Organizational Development Concepts Quiz

Chapter 10: Organizational Change & Innovation

• Learning Objectives:
  • Discuss what managers need to know about organizational change.
  • Discuss three forms of change, Lewin's change model, and the systems approach to change.
  • Describe the purpose of organizational development.
  • Describe approaches toward innovation and components of an innovation system.
  • Discuss ways managers can help employees overcome fear of change.
  • Review methods to increase the career readiness competency of openness to change.

Creativity at Work

• Creativity: The process of generating novel ideas.
• Proactive Learning: A key aspect of creativity.
• Positive Approach: Fostering a positive mindset for creative thinking.
• Problem Solving: Crucial for innovative solutions.
• Self-Motivation: Driving oneself to find creative solutions.

Nature of Change in Organizations

• Fundamental Change: Challenges organizations face.
• Two Types of Change: Reactive (responding to unexpected events) and proactive (managing anticipated events).
• Forces for Change: Internal and external pressures driving organizational change.

Fundamental Change: Examples

• Segmented Marketplace: Niche products and services gaining popularity.
• Increased Competition: Faster speed to market is needed.
• Potential for Radical Change: Some companies might not survive significant changes.
• Offshore Suppliers: Shifting production and operational models.
• Knowledge Advantage: Importance of in-depth knowledge over surface-level information.

Two Types of Change: Reactive and Proactive

• Reactive Change: Responding to problems and opportunities as they arise.
• Proactive Change: Managing anticipated problems and seizing opportunities.

Forces for Change (External & Internal)

• Outside Forces: Demographics (age, skill sets, etc.), technology, shareholders/customers, social/political pressures, and war.
• Inside Forces: Human resource issues, managers' behavior (conflict, leadership), reward systems.

Forms and Models of Change

• Adaptive Change: Least threatening, based on familiar experiences.
• Innovative Change: Moderately threatening, involves new ideas but is not radically different.
• Radically Innovative Change: Highly threatening, utilizes brand-new approaches within the industry.
• Lewin's Change Model: Unfreezing (motivating change), changing (learning new ways), refreezing (making new ways normal).
• Systems Approach to Change: Focusing on inputs (why), identifying necessary change elements, specifying desired outputs.

Systems Approach to Change (continued)

• Feedback: Examining the change's effectiveness and making necessary adjustments.
• Force-Field Analysis: Identifying forces driving and resisting change.
• Applying the Systems Model: Utilizing a systematic approach to managing change effectively.

Components of an Innovation System

• Innovation Strategy: A plan for organizational innovation.
• Committed Leadership: Senior leaders' support for innovation.
• Innovative Culture and Climate: A supportive atmosphere for creativity and risk-taking.
• Appropriate Resources: Providing necessary resources for innovation.
• Required Structure and Processes: Enabling the needed processes within the organization.
• Necessary Human Capital: The right people with proper human resources policies and practices.

Organizational Development

• OD Purposes: Enhancing individual, team, and organizational performance; revitalizing organizations; adapting to mergers.
• OD Process: Diagnosis (assessing the problem), intervention (developing solutions), evaluation (measuring effectiveness), feedback.
• OD Factors Affecting Effectiveness: Multiple interventions, management support, goals geared towards short-term and long-term results, organizational culture.

The Threat of Change and Employee Resistance

• Causes of Resistance to Change: Employee characteristics, change agent characteristics, change agent-employee relationship.
• Reasons Employees Resist Change: Predisposition toward change, surprise and fear of the unknown, climate of mistrust, fear of failure, loss of status/job security, peer pressure, disruption of cultural traditions/group relationships, personality conflicts, lack of tact/poor timing, non-reinforcing reward systems.

Career Readiness

• Model of Career Readiness: Emphasizing openness to change; identifying competencies like knowledge, core skills, soft skills, and attitudes for career success.
• Managing Career Readiness: Applying self-affirmation theory, practicing self-compassion, including mindfulness meditation, and practicing self-kindness to promote resilience and adaptability in the face of change.