The organizational development process can be described as a set of practices aimed at improving organizational performance as well as enhancing individual development through altering the normal working conditions of the organizational members. Some of these practices involve working strategies, technologies, organizational culture and so on. The organizational process is a crucial process that every single organization must undergo in order to improve its performance thus evolving into a successful organization.
The process of organizational development may not receive positive approval from the staff since it will cause some changes in the daily working routine, thus the management should be expecting this and be prepared to tackle some resistance from the staff for the well-being of the organization. As the top management, you should be aware that, this process will improve the performance of the organization and therefore you make an effort to make sure that everything is followed to the latter.
There are a number of theories that are associated with organizational development. One of the theories was developed by Lewin and named a three-step theory. This theory suggests that an organizational change consists of three steps namely unfreezing, transformation and refreezing. In the first step, an organization will discover there is a need for change; the second step ensures that the changes identified have occurred in the process of organization development. Finally, all the implemented changes are refrozen into the organizational daily routine. Another crucial theory developed by Lewin is an action-research model. This theory suggests that organizational development can occur through the following procedure:
- the organization identifies a problem
- testing and hypothesis development is carried out
- data analysis of the research
One of the advantages of the action-research model is that it can be repeated as many times as the organization may wish during the process of effecting organizational changes.
Another crucial theory associated with the development of an organization is the general system theory. This theory considers all the impacts of the external environment on organizational development. This theory advocates that for an organization to develop, it has to pick an element from the environment and transform it into another and then give it back to the environment in the altered state. This will assist the organization to identify whether the changes implemented are important to the organization thus creating a bond between the external environment and the organization.
Burke’s theory is also concerned with the external environment. It put into consideration how external environment, organization culture, leadership, strategy and mission, organization and individual performance work together. He was in the suggestion that all of the above are related and must work together in order to effect positive changes in an organization.
Certain conditions must exist for organizational change and development to take place. The management team of an organization has a role to play in the implementation of these changes. Any involved party such as consultants must also be capable and competent so that organizational change can take place effectively. Resistance is a natural phenomenon and the management should expect this from the employees thus, they should develop strategies to tackle it.
In conclusion, every organization needs development and thus the process of organizational development is not an excuse. All organizations should identify the effective theory which should be applied in order to achieve organizational development and make the organization improve its performance. The top management has a role to play in the process of organizational development.