Summary of the book Organizational development; designing episodic interventions by Jan Achterbergh & Dirk Vriens (2019). Written for the course; Intervention in Organisations, All chapters.
Master Business Administration, Organizational Design & Development
Intervention in organisations (MANMOD008)
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Intervention in
Organization
Book: Organizational development – Jan Achterbergh & Dirk Vriens – 9-12-2020
Radboud University – Master Organizational Design & Development
,Chapter 1 Introduction
This book is about episodic interventions in the structure of organizations, and the goal of the book is
to present a 3-D model that helps to understand and flexibly design episodic interventions in
organizational structures.
1.1.1. Organizations
Organizations can be described as; a social system delivering a societal contribution. The
contribution refers to the role of organizations in society. They can positively contribute by;
1. By means of the societally valuable products or services they provide
2. By means of providing non-product or non-service related positive side effects, such as
employment
3. By making sure that negative side effects (pollution or inequality) are avoided as much as
possible.
Organizations who deliver a positive societal contribution is called a rich meaningful survival.
Organizations as systems of interactions; organization members interact with each other thereby
realizing the organizations contribution. This is influenced by several factors, for example; they way
that tasks are defined and related (structure), goals and culture, are examples of factors that
influence organizational interaction. We call these factors interaction premises.
Interactions are influenced by interaction premises and vice versa. Therefore, we will see a circular
relation. As can be seen below, the organizations contribution is delivered in interaction (A), and this
interaction is influenced by interaction premises (B), these premises themselves are shaped by
interaction (C). There is never a certainty, that this will realize the societal contribution. This
uncertainty is fundamental for organizations, and the best one can do is experiment with interaction
premises.
1.1.2 Organizational structures and their development
The development of the structure of organizations is the intended improvement of the way tasks are
defined and related, and can hence be regarded as interwoven to the continuous relation between
interaction and interaction premises.
Structural development can be problematic, therefore we need episodic interventions. But first we
need to know why structural development may be problematic. Bureaucratic organizations tend to
have several negative effects. They negatively affect employee well-being and production
effectiveness and efficiency. In bureaucratic organization there are a lot of dependency relations,
which are a very possible source of errors. To fix disturbances by these dependency relations costs a
lot of time.
1.1.3 Episodic interventions
The relevance of episodic interventions; organization have often lost their capacity for normal
structural development, because of their structure. In such a case, an episodic intervention may be
required to regain the capacity for structural development. Some organizations disable their own
improvement, which is called self-inhibiting.
,To survive, the organization needs to alter its structure, therefore they need episodic interventions,
because they can’t do it themselves.
Episodic interventions; intentional, deliberate, comprehensive changes to the organizations
structure that have their own separate temporary intervention organizations’.
• Deliberate & intentional; explicit goal to change the structure
• Comprehensive; want to change large part of organization
• Separate temporary intervention organization; with a clear end and beginning
If a episodic interventions has been executed, the changes often have lead to a new structure in
which normal continuous development is again possible.
1.2 The 3-D model
The 3D-model has 3 dimensions; the functional, structural and infrastructural. These dimensions
directly relate to three basic challenges faced by the episodic interventions;
1. Ensuring that a well-designed structure is implemented in the organization – Functional
2. New structure is integrated in the interaction premises and interaction of organization
members – Social
3. Designing the infrastructure of the interventions organization in such a way that it helps to
meet challenge 1 and 2 – Infrastructural
1.2.1. Functional dimension
The goals on the functional dimension that should be realized in the intervention in order to increase
the probability that a well designed structure is implemented are;
1. Diagnosis – Finding problems and their causes
2. Design – Finding a structure that can deal with the problems
3. Implementation – making the design a reality
4. Evaluation – Assessing if the problems are solved
1.2.2. Social dimension
An episodic intervention in the structure of an organization also entails intervening in a social system.
The social dimension of the 3D-model specifies the goals that should be realized in the intervention
in order to change the interaction premises and interactions of organization members;
1. Motivation – Members develop motivation to let go of current and move to new interaction
premises and interactions and adopt the episodic intervention as a means to do this.
2. Adoption – Members willingly commit to new helping interaction premises and interactions.
3. Integration – Members have irreversibly integrated new interactions and interaction
premises into their repertoires that both (re)produce the organizations new and improved
structure and allow for the realization of the goal of the intervention.
1.2.3. Infrastructural dimension
The following factors constitute the intervention infrastructure;
1. The intervention structure - work together in an network of intervention tasks
2. The intervention technology – using the right tools and techniques
3. The knowledge, skills and motivation of the human resources
In order to realize the functional and social goals in the intervention, and thereby the goal of the
intervention, a well-designed intervention infrastructure is needed.
,1.2.4. How the 3D-model can be used
The purpose of the 3D-model is to help
understand and flexibly design episodic
interventions in organizational
structures. In order to design the
infrastructure, you start with proximate
functional and social goals. This are the
goals that are next-in-line to be
realized;
1. Intervention activities –
activities are grouped into
intervention tasks that van be
performed by human
resources.
2. Intervention techniques and tools are selected that are needed to perform the activities.
3. Human resources are selected and or trained to perform the intervention tasks.
An intervention infrastructure is designed that is geared to the realization of the selected proximate
functional and societal goals.
1.3 And now for something different
1.3.1. Zooming in, instead of zooming out
This book differences from other textbooks. We think that, when talking about organizational
change, it is relevant to take at least the kind, object, and context of change into account.
1. Different kinds of organization change should be distinguished
2. Different objects of change should be distinguished. For instance, as an object of change,
culture of an organization differs from its technology.
3. Different contexts of change should be distinguished. Different contexts of change set
different requirements for the concepts, models and tools needed to realize change either in
or of these contexts.
1.3.2. Episodic interventions
You have to pay attention to both the functional and social dimension, because one-sided attention
can be hazardous to the intervention and the change.
1.3.3. Episodic interventions as a mode of organizational change
Weick and Quinn discuss episodic and continuous change as opposites. They argye that dependent
on how you see change as episodic or continuous, you bring in different; 1. Metaphors of
organizations 2. Analytical frameworks 3. Intervention theories and, 4. Ideas about the role of the
change agent. Like you can see below.
,We however see change the same, but make a difference between episodic and continuous
interventions.
1.3.4. Flexible design of the infrastructure of intervention organizations
There are a few presuppositions about episodic interventions;
1. There is only a small group of organization members who participate in the intervention.
Therefore the rest of the members are not involved in the intervention. The question with
this presupposition is that there is a parallel organisation for the intervention, which can’t
be supported by all the members. The presupposition claims that the other members will
be excluded from the process, which in fact is not encouraged at all.
2. The intervention is designed at one point and won’t change during the intervention at all.
But because of the dynamics in organizations, in its people and in the intervention itself
this isn’t possible at all.
3. The designs of interventions can be copied from a blue-print. This is not possible since
every organization has its own flaws and things they need to think about. That is why
Achterbergh and Vriens made a model which can be used for every situation. But made in
such a way that you should adapt everything to your own organization.
4. The intervention is designed by managers or consultants that manage the intervention.
However in the book it is explicitly said that everybody can be a participant to this process.
And that everybody should be “used” for the things he or she knows a lot about.
5. The purpose of the intervention organization is to manage the intervention. But this
infrastructure is made to enable the operational intervention activities that needs to
realize the goal of the intervention.
,Chapter 2 Understanding organizations as social systems
2.1 Introduction
Our perspective highlights that organizations are (1) social systems, (2) have a particular purpose,
‘meaningful survival’, and (3) continuously need to experiment to attain this purpose.
2.2 Organizations as social systems: Interaction and interaction premises
The proposed perspective of organizations as social systems entails that (1) in organizations,
continuous social interaction between organization members is central, and (2) this interaction is
conditioned by so-called ‘interaction premises’.
2.2.1. Social systems: interactions
Organizations are inherently social. Everything that happens in them is socially embedded - they are
social systems. In organizations, the interaction between individuals is not just any interaction. To
count as meaningful organization interaction, it should have a particular focus. This focus can be
derived from four basic activities which every organizations needs to perform;
1. Realize transformation process leading up to the organizations produces and services; this
activity is called performing primary processes
2. Deal with disturbances in these transformation processes ( to make sure that they can
continue to delivery to their contribution); this activity is called operational regulation.
3. Set goals related to primary processes (in terms of type of products, number of products,
quality of products and contribution to society) ; this activity is called strategic regulation.
4. Make sure that organizational conditions are installed so that all activities can be performed,
this is called regulation by design.
The four organizational activities are based on a particular infrastructure, and this infrastructure itself
can be re-designed by means of the activity regulation by design. In addition, the figure also shows
that strategic regulation is about adapting goals, whereas performing primary process and their
operational regulation are about realizing goals.
2.2.2. Social systems: interaction premises
Organizational interaction is conditioned by the goals set in organizations and by ‘basic assumptions’
about external adaptation and internal integration. It can be aid that infrastructures, goals and basic
assumptions act as premises conditioning interactions.
Interaction premises condition interactions in organizations; they serve as a more or less stabilized
background against which continued organizational interaction emerges and makes sense as
organizational interaction.
Basic assumptions as interaction premises
, Interaction is related to; (1) survival, growth and adaptation in their environment, and (2) internal
integration that permits daily functioning and the ability to adapt.
Basic assumptions is about that you have certain beliefs about something, like you got bad grades
and therefore you think you have to study even more, and now you get good grades, because you
studied so much. Therefore you now believe that studying will get you good grades. So something
happens which confirms you believes.
We argue that the set of taken-for-granted basic assumptions about what the world is like, and how
things ought to be acts as a premise for interaction as these assumptions guide organization
members in perceiving, thinking, and feeling about organizational matters.
As a moral frame, taken-for-granted basic assumptions refer to ‘values that ought to be valued’- to
deeply embedded beliefs of organization members about what is worth pursuing. As cognitive frame,
taken-for-granted basic assumption refer to deeply rooted and uncontested (1) representations of
relevant entities in the world, and (2) ideas about causes and effects. In general it can be said that
basic assumptions serve as interaction premises. They condition organizational interaction, in that
they serve as a moral and cognitive background for generating en evaluation solutions to
organizational problems of adaptation and realization.
Goals and infrastructures as interaction premises
Goals conditions interaction means that organizational interaction should always relate to the formal
or informal goals governing organizational activities. Similarly, the three infrastructural parts each
condition interaction. For example structure; the way tasks are defined and related to each other,
influences which members interact with each other about which topic.
Formal and informal interaction premises
We say that goals and parts of the infrastructure are formally decided upon f they have been
explicitly selected according to accepted organizational rules which were installed for making such
selections. Organization members can be held responsible if they don not take these rules/premises
into account. Informal interaction
premises are not the result of an
explicit decision following a set of
explicit and accepted rules for them.
For example one person is changing
the ink of a printer when it is empty,
eventually it turns into a habit and
now that person is informally
responsible for changing the ink.
2.2.3. Social systems: the reciprocal relation between interaction and interaction premises
What is special about the relation between interactions and the interaction premises is that these
premises not only condition interaction, they are also shaped, produced, and reproduced by the
interactions they condition. This reciprocal relation holds for goals and for the parts of the
infrastructure. Goals, for instance, are set in interactions realizing the basic activity ‘strategic
regulation’ and, once they are set, they function as interaction premises.
The reciprocal relation also holds for the basic assumptions acting as a background for generating
and assessing goals and infrastructures. As such, they condition interaction.
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