Organization development
Lecture 1
Nokia on the wave
• 1992: Nokia decides to focus telecommunications;
• 1996-2001: turnover increases 5 times: from 6.5 to 31 billions;
• 1998-2012: the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturer;
• 2003: Nokia 1100: (still) the best selling mobile phone of all times (250 millions);
➢ Played an active role in mobile phones
➢ Delivery first phone: they were able to adapt and to work with it
2007 fortune magazine over
Can anyone stop nokia? > was the biggest question
Decline and the end
• 2007: the first Iphone is launched;
• 2008: Nokia buys Symbian operating system;
• Samsung & Sony move to Android operating system;
• Februaruy 2011: Stephen Elop decides an alliance with Microsoft- Symbian is replaced with
Windows Phone operating systems;
• 2011: Share values drop 14%, Nokia looses 368 millions Euro
• 2011-2013: 24.500 employees are laid off;
• Sept 2013: Microsoft buys Nokia for 3.7 billions euro;
• 2014: Nokia name appears no longer on the devices
produced; Nokia considers a rebranding;
➢ At some point Nokia needed to innovate, but they were unable to do that. They rely too
much on the past.
What is organization development?
• The LONG-RANGE EFFORT to improve:
1)an organization’s/system’s problem-solving capabilities and
2) its abilities to cope with changes in the external environment
with the help of external or internal behavioral-scientist consultants or change agents, as they are
sometimes called (Wendell French, 1969).
➢ Nokia was supposed to be able to cope with problem they encountered, but they did not.
They were unable to do that.
➢ Long range effort, not something we do isolated. Large scale type of effort
➢ Level of whole organization, not direct to a particular agent. Organization has to do it with
it’s actors. Nokia was not able to do.
Characteristics of OD
• Planned
• Effectiveness:
of organizations. It wants to improve something. It varies. Could be about money ánd
wellbeing of people for instance.
• Scientific approach (e.g. team dynamics, work design):
Not about own intuitions, but based on science and knowledge. We do not improvise.
Evidence based type of intervention in order to inform our application for organization
development.
• Systemic approach:
, We treat organizations as systems. They are complex in themselves. They are not isolated, we
have individuals, teams and more. They are interdependent. The unity of this interdepend
creates a system.
Compulsory reading
Book:
• Experiential Approach to Organization Development: Pearson New International Edition -
Donald R. Brown – 8th edition, August 2013 ISBN 978-1-292-02054-9
• Lecture & workshops slides;
• Book chapters and scientific research articles – will be introduced to you during the course;
to be found in folder ARTICLES on Canvas;
Schedule
• Block 3: 9 lectures about theory/major working models in OD (on-line).
→Build on knowledge acquired in OB;
• Workshop 1: Group formation & Exercise Intro to OD (on campus)
• Workshop 2 : Research project (on campus)
• Workshop 3 Experience session 1 (on-line)
• Workshop 4 Reflection experience session 1 & work on site (on-line)
• Workshop 5: Research project (on campus)
Important dates
• Deadline for reflection assignment: 1 April
• Deadline for OD research project: 01 April
Evaluation
• 50% individual written exam
• 50 % Team Change Portfolio
!! To pass the course you need to have a sufficient grade to the exam and each of the individual
assignments!
Exam
• Closed-book exam;
• Focus on APPLICATION of theories & knowledge learned to solve OD cases;
• Consist of 1 detailed descriptions of an organizational development case and 4-5 questions
related to the case.
Team change portfolio
• During the first workshop teams of 4-5 students are composed;
• Presence to workshops is MANDATORY
• Each team delivers 1 portfolio including 2 assignments:
A. 1 reflection assignment;
B. 1 research project;
Teaching philosophy for reflection assignment: experiential learning
Lewinian Model of Action Research
• Assumption: Experience plays a central role in learning;
Components
1) here and now concrete experiences to validate and test abstract concepts;
2) Collection of data and observation about the experience;
3) Data is analyzed and conclusions are feed-backed to the actors for their use in their
modification of behavior.
,A. Reflection assignment: the LoD Xperience
Goals
→ Increase awareness of your strengths& weakness within a system (e.g. team; leadership
skills)
→ Experience with change: working as individuals, working in a group and as a whole
organization (e.g. being part of multiple teams);
→ Reflecting on OD interventions meant to improve the effectiveness of the system;
Short description
• In workshop 3 teams will go through several individual and group exercises related to OD
and the process of change;
• relevant data in connection to the experiences is being gathered;
• Data is organized and feed-backed to the teams by the instructor;
• In workshop 4, starting from the feedback received and their very own experiences students
start working on their assignments;
• The assignment consist of describing & analyzing your experiences as individuals, teams and
organization while connecting it to relevant OD theories;
• The specific content of the assignment will be made available during the workshops;
B. Research Report
• Goal
- experience with concrete process of OD in a real organization;
- Application of theories learned to practice;
• Description
- find an organization that is/has or will be going through a change;
- together with the company decide on a RQ;
- use relevant OD theories to approach the case;
- conduct at least 3 interviews (on-line also possible) to gather data about the case;
- Can be Dutch organization but also from abroad;
- Code the interviews and structure the results;
- Develop 10 action points/recommendations for the organization;
- Full description of the assignment: syllabus;
, Research process for an OD consultant
➢ Major model we are going to use in this course
➢ 5 stages models
➢ Stage 1: in an organization you cannot make a OD process, without any issue. You need a
change, because if we continue this way things go wrong. We have to do change something,
otherwise we lose people, money.
➢ Stage 2: we need a person who take the lead. This is the OD consultant/practitioner. They
have a meeting with organization, they present their needs. And establishes a contract with
practitioner and they change expectations. Establishing expectations.
➢ Stage 3: OD consultant collects data to see what happens. Come up with a good diagnostic.
Extremely important! To come up with what is essentially the issue. Data: interviews,
questionnaires, or more.
➢ Stage 4: propose some action plans or strategies or techniques to use to solve the problem.
We have to collect knowledge to come up with an plan
➢ Stage 5: see if what you have done is successful . to see whether the actions we
implemented and the changes we created are successful.
Lecture 1
Nokia on the wave
• 1992: Nokia decides to focus telecommunications;
• 1996-2001: turnover increases 5 times: from 6.5 to 31 billions;
• 1998-2012: the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturer;
• 2003: Nokia 1100: (still) the best selling mobile phone of all times (250 millions);
➢ Played an active role in mobile phones
➢ Delivery first phone: they were able to adapt and to work with it
2007 fortune magazine over
Can anyone stop nokia? > was the biggest question
Decline and the end
• 2007: the first Iphone is launched;
• 2008: Nokia buys Symbian operating system;
• Samsung & Sony move to Android operating system;
• Februaruy 2011: Stephen Elop decides an alliance with Microsoft- Symbian is replaced with
Windows Phone operating systems;
• 2011: Share values drop 14%, Nokia looses 368 millions Euro
• 2011-2013: 24.500 employees are laid off;
• Sept 2013: Microsoft buys Nokia for 3.7 billions euro;
• 2014: Nokia name appears no longer on the devices
produced; Nokia considers a rebranding;
➢ At some point Nokia needed to innovate, but they were unable to do that. They rely too
much on the past.
What is organization development?
• The LONG-RANGE EFFORT to improve:
1)an organization’s/system’s problem-solving capabilities and
2) its abilities to cope with changes in the external environment
with the help of external or internal behavioral-scientist consultants or change agents, as they are
sometimes called (Wendell French, 1969).
➢ Nokia was supposed to be able to cope with problem they encountered, but they did not.
They were unable to do that.
➢ Long range effort, not something we do isolated. Large scale type of effort
➢ Level of whole organization, not direct to a particular agent. Organization has to do it with
it’s actors. Nokia was not able to do.
Characteristics of OD
• Planned
• Effectiveness:
of organizations. It wants to improve something. It varies. Could be about money ánd
wellbeing of people for instance.
• Scientific approach (e.g. team dynamics, work design):
Not about own intuitions, but based on science and knowledge. We do not improvise.
Evidence based type of intervention in order to inform our application for organization
development.
• Systemic approach:
, We treat organizations as systems. They are complex in themselves. They are not isolated, we
have individuals, teams and more. They are interdependent. The unity of this interdepend
creates a system.
Compulsory reading
Book:
• Experiential Approach to Organization Development: Pearson New International Edition -
Donald R. Brown – 8th edition, August 2013 ISBN 978-1-292-02054-9
• Lecture & workshops slides;
• Book chapters and scientific research articles – will be introduced to you during the course;
to be found in folder ARTICLES on Canvas;
Schedule
• Block 3: 9 lectures about theory/major working models in OD (on-line).
→Build on knowledge acquired in OB;
• Workshop 1: Group formation & Exercise Intro to OD (on campus)
• Workshop 2 : Research project (on campus)
• Workshop 3 Experience session 1 (on-line)
• Workshop 4 Reflection experience session 1 & work on site (on-line)
• Workshop 5: Research project (on campus)
Important dates
• Deadline for reflection assignment: 1 April
• Deadline for OD research project: 01 April
Evaluation
• 50% individual written exam
• 50 % Team Change Portfolio
!! To pass the course you need to have a sufficient grade to the exam and each of the individual
assignments!
Exam
• Closed-book exam;
• Focus on APPLICATION of theories & knowledge learned to solve OD cases;
• Consist of 1 detailed descriptions of an organizational development case and 4-5 questions
related to the case.
Team change portfolio
• During the first workshop teams of 4-5 students are composed;
• Presence to workshops is MANDATORY
• Each team delivers 1 portfolio including 2 assignments:
A. 1 reflection assignment;
B. 1 research project;
Teaching philosophy for reflection assignment: experiential learning
Lewinian Model of Action Research
• Assumption: Experience plays a central role in learning;
Components
1) here and now concrete experiences to validate and test abstract concepts;
2) Collection of data and observation about the experience;
3) Data is analyzed and conclusions are feed-backed to the actors for their use in their
modification of behavior.
,A. Reflection assignment: the LoD Xperience
Goals
→ Increase awareness of your strengths& weakness within a system (e.g. team; leadership
skills)
→ Experience with change: working as individuals, working in a group and as a whole
organization (e.g. being part of multiple teams);
→ Reflecting on OD interventions meant to improve the effectiveness of the system;
Short description
• In workshop 3 teams will go through several individual and group exercises related to OD
and the process of change;
• relevant data in connection to the experiences is being gathered;
• Data is organized and feed-backed to the teams by the instructor;
• In workshop 4, starting from the feedback received and their very own experiences students
start working on their assignments;
• The assignment consist of describing & analyzing your experiences as individuals, teams and
organization while connecting it to relevant OD theories;
• The specific content of the assignment will be made available during the workshops;
B. Research Report
• Goal
- experience with concrete process of OD in a real organization;
- Application of theories learned to practice;
• Description
- find an organization that is/has or will be going through a change;
- together with the company decide on a RQ;
- use relevant OD theories to approach the case;
- conduct at least 3 interviews (on-line also possible) to gather data about the case;
- Can be Dutch organization but also from abroad;
- Code the interviews and structure the results;
- Develop 10 action points/recommendations for the organization;
- Full description of the assignment: syllabus;
, Research process for an OD consultant
➢ Major model we are going to use in this course
➢ 5 stages models
➢ Stage 1: in an organization you cannot make a OD process, without any issue. You need a
change, because if we continue this way things go wrong. We have to do change something,
otherwise we lose people, money.
➢ Stage 2: we need a person who take the lead. This is the OD consultant/practitioner. They
have a meeting with organization, they present their needs. And establishes a contract with
practitioner and they change expectations. Establishing expectations.
➢ Stage 3: OD consultant collects data to see what happens. Come up with a good diagnostic.
Extremely important! To come up with what is essentially the issue. Data: interviews,
questionnaires, or more.
➢ Stage 4: propose some action plans or strategies or techniques to use to solve the problem.
We have to collect knowledge to come up with an plan
➢ Stage 5: see if what you have done is successful . to see whether the actions we
implemented and the changes we created are successful.
