1. Characteristics of Organization Development:
Organisational Development (OD) can be described as the systematic process to change
the culture, system and behavior of organization. It is process that helps in solving organizational
problems and achieving organizational objectives. Organisational Development works as
important mechanism that helps in impressing the organization and its employee through planned
and established system. It concentrates on people dimensions like norms, values, attitudes,
relationships, organisational culture etc. The strategies of Organisational Development focus on
enhancement of organization effectiveness and solving organisational problems. It includes
structural and technological changes and focuses on working relationships of employees with the
organisation. Organisational Development is the modern approach to management of change for
human resource development
The characteristics of Organisational Development (OD) are as follows:-
1. Organisational Development is an educational strategy that attempts to bring about a planned
change.
2. Organisational Development relates to real organisational problems instead of hypothetical
cases.
3. Organisational Development uses sensitivity training methods and lay emphasis on the
significance of experiment based training.
4. Its change agents are almost external consultants outside of the organisation.
5. The external change agents and internal organisation executives establish a collaborative
relationship that involves mutual trust, influence and jointly determined goals.
6. The external change agents are humanists and seek to establish a social and altruistic
philosophy within an organisation.
7. The goals that the change agent seeks to achieve through OD tend to reflect human approach
and aims for better conflict resolution, increased understanding and more considerable
leadership.
8. The required changes in the organisation are usually the result of some immediate problems
but it is a long term approach covering three to five years.
9. It is used to describe variety of change programmes and intends to change the organisational
philosophies, attitudes and skills of people.
10. It is a dynamic process that involves considerable investment of money and time
11. It is research based activity and aims at conducting surveys, collection of data and evaluation

2. of the situation
12. It works on open and adaptive system concepts and believes that organisational design and
managerial performance are mutually interdependent.
The ability to interact effectively with others can make the difference between success or failure
in our work and personal life.
A social system is a complex set of human relationships interacting in many ways. Within an
organization, the social system includes all the people in it and their relationships to each other
and to the outside world. The behavior of one member can have an impact, either directly or
indirectly, on the behavior of others. Also, the social system does not have boundaries...it
exchanges goods, ideas, culture, etc. with the environment around it (Schein, 1968).
Culture is the conventional behavior of a society that encompasses beliefs, customs, knowledge,
and practices. It influences human behavior, even though it seldom enters into their conscious
thought. People depend on culture as it gives them stability, security, understanding, and the
ability to respond to a given situation. This is why people fear change. They fear the system will
become unstable, their security will be lost, they will not understand the new process, and they
will not know how to respond to the new situations.
Individualization is when employees successfully exert influence on the social system by
challenging the culture.
Organization Development (OD) is the systematic application of behavioral science knowledge
at various levels, such as group, inter-group, organization, etc., to bring about planned change.
Its objectives is a higher quality of work-life, productivity, adaptability, and effectiveness. It
accomplishes this by changing attitudes, behaviors, values, strategies, procedures, and structures
so that the organization can adapt to competitive actions, technological advances, and the fast
pace of change within the environment (Cunningham, 1990).
There are seven characteristics of OD:
1. Humanistic Values: Positive beliefs about the potential of employees (McGregor's Theory Y).
2. Systems Orientation: All parts of the organization, to include structure, technology, and
people, must work together.
3. Experiential Learning: The learners' experiences in the training environment should be the
kind of human problems they encounter at work. The training should NOT be all theory and
lecture.
4. Problem Solving: Problems are identified, data is gathered, corrective action is taken, progress
is assessed, and adjustments in the problem solving process are made as needed. This process is
known as Action Research.
5. Contingency Orientation: Actions are selected and adapted to fit the need.
6. Change Agent: Stimulate, facilitate, and coordinate change.
7. Levels of Interventions: Problems can occur at one or more level in the organization so the
strategy will require one or more interventions.
A well-used axiom in organizational behavior thought asserts that values ultimately drive our
behavior. In a nutshell, values exert influence over our attitudes, and attitudes influence our
behavior. Values are integral to attitude formation and to how we respond to people and
situations (Kerns, 2010). Extensive literature exists dealing with how values relate to effective
managerial leadership. A review of this body of work leaves us with the clear picture that values
are a key component of effective managerial leadership.

3. There seems to be a subset of virtuous values that align with ethical behavior. In his book,
Authentic Happiness, Martin Seligman has reviewed these core virtuous values that influence
ethical behavior and appear to have universal appeal (Kerns, 2010).
• Wisdom and Knowledge: The capacity to take information and convert it to something useful.
Wisdom comes from capitalizing on one's experience to interpret information in a
knowledgeable manner to produce wise decisions. A prerequisite to doing the right thing when
facing an ethical dilemma is knowing what to do, knowing the difference between right and
wrong.
• Self Control: The ability to avoid unethical temptations. The capacity to take the ethical path
requires a commitment to the value of acting with temperance. Ethical people say "no" to
individual gain if it is inconsistent with institutional benefit and goodwill (Kerns, 2010).
Solution Summary
The ability to interact effectively with others can make the difference between success or failure
in our work and personal life.
A social system is a complex set of human relationships interacting in many ways. Within an
organization, the social system includes all the people in it and their relationships to each other
and to the outside world. The behavior of one member can have an impact, either directly or
indirectly, on the behavior of others. Also, the social system does not have boundaries...it
exchanges goods, ideas, culture, etc. with the environment around it (Schein, 1968).
Culture is the conventional behavior of a society that encompasses beliefs, customs, knowledge,
and practices. It influences human behavior, even though it seldom enters into their conscious
thought. People depend on culture as it gives them stability, security, understanding, and the
ability to respond to a given situation. This is why people fear change. They fear the system will
become unstable, their security will be lost, they will not understand the new process, and they
will not know how to respond to the new situations.