History of Organizational Development

Organizational development is applied behavioral science. It 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 organization’s “processes”, using behavioral – science knowledge”. – Beckard

OD has a recent history which comprises of four trunks:

1. The laboratory training

2. Survey research methodology and feedback

3. Action research

4. Tavistock sociotechnical system

1. The laboratory training system (the T-group) :

It involves situations in which participants learn from their own action by using here and now experience, and feedback among themselves thereby gaining insights among themselves and others. It began in 1946, influenced by an intergroup relations workshop held at the State Teachers College in New Britain, Connecticut, where Kurt Lewin and his staff at the Research Center for Group Dynamics (RCGD) were asked for help in training community leaders. In the workshop the leaders learnt about leadership and discussed problems. At the end of each day, the researchers discussed privately what behaviors and group dynamics they had observed. This experience led to The National Training Laboratory in-group development organized by Benne, Bradford, and Lippitt at Bethel. Thus, the T-group provided opportunity for “a) self-in-sight b) understanding the conditions which inhibit or facilitate group functioning c) understanding inter-personal operations in groups and d) develop the skills for diagnosing the individual, group and organizational behavior.

Douglas McGregor's work with Union Carbide in an effort to apply some of the concepts from laboratory training to a complex system and Chris Argyris conducting team building sessions with top executive teams contributed to the theory and research in OD.

2. The Survey Research and Feedback Stem:

The history of this stem revolves around the techniques and approaches developed over a period of years by staff members at the Survey Research Center, Michigan. Renis Likert was associated with survey research center (SRC), Michigan. His dissertation “a technique for the measurement of attitude” was the classic study that developed the widely used five-point Likert scale.

In an early study, Likert and Floyd Mann found that when the survey data were reported to a manager and he/she failed to discuss the results with subordinates and failed to plan with them what the mangers and others should do to bring the improvement, little change occurred. However, a substantial favorable change occurred when the result was discussed with subordinates and planned with them what to do to bring about improvement. Baumgartel observed “it deals with the system of human relationships as a whole (superior and subordinate can change together) and it deals with each manager supervisor and employee in the context of his own job, his own problems, and his own work relationships.”

3. The Action Research Stem:

Today, it is the backbone of most OD applications. A key component of most action research studies was the systematic collection of survey data that was fed back to the client organization. A collaborative effort was initiated between organization members and social scientists to collect research data about an organization’s functioning, to analyze it for causes of problems, and to devise and implement solutions. Many OD programs use action research model. The manager also needs to be aware of the processes that should be considered when attempting to create change.

4. The sociotechnical and socioclinical stem:

It developed primarily from work done at the Tavistock Institute in London by researchers such as Eric Trist and W.R Bion. W.R.Bion and Rickman were involved with a six week “Northfield Experiment” at a military hospital near Birmingham during World War II. In this experiment each soldier was required to join a group that performed some task such as handicraft and discussed feelings, interpersonal relations and managerial problems. Insights from this experiment led to the development of Bion’s theory of group behavior. Eric Trist’s (Tavistock) work design in coal mining was important to other work redesign experiment.

The second generation OD effort encompasses: Interest in Organizational Transformation, interest in learning organization, intensified interest in teams, Interest in total quality management, Interest in Visioning and Future search and Rediscovering Large Meetings and Getting the “Whole System” in the Room.

REFERENCE:

· Cummings, Thomas & Huse, Edgar (1989). Organization Development and Change. St Paul, MN: West Publishing Company. (Pp. 5-13).

· French Wendell L / Bell, Cecil H Jr. Organization Development: Behavioral Science Interventions for Organization Improvement, 6 Th ePearson Education. Prentice Hall 1998.