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What is OD?Definition of OD

 

What is Organizational Development?  There is no single definition of "Organizational Development."   If we were to break it into its parts we can discover one meaning:   "Organization" has come to mean the comming together of people and resources to form a unit.  "Development" in its simplist form suggests change and growth.  So OD could be defined as "the practice of changing people and organizations for positive growth."  In practice, Organizational Development can take on many forms, and typical OD activities can include some of the following:

bulletTeam-building
bulletOrganizational assessments
bulletCareer development
bulletTraining
bullete-Learning
bulletCoaching
bulletInnovation
bulletLeadership development
bulletTalent management
bulletChange management

 

In the spirit of being a portal, you can see how organizations have defined Organizational Development as follows:          

Human Resources Management & Development Handbook OD is a planned process of developing an organization to be more effective in accomplishing its desired goals.
Jac Fitz-Enz  OD is a planned intervention aimed at improving individual and organizational health and effectiveness.
University of CaliforniaOrganizational Development is the field of study and practice that focuses on various aspects of organizational life, aspects that include culture, values, systems and behavior. The goal of O.D. is to increase organizational effectiveness and organizational health, through planned interventions in the organization’s processes or operations. Most often, O.D. Services are requested when an organization (or a unit within an organization) is undergoing a process of change.

 

 
The OD Network.    Our purpose as professionals is to facilitate processes by which human beings and human systems live and work together for their mutual benefit and mutual well-being.

 

 
Action Science Network    Action Science is a strategy for increasing the skills and confidence of individuals in groups to create any kind of organization (thus fostering long-term individual/group effectiveness).

 

 
Organizational Development, [French & Bell, 1999]  "Organizational development is a long-term effort led and supported by top management, to improve an organization's visioning, empowerment, learning, and problem-solving processes, through an ongoing, collaborative management of organizational culture-with special emphasis on the consultant-facilitator role and the theory and technology of applied behavioral science, including participant action research."  

 

US Government Office of Personnel Management Organizational development is the application of behavioral scientific principles and methods to increase an organization's effectiveness.

 

 
University of Massachusetts Organizational development is a management field that focuses on helping organizations to develop their full potential.

 

 
Chicago OD Network Organization Development (OD) is the process of improving organizations.

 

 
ASTD American Society for Training and Development Organization development is the planned process of developing an organization to be more effective in accomplishing its desired goals. It is distinguished from human resource development in that HRD focuses on the personal growth of individuals within organizations, while OD focuses on developing the structures, systems, and processes within the organization to improve organizational effectiveness.

 

 
Richard F. Beckert  "Organizational development is an effort, planned, organization-wide, and managed from the top, to increase organization effectiveness and health through planned interventions in the organization's processes, using behavioral-science knowledge"  view the book

Trudy Cooper & Associates  to support managers and employees in a planned process of organizational improvement. A variety of tools are used to diagnose and develop individual and group learning and problem solving that will improve the health, effectiveness, and productive capacity of the organization. In OD, it is the group that is the unit of change, not the individual. Collaborative group efforts develop the structures, systems, and processes that support achievement of organizational goals.

 

 
Do you have another definition? Contact me by e-mail at admin@odportal.com   

 

Learn more about Organizational Development and consulting, through Consulting-U 

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last updated:  08/13/06