Explaining Organization Development and Organization Design

The distinctions between organisational design and development must be understood, and this article will go over them in depth.

Definition of Organizational Development [OD]

In the 1960s, organisation development was founded on humanistic values and ethical concerns such as democracy and social justice. Most practitioners would agree that OD values human development, fairness, openness, choice, and the balance of autonomy and constraint (Burke, 1997)[1]. Most OD definitions today agree that it is concerned with system-wide planned change, that it employs behavioural science knowledge, that it targets human and social processes of organisations (specifically the belief systems of individuals, workgroups, or culture), and that it aims to build the capacity of organisations to adapt and renew themselves (Cummings & Worley, 2001[2]; French & Bell, 1999[3]).

Within these broad parameters, the definition varies depending on who is defining OD and reflects a variety of viewpoints. Some, for example, focus on the process of OD work (Beckhard, 1969[4]; Beer, 1980[5]), whereas others focus on the object of OD practise (Burke, 1982[6]; French, 1969[7]). In general, there is a strong commitment to the action research process and the notion that organisational development is a subset of change management. Purists in the OD field argue that the focus should remain on human processes/social systems, whereas pragmatists want to integrate OD work with analytic and rational approaches to strategy and organisational design.

[OrgDesign] Organizational Design Definition
Organization Design, like OD, has many definitions, but all agree that it is more than simple restructuring and that the work does not begin and end with an organisational chart. The work of aligning all parts of a business to position it to win in the marketplace, ensuring that the business delivers its strategic or competitive advantage, is known as organisational design. It is the deliberate process of configuring a business's informal and formal elements, such as the value stream, structure, technologies, management mechanisms and systems, rewards, and people processes, to create a business capable of achieving its business strategy.

Development and design of organisations

Organization Design is a business solution that can be used in ways that are completely incompatible with both the theory and practise of Organization Development. At the most extreme, the CEO can sit in their office, redesign the organisation using best practise Organization Design theory, and then instruct the organisation to implement their decision. Organization Development professionals will inform the CEO of the reasons why their efforts will fail. This is where the 'how' of Organization Design work becomes critical to the 'what.' Building cohesive, trusting, and aligned leadership teams is a prerequisite and paramount to predicting successful transformations in effective transformation work such as business integration and organisational design. According to various studies, it is one of the top three predictors of successful business transformations.