Organizational Development, Organizational Culture and Organizational Change

Abstract

Organizational change is triggered by the ever changing business environment, political, economic, cultural, competitor initiatives, technological innovations, globalization, or restructuring, among others. This paper discusses the crucial aspects of dealing with the volatile business environment looking at how best to manage change. It focuses on organization development which is a broad term comprising, among other things, organizational culture and organizational change. Organizational Development (OD) is seen as mostly proactive, that is, is initiated by managers/owners and focuses on how best to develop an organization. It runs from the initial stage of inception of ideas to form an organization (start-up stage) all through to the development working structures and strategic goals. On the other hand, organizational culture focuses on how best the so formed organization and structures can be safeguarded, how best to achieve the set goals, how to carry ourselves around. In other words, organizational culture attempts to freeze the developments or changes made so far in such a way that they are more effective and efficiently used. However, the organization is surrounded by so many factors, both within and without, that are ever changing and can trigger a change, even to the best laid plans. Here is where organizational change comes in. Organizational change is both proactive and reactive. If it is planned and initiated by management, then it is proactive. But if it is in response to externalities or even internal shocks, then it is reactive. Organizational change focuses on unfreezing the existing structures and cultures in an attempt to make the organization affluent with the current technologies and challenges. Hence, there exists interplay between organizational development, organizational culture and organizational change, which forms the interest of this discussion.