DEVELOPMENTAL MODELS THAT FACILITATE THE DEVELOPMENT OF OD SYSTEMS TO IMPROVE OR CHANGE SOCIO-CULTURAL SYSTEMS THROUGH UTILIZATION OF VALID KNOWLEDGE TO DEPICT SOME PHENOMENON.

Abstract

Organizational development (OD) is planned change in an organizational context. Planned charge according to Bennis is: "the conscious deliberate and collaborative effort to improve the operations of a human system whether it be a self-system, social system, or cultural system, through the utilization of valid knowledge." The development of models of planned change is known to have facilitated the development of OD. Models and theories that depict, in words or pictures, the important features of some phenomenon, describe those features as variables and specify the relationships among variables. French and Bell (3) acknowledge the role of planned change theories in identifying the important variable involved in change. The theories of change increase our understanding of what happens and how it happens in planned change, French and Bell have explored several models from the literature for thinking about planned change. Furthermore, organizations are not mechanistic, rational, problem solving entities. They are also messy, contradictory and ornery. Therefore, paying attention to people and to their needs and feelings is essential. There are a number of theories of organizational change based on different ideas about what organizations are, some focus on structure and formal relationships. Others on culture and how individuals interpret and relate to change