BUS370: Organizational Development
Real World Application of OD Principles
OD has experienced major changes through time; for that reason it is difficult to arrive at a clear and definitive definition of OD. Nevertheless, it is important to point out that OD is a managerial theory whose focus is satisfaction of both people and organizations. In addition, OD techniques are useful in any situation, but especially when a change occurs in the organization. Organization Development is a process by which behavioral science knowledge and practices are used to help organizations to achieve greater effectiveness, including improved quality of life, increased productivity, and improved product and service quality. Its focus is on improving the organization’s ability to assess and to solve its own problems. OD is oriented to improving the total system the organization and its parts in the context of the larger environment that impacted on them. OD is not designed to solve a single or temporary problem in the organization. Its intention is to move the organization to a higher level of functioning that is to improve the performance and satisfaction of organization members.
1. I will discuss ways to apply OD principles in my organization.
I will discuss ways to apply OD principles
in my organization. After hearing the big news that a major employer has just announced its big move to Mexico, I have some decisions to make. The automotive support industry has been a huge competitor of ours for a number of years. With a big move like this, many jobs may be lost, which leaves many people without jobs.
The first thing that I will do is to gather up all of the information pertaining to the automotive industry big move. Next I will need to gather up all the facts in order to help bring the necessary change within my organization. In our text it states that the role of the OD professional is to lead the change, they are the person “guiding the process of change in an organization” (Brown & Harvey, 2006, p. 97). This will be my job to lead the organization in change, which will benefit the company in the near future. I have to inform my employees of what needs to take place if we would like to become greater than our one time competitor were. There have been issues in the past that never got resolved simply because they were never addressed. This is something that I will be stressing to all employees in a companywide meeting. Without guiding rules or operating (and strategic) principles, the choices and decisions you make regarding the organizational development framework, analysis, tools and technology will not be on target. Integrity, commitment,
empowerment, versatility, renewal, and integration will play a major role in the success of the company making changes and moving forward. Integrity is the most important principle on my list. In my position of being an owner of a company I most make ethical decisions. By keeping the company’s integrity, this allows a stable workforce and allows employee retention rates to improve. By communicating to the employees in a respectful manner, provides good work morale throughout the company. In a way it is like we our starting all over as far as what it is we as a company wants to do. We now have a new vision and ultimate goals that I feel will definitely drive the company forward.
Competition is what drives many companies to get better and compete. This is something that we have gotten away from here lately and with this strategy the future is promising. These are changes that I feel the employees will agree on and the facts are there. It is obvious that the automotive company were using some of these same principles. With their company relocating to Mexico, this allows us to start fresh and get it together.

References
Brown, D.R. (2011). An Experiential Approach to Organizational Development (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson
http://honorableleadership.com/organizational-development-od.html
http://www.odsynergy.com/od-synergy-principles.html