This summary was written by multiple students for the course Organizational Change at Tilburg University. This summary includes an extensive review of chapter 1 through 23 (275 pages), and it includes notes on the six guest lectures at the end.
Thomas G. Cummings & Christopher G. Worley
Organization development and Change
10th edition, 2015
Summary chapters 1 – 23
Tilburg University School of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Master Human Resource Studies
Course: Organizational Change – 2017
1
,Table of contents
Chapter 1: General introduction to Organization Development 4
Summary chapter 1: 7
Chapter 2: The Nature of Planned Change 8
Summary chapter 2: 18
Chapter 3: The organization development practitioner 19
Summary chapter 3: 22
Chapter 4: Entering and contracting 23
Summary chapter 4: 26
Chapter 5: Diagnosing 27
Summary chapter 5: 41
Chapter 6: Collecting, Analyzing, and Feeding Back Diagnostic information 42
Summary chapter 6: 49
Chapter 7: Designing interventions 50
Summary chapter 7: 63
Chapter 8: Managing change 64
Summary chapter 8: 72
Chapter 9: Evaluating and institutionalizing OD Interventions 73
Summary chapter 9: 84
Chapter 10: Interpersonal and group process approaches 85
Summary chapter 10: 90
Chapter 11: Organization process approaches 91
Summary chapter 11: 102
Chapter 12: Restructuring Organizations 103
Summary chapter 12: 120
Chapter 13: Employee involvement 121
Summary chapter 13: 133
Chapter 14: Work design 134
Summary chapter 14: 148
Chapter 15: Performance management 149
Summary chapter 15: 163
Chapter 16: Talent management 164
Summary chapter 16: 170
Chapter 17: Workforce diversity and wellness 171
2
, Summary Chapter 17 182
Chapter 18: Transformational change 183
Summary chapter 18: 201
Chapter 19: Continuous change 203
Summary chapter 19: 214
Chapter 20 – Transorganizational Change 215
Summary chapter 20: 222
Chapter 21: Organization Development for Economic, Ecological, and Social Outcomes 223
Summary chapter 21: 230
Chapter 22: Organization development in nonindustrial settings: health care, school
systems, the public sector, and family-owned 231
Summary chapter 22: 245
Chapter 23: Future directions in organization development 247
Summary chapter 23: 252
Guest lecture 1: Wim van Ernich - Thermiek 253
Guest lecture 2: Diederik Kolb - Achmea 255
Guest lecture 3: Marc Burger - Capgemini 258
Guest lecture 4: Corline van Reenen - Schouten Global 261
Guest lecture 5: Nick van Dam – McKinsey & Company 269
Guest lecture 6: Woody van Olffen – TIAS 272
* Chapter 21: Organization Development for Economic, Ecological, and Social Outcomes
* Chapter 22: Organization Development in Nonindustrial Settings: Health Care, School
Systems, the Public Sector, and Family-Owned Businesses
* Chapter 23: Future Directions in Organization Development
* niet in syllabus en HC
3
,Chapter 1: General introduction to Organization
Development
Learning objectives:
- Define and describe the practice and study of organization development (OD)
- Describe the history and relevance of OD
- Distinguish OD and planned change from other forms of organization change
Organization development differs from other planned change efforts, such as project
management or innovation, because the focus is on building the organization’s ability
to assess its current functioning and to achieve its goals.
OD is oriented to improving the total system—the organization and its parts in the
context of the larger environment that affects them.
Examples of OD:
- Team building with top corporate management
- structural change in a municipality
- job enrichment in a manufacturing firm
Worley and Feyerherm suggested that for a process to be called organization
development, (1) it must focus on or result in the change of some aspect of the
organizational system; (2) there must be learning or the transfer of knowledge or skill
to the client system; and (3) there must be evidence of improvement in or an intention
to improve the effectiveness of the client system.
The following definition incorporates most of these views and is used in this book:
Organization development is a system-wide application and transfer of behavioral
science knowledge to the planned development, improvement, and reinforcement of
the strategies, structures, and processes that lead to organization effectiveness.
Important: OD is different from other approaches to organizational change and
improvement, such as management consulting, innovation, project management, and
operations management etc.
Difference between OD and Change Management
Organization development can be distinguished from change management and
organizational change. OD and change management both address the effective
implementation of planned change. They are both concerned with the sequence of
activities, processes, and leadership issues that produce organization improvements.
They differ, however, in their underlying value orientation. OD’s behavioral science
foundation supports values of human potential, participation, and development in
addition to performance and competitive advantage. Change management focuses
4
,more narrowly on values of cost, quality, and schedule. As a result, OD’s distinguishing
feature is its concern with the transfer of knowledge and skill so that the system is
more able to manage change in the future. Change management does not necessarily
require the transfer of these skills. In short, all OD involves change management, but
change management may not involve OD.
Difference between OD and Organizational Change
OD is primarily concerned with managing change in such a way that knowledge and
skills are transferred to build the organization’s capability to achieve goals and solve
problems. It is intended to change the organization in a particular direction, toward
improved problem solving, responsiveness, quality of work life, and effectiveness.
Organizational change, in contrast, is more broadly focused and can apply to any kind
of change, including technical and managerial innovations, organization decline, or the
evolution of a system over time. These changes may or may not be directed at making
the organization more developed in the sense implied by OD.
Three major trends are shaping change in organizations: globalization, information
technology, and managerial innovation.
Globalization is changing the markets and environments in which organizations
operate as well as the way they function. New governments, new leadership,
new markets, and new countries are emerging and creating a new global
economy with both opportunities and threats.
Information technology is redefining the traditional business model by changing
how work is performed, how knowledge is used, and how the cost of doing
business is calculated.
Managerial innovation has responded to the globalization and information
technology trends and has accelerated their impact on organizations. New
organizational forms, such as networks, strategic alliances, and virtual
corporations, provide organizations with new ways of thinking about how to
manufacture goods and deliver services.
Organization development plays a key role in helping organizations change
themselves. It helps organizations assess themselves and their environments and
revitalize and rebuild their strategies, structures, and processes. OD helps
organization members go beyond surface changes to transform the underlying
assumptions and values governing their behaviors.
Practical relevance
A career in OD can be highly rewarding, providing challenging and interesting
assignments working with managers and employees to improve their
organizations and their work lives. In today’s environment, the demand for OD
professionals is rising rapidly.
All managers and administrators are responsible for supervising and
developing subordinates and for improving their department's’ performance.
5
, Similarly, all staff specialists, such as financial analysts, engineers, information
technologists, or market researchers, are responsible for offering advice and
counsel to managers and for introducing new methods and practices.
OD is important to general managers and other senior executives because OD
can help the whole organization be more flexible, adaptable, and effective.
Organization development can also help managers and staff personnel perform
their tasks more effectively. It can provide the skills and knowledge necessary
for establishing effective interpersonal relationships. It can show personnel how
to work effectively with others in diagnosing complex problems and in devising
appropriate solutions. It can help others become committed to the solutions,
thereby increasing chances for their successful implementation.
To conclude: OD is highly relevant to anyone having to work with and through others
in organizations.
Current practice in organization development is strongly influenced by these five
backgrounds as well as by the trends shaping change in organizations.
6
,Summary chapter 1:
This chapter introduced OD as a planned change discipline concerned with applying
behavioral science knowledge and practices to help organizations achieve greater
effectiveness. Managers and staff specialists must work with and through people to
achieve organizational objectives, and OD can help them form effective relationships
with others. Organizations are faced with rapidly accelerating change, and OD can
help them cope with the consequences of change. The concept of OD has multiple
meanings. The definition provided here resolved some of the problems with earlier
definitions. The history of OD reveals its five roots: laboratory training, action research
and survey feedback, normative approaches, productivity and quality of work life, and
strategic change. The current practice of OD goes far beyond its humanistic origins by
incorporating concepts from organization strategy and design that complement the
early emphasis on social processes. The continued growth in the number and diversity
of OD approaches, practitioners, and involved organizations attests to the health of
the discipline and offers a favorable prospect for the future.
7
, Chapter 2: The Nature of Planned Change
Learning objectives:
- Describe and compare 3 major theories of planned change
- Introduce a general model of planned change that will be used to organize the
material presented in the book.
- Explain how planned change can be adopted to fit different contexts.
- Critique the practice of planned change
Change is often initiated and implemented by managers, often with the help from an
OD practitioner inside or outside of the organization. OD is directed at bringing about
planned change to increase an organization’s effectiveness and capability to change
itself. Organizations can use planned change to solve problems, to learn from
experience, to reframe shared perceptions, to adapt to external environmental
changes, to improve performance, and to influence future changes. All approaches to
OD rely on some theory.
Theories of planned change describe the activities necessary to modify strategies,
structures and processes to increase an organization’s effectiveness and initiate
successful organizational change. Lewin’s change model, the action research model
and the positive model offer different views of the phases through which planned
change occurs in organizations.
Lewin’s change model
A particular set of behaviors is the result of two groups of forces: those striving to
maintain the status quo and those pushing for change. When both sets of forces are
about equal, current behaviors are maintained in what Lewin termed a state of ‘quasi-
stationary equilibrium’.
To change that state, one can increase those forces pushing for change, decrease
those forces maintaining the current state (most effective change strategy according
to Lewin; less resistance), or apply a combination of both. Chang process has three
stages:
8
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