Objective

Operationalization approach: OD activities

Client-system assumption

Role of the researcher-intervenor-consultant

Action Research ( Lewin, 1951 )

OD aims to change the organization’s culture by constantly questioning its structure and functioning.

1) diagnosis of the situation;

2) development and implementation of corrective actions;

3) providing feedback.

The intervention base unit is the “work team”, comprising a line manager and his or her staff.

He or she must participate in the evolution of the phenomenon under study and step back to better grasp its nature and direction (see Bales, 1950 ) method for analyzing interactions within work teams).

Process-Consultation ( Schein, 1969 )

Help the client-system to better understand and solve its operating problems, by enabling individuals and groups to carry out a lucid diagnosis of their strengths and weaknesses, and to make the appropriate changes.

A seven-step process:

· Initial contact between consultant and customer system;

· Definition of the relationship, the formal contract and the psychological contract;

· Choice of working environment and method

· Diagnosis: data collection and interpretation;

· Intervention;

· Decreased commitment on the part of the advisor;

· End of relationship

The customer needs to perceive the problems for himself, to take on the diagnosis and to be involved in developing the solutions (cf. the assumptions of the helping relationship).

The Consultant must make an exhaustive study of the organization, and work together with the members of the organization to suggest new actions in a meaningful way. Drawing on the sciences of organizational behavior, the Consultant’s help can focus on human processes where interpersonal relationships play a key role, such as: decision-making; communications; leadership; conflict management; inter-group relations.

Socio-Technical Systems ( Emery & Trist, 1960 )

Aims for better harmonization of the major variables that influence individual and group behavior, so as to create a work environment that enables individual growth and the achievement of organizational performance objectives.

· Global diagnosis of the organization, taking into account its socio-cultural and technological context.

· The diagnosis must take into account the transactions taking place between the organization and its external environment, in line with the notion of an open system in a systemic perspective.

· Designing a change strategy

· Such an approach will necessarily combine different models of organizational change, such as those in Appendix A.

The entire organization is involved (line managers and staff), with the overall diagnosis focusing on variables such as: organizational culture; organizational structure; workgroup functioning; and the introduction of new technology.

Examine the impact of the social system, technology and the external environment on the behavior of individuals and groups within the organization, using for example a model based on Kurt Lewin’s principle that all behavior of individuals and groups within an organization is a function of the individual’s personality and the characteristics of the organization’s internal environment.

Relational or transactional approach ( Lorsh & Lawrence, 1969a , 1969b )

Following a logic that borrows from the metaphor of

- Diagnosis of strengths and weaknesses and development of corrective measures based on an

By responding to and balancing basic human needs, according to the

Reflect on four areas: a) the overall organization and its interaction with the environment;