that there are a wide variety of possible solutions, it is time to select the best solution to fix the problem given the circumstances, resources, and other considerations. Here the group is trying to figure out exactly what would work best given who they are, what they have to work with, and any other considerations that will affect the solution. 5. Implement the Solution: This is the DO stage. Make sure the solution can be tracked to have information to use in the STUDY stage. This may seem to be an easy stage, but it really requires a scientific approach to observing specifically what is going on with the solution. 6. Evaluate the Solution: This is a careful analysis stage that improves upon the best solution using the information gathered during the DO stage. After this analysis the group is ready to ACT upon their findings and the problem should be solved or better under control.

Ongoing collaborative management Collaborative management is a term that is used to describe various management techniques that promote a sense of unity and teamwork among managers and supervisors within a business organization. The idea behind this type of management style is to allow managers to combine their strengths with the strengths of other members of the team, making it possible to collectively offset any weaknesses that may be found among the team members. In theory, this approach is supposed to enhance the efficiency of all operations within the company and in turn have a positive influence on employee morale, vendor relations, and even consumer perceptions regarding the business. Culture In ongoing collaborative management, the most important thing that is to manage is culture Now what is culture? Culture is prevailing pattern of values, attitudes, beliefs, assumptions, expectations, activities, interactions, norms, sentiments and artifacts. To develop an organization managing culture is a big essence of collaborative management. Edgar Scheins definition of culture Edgar Schein illustrates the nature and power of culture in his definition. Culture can be defined as a) b) c) d) e) f) A pattern of basic assumptions Groups invent, discover or develop the culture Culture learns to cope with its problems of external adaption and internal integration It has worked well enough to be considered valid So culture is to be taught to new members So that new members can perceive, think and feel correctly in relation to those problems.

So in recapitulation culture consists of basic assumptions, values, and norms of behavior that are viewed as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel- that is why culture change is necessary for true organizational improvement. Importance of managing culture Managing the culture should be a cooperative business, one of widespread participation in creating and managing a culture because;  Managing a culture satisfies the wants and needs of individuals.  It fosters the organizations purposes.

 Managing culture means that everyone, not just a small group, has a stake in making the organization work.  Managing cultures create opportunities for organizational work such as visioning, empowerment, learning and problem-solving processes for collaboration in organization development. Culture is bedrock of behavior of organizations. The reciprocal influences among culture, strategy, structure, and processes makes each important, and each influences the others. Organizational Processes In collaborative management organizational processes have considerable weight. Processes are how things get done that highlights the importance of visioning, empowerment, learning and problem- solving processes .processes are relatively easy to change, so they are the place OD programs often begin- getting people to stop doing things one way and start doing them a different way. But change becomes permanent when the culture changes and people accept the new ways as the right ways. When the culture promotes collaboration, empowerment, and continuous learning the organization is bound to succeed. Components of OD processes The OD Process is based on the action research model which begins with an identified problem or need for change. The process proceeds through assessment, planning of an intervention, implementing the intervention, gathering data to evaluate the intervention, and determining if satisfactory progress has been made or if there is need for further intervention. The process is cyclical and ends when the desired developmental result is obtained. The OD process begins when an organization recognizes that a problem exists which impacts the mission or health of the organization and change is desired. It can also begin when leadership has a vision of a better way and wants to improve the organization. An organization does not always have to be in trouble to implement organization development activities.

Figure: Steps of OD processes All OD programs have three basic components, they are; a. Diagnosis of the state of the organization( the system, its subunits and processes) b. The action components (Interventions to correct problems and realize opportunities) c. The program management components. Phases of OD programs        Entry Contracting Diagnosis Feedback Planning change Intervention Evaluation

Difficulties in organizational change and managing processes According to Dr. Resnick selecting and implementing significant change is one of the most challenging undertakings that face an organization. If the change involves the entire organization and also requires new paradigms that will replace established ways of doing business the challenge is daunting. Research shows that the success rate for implementing major organizational change is quite low, for several reasons.

First, asking organizations to change the way they conduct their business is similar to asking individuals to change their lifestyle. It can be done but only with the greatest determination, discipline, persistence, commitment and a clear plan for implementing the change. Second, resistance to change is a natural human phenomenon. All people resist change, some more than others. Managing that resistance is an essential part of the process. Third, change creates uncertainty. Organizations generally achieve fairly predictable results with their existing business model. Their outcomes may not be the desired results, but they are predictable. Change is unpredictable. The results may be far better but they may also be far worse. And success often looks and feels like failure until the change is very nearly completed. Staying the course of implementing a change which is essential for its success meets with continuing human and organizational resistance and pressure to pull the plug before the process is completed. Collaborative management of the work team culture is a fundamental emphasis of organization development process. The reality is that much of the organizational work is accomplished directly or indirectly through teams; work team culture extorts a significant influence on individual behavior. Application of the importance of the work team as a determinant of individual behavior has come from cultural anthropology, sociology, organization theory and social psychology. A team is a form of group, but has some characteristics in greater degree than ordinary groups including s higher commitment to common goals and a higher degree of interdependency and interaction. Other sides A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, set of performance goals and approach for themselves mutually accountable. A team comprises group of people linked in a common goal. Team is the central to accomplishing work in an organization. It is the building blocks of the organization. When team functions well, individual and the total organization function well. A work team generates positive synergy through coordinated effort. Management is looking for that positive synergy that will allow their organizations to increase performance. The extensive use teams create the potential for an organization to generate greater output s with no increase of inputs. Teams have different needs, and people should be selected for a team on the basis of their personalities and preferences. For example, the basketball coaches who continually win over the long term have learned how to size up prospective players, identify their strength and weakness, and then assign them to positions that best fit with their skills and allow them to contribute most to the overall teams performance.

So we can easily identify some potential team roles. Successful work teams have people to fill all these roles and have selected people to play in these roles based on their skill and preference. Managers need to understand the individual strengths that each person can bring to a team, select members with their strength in mind, and allocate work assignments that fit with members preferred styles. By matching individual preference with team role demands, manager increase the likelihood that the team members will work well together.

Adviser

Linker Creator

Organizer Creator

Maintainer

Team

Assessor

Controller Promoter Producer Team in organization is intact work teams consisting of superior and subordinate with specific job to perform. Team building and role, role clarification interventions are the standard activities in organization development program directed toward intact work teams. Many organizations intact teams are boss of the organization, but the intact teams are the self directed team assume complete responsibility for planning and executing work assignment. Team building, role and goal clarification, members are trained in competencies such as planning, maintaining, quality control and using management information. Self directed teams control performance appraisals, hiring and training. The result is highly grafting both for the team members and for the organization. Todays organizations increasingly use adhoc teams that perform a specific task and disband when the task is completed. The current method for getting complex task done in organization is to assemble cross- functional team comprised of member from all functional specialists required to get the job done. Few trends have influenced employee jobs as much as the massive movement to introduce teams into the workplace. The shift from working alone to work ing on teams requires employee to cooperate with others, share information, confront differences and sublimate personal interest for the greater good of the team.

Applied behavioral science (ABS) involves using modern behavioral learning theory to modify behaviors. Behavior scientists reject the use of hypothetical constructs and focus on the observable relationship of behavior to the environment. By functionally assessing the relationship between a targeted behavior and the environment, the methods of ABS can be used to change that behavior. Research in applied behavioral science ranges from behavioral intervention methods to basic research which investigates the rules by which humans adapt and maintain behavior. In other words, by applied behavioral science we mean insights from the sciences dedicated to understanding people in organigations, how they funtion, and how they can funtion better. Organigation development (OD) applies knowledge and teory. Therefore, in addition to the behavioral sciences such as phychology, social phychology, sociology, and so on, applied disciplines such as adult education, phychotherapy, social work, economics and political science make contributions to the practice of OD. Another important aspects of Organizational Development is action research.Action research or participatory action research is a reflective process of progressive problem solving led by individuals working with others in teams or as part of a "community of practice" to improve the way they address issues and solve problems. Action research is done simply by action, hence the name. Action research can also be undertaken by larger organizations or institutions, assisted or guided by professional researchers, with the aim of improving their strategies, practices, and knowledge of the environments within which they practice. As designers and stakeholders, researchers work with others to propose a new course of action to help their community improve its work practices. Kurt Lewin, then a professor at MIT, first coined the term action research in about 1944. In his 1946 paper Action Research and Minority Problems he described action research as a comparative research on the conditions and effects of various forms of social action and research leading to social action that uses a spiral of steps, each of which is composed of a circle of planning, action, and fact-finding about the result of the action. Finally we can conclude that, action research refers to the participative model of collaborative and iterative diagnosis and taking action in which the leader, organization members, and OD practitioner work together to define and resolve problems and opportunities. Because of the extensive applicability of this model in OD, another definition of organization development could be organization improvement through participant action research. Characteristics of OD: The definition we have just analyzed contains the elements we believe are important for OD. To summarize, here are the primary distinguishing characteristics of OD. Although some of the characteristics of OD differ substantially from traditional change effort, OD has begun to have an impact on the way organization change programs are designed and presented.

Some of the characteristics of OD are given bellow: 1) OD Focuses on culture and process: OD focuses the organizational culture and various types of process of an organization. It brings various types of changes in organizational culture and its process. 2) OD Encourages Collaboration: OD encourages collaboration between the organizational leaders and in members in managing organizational culture and processes. It helps the organization to build up a co-operative relationship between the leader and its member to attain the goal of the organization. 3) All teams are important: Teams of all kinds are particularly important for accomplishing tasks and are targets for OD activities. By the OD the team work get the sprit to do achieve their goal. 4) OD Focuses on the human and social side: OD focuses on the human and social side of the organization and in so doing intervenes in the technological and structural side. When it focuses on human and social sides then automatically other sides will be focused. 5) Participation and involvement: Participation and involvement in problem solving and decision making by all levels of the organization are hallmarks of OD. It helps the organization to get the better performance from its employees. 6) OD focuses on total system change: OD focuses on total system change and views organizations as complex social system. We know that OD is the change of an organization. By which organization be able to better adapt with new competition, new markets and new technologies. 7) OD Practitioners: OD practitioners are facilitators, collaborators and co-learners with the client system. They facilitate the activities of the organization, cooperate with the employees of the organization and try to gather knowledge from there. 8) OD views organization improvement as ongoing process: An overarching goal is to make the client system able to solve its problems on its own by teaching the skill and knowledge of continuous learning through self analytical methods. OD views organization improvement as an ongoing process in the context of a constantly changing environment. 9) OD relies on action research model: OD relies on action research model with extensive participation by client system members.

10) OD takes a developmental view: OD takes a developmental view that seeks the betterment of both individuals and the organization, attempting to create Win-Win situation is standard practice in OD programs. These characteristics of OD development depart substantially from traditional consultation modes. OD is related with the changes of the all sectors of an organization. When positive change occurred and all employees accepted the changes positively then the OD will be possible in an organization. It is the combined process of an organization. So those above characteristics give us a clear concept of the modern view of OD. From those characteristics we can say OD is the process of change and it encourages the collaboration among organization leaders, members and any third parties or consultants. In short OD relies on action research model-which emphasis the extensive participation by client system members. Leaders, organization members and OD practitioners will work together to define and resolve problems and opportunities under this recent view of OD. However these concepts of organization development depart substantially from the traditional consultation models of OD. In 1988 Edger H. Schein in his book, Process Consultation, Vol, I: Its Role in Organization Development identifies the three basic models of consultation. He then mentioned those as OD consulting models and highlighted them as a source of organizational improvement. The first model is the Purchase of expertise model. In this model a leader or unit initiating the organization development effort identifies a need for information or expertise that the organization cannot supply. So to get that piece of information or to get the expertise help it hires a consultant. Under this model the client identifies the problem himself but hire a consultant to fix it. Its more like I have found this problem that I cant solve. But I trust that you can fix it and I will pay you. Examples include hiring a consultant to (1) survey consumers or employees about some matter, (2) find out how other organizations organize certain units, or (3) search out information such as the marketing strategy of a competitor. In the Doctor-patient model a leader or group detects symptoms of ill health in a unit, or more broadly in the organization, and employs a consultant to diagnose what is causing the problem or problems. The consultant, like a physician, then prescribes a course of action to remedy the ailment. With the doctor-patient model, the client knows that something is wrong but is not sure what it is or how to fix it. Therefore, the consultant is brought in and both to make a diagnosis and to provide a prescription for a solution to the problem once it is identified. As with the purchase-of-expertise model, the doctor-patient model has several key assumptions that need to be met for it to be effective. This first two models of Schein actually are not typical OD consulting, they are more of traditional management consulting. As we can see in both of this model the consultant or third party is not thoroughly involved with the organization development effort. The participation part

of the OD is neglected here. The client only hires the consultant either to find out a problem or to find out what is causing the problem. But Organization development focuses on the extensive participation of everybody including the third party at all level OD activities. However the third model Process consultation is a good description of organization development. In the process consultation model the consultant works with the leader and group to diagnose strengths and weaknesses and to develop action plans. Furthermore, in this model the consultant assists the client organization to become more effective in diagnosing and solving problems. In other word this model requires a collaborative relationship between consultant and client. This joint effort between the two encourages the client to provide input throughout the process. The client's involvement can help to break down potential resistance and resentment to proposed solutions that may occur if the consultant worked independently. It can also help the client to learn problem-solving processes for future use. So we can address this model as more typical of organization development consulting. Because in OD the clients receive help in the ways they go about solving problems. The consultant suggests general processes and procedures for addressing problems. The consultant helps the clients generate valid data and learn from them. In short, the OD consultant is an expert on process and he is involved in the entire process as much as others. Finally we can say there is no unique or universal definition of organization development. But this is not a constraint given that the field is still evolving. Although no single definition of OD exists, but there is general agreement among the authors on the nature of the field and its major characteristics. All the authors agree that OD applies behavioral science to achieve planned change. And the main target of change is the total organization or system and the goals are to increase organizations visioning, empowerment, learning, and problem-solving process through ensuring participation and collaborative management.

Reference: 1.Organizational Behavior, Concept. Controversies. Application Stephen p. Robbins, Eight Edition, prentice Hall of India Private Limited. New Delhi- 110001, 1998. 2.Organizational Development, French and Bell. 6th edition. 3.Ralph Kilmann, Beyond the Quick Fix: Managing Five Tracks to Organizational Success (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1984; Washington, DC: Beard, 2004) 4.Edger H. Schein, Process Consultation, Vol, I: Its Role in Organization Development, 1988.