Provides an overview of organization development (OD), focusing particularly on the intervention processes available. Categories or types of intervention are noted, and the depth of intervention is recognised as a key decision point for OD practitioners.

1. Organization Development: Intervention Processes
James Hunt
Trimester 3, 2012
GSBS6120: Managing Organisational Change

2. A Review of Last Week’s Lecture
Organisational Development
Diagnostic Models and Theories
1. Organisational Development and the Process of Change
2. Action Research and Survey Feedback.
3. Five Phases of Planned Change
4. Diagnostic Models and Theories
Weisbord’s Six Box Model
The Nadler-Tushman Congruence Model
Hornstein & Tichy’s Emergent Pragmatic Model
Grid Organization Development
Rensis Likert’s Four Systems – measuring and mapping organisational culture

3. Organization Development and the Process of Change
• OD is a planned process of change in an organisation’s system or sub-system.
• It normally draws upon behavioural science technology and management and
organisational theory.
• It usually impacts on the total organisational system.

4. Primary Distinguishing Characteristics of OD
1. OD focuses on organisational culture and processes
2. OD encourages collaboration between organisational members of
different levels.
3. Teams are considered to be vital to an organisation.
4. OD focuses on the human, social, technological and structural aspects
of organisations.
5. Participation and involvement in problem-solving efforts.
6. OD focuses on total system change.
7. OD practitioners are facilitators, practitioners and co-learners.

5. Primary Distinguishing Characteristics of OD
Organization Development seeks to achieve alignment of the organisation’s
influential elements; structure, culture, systems, roles, tasks and strategy.

6. Summary Comparison of Three Models of Change
Lewin’s 3 Steps Action Research Model for OD Lippit, Watson & Westley’s
Phases of Planned Change
Unfreezing
Movement
Refreezing
Perception of problem
Enter consultant
Data are collected
Feedback provided to client
Joint action planning
Action
Assessment
Feedback provided to client
Joint action planning
Action
Development of a need for change
Establishment of a change relationship
Diagnosis
Examination of alternatives
Actual change
Generalization and stabilization of
change
Achieving a terminal relationship
Continuing cycle

7. Rensis Likert – Diagnosing Organisational Systems
System One System Two System Three System Four
AUTOCRATIC BENEVOLENT AUT. CONSULTATIVE PARTICIPATIVE
Traditional
decisions
Unilateral actions
Exploitative
techniques
Hierarchical
Structured decisions
Not exploitative
Somewhat formal
Some hierarchy
Friendly climate
Supportive
Advisory
Not consensus-
based
Full consensus
Participative
Developmental
Team-building
emphasised

8. Lecture Outline
1. Organisation Development – Intervention Theories Models and Techniques
2. A Sequence for Theoretical and Practical Understanding of Change
3. Criteria For An Effective OD Intervention
4. Planning the Intervention or Change
5. Choosing the Depth of an Intervention
6. An Illustration of Open Systems Planning
7. Four Domains of Intervention, Huse (1980)
8. French and Bell’s 14 Categories of OD Intervention
9. The Burke-Litwin Model of Organisational Performance and Change
10. Categories and Typologies of Interventions
11. The OD Cube
12. Concluding Comments

9. Organization Development – Intervention Theories,
Models and Techniques

10. Organization Development – A Sequence for
Theoretical and Practical Understanding of Change
1. Organisational Behaviour
2. Human Resources Management
3. Organisational Development
4. Strategic Management

11. Criteria For An Effective OD Intervention
Chris Argyris (1970) specified three important criteria for an effective
OD intervention:
1. Obtaining valid and useful information of relevance to the
organisation and to the change initiative (data gathering and
diagnosis)
2. Provide the client organisation with alternatives for action: OD
interventions assume that no particular or specified action is
automatic, pre-ordained or imposed.
3. Build internal commitment: This is a very important element in OD.
The client organisation and its people need to own the choice of
change initiative, and feel responsible for implementing it.

12. Planning the Intervention or Change
There are at least three considerations in planning an OD intervention:
1. Determining the client’s readiness for change
2. Making sure that the change is tied to the power points in the
organisation
3. Arranging for internal resources to help manage, monitor, and
maintain the change process

13. Planning the Intervention or Change
1. Determining the client’s readiness for change:
• Diagnose and understand the system’s openness to and capability for
learning.
• The need to develop a capacity for appreciative enquiry and double loop
learning on the part of organisational members is pivotal
• Readiness and the energy to move toward change also stem from
organisational members’ awareness of a difference, a gap, between the
current status of their organisation and what they would like it to be – the
idea of some improved state.

14. Planning the Intervention or Change
2. Linking the change process to the power points in the organisation
• If the client system is hierarchical in its authority and decision-making
structure, the change process should be managed by the top manager of
the system, with full involvement by his or her key subordinates.
• Regardless of structure, the intervention should be linked for
implementation to the individuals who are central to the main problems
identified in the diagnostic phase (eg: Dick DeLisle at Scott Aviation)
• Referring to Weisbord’s six-box model, if the leadership box is loaded with
problems, the intervention should be tied directly to the leadership of the
organisation. If the rewards box is loaded with problems, then the HR
specialists should be directly linked with the intervention (Jim Anderson at
Figgie International, p.33).

15. Planning the Intervention or Change
3. Arrange for internal resources to help manage the change
process
• If the primary consultant is from outside the organisation, an internal
consultant should be assigned to the change effort as early as possible,
preferably at the very beginning.
• In the planning change phase of OD practice, the consultant normally
tests the system’s readiness for change.
• Part of this process involves measuring broad attitudinal readiness for
change across the organisation, but another important part involves
bringing on board a number of committed internal change champions.
• This ensures visible ownership of the process of change, and helps to
ensure that internal energy and expertise are behind the change.

16. Choosing the Depth of an Intervention
In considering the degree of a client’s readiness for change, the OD
consultant is also attempting to discern just how far he or she can
go with that client:
• whether the intervention should be biased toward structure and
largely systemic matters.
• or toward some personal confrontations; surfacing emotional and
value-laden issues.
Roger Harrison (1970) has developed a way to think about these questions
that has become well-established in OD intervention theory.
His model differentiates interventions according to depth – how much a given
intervention requires the emotional involvement of the client.

17. Choosing the Depth of an Intervention
According to Harrison, the deepest type of intervention is intrapersonal
analysis – analysis within an individual – eg: getting a CEO to re-
examine his or her leadership style, values, assumptions and belief
system.

18. Choosing the Depth of an Intervention
A less deep type of intervention would involve surface
characteristics and processes – for example, a change in the
organisation’s structure . . . or the implementation of an activity
such as open systems planning, where the key is involvement
in the process.

19. An Illustration of Open Systems Planning at an International Business School

20. Choosing the Depth of an Intervention – Harrison (1970) and Huse (1980)
On the basis of Harrison’s model, Huse (1980) developed a list of types of
interventions according to depth.
Huse categorised these interventions into four domains:
1. The system-wide approaches
2. The individual-organisational interfaces
3. The interventions concerned with personal work style
4. The initiatives that involve intrapersonal analysis and relationships

21. Choosing the Depth of an Intervention – Harrison (1970) and Huse (1980)
Four Domains of Intervention, Huse (1980):
1. System-wide approaches:
Contingency theories of organisational design
Survey feedback and development
Organisational confrontation meeting
Quality of work life programs
Grid organisation development (The six phase grid model covers almost every level of intervention)
2. Individual-organisational interfaces
Job design
Role analysis
Management by objectives
Competency-based training programs

22. Choosing the Depth of an Intervention – Harrison (1970) and Huse (1980)
Four Domains of Intervention, Huse (1980):
3. Concern with personal work style:
Process consultation – exploring personal preferences for work processes in small groups or work
teams
Third party intervention
Team-building
Managing interdepartmental and intergroup relationships
4. Intrapersonal analysis and relationships
Life and career planning interventions
Laboratory training (experimental scenario participation)
Encounter groups
Personal consultation

23. Choosing the Depth of an Intervention – Beyond Huse
(1980)
A weakness of Huse’s (1980) model is that it doesn’t capture some of the newer management
consultancy approaches to OD.
French and Bell (2000) classify modern OD interventions into 14 broad areas:
1. Diagnostic activities 10. Coaching and counselling activities
2. Team-building activities 11. Life and career planning activities
3. Intergroup activities 12. Planning and goal-setting activities
4. Survey feedback activities 13. Strategic management activities
5. Education and training activities 14. Organisational transformation activities
6. Technostructural or structural activities
7. Process consultation activities
8. Grid Organisation Development activities
9. Third-Party Peacemaking Activities W. French & C. Bell (2000) Organization Development,
Prentice-Hall, New Jersey: 151-2.

24. French and Bell’s Classification of OD Interventions:
1. Diagnostic activities: Fact-finding activities designed to ascertain the state of the
organisational system; it’s relative health and functionality. Methods include
interviews, questionnaires and survey instruments, meetings, observational studies,
examining organisational records, and projective devices such as “build a collage
that represents your place in this organisation”.
2. Team-building activities: Designed to enhance cooperative effort and commitment
to the team, strengthen regard for other team members. Methods include
interactive tasks, case studies, scenario exploration, problem-solving, and off-site
activities such as adventure training.
3. Intergroup activities: Activities designed to improve the effectiveness of
interdependent groups – these focus on joint activities where groups must work
together. This encourages groups to see themselves as part of a system, rather
than two separate subsystems.

25. French and Bell’s Classification of OD Interventions:
4. Survey feedback activities: Rely on questionnaire surveys to generate information that
is then used to identify problems and opportunities.
5. Education and training activities: Activities designed to improve individuals’ skills,
abilities and knowledge in a wide range of areas (decision-making, problem-solving,
goal-setting, planning).
6. Technostructural or structural activities: Activities geared towards improving the
organisation’s structure and technical systems (IT, finance, HR)
7. Process consultation activities: Activities that help the client to perceive, understand
and act upon events which occur in the client’s environment. Primary emphasis
is on processes such as communication, leadership and member roles in groups,
problem solving and group development.

26. French and Bell’s Classification of OD Interventions:
8. Grid Organisation Development: A six-phase change model involving the whole
organisation, commencing with leadership styles and abilities.
9. Third-Party Peacemaking Activities: Activities conducted by a skilled specialist
designed to help two members of an organisation to manage their interpersonal
conflict.
10. Coaching and Counseling Activities: Specialists or experts work with individuals to
identify learning goals and develop strategies for building competence in mutually
agreed key areas.
11. Life and Career Planning Activities: Guided and structured activities include
generating life and career inventories, discussing goals and objectives, and
assessing current capabilities.

27. French and Bell’s Classification of OD Interventions:
12. Planning and goal-setting activities: Theoretical training and experiential exercises in
planning, goal setting and problem solving. The goal is to encourage broad capabilities
for divergent thinking and the identification of multiple possible courses of action.
13. Strategic management activities: Activities that help key executives to reflect on the
organisation’s basic mission and goals, environmental demands, threats and
opportunities, and to engage in long-range strategic planning in both the proactive and
reactive frames.
14. Organisational transformation activities: Activities that involve large-scale system
changes designed to fundamentally change the nature of the organisation. Targets can
include structure or work design, mission and strategic direction, values, culture and
leadership.

28. Total Organisational Transformation
The Burke-Litwin Model of Organisational Performance and Change
Source: W. Warner Burke, (1994) Organization Development, Figure 7.1, p. 128)

29. Categories and Typologies of Interventions
Source: Richard Schmuck and Matthew Miles (1976) Organization Development in Schools,
University Associates, San Diego, CA.
Beyond the categorisations developed by Harrison (1970), Huse (1980), and
French and Bell (2000), other prominent and useful typologies have been
developed by Burke and Hornstein (1972), and Blake and Mouton (1976).
Conceptually one of the most robust, and practically one of the most useful
typologies was presented by Schmuck and Miles (1971), who introduced a
three dimensional model referred to as the OD cube.
The OD cube categorises three important aspects of OD interventions:
1. Mode of intervention
2. Focus of Attention
3. Diagnosed Problems

30. The OD Cube
Source: Richard Schmuck and Matthew Miles (1976) Organization Development in Schools, University Associates, San
Diego, CA.
Total organisation
intergroup
Team or group
Dyad or triad
Role / Person
Focus of Attention:
Goals, plans
Communication
Culture, climate
Leadership, authority
Problem solving
Decision making
Conflict or cooperation
Role definition
Other
Diagnosed
Problems:
Training
Process
consultation
(coaching)
Confrontation
Datafeedback
Problemsolving
Planmaking
ODTaskforce
establishment
Technostructural
activity
Modes of Intervention:

31. Concluding Comments
Even within the field of OD, there is an array of intervention methods available
to consultants, from process consultation and appreciative inquiry, to data
feedback and problem solving approaches.
Choosing the depth of intervention is also an important consideration,
dependent to an extent on the degree of readiness for change on the part of the
client organisation.
In this respect, the diagnostic phase of any OD intervention is always an
important undertaking.
OD practitioners recognise that total systems change sometimes needs to begin
with intrapersonal interventions, particularly at the senior executive level.
Internal commitment to change is also an important prerequisite for successful
OD interventions.