What Is Organization Development?

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Your business isn't a machine, so try a more human approach to fixing it.

Manufacturing high-value products such as, say, automobiles, is a risky business, with high costs, complex design challenges, and the whims of fashion to deal with.

So a company that's struggling might choose a variety of conventional approaches to improve its market position, such as opening up new territories, developing new products, or advertising more aggressively. Or, it could try a different tactic for survival and growth: using OD (organization, or organizational, development).

This is what Chrysler® did in the early 1990s, as reported at the time, and analyzed later by car trade expert and OD practitioner Dr David Zatz.

The company decided to find out why its sales and market share were shrinking, so it could tackle the problem at its root. It looked at all its processes, structures and relationships, and made changes at all levels. It consulted with its employees, suppliers and customers, and acted on many of their suggestions for improvement. And the outcome was dramatic: its overheads plummeted, it returned to profit, and its reputation soared.

In this article, we'll look at the principles that lie behind OD, and we'll explore how to get the best from it for you, your team and your whole organization....