Organizational Development in I/O Psychology

Study Notes

Organizations need to adapt to changing worlds. Organizational development (OD) is an area in I/O psychology drawing on various theories & applications to help organizations adapt and change.
Organizations vary greatly in structure and climate. Some are hierarchical and bureaucratic (many layers of management), while others are team-oriented and less formal. Organizational structure refers to the arrangement of positions and the authority/responsibility relationships within the company. Every position/role has interrelationships.
Organizational structure can be viewed as a continuum from formal and traditional to informal and nontraditional.

Traditional structures are rule-driven, stable, and resistant to change. They have clearly defined roles, status, and authority. Often referred to as mechanistic or bureaucratic structures.
Nontraditional structures are flexible, adaptable, less formalized, with less rigid status. Often smaller than traditional organizations.

Chain of command: The number of authority levels in the organization. A tall structure has many levels, a flat structure has few.
Span of control: The number of workers who report to a single supervisor. A wide span means many workers per supervisor, a narrow span means few workers.
Centralized: Decision-making power concentrated at the top levels.
Decentralized: Decision-making authority dispersed to lower levels.
Functional Structure: Organization grouped by department function (production, sales, etc.).
Divisional Structure: Organization grouped by product or customer type

Organizational culture is shared values, beliefs, assumptions, and patterns of behavior. It's akin to an organization's personality.
Culture is shaped by norms, values, goals, stories, technology, environment, and leadership styles.
Strong organizational cultures can be beneficial, fostering positive human resource practices which lead to good company performance.

Organizations use CAM (Computer-Aided Manufacturing) technology. This leads to structural re-organization and increased decentralization of decision-making, but also to increased need for rules in production.
Different types of organizational structures fit different types of organizational technology (routine, engineering, craft, non-routine).
Contingency models consider how environmental factors (size, customers, tech) impact an ideal organizational structure. The Woodward model suggests how different levels of technology relate to organizational structure and success. Perrow's model looks at the level of analyzability of work tasks and exceptions to suggest how structure might relate to effectiveness.