This is what we call: ‘Results from the Inside’. The bottom line is improvements are based on a mix of advisory, training and executive- coaching. We can call this ‘Organizational Development’: implementing hands-on, practical solutions to help companies to improve their performance by making their employees more effective. Organization Development is a dynamic values-based approach to systems change In organizations and communities; It strives to build the capacity to achieve and sustain a new desired state that benefits the organization or community and the world around them. Organization Development (ODD) is an evolving field of practice.
The definition and principles of practice below are intended to serve as: * a compass for future training and development of ODD practitioners; * a ruler for current practitioners to assess their practice; * a base that researchers use to add new or changed principles; and * one of the criteria for clients to evaluate ODD Internal and external consultants History and Application of Organizational Development Theory ODD emerged out of human relations studies from the 1 sass where psychologists realized that organizational structures and processes influence worker behavior and motivation.
Linen’s work In the sass and sass also helped show that feedback was a valuable tool In addressing social processes. More recently, work on ODD has expanded to focus on aligning organizations with their rapidly changing and complex environments through organizational learning, knowledge management and transformation of organizational norms and values. The current trends in organizational development These are the frequently asked question of organizations: ; How to make leadership teams more accountable for their performance? How to create and retain high performing teams? ; How to manage virtual, multi-cultural teams?
These questions will be answered with some of the solutions developed over the years. Trend 1) How to make leadership teams more accountable for performance? Their performance even more than before. But how to make them really accountable, without imposing more and more ineffective budgeting, cost accounting and other financial reports? In an expert’s opinion making leaders accountable has nothing to do with accounting. It has everything to do with managing people, and nothing to do with managing accounts. Experts implemented Result Oriented Management (ROOM) in many organizations around the world.
ROOM is a management style, more than system, where the focus is on agreements between employees and their leaders on what they will achieve. It is without doubt that employees are more motivated, and therefore more effective, if they can work on, and being accountable for targets they can set and influence themselves. Leadership will monitor if employees are on track with these targets. Two important rules in ROOM: a) If the employee feels the target cannot be reached, this should be reported to adhering directly; b) When this happens, leadership has the responsibility to help that employee by supporting them to reach the goal.
It is clear that ROOM has a large impact on leaders and followers, and trainings and implementation approaches are specifically focusing on helping organization to implement and work with ROOM, rather than Just training them. Trend 2) How to create and retain high performing teams? This question touches the heart of the leadership competence and makes, in the end, the difference between more and less effective leaders. Leadership is something which can be learned, and creating and retaining high performance teams is the result of good leadership.
In learning on leadership, we work with the following concepts: ; Coaching style leadership: Believe that first and foremost, the leader is a coach, and for this, the leader need specific competences which can be learned: 1 . Confronting 2. Task and result-oriented management 3. Conversational skills 4. Tact/sensitive behavior 5. Self management ; Connected Leadership: by now, formal organizations are substituted by networks and virtual organizations, and structures are being replaced for processes. This makes that the formal leader needs to become a Connected Leader.
This kind of leader need to have the following competences: 1 . Being able to connect by trust; 2. Being able to engage through meaning; 3. Being able to sustain performance through dialogue and influencing. ; Assertiveness: No leadership training is effective when there is no follow up on middle and lower managerial levels. To learn leaders how to listen has no impact if their employees have not learned how to speak up and stand for their opinion. And assertiveness is not only for these professionals that have problems in speaking up, it s as equally suitable for people who speak up too much, leaving no room for others.
Trend 3: how to manage virtual, multi-cultural teams? Understand each other becomes more and more important. Effective communication is the core fundamental of high performance organizations. In trainings, teach participants how to understand cultural differences, how to communicate effectively, and how to create a common language. This common language can become part of a larger, internal communication program, focusing on core values and behaviors. In other situations, this can be part of implementation of specific instruments. T.
Characteristics of Organizational Development 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. Tit the environment around it (Scheme, 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. Individualizing is when employees successfully exert influence on the social system by challenging the culture.
Organization Development (ODD) 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 ODD: 1 .
Humanistic Values: Positive beliefs about the potential of employees (McGregor 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. . 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 (Kern, 2010).
Extensive literature exists dealing work leaves us with the clear picture that values are a key component of effective managerial leadership. There seems to be a subset of virtuous values that align with ethical behavior. In his book, Authentic Happiness, Martin Salesman has reviewed these core virtuous values that influence ethical behavior and appear to have universal appeal (Kern, 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 (Kern, 2010). Principles of Practice The practice of ODD is grounded in a distinctive set of core values and principles that guide behavior and actions.
Values-Based guide behavior and actions. Values-Based Key Values include: Respect and Inclusion – equitably values the perspective and opinions of everyone. Collaboration – builds collaborative relationships between the practitioner and the client while encouraging collaboration throughout the client system. Authenticity – strives for authenticity and congruence and encourages these qualities in their clients Self-awareness – commits to developing self-awareness and interpersonal skills. ODD practitioners engage in personal and professional development through lifelong learning.
Empowerment -focuses efforts on helping everyone in the client organization or immunity increase their autonomy and empowerment to levels that make the workplace and/or community satisfying and productive. Supported by Theory Draws from multiple disciplines that inform an understanding of human systems, including applied behavioral and physical sciences Systems Focused Approaches communities and organizations as open systems; that is, acts with the knowledge that change in one area of a system always results in changes in other areas; and change in one area cannot be sustained without supporting changes in other areas of the system.
Action Research Continuously reexamines, reflects and integrates discoveries throughout the process of change in order to achieve desired outcomes. In this way, the client members are involved both in doing their work, and in dialogue about their reflection and learning in order to apply them to achieve shared results. Process Focused Intervenes in organizational or community processes to help bring about positive change and help the client work toward desired outcomes Informed by Data discover and create a compelling need for change and the achievement of a desired future state of the organization or community.
Some methods include survey feedback, assessment tools, interviewing, focus groups, story telling, process consultation and observation. Client Centered Focuses on the needs of the client in order to continually promote client ownership of all phases of the work and support the client’s ability to sustain change after the consultant engagement ends. Focused on Effectiveness and Health Helps to create and sustain a healthy effective human system as an interdependent part of its larger environment. Iii.
CHANGE LEADERS A change leader is a person in an organization responsible for organization’s anneal or changing existing pattern to obtain more effective organizational performance. Typically, it is the CEO of an organization that acts as change leader, sometimes, also known as change manager of his/her organization. He/she is the advocate of change in his/her organization and introduces accompanied change programs. According to Jon Switchback, and the other authors of “Real Change Leaders”, the most effective change agents within businesses share seven common characteristics.
This is probably the case for those who apply themselves to improving the businesses’ performance in social responsibility Just as they are in very other field. The characteristics are: 1 . Commitment to a better way. They share a seemingly inexhaustible and visible commitment to a better way, and believe deeply that the company’s future is dependent upon the change – particularly their part of it – being successfully executed. They see the change target as exciting, worthwhile and essential to the future success of the institution, as well as to their own personal satisfaction. 2.
Courage to challenge existing power bases and norms. They develop the personal courage needed to sustain their commitment in the face of opposition, failure, uncertainty, and personal risk. While they do not welcome failure, they do not fear it. Above all, they demonstrate the ability to rise again, and thereby build courage in those around them. 3. Personal initiative to go beyond defined boundaries. They consistently take the initiative to work with others to solve unexpected problems, break bottlenecks, challenge the status quo, and think outside the box. Setbacks do not discourage them from trying again – and again.
Certainly they are responsive to top leadership’s inspiration, but they do not wait around for it to move them to action. 4. Motivation of themselves and others. Not only are they highly motivated themselves, but they have the power to motivate, if not inspire, others around them. They create excitement and momentum in others and provide opportunities for people around them to follow their example and take personal responsibility for changing. 5. Caring about how people are treated and enabled to perform. They really care about other people, but not to the extent of blind self-sacrifice.
While certainly not the corporate equivalent of Mother Theresa, they are fair minded and sensitive to helping other people succeed. They are also intent on enabling the performance of others as well as their own. They do not knowingly manipulate or effectiveness to keeping a low profile; grandstanding, strident crusading, and self promotion are viewed as sure ways to undermine their credibility and acceptance as change leaders. 7. A sense of humor about themselves and their situations. Not a trivial trait. A sense of humor is often what gets them through when those around them are losing heart. Lb.
Critical Issues on Organizational Development Organizational development in today’s environment is a challenging prospect in most reversions- including program management, contracts and acquisition. To effectively management any acquisition and program organizational you need to understand numerous critical issues. Workforce Development Most organizations today in both industry and government are in a constant state of flux, due in part to mergers/ acquisitions in industry and the creation/deletion of new departments and organizations in government. Positive change can be beneficial to organizations under certain circumstances.
Too much change, however-?or change not properly planned and implemented-?can lend itself to a high degree of organizational instability. Restructurings are a common answer to try and resolve identified problems and issues within a company. Yet, in many organizations, restructurings only result in re-shuffling existing problems and issues and then creating new ones. Often, too, the “winners” of restructurings may exercise their new power at the expense of the “losers. ” The losers may be subject to undue criticism and disenfranchisement, which only compounds existing morale problems. Then, there is the challenge of turnover.
Bringing in talent from the outside when necessary to complement your existing workforce does have positive benefits. However, high turnover is not good for any organization. Industry-recognized human resources surveys indicate that calculations for hiring and bringing a new employee to full productivity can be 125 percent or more than a departing employee’s salary, depending upon the incoming person’s level of experience and expertise. These numbers are not to be ignored. A reasonable level of stability is important for program and acquisition organizations to provide full operational capability to meet the agency’s mission.
The challenge is providing a stable environment, while encouraging initiative and creativity in highly fluid organizations. Systems Issues Nothing can be more stressful and detrimental to morale in acquisition and program organizations than the continued high-level operational support in the midst of a new systems modernization program. These programs are sweeping across a large percentage of government and industry organizations today. Such programs typically involve the implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems as financial, contracts and procurement, and human resources.
Usually, your acquisition and program organization will have to continue to provide a high level of operational purport while using two systems-?both the current production system and the new one replacing it. Control in today’s leanly staffed program and acquisition organizations requires balance and Judgment. Personalities come in to play-?some control decision-making too tightly ,and others may prefer loose, decentralized control and decision-making. In any event, empowering line supervisors/contracting officers are essential for a balanced workplace.
Senior contract specialists and other contract specialists who exercise good business acumen should be granted latitude in the cradle-to-grave acquisition life cycle tasks that are a normal part of contracting operations. This latitude comes with the understanding that prior coordination with their supervisors and/or contracting officers on issues that may be contentious or well out of normal business procedures will be accomplished. Professional Work Environment Non-professional work environments negatively impact employee retention, morale, and the degree of operational support.
Management should support and promote employees who focus on professional interchange and activities in the program/ acquisition organization that meet the agency’s overall mission. One key aspect of a successful, professional work environment involves controlling rumors, which often are started and spread by a small percentage-?normally, a clique group-?of employees. These employees usually will use negative, unjustified, and false statements about co-workers (based on personal preference), attempting to promote themselves and their inner circle of friends.
The workplace, however, is not the appropriate environment to re-enact television “survival reality’ shows and thus should be led and managed in such a way that all are treated with dignity and respect. Succession of Good Leaders Continuity of good leadership is important. How many of you have had good supervisors, only to see them traded for not-so-good ones as part of a ergo? Too often, the answers to “issues” and cited system or personnel “problems” are reorganizations-?yet, how many of these times are such shifts Just the result of power plays?
Supervisors, managers, and contracting officers are important, as people who exercise sound business Judgment and discernment through experience, education, and expertise. Contract writing tools such as Prism or SSP are Just that-? only tools. They do not provide the business acumen and expertise that experienced people (employees or consultants) do. Finally, augment your organization’s leadership team with good people from the inside, not Just at the SEES and political appointee levels. Also, try to bring in good contracting officers, line supervisors, and management from the outside.
They can bring in a whole fresh set of problem- solving skills and best practices that are valuable to your contracts and acquisition organization, helping to achieve your agency’s mission. SOOT ANALYSIS v. SOOT Analysts SOOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. By definition, Strengths (S) and Weaknesses (W) are considered to be internal factors veer which you have some measure of control. Also, by definition, Opportunities (O) and Threats (T) are considered to be external factors over which you have essentially no control.
SOOT Analysis is the most renowned tool for audit and analysis of the overall strategic position of the business and its environment. Its key purpose is to align an organization’s resources and capabilities to the requirements of the environment in which the firm operates. In other words, it is the foundation for evaluating the internal potential and limitations and the probable/likely opportunities and threats from the external environment. It views all positive and negative factors inside and outside the firm that affect the success.
A consistent study of the environment in which the firm operates helps in forecasting/predicting the changing trends and also helps in including them in the decision-making process of the organization. I An overview of the four factors (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) is given below- 1 . Strengths – Strengths are the qualities that enable us to accomplish the organization’s mission. These are the basis on which continued success can be made and continued/sustained. Strengths can be either tangible or intangible.
These are what you are well-versed in or what you have expertise in, the traits and qualities your employees possess (individually and as a team) and the distinct features that give your organization its consistency. Strengths are the beneficial aspects of the organization or the capabilities of an organization, which includes human competencies, process capabilities, financial resources, products and services, customer goodwill and brand loyalty. Examples of organizational strengths are huge financial resources, broad product line, no debt, committed employees, etc. 2.
Weaknesses – Weaknesses are the qualities that revert us from accomplishing our mission and achieving our full potential. These weaknesses deteriorate influences on the organizational success and growth. Weaknesses are the factors which do not meet the standards we feel they should meet. Weaknesses in an organization may be depreciating machinery, insufficient research and development facilities, narrow product range, poor decision-making, etc. Weaknesses are controllable. They must be minimized and eliminated. For instance – to overcome obsolete machinery, new machinery can be purchased.
Other examples of organizational weaknesses are huge debts, high employee turnover, employ decision making process, narrow product range, large wastage of raw materials, etc. 3. Opportunities – Opportunities are presented by the environment within which our organization operates. These arise when an organization can take benefit of conditions in its environment to plan and execute strategies that enable it to become more profitable. Organizations can gain competitive advantage by making use of opportunities. Organization should be careful and recognize the opportunities and grasp them whenever they arise.
Selecting the targets that will best serve the clients while getting desired results is a difficult task. Opportunities may arise from market, competition, industry/government and technology. Increasing demand for telecommunications accompanied by deregulation is a great opportunity for new firms to enter telecoms sector and compete with existing firms for revenue. 4. Threats – Threats arise when conditions in external environment Jeopardize the reliability and profitability of the organization’s business. They compound the vulnerability when they relate to the weaknesses. Threats are uncontrollable.
When a threat comes, the stability and survival can be at stake. Examples of threats are – unrest among employees; ever changing technology; increasing competition leading to excess capacity, price wars and reducing industry profits; etc. Vi. Advantages of SOOT Analysis is instrumental in strategy formulation and selection. It is a strong tool, but it involves a great subjective element. It is best when used as a guide, and not as a prescription. Successful businesses build on their strengths, correct their weakness and protect against internal weaknesses and external threats.
They also keep a watch on their overall business environment and recognize and exploit new opportunities faster than its competitors. SOOT Analysis helps in strategic planning in following manner- a. It is a source of information for strategic planning. B. Builds organization’s strengths. C. Reverse its weaknesses. D. Maximize its response to opportunities. E. Overcome organization’s threats. F. It helps in identifying core competencies of the firm. G. It helps in setting of objectives for strategic planning. H. It helps in knowing past, present and future so that by using past and current data, future plans can be chalked out.
SOOT Analysis provide information that helps in synchronizing the firm’s resources and capabilities Tit the competitive environment in which the firm operates. SOOT ANALYSIS FRAMEWORK Limitations of SOOT Analysis SOOT Analysis is not free from its limitations. It may cause organizations to view circumstances as very simple because of which the organizations might overlook certain key strategic contact which may occur. Moreover, categorizing aspects as strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats might be very subjective as there is great degree of uncertainty in market.
SOOT Analysis does stress upon the significance of these four aspects, but it does not tell how an organization can identify these aspects for itself. There are certain limitations of SOOT Analysis which are not in control of management. These include- a. Price increase; b. Inputs/raw materials; c. Government legislation; d. Economic environment; e. Searching a new market for the product which is not having overseas market due to import restrictions; etc. Internal limitations may include- a. Insufficient research and development facilities; b. Faulty products due to poor quality control; c. Poor industrial relations; d.
Lack of skilled and efficient labor; etc vii. How to Conduct a SOOT Analysis for Your Business Plan By Steven D. Peterson, Peter E. Caret, and Barbara Finally Science from Business Plans Kit For Dummies, 3rd Edition So how do you create a business plan that will seize business opportunities and sidestep potential threats? You conduct a SOOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis. A SOOT analysis helps you analyze your company’s capabilities against the realities of your business environment so that you can direct your business toward areas where your follow these steps: 1 .
Review your company’s strengths and weaknesses and your opportunities and threats from your business plan. 2. Divide your strengths into two groups: trenches that can help you take advantage of opportunities facing your business and strengths that can help you head off potential threats. 3. Divide your weaknesses into two groups: those that require improvement before you can take advantage of opportunities and those that you need to completely overhaul and turn quickly into strengths in order to avert threats on your business horizon. Use the SOOT Analysis Grid to record the findings of your analysis.
The figure shows how the owners of the Soup’s On catering business completed the grid for their company. Fill in this grid to analyze your company against your business environment. Based on the outcome of the caterers’ SOOT analysis, they made some significant business decisions: They hired a marketing consultant with experience developing restaurant chains; they conducted research to get a sense of the resources required to achieve competitive Internet presence; they tightened their management structure to prepare for growth; and they recruited two investors to improve their company’s financial condition.
As a result, Soup’s On is ready to grow into a small chain. The owners expect increased competition for catering and takeout services, but they project that growing demand will support a number of catering companies. What’s more, they’re confident that by focusing on quality, consistency, and sophisticated menus, they can compete successfully. By investing time upfront to understand their strengths and weaknesses -? and by dealing with their opportunities and threats -? the caterers increased their chances of success.
Include findings from your SOOT analysis in your business plan, addressing how you intend to * Seize business opportunities by capitalizing on your company’s strengths * Improve weaknesses in order to take advantage of business opportunities * Monitor potentially threatening outside forces while maintaining internal capabilities so that you’re prepared to respond from a position of strength if a threat arises * Eliminate weaknesses to protect your business from current threats Revisit your SOOT analysis on a regular basis -? at least annually and more frequently if your business is under siege, experiencing growth problems, or failing to meet goals and objectives -? to see how the balance of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats may have shifted.
Your business environment is constantly changing, so you want to be sure that your equines plan reflects the world around you as it is, not the way it was. Business SOOT Analysts What makes SOOT particularly powerful is that, with a little thought, it can help you uncover opportunities that you are well placed to exploit. And by understanding the weaknesses of your business, you can manage and eliminate threats that would otherwise catch you unawares. More than this, by looking at yourself and your competitors using the SOOT framework, you can start to craft a strategy that helps you distinguish yourself from your competitors, so that you can compete successfully in your market.
