Organizational Development

Relational evaluation of organizational development activities

by Katri Vataja

Koivisto, Juha, Vataja, Katri & Seppänen-Järvelä, Riitta:Relational evaluation of organizational development activities. International Journal of Public Administration (2008) Volume: 31, Issue: 10, Pages: 1167-1181

This article outlines a relational approach to evaluating organizational development activities. The paper analyzes... more This article outlines a relational approach to evaluating organizational development activities. The paper analyzes organizational development activities as complicated, situated and technically mediated interactions between different actors. According to the relational evaluation the outcomes of development interventions are not reducible to any individual factor, but they are rather collectively produced by the different human and non-human elements. The approach is illustrated by a case where the processes and outcomes of development activities in 12 social welfare offices are followed and evaluated and where evaluation is harnessed to facilitate the development activities.

Book Review on Organizational Development Practices in the Philippines

by Yasmin Reyes

For organizational development to work, non-governmental organizations and people organizations must return and... more For organizational development to work, non-governmental organizations and people organizations must return and fulfill their mandate of providing assistance and intervention to their beneficiaries. The process may require some paradigm shift and organizational restructure, but the end goal is to uplift the lives of the people and the community.

Designing management education: practice what you teach

by Georges Romme

Published in: Simulation & Gaming, 2003 (co-authored with Roger Putzel)

In management education the medium can be the message. Students can experience the concepts they are learning if the... more In management education the medium can be the message. Students can experience the concepts they are learning if the curriculum is organized and run according to the management and organization principles being taught. This article defines ideas and presents guidelines for the design-in-the-large of education in management and organization. These ideas are then applied to two design-in-the-small cases: the XB design for an undergraduate course in organizational behavior and the thesis ring design involving collaborative supervision of thesis projects. Finally, the implications of practicing what you teach for education are discussed.

Internet Tools for Global OD Interventions

by Norma I. Scagnoli

Consultants as agents of organizational learning: the importance of marginality

by Ariane Berthoin Antal

co-authored with Camilla Krebsbach-Gnath
A revised version of this paper was published in M. Dierkes, A. Berthoin Antal, J. Child & I. Nonaka (eds.). Handbook of Organizational Learning and Knowledge, Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2001.

This article explores the wide range of roles that consultants can play to either enable or hinder organizational... more This article explores the wide range of roles that consultants can play to either enable or hinder organizational learning processes. A core concept in this analysis is the achievement of an appropriate "marginality" of the consultants’ role, in order to allow the organizational members to maintain the "centrality" for themselves that is needed to assure that learning is retained in the organization. The article argues that a number of
forces can conspire to propel the consultants to central roles, and thereby impede rather than promote organizational learning. The clarification and negotiation of roles between the consultants and the members of the organization are therefore treated as a key process in determining the impact of consultants’ interventions on organizational learning.

Tacit Knowledge and Personal Competitive Advantage: An Autopoietic Framework for Knowledge Management in Human Resources

by Matthew Jelavic

Jelavic, M. (2011). Tacit knowledge and personal competitive advantage: An autopoietic framework for knowledge management in human resources. Canadian Manager, 36(3), 22 – 23.

Conceptual Barriers to Creating Integrative Universities

by Jon Awbrey

Awbrey, S.M., and Awbrey, J.L. (May 2001), “Conceptual Barriers to Creating Integrative Universities”, Organization : The Interdisciplinary Journal of Organization, Theory, and Society 8(2), Sage Publications, London, UK, pp. 269–284.

Today’s society looks to universities for solutions to broad-based issues that require cross-disciplinary expertise.... more Today’s society looks to universities for solutions to broad-based issues that require cross-disciplinary expertise. Yet, the organizational structure of our institutions remains locked in academic and administrative silos that have little genuine ability to communicate or to recognize the interdependence of knowledge. Why does the capacity to communicate between disciplines and units remain limited? How do formalizations of our experience create barriers? What kind of reflection would it take to subject our mental models of knowledge and learning to critical inquiry? This discussion highlights one of the most entrenched ‘group identity myths’ that underlie the structure of modern academic institutions, the ‘triviality of integration’ thesis.

Modelos para la creación y gestión del conocimiento: una aproximación teórica

by David Rodríguez

Corporate Sustainability Survey 2011

by Dhiman Chowdhury

Sustainability paradox has become a debate of our time; adding to this predicament is sometimes the questionable... more Sustainability paradox has become a debate of our time; adding to this predicament is sometimes the questionable behaviors of the corporations. This detrimental demeanor is counterproductive, as it for the entity so do for our common goods. The issue of sustainability is a dilemma of our which many scholars pondered over last decades, yet despite their efforts, the message is somewhat convoluted through a plethora of conflicting strategies, definitions, mandates and regulatory measures. The obfuscation has created deviation in the discourse of “sustainability” measures without addressing systemic discord with sustainability challenges at organizational and societal level, and societal and ecological level. This survey examines presence and absence of a particular behavioral dimension in global corporations and corollary effect of it. In addition, this global survey unveils previously unknown data depicting correlation between certain behavioral dimension at workplace and other corporate level factors including profitability, innovation and market leadership. This global survey serves as the basis for further research to find a common ground that brings institutional integration to sustainability conjectures.

Leadership and management development: developing tomorrow's managers

by Robert M. Yawson

Human Resource Development International, 15(1), 131-134. DOI:10.1080/13678868.2011.604957

A review of "Leadership and management development: developing tomorrow’s managers", by K. Dalton, Harlow,... more A review of "Leadership and management development: developing tomorrow’s managers", by K. Dalton, Harlow, Great Britain, Financial Times Prentice Hall, Pearson Education Limited, 2010, 520 pp., $59.14/36.06 (paperback), ISBN 13: 9780273704706/ISBN 10: 0273704702

New Paradigms in Organizational Development in the 21st Century: Positivity, Spirituality, and Complexity.

by Fahri Karakas

Karakas, F. 2009.  New Paradigms in Organizational Development in the 21st Century:  Positivity, Spirituality, and Complexity.  Organization Development Journal.  Spring 2009.
http://oro.open.ac.uk/22965/

Traditional Organization developement models are giving way to new intervention methods and models in an age of... more Traditional Organization developement models are giving way to new intervention methods and models in an age of uncertainty, complexity, globalization, and accelerating change. The purpose of this article is to suggest new roles for Organization developement professionals in the 21st century. Drawing from appreciative inquiry, positive organizational scholarship, spirituality, and complexity, the paper discusses the emergence of seven new creative roles for Organization developement professionals: Social artist, ethical pioneer, spiritual visionary, creative catalyst, cultural innovator, holistic thinker, and community builder. This paper invites Organization developement professionals and consultants to consider new paradigms/perspectives and to adopt new roles in organizational interventions for wider impact and better performance.

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1743445

Technological iatrogenesis: The manifestation of inadequate organizational planning and the integration of health information technology.

by Patrick Palmieri

Palmieri, P. A., Peterson, L. T., & Bedoya Corazzo, L. (2011). Technological iatrogenesis: The manifestation of inadequate organizational planning and the integration of health information technology. In J. A. Wolfe, H. Hanson, M. J. Moir, Friedman, L., & G. T. Savage, M. D., (Eds.), Advances in Health Care Management, (Organizational Development in Healthcare, Vol. 10, pp. 287-312). Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing. DOI: 10.1108/S1474-8231(2011)0000010023.

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) views Health Information Technology (HIT) as an essential organizational prerequisite... more The Institute of Medicine (IOM) views Health Information Technology (HIT) as an essential organizational prerequisite for the delivery of safe, reliable, and cost effective health services. However, HIT presents the proverbial double-edged sword in generating solutions to improve system performance while facilitating the genesis of novel iatrogenic problems. Incongruent organizational processes give rise to technological iatrogenesis or the unintended consequences to system integrity and the resulting organizational outcomes potentiated by incongruent organizational–technological interfaces. HIT is a disruptive innovation for health services organizations but remains an overlooked organizational development (OD) concern.

Recognizing the technology–organizational misalignments that result from HIT adoption is important for leaders seeking to eliminate sources of system instability. The Health Information Technology Iatrogenesis Model (HITIM) provides leaders with a conceptual framework from which to consider HIT as an instrument for organizational development. Complexity and Diffusion of Innovation theories support the framework that suggests each HIT adoption functions as a technological change agent. As such, leaders need to provide operational oversight to managers undertaking system change via HIT implementation. Traditional risk management tools, such as Failure Mode Effect Analysis and Root Cause Analysis, provide proactive pre- and post-implementation appraisals to verify system stability and to enhance system reliability. Reconsidering the use of these tools within the context of a new framework offers leaders guidance when adopting HIT to achieve performance improvement and better outcomes.

KEYWORDS: Healthcare, health information technology, planning, error, iatrogenesis, risk management, failure mode effect analysis, root cause analysis, diffusion of innovation theory, rogers, complexity theory, complex adaptive systems, organizational development, patient safety, change management, human factors, ivan illich, medical nemesis.

Organizational development interventions: An artifaction perspective

by Georges Romme

Published in: Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 2011

Given the highly instrumental nature of the literature on organizational interventions, this article explores and... more Given the highly instrumental nature of the literature on organizational interventions, this article explores and defines key elements of an artifaction theory of organizational development (OD) interventions. Four dimensions of artifaction are distinguished: ascription, fabrication, displacement, and reinterpretation. This framework then serves to develop a number of propositions regarding the nature and background of OD interventions, the ability to create alternative purposes and values, the involvement of stakeholders in the intervention process, the deliberate incompleteness of the intervention approach adopted, as well as its standardization and codification. Finally, the article discusses how an artifaction perspective on OD intervention may serve to develop an OD science that is theoretically as well as practically significant.

Technological iatrogenesis: An expansion of the medical nemesis …

by Patrick Palmieri

Attribution Theory and Healthcare Culture: Translational Management Science Contributes a Framework to Identify the Etiology of Punitive Clinical Environments

by Patrick Palmieri

Palmieri, P. A., & Peterson, L. T. (2009). Attribution theory and healthcare culture: Translational management science contributes a framework to identify the etiology of punitive clinical environments. In M. D. Fottler, & G. T. Savage (Eds.), Advances in Health Care Management, (Vol. 8, pp. 81-111). Meso Management Perspectives. Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing.

The Institute of Medicine’s seminal report, To err is human: Building a safer health system, established the national... more The Institute of Medicine’s seminal report, To err is human: Building a safer health system, established the national patient safety framework and initiated interest in changing the traditionally punitive healthcare culture. This paper reviews a multidisciplinary literature and offers an attribution framework to explicate the organizational processes that contribute to an industry-wide culture where clinicians are routinely blamed for adverse patient events. Attribution theory is concerned with the manner in which people explain the behaviors of others or themselves by assigning causality for events. To date, attribution theory, though well established in the management literature, has yet to be translated to healthcare. In this paper, we first describe the historical evolution of attribution theory in relation to human behavior in clinical practice and healthcare management and then discuss the work environments in contemporary healthcare organizations. Next, we demonstrate the applicability of attribution theory to healthcare by providing two adverse event exemplar cases. Then, the Healthcare Attribution Error Model is offered to demonstrate how concepts from attribution theory serve as antecedents to the employee cynicism, learned helplessness, organizational inertia, and the emerging Just Culture perspective. We conclude by suggesting attribution theory offers an important theoretical framework that warrants further conceptual development and empirical research. In the quest to produce exceptional healthcare environments where safety and quality are fundamental employee concerns, healthcare managers and clinical professionals need theoretically supported knowledge and evidence-based insights.

KEYWORDS: Attribution theory; patient safety; just culture; punitive culture; safety culture; cynacism; learned helplessness; blame; organizational inertia; complexity theory; complex adaptive system; leadership; organizational behavior; organizational development; human resource management; sentinel event; adverse event; error; medical error; mistake; Institute of Medicine; To err is human; James Reason.

Social Capital and the Campus Community

by Andrew Carpenter

Carpenter, A. N., Coughlin, L., Morgan, S., & Price, C. (2010). Social Capital and the Campus Community. In J. E. Miller, Im To Improve the Academy: Resources for Faculty, Instructional, and Organizational Development, Vol. 29 (Vol. 29). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, pp. 201-215.

Investigating colleges' and universities' social capital through its five dimensions—civic engagement, norms and... more Investigating colleges' and universities' social capital through its five dimensions—civic engagement, norms and trust, collective action, bonding capital, and bridging capital—provides a powerful way of thinking about organizational and faculty development. Four very different institutions of higher learning have promoted their organizational development through efforts that build social capital. We seek to inspire additional application of and research into this topic by demonstrating that confronting the complexities of social capital within diverse campus communities can help faculty developers to understand those communities with greater nuance and in ways that improve their ability to design and implement development initiatives.