ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT CASE

STUDY

RASHMI.S

CASE AT A GLANCE !!!!!

• The case is a leading company whose growth has been steadily declining over the years due to internal problems .

• The internal problems are both on part of the ;• 1. Top Management • 2. Front line and Middle Management• 3. Employees.

PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED !!! Lack of co-operation between the sub-units.

Increasing complaints from customers.

Sagging morale among the workforce.

Rapidly increasing costs.

solutions

Lengthy dialogue with the CEO – understand view pts, attitude, behaviour.

Observe reactions of sub-ordinates & employees to CEO’s

statements.

Conduct Interviews with all the CEO’S subordinates – problem areas.

Group the feedback into general categories “Boss”, “Meetings”, “Administrative Services”, “Customer relations” …. – feedback, prioritize.

Conduct workshop for employees and CEO together – usually workshop conducted for 2-3 days with no work during those days.

Workshop – motivation , leadership, group dynamics, team performance , effectiveness …. – mainly…

Act as a moderator / coach and help group analyze and bring optimal solutions to the problems given.

Must break up team into syndicates- increased intense brainstorming – better team dynamics .

Breif participants on the topics & establish norms about how group will operate.

Design workshop- time for stress free and recreational activities – greater mutual understanding & better trust and relationship among participants.

last day – help team develop “next action plan ” for the problems discussed in the workshop.

Fix a future date with the organization (mostly 3 months) after which organization’s progress is mapped & workshop or additional training to achieve the remaining goals.

Work with Top management to institutionalize the process of “Strategy” with constant feedback & grievance systems from employees – HR in charge.

Success case studies.

The case :

Helped the new CEO turn around a software company to position it for business success.

The OD consultant :

Maya Townsend, Founder, Partnering Resources, Cambridge, MA

Critical actions • Work began with a plan to get the executive team to think

creatively about the company and its future. • The executive team identified the core purpose, values

and strategy for the company. • Realizing that the entire company needed to accept their

work in order to implement it successfully, the leadership team engaged managers in defining actions needed to achieve the strategy.

• The leadership team presented their work to all employees in an energized, creative town hall meeting.

• The leadership team cascaded the strategies through the entire organization so all employees saw how their goals contributed to the core purpose of the company

Results

Said the CEO, “This initiative has been an unqualified success. We have a clearly defined strategy and the management of the company is more energized than I’ve ever seen them. We have built the foundation to be a truly great company.”

more case details found at www.odsuccesscases.htm.

FAILURE CASE STUDY - ENFIELD Leading business firm called “ENFIELD”.- consistent

with many OD practices.

Designed & facilitated by top OD practitioners of then.

Developed difficulties with the goals set by OD practitioners.

2 fold problem• without proper mindset – people engage in same old

problems• Participative mgmt- effective during single change

system but hopeless during double loop systems.

Result : Changed into a traditional top – down approach Company.

Abstract Taken from “Reinventing organization development ”- David.L. Bradford , Wyatt Warner Burke

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