Question: One of the most difficult tasks that leaders can face is initiating organizational change. As a leader, you need to be sensitive to the ever-changing internal climate and external environment. For example, changes in the market, products, and competition may all be factors that lead to a need for change. Applying organizational development (OD) techniques to management problems is an essential skill because the primary task of leadership is to manage change; however, before a change can be implemented, the organization must anticipate the need.
To date, the executive team has been reactive to the situations affecting their department and is unfamiliar with a systems approach to OD. Based on what you already know about the climate and external factors affecting Heavy WorX, what conditions or organizational needs exist that may provide the impetus for a large-scale organizational development or planned change program?
- Develop a PowerPoint presentation to illustrate to the executive leadership team some potential problems at Heavy WorX that could be changed using OD principles.
- Define and describe what it means to use a systems-based approach to change, such as social-technical systems theory, and discuss the benefits of such an approach.
- What OD steps or planned change models would you follow at Heavy WorX?
- How will you modify these steps or phases to tailor them to the specific needs of Heavy WorX?