Premium Essay

Organizational Development: Reflection on Learning

In: Business and Management

Submitted By jaglenn
Words 1281
Pages 6
Organization Development (OD) is a deliberately planned, organization-wide effort to increase an organization's effectiveness and/or efficiency, and/or to enable the organization to achieve its strategic goals (2015, Wikipedia).

The understanding I now have of Organization Development came at a point in which I was personally experiencing it myself. As someone who has undergone a reduction in work force, this course helped me better understand why transitions happen in a company that is going through an economical or global change. As someone who has worked for over 30 years, I experienced this for the first time ever in my life. I did not quite know the gest of what it all meant because I did not have an understanding regarding this matter. This class has help broaden my understanding tremendously on how it is necessary to have an Organization Developer who can help a company go through the process and make it a smooth transition.

From the first part of the class, we had an assignment whereas we had to interview someone who was experienced in the field of Organization Development. I chose the instructor because I realized that she had a background in OD and was well versed in the field with her many years of experience. With the experience the instructor has, she was able to emphatically speak about what companies should do upon their transition in order to keep the reputation of the company in good standing as well as help employees cope with the change and keep morale up.

Not only is an Organization Developer needed when a company downsizes, but even when a company is going through a growth spurt. Why is this necessary? Primarily because the company must understand that new positions created in the company must have some form of structure and a robust learning mechanism for employees to understand. It is imperative that companies have a

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Journal Review

...of the Book: Human Resource Development Review (Jamie L. Callahan, Editor) Title of the Article: The Role of Self-Reflection, Emotional Management of Feedback and Self- Regulation Processes in Self-Directed Leadership Development Author: Paul L. Nesbit No. of Pages: 18 pages SUMMARY The self- directed leadership development is conceptualized within a framework of emphasizing a self understanding phase and self-change phase that are dependent on the integrated operation of three skills concerning one’s ability to manage emotional reactions to feedback, to carry out effectively the practice of self-reflection, and to enact self regulatory processes for development. It is suggested that the accomplished operation of these skills enable more refined and effective self development efforts allowing leaders to respond to changing work environments in a continuous and productive fashion. However, once learned and incorporated into ones behavioral repertoire, the operation of self development strategies would become self guiding. Given that self-development can be considered as metaskills- skills that allow for the development of other skills. It requires developing self awareness of competency strengths and deficits as a primary focus in leaders self development. This process requires self initiated obtainment of performance feedback and self-reflective analysis of this feedback in terms of its implications for one’s self-development (Day, 2001: Moon, 2004). It’s...

Words: 3811 - Pages: 16

Premium Essay

Reflective Review

...20 Self-Reflection As they are intervening in complex human systems, capacity-development practitioners need to be flexible, adaptable and willing to learn from what they do. An important source of learning in real time is the processes and results of monitoring and evaluation (M&E). Bruce Britton explains M&E activities as they are commonly pursued and explores creative ways in which practitioners can use them for personal learning and selfreflection. He also provides suggestions on how this can be done under non-conducive organizational conditions. Monitoring and Evaluation for Personal Learning Bruce Britton By three methods we may learn wisdom: first, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest. (Confucius) Introduction Capacity development practitioners collaborate in efforts to improve the capabilities of complex human systems that operate and connect at different levels. First and foremost, capacity development is a process based on the assumption that better understanding and knowledge will bring about change. Also, the planning for capacity development interventions typically rely on variations of the Logical Framework Approach (LFA), which encourage careful thinking about expected outcomes and impacts. By its very nature LFA assumes that intended results of an initiative can be established in advance because the path that a capacity development process will take can be adequately...

Words: 6167 - Pages: 25

Premium Essay

Training and Development

...School of Psychology 2013 Paper Outline  Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences   PSYC573-13A (HAM) Personnel Training & Development Lecture times/rooms: Thursdays, 09:00am – 10:50am. Room I1.08. Lecturer/Convenor: Donald Cable, Room K1.01. Extn: 8296. Email: dcable@waikato.ac.nz Student consultation hours: Thursdays 14:00-15:00. Other times by appointment. Paper Description The aim of this paper is for you to develop an understanding of the theory, research, and practice relating to training and development (including career development) in organizations. Upon successfully completing this course, you should be able to:     understand, and apply personnel training and development psychology theory and research, and bridge the gap between this and the practice, conduct training needs analyses and evaluate training and development (including career and professional development) initiatives, identify or develop training programs which incorporate sound principles of learning and training transfer, identify and develop the competencies that will support you in pursuing a career as an organizational psychology (or HR) practitioner with a focus on the training and development of individuals in organizations. Blending the exploratory learning aspect of Active Learning with proceduralized instruction, and creating a learning environment within which students are actively encouraged to construct knowledge, this paper includes lectures with associated readings, student seminars...

Words: 2943 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Building a Culture That Encourages Strategic Thinking

...Articles Building a Culture That Encourages Strategic Thinking Ellen F. Goldman1 and Andrea Casey1 Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies 17(2) 119–128 © Baker College 2010 Reprints and permission: http://www. sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1548051810369677 http://jlos.sagepub.com Abstract The ability to think strategically is critical for leaders and managers at multiple organizational levels. Specific work experiences can contribute to the development of an individual’s strategic thinking ability. Culture, among other organizational factors, can either encourage or limit those contributions. Leaders, as culture constructors and transformers, can act to maximize the relationship between organizational culture and the process of learning to think strategically. A cadre of formal training, developmental activities, and self-directed learning initiatives can provide leaders with the skills to enhance the strategic thinking of those they lead. Keywords strategic thinking, management learning, leadership development, organizational culture “Culture eats strategy for lunch.” This management truism is linked to examples of how strategy failed, acknowledging that actions attempted were inconsistent with the organization’s values, beliefs, and assumptions (Weeks, 2006). The strategy-eating potential of culture has been used as the basis for recommending that leaders initiate large-scale change efforts to align culture with strategy. However, it has...

Words: 6840 - Pages: 28

Premium Essay

Analysis and Reflection Essay

...Running Head: ANALYSIS, REFLECTION AND EVALUATION Organizational Communication Analysis Part V: Analysis, Reflection and Evaluation Analysis, Reflection and Evaluation Researching and exploring the many communication avenues throughout this process, there have been many discoveries. There is no business immune from experiencing a crisis or challenging event. It can happen at any given time without warning which can devastate any organization not prepared. A new approach to crisis management is emerging which progresses beyond a purely reactive response and creates fresh opportunities for improved organizational development. There will be discussion on the traditional event approach to crisis management, which focuses on preparing for and responding to a major adverse occurrence, and discusses the new process approach, which reshapes crisis management within a broader range of management activity. Crisis prevention instead of just crisis response necessitates moving responsibility from the operational to the executive level, and the discussion will explore how crisis management activities can be clustered together and integrated to optimize organizational effectiveness. Virtually nothing can damage organizational reputation and financial performance more rapidly and more deeply than the impact of a major crisis. Yet many organizations continue to delegate responsibility for crisis management to operational middle managers, while reputation management increasingly secures...

Words: 1937 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Personal Mastery Case Study

...will have need of further development of their own leadership skills, mostly to support the newly qualified graduate paramedics and nurses entering clinical practice. An added tier to the leadership umbrella will be the clinical team leader role. These individuals will offer a key function through the monitoring and obedience to protocols and routine clinical performance indicators...

Words: 605 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Kolbs

...Experiential learning From EduTech Wiki John Dewey's philosophy proposed that each experience builds upon previous experiences and influences the way future experiences will affect the learner. The role of the educator is to provide experiences that will provide learners with meaningful experiences that will enable the individual to contribute to society. According to Kolb (2005) “ Experiential learning theory (ELT) draws on the work of prominent twentieth century scholars who gave experience a central role in their theories of human learning and development-notably John Dewey, Kurt Lewin, Jean Piaget, William James, Carl Jung, Paulo Freire, Carl Rogers, and others-to develop a holistic model of the experiential learning process and a multi-linear model of adult development. The theory, described in detail in Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development (Kolb 1984), is built on six propositions that are shared by these scholars.” 1. Learning is best conceived as a process, not in terms of outcomes. 2. All learning is relearning. Learning is best facilitated by a process that draws out the students' beliefs and ideas about a topic so that they can be examined, tested, and integrated with new, more refined ideas. 3. Learning requires the resolution of conflicts between dialectically opposed modes of adaptation to the world, i.e. reflection and action - and feeling and thinking. 4. Learning is a holistic process of adaptation...

Words: 4303 - Pages: 18

Premium Essay

Twelve O'Clock High

...MY TOPIC FOR TODAY IS ABOUT “THE ARMY AS A LEARNING ORGANIZATION”. THIS IS A STRATEGY RESEARCH PAPER OF COL STEPHEN J. GERRAS OF THE USAWC. I ONLY ADOPTED THE BASIC FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF THIS STRATEGIC PAPER. SCOPE TO START WITH, MY SCOPE OF PRESENTATION IS AS FOLLOWS:…..SLIDE 2 THE ARMY AS A LEARNING ORGANIZATION AS A BACKGROUND THE BASIS OF THIS STRATEYGY RESEARCH PAPER IS BASED ON THE JOINT VISION 2020 OF GENERAL HENRY H SHELTON ….. ASSERTS THAT US MILITARY’S CAPABILITY TO ACHIEVE FULL SPECTRUM DOMINANCE IN THE YEAR 2020 WILL BE STRONGLY INFLUENCED BY ITS CAPACITY FOR PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL INNOVATION. AND THE RESULTS OF ARMY TRAINING AND LEADER DEVELOPMENT (ATDLP) OFFICER STUDY BY WILLIAM M STEELE AND ROBERT P WALTERS. THEY CONCLUDED THAT IN ORDER TO TRAIN LEADERS WHO WILL THRIVE IN A COMPLEX, AMBIGOUS ENVIRONMENT. MEANING THE ARMY “MUST COMMIT TO BEING A LEARNING ORGANIZATION THAT INSTITUTIONALIZES THE ORGANIZATION’S PHILOSOPHY” ACCORDING TO THE AUTHOR ARGUED THAT THE ARMY IS NOT A LEARNING ORGANIZATION, THOUGH THE ARMY HAS BEEN AT THE FOREFRONT OF INSTITUTING PROCESSES TO FACILITATE ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING. THE PURPOSE OF THIS RERSEARCH PAPER IS……SLIDE 3 THE DILEMMA BASED FROM THE STUDIES OF WALTER F ULMER “MILITARY LEADERSHIP INTO THE 21ST CENTURY: ANOTHER BRDIGE TOO FAR?” FOLLOWING ARE COMPETENCIES OF 21ST CENTURY LEADERS THE JV 2020...

Words: 961 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Learning Organizations

...Introduction Learning organizations is not a term familiar to many. The image that may appear in an individual’s mind when the term learning organization is mentioned may be that of a tutor, place of higher education, or even a church. While all of these could technically be defined as learning organizations, that is not the type of learning organization this paper explores. The learning organization literature that this paper explores is defined as the role of an institution in setting up a successful union of individuals to create learning to improve an individual and the institution as a whole (Calvert, Mobley, Marshall, 1994). This, of course, is a basic definition, and as the literature is explored, the reader quickly learns that learning organizations are as varied and diverse as the institutions within which they exist. The literature concerning learning organizations is also varied and diverse; ranging from simple, clear, and concise books and article to very detailed, in-depth, complex, and rigorous academic studies. Although the literature is exhaustive and at times overwhelming, by organizing the literature into common core areas, a reader can efficiently and effectively learn all there is to know about the learning organization, how to create a learning organization, and maintaining a successful learning organization. By thoroughly examining the literature in these three areas, an individual or institution will be able to thoroughly understand the entire...

Words: 6643 - Pages: 27

Premium Essay

Oraganizing Your Writing

...adapted to the context of organizational change by stating the theme to link the topic as a block. Title of the Paper in Full Goes Here Many authors described the change in their scholar works. This literature discussed the ethical, leadership, power and decision making regarding the organizational change. The purpose of my essay will be to demonstrate my ability to organize these different point of view in literature, synthesize different categories and then formulate the common themes among these articles The proposed solution for these different authors converged to make a pertinent social change regarding the leadership, the ethics, power, and the decision making in organizations. Those four topics related to management will be developed in different viewpoints in the same order as enumerated above. Leadership The author described the reflective change in individuals leading a societal project. Smith laid out a framework for leader undergoing an organization change. The author described the executive and management behavior regarding the implementation of principals to become a leader. According to Smith (2001), one of the main causes of successful organization’s failure is the lack of reflection. The author went on to suggest that a framework for today leader’s reflection to adapt in society change. Smith encouraged permanent learning for management to promote the organizational change. Smith saw change through the lens of “action learning” recognizes that future...

Words: 1148 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Case Study

...A Harvard university psychologist Ellen langer argues that we are mostly unaware of the assumptions that underlie our thinking and behaviour.as a result our behaviour for most part is largely automatic. We tend to react to situations unthinkingly; it is as if our behaviour is mindless. She suggests 3 manifestations of mindlessness: 1) we tend to get trapped by the categories we create. When we construct a mental model of the world around us, we create categories and make distinctions b/w them. 2) as the experiment above indicates, automatic behaviour is another reflection of mindlessness. Habit or any repetitive behaviour is more likely to lead to mindlessness. 3) actions from a single perspective is a reflection of mindlessness. What are the roots of mindlessness? 1- whenever we perform any task repeatedly, we become expert at it. In psychological terms we overlearn the task. 2- we tend to form a mindset when we first encounter something. Subsequently we have a tendency to cling to it when we reencounter the same thing. Langer calls this premature cognitive commitment. 3- when we believe that the resources we require are limited, we are more likely to be trapped by the categories that we create. 4- we may think of time as a linear entity when in fact under some conditions it may make more sense to think of it as a cyclical entity. 5- both in education and at work we tend to be outcome oriented. We are focused on results rather than the processfor achieving...

Words: 2822 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Cognitive Learning Hrm

...COGNITIVE ORIENTATION TO LEARNING Introduction Orientation to learning in the early years was stressed upon in debating which orientation to learning is best suited for a working environment, namely behavioural learning or cognitive learning. As years pass, learning is becoming a more active, constructive and goal oriented process (Shuell, 1986). Basically, learning is no longer based on studying or obtaining knowledge from a certain source alone but can be achieved through performing tasks or activities and learning from past experiences as well. Thus, the more suitable style of learning is none other than cognitive learning in which Boud (1998) described that it emphasizes on the internal attributes of the mind while furnishing views based on the form of knowledge needed for working performance and their development. The purpose of this paper is to determine the advantages and the shortcomings of the cognitive style of learning in the workplace which has evolved over the years. In addition to that, this paper will also briefly describe the behavioural orientation to learning as it acts as the other style of learning within the workplace when cognitive learning does not see fit. At the end of this paper, the outcome will be referring to whether cognitive learning orientation is appropriate and should be undertaken in the workplace to improve employee learning, performance and development. Advantages of Cognitive Learning Glaser (1984) defined cognitive learning as how learners...

Words: 2357 - Pages: 10

Free Essay

Senge Model Analysis

...Management Peter Senge  2013. He is the author of the management book The Fifth Discipline (1990). Senge Change Management Model Senge’s theoretical framework focuses on delivering organizational change and development through the establishment of a learning organization (Senge 1999). His book, The Fifth Discipline, outlines the five elements of learning that within an organization are all connected. It is a notably different approach to other change management theories as it focuses on the longer-term issues of sustaining and renewing organizational change Cameron and Green 2012.         1. Personal Mastery – Senge (2006 describes Personal Mastery as the undertaking by all within an organization to use all available resources to seek more of what truly matters to them. This requires an organisation to make it safe for people to create visions, where inquiry and commitment to the truth are the norm, and where challenging the status quo is expected Senge 2006. By continually growing an employee’s capacity to create their own future through Personal Mastery, an organisation’s learning will continue Flood 1998. 2. Mental Models – Our mental models are our internally held views on how the world operates based on key assumptions about the outcome Senge 1992. In seeking to establish a new organizational structure, if an organisation’s or individual’s mental model is at odds with what the new insights need to be, the new structure will often fail Senge 1992. The discipline of mental...

Words: 1251 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Karen

...1 of 17 Organizational Strategy: High Performance Organization vs. Learning Organizations? Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1839985 2 of 17 Introduction The High Performance Organization and the Learning Organizations are two concepts that have been studied extensively in the organizational change and improvement literature. This paper will compare and contrast these two perspectives on organizational effectiveness. These paradigms then will be related to a real organization with consideration given to practical approaches at improving effectiveness drawn from these paradigms. Survey of High Performance Organization A recent global study defines high performance organizations as ones where the following conditions hold: “people are valued, critical thinking is optimized, and opportunities are seized”(Annunzio, S. pg 3, 2004). The most common characteristics of high performance organizations are the following: “Flatter, horizontal structure instead of vertical hierarchy, work done by teams organized around processes; teams empowered to make decisions so management is decentralized and participative, empowered workers with high skill levels and cross-training; rewards for team performance, collaboration among teams, between labor and management, with supplier, focus on customers, quality, and continuous improvement, and flexible technologies (Kerka, S., 1995). Another study entitled “The High Performance organization: An Assessment of Virtues and Values”...

Words: 3991 - Pages: 16

Premium Essay

Mentoring

...INTRODUCTION Mentoring is defined in an organizational context as a professional development tool, which takes the form of transfer of knowledge from an experienced person – termed as mentor – to a comparatively less senior person in the organization. Through mentoring professional knowledge and experience is transferred to a less experienced person (Hirschfeld, Thomas and Lankau, 2006). The goal of mentoring is to assist the mentee in personal and professional development. Learning and development in organizational contexts is closely associated with the concept of mentoring. Mentoring brings the values and practices focusing on continuing education and links integrated transmission of knowledge through a special link between two persons. Mentoring is an interpersonal relationship providing support, exchange and learning, in which an experienced person invests its ability and expertise to promote the development of another person to enable him to acquire skills and achieve career goals (Holmes, 2008). The mentor is an experienced person who has the confidence and wisdom to promote the transfer of its assets to others less experienced. A mentor is motivated and willing to offer their skills, knowledge and vision of life to a younger member of the organization to support attainment of personal and professional development goals (Gentry, Weber and Sadri, 2008). The mentee is a person in search of personal and professional fulfillment. The mentoring relationship is characterized...

Words: 2878 - Pages: 12