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The case of OD in an NGO in IndiaNisha Nair

Indian Institute of Management Indore, Indore, India, andNeharika Vohra

Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Ahmedabad, India

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to report an organizational development (OD) exercise carried out in aprominent non-governmental organization (NGO) that works in the area of rights and advocacy inIndia.

Design/methodology/approach The exercise was part of the first authors graduate program,which required the application of behavioral science theory to a live organization under the

supervision of her advisor, the second author. The organizational development exercise spread overfour months, involved entering an organization, interacting with key participants and stakeholders ofthe organization both formally and informally, diagnosing issues facing the organization and amirroring exercise with the management at the end of the intervention to provide feedback.

Findings Some of the issues and improvement areas that emerged through the exercise arediscussed in the paper. It also offers reflections on some of the key lessons learnt during the process ofintervention, with implications for OD in developmental organizations.

Originality/value The paper offers insights into OD interventions in the developmental sector,posing a different set of challenges than conventional organizations, and also because the organizationitself was in a state of flux at the time of the intervention.

Keywords Non-governmental organizations, Business development, Organizational effectiveness,Labour efficiency, Change management, India

Paper type Case study

IntroductionOrganization development (OD) work has largely been carried out in business or forprofit organizations. Bargal and Schmid (1992) refer to the paucity of literature onconsultation done in developmental organizations. OD in nonprofit organizationsprovides some unique challenges for the consultant that may not exist in businessorganizations (Ramos, 2007; Waysman and Savaya, 1997). Developmentalorganizations are thought to differ from for-profit organizations in a number ofways (Brown and Covey, 1987). Studies have shown that employees in developmentalorganizations seek greater autonomy and less organizational control in their work(Mirvis and Hackett, 1983). Since there is a need for flexibility and local discretion inthe working of developmental organizations, they tend to be more informal and looselyorganized than business organizations ( Joseph, 2000; Lewis, 2003). Another often citedconcern is the existence of high role ambiguity and lack of clarity about roles andprocedures in such organizations (Goldman and Kahnweiler, 2000; McDonald, 1999). Inhis study of organizational change in a human service organization, Ramos (2007)discusses the poor communication across the various units/programs of the nonprofit.Given that values and ideology play a central role in developmental organizations(Brown and Covey, 1987; Edwards and Sen, 2000; Lewis, 2003; Tvedt, 2006), they areknown to attract workers high in motivation, commitment and satisfaction (Bacchiega

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Received 4 August 2009Revised 21 December 2009Accepted 21 June 2010

Journal of Management Development

Vol. 30 No. 2, 2011

pp. 148-159

q Emerald Group Publishing Limited

0262-1711

DOI 10.1108/02621711111105740

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and Borzaga, 2001; Benz, 2005; Mirvis, 1992). Leadership also plays a critical role inshaping the ideology of these organizations and it has been noted (Markham et al.,2001) that developmental organizations tend to be dominated by a few and activenumber of leaders. Schnell (2005) points to the issue of moving beyond the leadership

of an organizational founder and the challenges of rapid growth in his case study.The relevance of OD in developmental organizations have been cited variously as

increasing the capacity of the social change agencies to cope with organizationalproblems (Brown et al., 2004), and enhancing the climate or operations of the non-profitagency (Ramos, 2007). Discussing the role of participatory action research infacilitating social change in an Asian developmental organization context, Brown(1993) argues for greater collective reflections of diverse constituencies andparticipants in order to address social change issues that are complex and looselyorganized around various factors and institutions. Using action research anddemocratic theory to guide forced dialogue, Gustavsen and Engelstad (1986) discussthe role of conferences or workshops as a means to engage organizational participantsin an encounter that permits them to experiment with new types of interpersonalprocesses and promote dialogue in organizational change projects. Speaking of theconsultants role, Ramos (2007) points that the organizational consultation processemployed could include assessment, feedback, and action planning components.Korten (1980) discusses the three stages of the learning process for a developmentorganization as learning to be effective, learning to be efficient, and learning to expand.Although the role of OD can cut across the three stages, it may be most suited for thesecond stage, when the organization starts growing and would require the consultantshelp to mature as an organization.

Given the paucity of research of OD in developmental organizations, this paperexamines the case of OD in a prominent NGO in the state of Jharkand in India, wheremany of the challenges facing a developmental organization mentioned in the literature

and some others, come alive. This was an exploratory study with an attempt to diagnoseorganizational issues in the NGO during a period of change and mirror back the resultsof the organizational diagnosis towards improving the working of the organization.

About the organizationAdhikar[1] (which stands for human rights) is a mass-based organization in the state ofJharkand in India that started in 1985 with the aim of altering societys power basetowards the poor and the marginalized. It has been working alongside sociallymarginalized communities with the intent to support organized action from within thecommunity against any unjust distribution of wealth, resources or power. The founder,Mr Rajan Mishra, sought to espouse the ideal of self-determination through organizingpeople into unions and other collectives. The organization has grown from a few

handful inspired by Mr Mishra during its early days to over 200 employees at the timeof the intervention. Mr Mishra currently serves in a prominent position at the Center inthe Government of India. He has chosen to dissociate himself from Adhikar so that it isseen as politically non-aligned.

Scope of work of AdhikarThe differing areas of Adhikars involvement are outlined in Figure 1. Adhikar firstbegan its work through the Adivasi Sangathan[2] created to organize tribal people of

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the region into unions. Under the umbrella of the Adivasi Sangathan, other unionsevolved over time. Adhikar also works in the area of budgetary analysis andexpenditure monitoring of the state government through its wing called ArthikSiksha[3]. There is also a scholarship program that seeks to fund and train local levelleadership, and the emergency response program encompasses relief work at times ofnatural calamities.

Structure of the organizationAdhikar is structured along both geography and programs. As the organization has

grown, its structure too has evolved. The various unions and programs are overseen bydifferent coordinators all reporting directly to the Managing Trustee, Mr Mishra. Inaddition, there are location coordinators in Chaibasa, Ghatsila and Saraikela, which aredistricts of the State. There is considerable overlap between program and region. Thestructure showing differentiation by program and region along with the respectiveheads is shown in Figure 2.

Methodology of the studyThe primary methodology of the study comprised:

. Interviews. The process followed involved closed room interviews with each ofthe coordinators, usually lasting for 1-2 hours where the author first introduced

herself and elaborated on the nature of her engagement and sought the views ofthose being interviewed regarding the organization, its culture, areas of concern,and any suggestions or other comments pertinent to the discussion. All therespondents were assured of the confidentiality of their responses.

. Field visits. The author also visited the field in Ghatsila where she interacted withthe field workers and the regional coordinator, Mr Dubey. During this visit, shesat in on one of the regional meetings, following which she had interviews withthe field workers in small groups of four or five. This was done to understand the

Figure 1.Adhikars scope of work

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organization from the view of the fieldworkers and gain insight into its issuesthrough their lens.

. Memos and reports. The initial familiarization with the organization and itsactivities came through a study of the various reports and manuals published.These included annual reports, budget analysis reports of Arthik Siksha,newspaper clippings on Adhikar and other documents relating to the

organization.. Observations. In addition to the interviews, the author also observed the

non-verbal cues, pattern of interaction and nature of relationships amongmembers during her visits to the Adhikar office and the field, which wasindicative of the climate of the organization. These observations continuedbeyond the course of the interviews to the time when she was sitting in on someof the meetings of the coordinators and her informal interaction withorganizational members.

. Diagnostic presentation. Towards the end of the engagement, a session was heldwith all the coordinators present, where findings from the authors engagementwith the organization were presented to the members in a closed room group

meeting. This served both as a mirroring (feedback) activity as well as a forumfor initiating dialogue and communication across the various units and membersof the organization.

Organizational entry engagement with AdhikarThe engagement with Adhikar began when the first author contacted Ms Pia Mishra,who is the program director of Adhikar, and with whom she had worked previously inanother capacity, to discuss the possibility of the intervention. Ms Mishra expressed

Figure 2.Structure of Adhikar

showing differentiation byprogram and region

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interest and welcomed the engagement. A second meeting was arranged where boththe authors met her again to explain the nature of the intended engagement and seekformal permission for the first author to enter the organization, conduct interviews andapply OD principles as and when required.

Meeting with the coordinatorsThe author met each of the coordinators of Adhikar, starting with Ms Pia Mishra, whoserved as the point of contact throughout. Following this, she met with each of thecoordinators in turn, to get their perspective on the organization. Most of the issues andconcerns surfaced through these sessions. While most coordinators opened up freely todiscuss their concerns, some like Ms Devi (the then Director of Adhikar) were less openand did not share much about their views on Adhikar and its functioning.

Most coordinators had been with the organization since its inception. All of themechoed a strong sense of organizational identification and commitment. There washigh regard for the founder Mr Mishra. His daughter, Pia (the authors contact) has had

to prove herself in the organization although she is professionally-qualified and hasbeen actively working in the field. Interestingly, during the authors meetings with MsMishra, she never mentioned that she was the daughter of the founder. The authorcame to know this only during the course of her later interviews.

DiagnosisThe issues that emerged were analyzed using Weisbords six-box model (as cited inFrench and Bell, 2003), shown in Figure 3

Each of the emergent issues is discussed in further detail below.

Issues relating to structureLack of clarity on structure. There appeared to be a lack of clarity regarding thestructure of Adhikar. Some clarity on the role of Ms Mishra was also sought by one ofthe coordinators at the time of the diagnostic presentation. The confusion over thestructure existed primarily because of the organizational boundaries being both

Figure 3.Weisbords six-box model

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geographical and program-driven. The resultant matrix-structure caused confusion inclarifying reporting relationships. Instances were cited during the interviews when thismatrix-structure caused confusion regarding reporting relationships or precedence ofcommand.

Centralization vs. decentralization. There was considerable autonomy anddecentralization at the coordinator level in the organization. However, some felt thatthe sense of responsibility and accountability that comes with empowerment waslacking in Adhikar. The coordinating mechanisms such as periodic meetings amongcoordinators to make decentralization effective were absent. In such a scenario, thedifferent units seem to be operating in silos with little coordination and total absence ofcentralization at any level.

Issues relating to purposeAgreement on objectives. Largely, there was agreement on the objectives of theorganization as being rights-based, facilitating social change through mobilization and

advocacy. However, some coordinators felt that they also needed to work towards thedevelopment of the tribals. The vision and future direction of Adhikar as eitherrights-based, developmental or a combination of both did not have consensus amongall the coordinators. The view posed by some was that it is time for Adhikar to forayinto developmental work, given that much of the rights-based work had seen itsculmination and the future lay in the area of developmental work.

Issues relating to relationshipsLack of coordination. This theme emerged as the most common through the interviews.Most of the program directors thought that there was not enough coordination betweenthem. The various units of Adhikar were performing their tasks well, but there was

little sharing of information. The high degree of decentralization at the coordinatorlevel had granted a great degree of autonomy but the coordinating mechanisms wereabsent. There had been a noticeable decline, over time, in the number of meetings whenall the coordinators met, and many cited this as a reason for the disconnect they feltwith Adhikar as a whole.

Old vs. new. In talking to the coordinators, some of whom had been with theorganization since its inception and some who were relatively new, there appeared tobe some lack of trust between the two groups. The new coordinators felt their growth,or initiatives, were stymied by the old who appeared to be guarding their turfs. Theyalso did not feel welcomed by the old. On the other hand, the older members in theorganization felt that the new were over-ambitious and got right into the field withoutmaking an effort to understand the organization. Though this was a concern echoed by

a few members, it had the potential to grow and create conflict if not properlyaddressed.

No proper induction for new employees. Tied in to the seeming gulf between the oldand the new members was the fact that the new entrants did not go through any formalsocialization process, which also manifested in a feeling of not being welcomed into theorganization. Instances were mentioned when the new entrant had to go and seekinformation and figure things out for him/herself, which further created a feeling ofisolation.

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Issues relating to leadershipAcceptability of women leaders. Ms Devi had been with the organization since itsinception and enjoyed support in her region. She was however based off Chaibasa. MsPia Mishra, the daughter of Mr Mishra had been with the organization for five years as

the Program Director of Ghatsila. Both Ms Devi and Ms Mishra were potential futureleaders of Adhikar. However, they independently echoed reservations as potential nextleaders and mentioned their gender as one of the reasons. They felt that the other malecoordinators and the community they served might not be ready for a female leader.However, in discussions with most of the other coordinators, the authors got the sensethat they were open to having a woman leader. Some of the coordination issues wereexpected to be addressed if a new leader was appointed[4].

Next rung of leaders after a charismatic founding leader. Adhikar had a verycharismatic and dynamic leader in Mr Mishra. A number of those who were associatedwith Adhikar had been attracted by his personal charisma. After Mr Mishras activeinvolvement in politics, his association with Adhikar on a regular basis had

diminished. This created a leadership vacuum. Many in the organization exhibited aninability to think beyond Mr Mishra as their leader. The organization seemed to befacing a crisis in terms of a leader who could command the same level of respect andfollowing. There was a dearth of second-level leaders in the organization and MrMishra still appeared to be the de-facto leader. Even though towards the end of theintervention, Ms Devi was appointed the new Managing Trustee, during the earliermeetings and in the eyes of others she was a shadow of Mr Mishra and a surrogateleader for Ms Pia Mishra, the daughter of Mr Mishra. Pia appeared to be the chiefdecision maker. She operated from the headquarters while Ms Devi preferred to workfrom her Chaibasa location. In our interactions it was felt that Ms Devi may have beena good worker, but lacked the vision needed to lead a highly motivated team. Ms Devihad not been very forthcoming in the interview and was not too accommodating of the

diverse views that were expressed during the diagnostic presentation meeting. Thenew leader appeared to be in stark contrast to the charismatic leadership of Mr Mishra.Although Ms Devi appeared a reluctant leader, possibly also inhibited because she wasnot a successor from within the family, she brought with her tremendous experiencefrom the field, having worked alongside Mr Mishra most of her life, and having beenparty to the struggles of the early days of setting up the organization. While it isrecognized that the dynamics of leading an organization with family ties stronglyrepresented, throws up variety of challenges in terms of power and influence, thepredominant leadership issue here appeared to be that of filling the leadership void leftby the founding leader. This leadership issue is a classic problem (Ramos, 2007;Schnell, 2005) whenever a charismatic leader moves on and his/her shoes have to befilled.

Issues relating to rewardsDifferential pay. Adhikar started out as a rights-based organization. Most of the olderemployees chose to work for it due to their dedication to the original cause. The neweremployees (some better qualified professionally) were getting paid higher, which was aperceived to be discriminatory and was a source of discontent among the oldermembers.

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Issue of security. Being a developmental organization that has to often depend onexternal funding, the issue of job security was a matter of concern to some. With Mr,.Mishras lesser involvement, there was a palpable fear that Adhikar may close shutterssome day. The view expressed was that some form of assurance from the leadership

for the future of Adhikar might ease the sense of insecurity.

Issues relating to other helpful mechanismsRole of reporting. There were some concerns on the irregularity of reporting by some ofthe coordinators. The tardiness of some coordinators to turn in reports on theirprogress was also tied in to the issue of leadership and authority. Most coordinators inthe past had reported on a regular basis verbally to Mr Mishra, who was able to fill ingaps of information whenever required for other coordinators. Thus, the formal systemof submitting and reading others reports had never been emphasized.

Diagnostic presentation meetingBased on the diagnosis and analysis of the issues, it was decided to have a mirroring(feedback) session with all the coordinators. Since one of the most important issues wasthe lack of coordination or communication between the coordinators, this meeting wasalso intended as a platform to initiate dialogue at the coordinator level. Around thistime, a change that took place in the organization was the appointment of Ms Devi bythe board of trustees as the Managing Trustee in place of Mr Mishra.

The meeting was attended by five of the eight coordinators. In the beginning, thefirst author presented her findings (discussed earlier under issues). The slideexplaining the differentiation by program and geography invited most comments, withorganizational members unclear or divided in their interpretation of the structure.There was some ambiguity about the role of Ms Mishra too, with questions being

asked if she was a coordinator or a region-in-charge. Although this line of discussionand debate didnt get resolved it pointed out to the group an area of concern.

It was observed that there was an apparent reluctance on the part of thenewly-elected Ms Devi, to acknowledge the issues presented. She engaged very little,and when she did, it was mostly to refute the existence of many of the issues even though they were being openly played out before her eyes such as the lack of clarityon structure or poor communication between the coordinators. Further, there was avisible divide between the coordinators, with seating arrangement also crystallizingthis distinction. Ms Mishra and Ms Devi sat on one side of the room along with theauthors and the other coordinators sat on the other side. This was also indicative of thepower distance between the two groups.

What was also interesting was the lack of involvement of some of the coordinators

during the session. Though they had been very open and vociferous during theindividual meetings, when their point-of -view was presented or negated by Ms Devi,they did not speak up. This could possibly be due to the fear of antagonizing the powercenters in the organization or for fear of being labeled the dissident camp. It could alsobe a function of high power-distance (Hofstede, 1983) among Indians, resulting in areluctance to be openly critical of superiors. Scollon and Scollons (1981) observationson power-difference and distance in terms of other factors such as differing beliefs andassumptions hampering the communicative interaction are also relevant in

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understanding the reluctance to open up in the presence of power differentials existingwithin the group.

Though the meeting could not resolve all of the issues, this session to some extentwas successful in bringing the coordinators together and engaging them in a

constructive discussion. For an organization where various groups had been operatingin silos and where the coordinators had not sat down together in years beyond theannual meeting, this was a beginning. Due to the limited time available for theengagement it was left to the organization to follow up on the issues and findings. Areport summarizing the findings and observations was provided to the management.

Lessons from the interventionThis intervention presented a novel opportunity for the first author to enter anorganization of her choice and understand the issues involved and apply the learningsof OD to the field. Some of the personal learnings and reflections about the interventionare provided here.

.

Capturing data without appearing intrusive. In her initial meetings, the firstauthor noticed that whenever she started taking notes the interviewees tended tobe a bit reluctant to divulge information, especially if they were discussingsensitive issues. For her future interviews she chose to capture what transpiredduring the sessions after the interviews, refraining from taking notes so theinterviewee was not inhibited in discussing sensitive issues. What she learnedwas that people tend to open up more easily if there are no visible forms ofrecord-keeping which helps to build a comfortable non-intrusive atmosphereduring the interviews. The potential use of a small recorder to capture data thatinterviewees may feel less threatened by as opposed to the overt note taking,could be explored in future interventions.

. The need to be non-aligned to any camp. In one of her not too productiveinterviews, the author was made aware of how she may be viewed by theinterviewees. Try as she might, she could not get one of the coordinators to openup. On reflection, it emerged that she had presented Ms Pia Mishraspoint-of-view on more than one occasion during the meeting. As the coordinatorwas not too happy with Ms Mishra (something we figured later), he was beingnon-cooperative during the interview, possibly because he viewed the author asaligned to Ms Mishras camp. This interview underlined the importance ofappearing impartial in order to establish trust with the interviewee.

. The role of interviewers own biases. Before the author met with one of thecoordinators, she had heard of him from the other interviewees and had formed apreconception of him as a trouble-maker. She started out being a little defensive;

however, during the actual interview she was surprised to find him forthrightand candid. The author had a sense that she had been unfair in judging himbefore the interview. This session forced her to examine the role of biases in theinterviewer and the need to keep an open mind.

. The importance of getting the leadership involved. During the time of the authorsengagement with Adhikar, Mr Mishra was not actively involved in Adhikarsactivities owing to his political involvement. A meeting with Mr Mishra couldnot be arranged due to his other commitments. Due to the peculiar circumstance

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of the organization being in a transition period with a change of leadership, theauthors did not get an opportunity to fully engage with the top leader during thediagnosis. Even though important issues surfaced, the new leader was not readyto take them further with the authors at that juncture. The importance of the top

leaders buy-in for the success of any organization development initiative servedan important lesson.

ConclusionThis paper is an attempt to address the gap in the literature regarding documentedwork in developmental organizations. Many of the issues and concerns addressed inthis paper are not peculiar to non-profit organizations, but are germane to businessorganizations too. However, in developmental organizations members are driventowards serving the societal purpose passionately. The passion that provides themotivation could also blind people towards the importance of internal workings, suchas structure or coordination mechanisms, in the long run. The role of an outside neutral

observer such as the consultant becomes all the more valuable to introduce an elementof rationality in the diagnosis of otherwise neglected issues.The organization studied proved to be an educative one where many of the issues

faced by developmental organizations, as indicated in the literature and few otherscame to the fore. This intervention, although limited in scope to organizationaldiagnosis and mirroring, provided an ideal opportunity for engagement in adevelopmental organization. From the point of view of the first authors exposure to thefield, it served as an invaluable experience both for the scope and the depth of issuescovered. In addition, the intervention allowed for some very basic yet importantlessons for the consultant that is relevant for any OD work.

Notes

1. The names of the organization, its location and the various individuals have been disguisedto maintain confidentiality. However, all the events and data are true.

2. Adivasi stands for tribals and Sangathan is the local name for organization.

3. Arthik Siksha stands for financial education.

4. On the day of the final presentation to the Adhikar team the authors were told that Ms Devihad been appointed the new Managing Trustee.

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About the authorsNisha Nair is an Assistant Professor in Organizational Behavior and Human ResourceManagement at the Indian Institute of Management Indore. She received her doctoral degree as aFellow of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) with specialization in

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organizational behavior. Her research interests are in the areas of work alienation, workplacedeviant behavior, organizational development, and emotions and conflict. Nisha Nair is thecorresponding author and can be contacted at: nisha@iimidr.ac.in

Neharika Vohra is a Professor in Organizational Behavior at IIM Ahmedabad. Vohra gained

her PhD in psychology from University of Manitoba, Canada. Her research interests are in theareas of leadership, commitment, positive organizational behavior, engagement/alienation, andcross-cultural competence. She was the recipient of the Young Psychologist Award at theInternational Congress of Psychology, and the Best Teacher Award at the University ofManitoba, Department of Arts. Vohra has published many papers in national and internationaljournals and has been on the editorial board of several journals.

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