ASSIGNMENT:1

QUESTION :What are the main foundations of Organization Development? What are the stages of OD as suggested by Kurt Lewin and subsequently modified by Lippitt, Watson &Westley?

ANSWER:
1) FOUNDATION OF OD

(a) The field of OD rests on a foundation of values and assumptions about people and organizations. These beliefs help to define what OD is and guide its implementation.

(b) Values have always been an integral part of OD package. OD values and assumption developed from research and theory, by behavioral scientist and from the experiences and observations of practicing managers. OD values tend to be humanistic, optimistic and democratic.

(d) The knowledge base of OD is extensive and is constantly being upgraded. The most important concept on which OD is constructed is as follows:

i) Model & theories of planned change : Organization development is directed at bringing about planned change to increase an organization's effectiveness, generally initiated and implemented by managers, often with the help of an OD practitioner either from inside or outside of the organization. Organizations can use planned change to solve problems, to learn from experience, to reframe shared perceptions, to adapt to external environmental changes, to improve performance, and to influence future changes. The theories describe the different stages through which planned change may be effected in organizations and explain the process of applying OD methods to help organization members manage change.

(ii) System theory: The organization is an open system, which interacts with the environment and is continually adapting and improving. The organization influences and is influenced by the environment in which it operates. If an organization is to be effective it must pay attention to the external environment, and take steps to adjust itself to accommodate the changes in order to remain relevant

(iii) Participation and empowerment: Its one of the most important foundation of OD. Participation in OD is not restricted to the top managers but it is extended throughout the organization. Increased participation and empowerment has always been the fundamental values of this field .OD interventions are deliberately designed to increase participation and involvement by the leaders and members.

(iv) Teams and team work: The team and team work are the foundation of OD.A fundamental belief in OD is that work teams are the building blocks of an organization. To be an effective team ,the teams must manage their culture, processes, systems and relationships.

(v) Parallel learning structures: These are the specially created organizational structures for planning and guiding the change. It helps people break free of the normal constraints imposed by the organization, engage in genuine enquiry and experimentation and initiate needed changes. In most basic form it consists of steering committee and a number of working group that study and make recommendation for improvement and monitoring the change efforts. Additional refinement of this structure may includes idea group, action group or implementation group. (vi) A normative-reeducative strategy of changing: People are social beings and will adhere to cultural norms and values. Change is based on redefining and reinterpreting existing norms and values, and developing commitments to new ones. The normative-re-educative strategies based on the assumptions that norms form the basis for behavior, and change comes through re-education in which old norms are discarded and supplanted by new ones. (vii) Applied behavioral science : Behavioral science draws from a number of different fields and theories including industrial psychology, organizational psychology, industrial sociology, communication, cultural anthropology, administrative theory, organizational behavior, and political science.Organizational development is considered as both a field of applied behavioral science that focuses on understanding and managing organizational change and as a field of scientific study and inquiry. It uses components of behavioral sciences and studies in the fields of sociology, psychology, and theories of motivation, learning, and personality to implement effective organizational change and aid in the development of employees.

(viii) Action research: The action research model is data based problem solving method. It replicates the steps involved in the scientific method of inquiry underlines most OD activities. It includes three processes : • Data collection • Feedback of the data • Action planning based on data

2) KURT LEWIN THREE STAGE MODEL OF CHANGE

(a)Kurt Lewin change theory and Lewin's three step model is very much a significant part of change management strategies for managing change in the workplace in the 21st century. This change management model was developed during the 1940's , still remains very relevant today. (b) Kurt Lewin model demonstrates that to move an organization from point A to point B first we should create compelling and motivating reasons to change (unfreeze). Then implement and install the necessary changes (transition) to the way we wish for things to be. Then aim to stabilize the operation (freeze) at a better and /or higher level of performance.
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(e)Lewin's Three Step Change Model Phases are:
Unfreeze: Reducing the forces that are striving to maintain the status quo, and dismantling the current mind set. Usually by presenting a provocative problem or event to get people to recognize the need for change and to search for new solutions. Unfreezing can be achieved by: • First, increase the driving forces that direct behavior away from the existing situation or status quo. • Second, decrease the restraining forces that negatively affect the movement from the existing equilibrium.
Transition: Developing new behaviors, values, and attitudes, sometimes through organizational structure and process changes and development techniques. There may be a period of some confusion as we move from the old ways of doing things to the new. This stage involves a process of change in thoughts, feeling, behavior, or all three, that is in some way more liberating or more productive.

Freeze: The final stage of crystallizing and the adaptation of ownership of the new 'as is'. The organization may revert to former ways of doing things at this point unless the changes are reinforced through freezing. Without this stage of refreezing, it is easy to go back to the old ways.
3) LIPPITT, WATSON AND WESTLEY :SEVEN-STEP THEORY
a) Lippitt, Watson, and Westley (1958) propose a seven-step theory,which elaborated on Lewin's Three Step Change Theory. The seven step theory is to focus on the role as a change agent throughout the evolution of change. The seven steps are: 1. Developing a need for change. This phase corresponds to Lewin’s unfreezing phase. 2. Establishing a change relationship. In this phase a client system in need of help and a change agent from outside the system establish a working relationship. 3. Clarifying or diagnosing the client system’s problem. 4. Examining alternative routes and goals ; establishing goals and intentions of action. 5. Transforming intentions into actual change efforts (phase 3, 4,5 correspondence to phase two of Lewin’s theory). 6. Generalizing and stabilizing change. (this phase correspondence to Lewin’s refreezing phase) 7. Achieving a terminal relationship that is, terminating the client-consultant relationship.