Lecture 1 Flashcards
What is OD?
There is not one definition of OD, there are certain angles to certain issues.
When are you doing OD?
If you are…
- Bringing planned change to align structure culture, strategy, and individual jobs of people in an entire organization.
- Applying behavioral science knowledge to diagnose, facilitate, and evaluate organizational change.
- Analyzing the effectiveness of an organization and how to improve that by involving members of the organization. Gather evidence on the change needed and the course to take.
- Supporting increase of organizational effectiveness on all levels (high quality and productivity, financial performance, optimizing teamwork).
- Facilitating organizations’ response to change in a flexible, adaptive, and often participative way.
- Developing sustainable change that continues.
Why do organizations need continuous development?
Charles Darwin: “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”
The environment is always changing.
E.g.,
- Globalization
- Technological changes
- Changing markets and consumer demands
- Competitors
- Climate change
Why do organizations need to continuously development because of the environment?
General environments indirectly influence the organization and specific environments directly influence the organization.
What kinds of environment are there?
You can sperate general and task (specific) environments.
General environment
Can be appicable to almost all organizations.
Specific environments
- Customers
- Suppliers
- Competitors
- Public pressure groups
Are specific to an organization.
Important trends in the general environment
Demographic
- Diversification of labour force
- The workforce in many countries has become more diverse which causes companies to think about how they can attract certain employees to avoid only having one type of employee in the organization…
Economic
- Globalization
Political/Legal
- Tightened (financial) supervision
- Governmental changes (taxes, regulations)
Technological
- IT revolution and AI
- Increased automation
Sociocultural
- Increased focus on Corporate Social Responsibility (people, planet, profit)
- It’s about adaptation
What is the following a definition of?
“Planned change process in an organization’s culture through behavioral science, research, and history.”
Organizational Development
Why is Kodak gone?
- Did not anticipate digital cameras
- “Success trap”: exploiting what has been historically working
- Outperformed by competitors such as Canon
Why is Toys R Us gone?
Missed opportunity to develop e-commerce.
Only kept physical stores (outperformed by online companies like Amazon).
Why is General Motors gone?
Activists pointed out that the Hummer was the worst car to drive environmentally.
Eco-friendly alternatives were brought by the market (outperformed by Tesla).
What are the different types of change?
- The magnitude of change
- The degree of organization
- The setting of the change
Magnitude of change
A type of change
Incremental <=> fundamental
- E.g., old school phones did have some updates over time, but they were all sort of the same, but after a while the smart phones came up which caused Nokia to go out of business.
Degree of organization
A type of change
Overorganized “loosen up” <=> Underorganized “tighten up”
- E.g., new companies that starts growing have no to little structure and need tightening up, whereas old companies are too strict and don’t leave room for growth.
Setting of the change
A type of change
Local <=> Global
Global is much more difficult, different cultural habits.
Models of planned change
- Lewin’s Planned Change Model
- Action Research Model
- Positive Model
Lewin’s Planned Change Model
As a professional, you can come into an organization, study groups, give feedback
Unfreezing => movement => refreezing
Good model, but overly simplistic .
Action Research Model
The whole participative element came into play.
Cycles of analyzing and discussing with clients.
Focused on problems .
Action Research Model compared to Lewin’s Planned Change Model
Similar idea to Lewin’s Planned Change Model but it has more steps and is more detailed.
A main difference is that it is circular, where after implementing the action, you gather data and use this as feedback to improve
Positive Model
It has a slightly different point of entrance in the OD.
They look at what organizations are already doing well and how you can learn from that and improve those points even more.
Rather than fixing problems they think about best practices.
In some cases this doesn’t make sense. If a company comes to you with a problem that they want to change, it doesn’t make sense to look at other things they are doing well already.
What is the focus of the different Models of Planned Change?
Diagnosing the main problem in an organization and having some idea of how to fix it.
What are the commonalities between the different models of planned change?
- Planned change has phases
- Three phases are similar (diagnose, action, close)
- Application of behavioural science
- Involvement of organization is necessary to achieve change
What are the differences between the different models of planned change?
- Lewin’s model is holistics/simplistic; Action & Positive more concretely implement OD activities
- Lewin & Action: OD consultant is most involved in the diagnosis/evaluation part, less so in the change process itself; Positive: OD consultant and organization are ‘co-learners’
- Lewin & Action: focus on ‘fix problems’; Positive: ‘leverage strengths’
An open systems model
A way to diagnose change in an organization. Process of understanding how an organization is currently functioning.
Input => design/process => output => feedback to input and design/process
Holistic approach => understanding different input, commonalities processes, and output of an organization.
Alignment: it’s important for organizations to approach it as one system because the organization needs to align with the team and vice versa.
Culture captures all the different levels of the organization. If you are diagnosing culture you need to look at all the different levels.
Organizational culture
Culture is the pattern of artifacts, norms, values, and basic assumptions that describe how the organization solves problems and teaches newcomers how to behave.
Onion model
The onion model of organizational culture
Artifacts
- The visible cues from an organizational culture
- Behavior you can see in an organization
- E.g., clothing, language
Norms
- The unwritten rules of behavior about how to behave at work
- Cannot be observed directly
Values
- Moral belief systems
- How people ought to behave in an organization
- Not immediately visible
Basic assumptions
- Unspoken
- Needs a deeper culture analysis to figure out what they are
- E.g., if people dress formally, it looks good and we make more money
What is the following a definition of?
“A long-range effort to improve an organization’s problem-solving capabilities and ability to cope with change.”
Organizational Development
Iceberg metaphor on organizational culture
It’s not just about what you can see, but about the underlying norms, values and assumptions.
Why study organizational culture?
It is highly predictive of how the organization functions:
- (financial) performance
- employee well-being
- organizational effectiveness
- innovation
It is more important to have an organizational culture that works well for that organization than formal control systems, certain rules that are in place, procedures, structure, and strategy.
Two types of culture
Ethical and inclusive culture.
Ethical culture is about the morally sound behaviour in an organization.
Inclusive culture is about feeling included, irrespective of communalities and differences of different employees in an organization.
They are different but overlapping: if you want to have an inclusive culture, acting ethically is also important.
Even though they have something in common, they have different implications. If you look in the newspaper, you find fraud and misconduct. We think it’s quite urgent to look at inclusive and ethical culture specifically.
Why use ethical and inclusive culture?
Urgent: adapt to environmental trends
Important: highly predictive of well-being and effectiveness
Ethical culture
The shared belief that one should behave morally sound.
Ethics are the moral principles, norms and values governing the behaviours of individuals or groups with respect to what is right or wrong.
Inclusive culture
The shared belief that everyone should be included irrespective of their communalities or differences.
Ethical versus illegal behaviour at work
Unethical behaviour is defined as any organizational member’s action that violates widely accepted societal moral norms. This is different from the law.
Illegal behaviour at work is determined by the law, breaking rules, prohibited.
Illegal behaviour and unethical behaviour are different but can also overlap.
In which category do the following fall?:
- crossing the street when there is no zebra
- protesting for a good cause
- privacy violations
- stealing
- sleeping at work
- whistleblower
- absenteeism
- speeding in the company car
- sexual misconduct
Illegal & Unethical behaviour
- Stealing
- Sexual misconduct
- Privacy violations
Illegal but ethical behaviour
- Crossing the street when there is no zebra
- Speeding a little in the company car
- Protesting for a good cause
Legal behaviour but unethical
- Whistleblower
- Sleeping
- Absenteeism
Predictors of (un)ethical behaviour
Individual characteristics
Intensity of the moral issue
Organizational environment
Metaphor: bad apples (individual characteristics of unethical behaviour), bad cases (moral intensity of a situation), and bad barrels (organizational environment).
Individual characteristics as a predictor of (un)ethical behaviour
- Cognitive moral development
- Idealism
- Machiavellianism (self-interest; especially unethical)
- Locus of control
- Job satisfaction
What individual characteristics are not related to unethical behaviour?
Age and educational level
Moral issue characteristics as a predictor of (un)ethical behaviour
Strength of morality of the situation.
Magnitude of consequences
Probability of effect
Proximity
- If something is very close by it’s harder to be unethical.
- The more distance between the moral situation and the actual behaviour, the more likely unethical behaviour is.
Social consensus
Temporal immediacy
- If it happens immediately or over a long period of time.
Organizational environment characteristics as a predictor of (un)ethical behaviour
- Egoistic ethical climate (especially of unethical behaviour)
- Benevolent ethical climate
- Principled ethical climate
- Ethical culture
- Code of conduct
- Code enforcement
What determines if someone makes an unethical choice?
Intention and behaviour
Which predictor of (un)ethical behaviour do we focus on? And why?
Organiational environment characteristics.
Obviously it matters what the situation is and who the individuals are, but the underlying assumption is that the environment is something we can change as organiational developpers.
Over a long term it can predict unethical behaviour quite well.
Five types of ethical culture
- Instrumental
- Caring
- Independence
- Law and code
- Rules
Instrumental as a type of ethical culture
Ethical decisions are made based on egoistic concerns, self-interests.
Has a negative impact on organization commitment and job satisfaction.
Opposite of caring.
Caring as a type of ethical culture
Ethical decisions are made based on an overarching concern for the well-being of others.
Positive effects.
Opposite of instrumental.
Independence as a type of ethical culture
Ethical decisions are made based on deeply held, personal moral convictions.
Law and code as a type of ethical culture
Ethical decisions are made based on external codes such as the law, the Bible, or professional codes of conduct.
Rules as a type of ethical culture
Ethical decisions are made based on a strong, pervasive set of local rules or standards such as internal codes of
conduct.
Meta-analyses on the different types of ethical cultures
Instrumental culture is related to less organization commitment and less job satisfaction. Which leads to worse wel-being and more dysfunctional behaviour.
Whereas a more caring climate has the opposite effect.
Why is having an ethical culture important for organizational effectiveness?
If an organization is very moral and competent, it is much more attractive to employees (morality is more important than competence). This taps into corporate social responsibility.
If there is some sense of morality in an organization, employees are more proud, which will lead to more affective commitment and work satisfaction.
You have happier and more productive workers.
Coroporate social responsibility improves financial performances.
What are the effects of coroporate social responsibility?
It improves financial performances
- Reduces costs and risks
- Gains competitive advantage
Challenges to create ethical culture relevant to OD
There is a lack of research on come topics within OD.
- We don’t know what the impact is on the environment (government, national cultures), organizational forms (profit/non profit) or strategies (customer/competition) on ethics culture.
Multi-level approach to ethics culture is scarce.
- How do individual, team and organizational level predictors of ethical behaviour interact?
- How to ensure alignment between the levels?
Formal ethics codes seem to have little impact on ethical workplace behaviour if not accompanied by strong social norms on how to apply them.
People are often not aware / deliberate in their (un)ethical choices (ethical calculus vs ethical impulse).
- Unwritten social norms on what is ’right’ and ‘wrong’ unconsciously affect ethical behaviour.
Inclusive culture
The shared belief that everyone should be included irrespective of their communalities or differences.
What is the importance of inclusion? Inclusion compared to exclusion
- Increases prosocial behaviour
- Decreases aggression
- Improves self-regulation
- Reduces neural activity associated with pain; inclusion is a painkiller in a social way.
Levels of workplace inclusion
If you want to have an organizational inclusive climate, you have to think about all the different levels and how people experience it. It is important to have inclusion at all these different levels.
From small to big:
- Workgroup
- Leadership
- Perceived org. inclusion
- Org. inclusion practices
- Org. inclusion climate
Common themes of workplace inclusion
- Psychological and physical safety
- Involvement in work groups
- Feeling respected and valued
- Influence on decision-making
- Authenticity
- Recognizing, honoring and advancing of diversity
These themes should allign in every level of the organization.
Theoretical roots of workplace inclusion
The need to belong
- Evolutionary: safety, survival & reproduction
Social identity theory
- Need for self-esteem and self-definition
Optimal distinctiveness theory
- Optimal belonging and uniqueness = inclusion
Inclusion vs. diversity
Inclusion ≠ Diversity
Inclusion
- A culture that connects each employee to the organization: encourages collaboration, flexibility and fairness, and leverages diversity throughout the organization so that all individuals can belong, participate and reach their full unique potential.
- The culture that connect employees to the organization. It’s an experience that people have.
Diversity
- The composition of a social grouping involving all the (visible and invisible) characteristics on the basis of which people can differ from each other.
- Something you can count or ask about.
What is the following a definition of?
“A system-wide application and transfer of behavioral science knowledge to the planned development, improvement, and reinforcement of the strategies, structures, and cultures.”
Organizational Development
The importance of inclusion for individuals
Inclusion improves:
- Mood
- Self-esteem
- Psychological safety
- Work satisfaction/productivity
- Organizational commitment
- Creativity
The importance of an inclusive culture for organizations
More satisfied and productive employees.
Increased interpersonal trust.
Full use of the potential of employees.
Why do (some) organizations struggle with creating and sustaining an inclusive culture?
Similarity attracts
- Eases communication.
- Reinforces attitudes, opinions and worldviews.
- Being different from coworkers results in less work satisfaction and performance, and more absenteeism.
- Homogeneous groups often function more harmoniously than diverse groups.
… but employees differ from each other
- In a world of change, complexity and diversity, inclusive organizations ensure and enhance organizational effectiveness.
Challenges to create inclusive culture
relevant to OD
What is the motivational basis (promotion/prevention focus) for how organizations manage inclusive workplaces?
What is the role of the environment (country-level/government) in organizations’ inclusive workplace policies?
Definitions and foci of inclusion are scattered in literature: need for synthesis and validity in conceptualisation & measurement.
Diversity ≠ inclusion management
Common trap: “But we have people from all over the world working here!”, this is diversity and not inclusivity.
What is the motivational basis (promotion/prevention focus) for how organizations manage inclusive workplaces?
Signaling; showing how diverse you are. This is not the same as actually having an inclusive culture.
Is it something you do because you feel forced to, or is it something you want to proactively do to seize everyone’s potential?
- Comply to rules / avoid mistakes / reactive.
- Seize diversity’s potential / approach opportunity / pro-active.
This is a challenge to create inclusive culture relevant to OD.
Diversity ≠ inclusion management
- Equal representation ≠ equal opportunity & fair treatment.
- Formal Anti-discrimination and diversity laws and policies ≠ reflect an inclusive value system: “walk-the-talk”.
- The role of HR in transitioning from diversity management (traditional) towards creating the experience of inclusion for all employees (more novel) → lecture 3
This is a challenge to create inclusive culture relevant to OD.
What do organizations need to do to survive?
They need to be adaptive to environmental changes.
How do OD professionals support organizations to be adaptive to environmental changes?
Doing so in a planned, evidence-based, participative and sustainable way.
What is the key to individual, team, and organization effectiveness?
Creating and sustaining an ethical and inclusive culture.
