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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:
In the spirit of being a portal, you can
see how organizations have defined Organizational Development as follows:
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Human
Resources Management & Development Handbook OD
is a planned process of developing an organization to be more effective in
accomplishing its desired goals.
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Jac
Fitz-Enz
OD
is a planned intervention aimed at improving individual and organizational
health and effectiveness.
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University
of California: Organizational 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. |
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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. |
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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). |
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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." |
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US
Government Office of Personnel Management Organizational
development is the application of behavioral scientific principles and methods
to increase an organization's effectiveness. |
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University
of Massachusetts Organizational development is a management field that
focuses on helping organizations to develop their full potential. |
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Chicago
OD
Network Organization Development (OD) is the process of improving
organizations. |
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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. |
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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.
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Do you have another definition?
Contact me by e-mail at admin@odportal.com |
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