Organizational Development and Change

Assignment 4: Chapter 7 # 1 & 5, Chapter 8 # 1 & 2

Chapter 7 Questions

1- Compare and contrast the basic OD strategies.

The basic OD strategies are the following:

* Structural strategies- attempt to change an organization’s design by modifying the lines of authority, span of control, and arrangement of work functions. Restructuring corporations to make them more competitive has been a major goal of corporations over the past two decades.

* Technological strategies- implement new technologies, such as new computer systems and machinery. These strategies are often required to bring an organization up to the state-of-the-art in machinery, methods, automation, and job design.

* Behavioral strategies- emphasizes the use of human resources. In the past, managers concentrated on fully analyzing an organization’s technological and mechanical capacities, but often neglected a vast untapped resource: its human assets.

5- Explain three factors that should be considered in selecting a technique.

The three factors are:

* Potential results of the technique:

Will it solve the basic problems?

Does it have any additional positive outcomes?

* Potential implementation of the technique:

Can the proposed technique actually work in a practical application?

What are the actual dollar and human cost of this technique and the impact of the costs upon the client systems?

How do the estimated costs of the technique compare with the expected results (cost versus benefit)?

* The potential acceptance of the technique:

Is the technique acceptable to the client system?

Is the technique adequately developed and tested?

Has the technique been adequately explained and communicated to members of the client system?

The selection of any given technique is usually a trade-off between advantages and disadvantages because there is no precise way to answer all off these questions in advance.

Chapter 8 Questions

1- Explain how the process...