Organisation Design Development Change

Indira Gandhi National Open University School of Management Studies
MS-10
Organizational Design, Development and Change
Block
UNDERSTANDING ORGANIZATIONS
UNIT 1 Approaches to Understanding Organization UNIT 2 Factors Affecting Organization Design 5 20
Understanding Organizations
Course Design and Preparation Team (2004)

Dr. Sasmita Palo Berhampur University Berhampur Prof. D.V. Giri Berhampur University Berhampur Prof. B.K. Dhup Fore School of Management New Delhi Mr. Parth Sarathi AGM BHEL, NOIDA Prof. Ravi Chandra Osmania University Hyderabad Prof. G.S. Das IMI, New Delhi Prof. Pestonjee (Course Editor) Ex-IIM Ahmedabad Prof. B.B. Khanna Director School of Management Studies IGNOU, New Delhi Course Co-ordinators Dr. Srilatha School of Management Studies IGNOU, New Delhi Dr. Nayantara Padhi SOMS, IGNOU, New Delhi
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BLOCK 1
UNDERSTANDING ORGANIZATIONS
This block comprises two units. The first unit deals with approaches to understanding organisation. In which it discusses the meaning and characteristics of organisation, different Approaches to Organisation and also the 7s model. The second unit describes the meaning, purposes and principles of organisational design, key Factors Affecting Organisation Design and also the concept of organisational effectiveness.
MS-10: ORGANISATIONAL DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE Course Components

BLOCK UNIT NOS. UNIT TITLE AUDIO PROGRAMME VIDEO PROGRAMME
1. 1. 2.
UNDERSTANDING ORGANISATIONS Approaches to Understanding Organisation Factors Affecting Organisation Design
2. 3. 4.
ORGANISATIONAL DESIGN Typology of Organisation Structures Some Basic Organisation Design and Restructuring Strategies
3. 5. 6. 7.
APPROACHES TO WORK DESIGN Organising and Analysing Work Job Design Emerging Issues of Work Organisation and Quality of Working Life
4. 8. 9. 10. 11.
ORGANISATIONAL ANALYSIS Organisational Diagnosis: Tools and Techniques Questionnaire as a Diagnostic Tool Interview as a Diagnostic Tool Workshops, Task-forces and other Methods
5. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.
ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE Organisational Development (OD) Alternative Interventions Process of Change Change Agents: Roles and Competencies Institution Building
UNIT 1 APPROACHES TO UNDERSTANDING ORGANIZATION

Objectives
By the end of this UNIT, you should be able to :

Introduction to Microbes
explain the meaning of organization, describe what makes the business organization different from other social collectivities, explain the meaning and types of organization metaphors, describe the framework for analyzing the strategic attributes of an organization.

Structure
1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Introduction Meaning and Characteristics of Organisation Organisation as System Approaches to Organisation The 7Ss Model Summary Self Assessment Questions Further Readings
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Organization is a principle of life. We seek the help of organizations to meet our day to day requirements such as to feeding, clothing, educating , entertaining, protecting etc. However, organizations are not contemporary creations. Organizations are as old as human race. When Archaeologists discovered huge temples around 3500 B.C., these monuments insinuate that during the recorded times not only complex organizations existed, but that the people in them also organized to work together towards planned goals. Their efforts were systematically coordinated and controlled to achieve such outcomes. Modern society, however, has more organizations which are fulfilling a larger category of societal and personal needs. Organizations are so encompassing in the modern life that it is sometimes easy to overlook that each may be regarded as an entity with a specific contribution and specific goals.
1.2 MEANING AND CHARACTERISTICS OF ORGANIZATION

The term organization is derived from the Greek word organon i.e., tool or instrument. It is often been understood as the embodiment of persistent efforts to coordinate, influence and control human behavior in order to reach some desired result. According to Chester I. Bernard, an organization is a system of consciously co-coordinated activities or forces of two or more persons. Max Weber in his ideal type defined the following features and dimensions as basic for all organizations, distinguishing them from other social collectivities. The organisation has transparent and definite boundaries: It signifies a social unit which is either closed or limits the admission of outsiders. It has a collective identity of its own.
The Organisation has a Central Coordination System: There is one locus of final authority who make and impose binding collective decisions. Leaders at the center manage the concentrated efforts of the organisation, making it a unitary, hierarchical actor. The Organisation is Differentiated Internally: Internal organisational roles are sharply differentiated and codified in rationally established formal rules. Decisions are implemented by a disciplined, specialised, continuously and rationally operating staff. The Organisation is Legitimate: The organisational order, including the distribution of authority, power and responsibilities, is legitimate. That is, discipline is based on a belief that actors holding certain positions have the authority to impose orders and rules and others have a duty to obey. The Organisations Characteristics Establish What is Achieved: There is a high degree of steadiness between organizational goals, structures, processess, behavior and outcomes. The quality of achievements depends directly on organizational structures and processes. The Organisation is Flexible: Organisations are rationally designed tools, and are deliberately structured and restructured in order to improve their problemsolving capacity and their ability to realize predetermined goals. The Organisation is a part of Societal Transformation: While organizations are seen as rationally designed instruments, their growth, increased importance and acceptance in society also reflect a changing societal context, i.e., the sweeping transformation from traditional to modern society, with its strong faith in, and maintain rationality in current social context. Activity A Currently you are working in a manufacturing organization. Write the characteristics of your organization in the light of those mentioned above. .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... ..........................................................................................................................
1.3 ORGANIZATION AS SYSTEM

Meaning of System
A system is a set of integrated and mutually dependent parts arranged in a manner that produces a unified whole. It has been defined as an arrangement of interrelated parts. The words arrangement and interrelated describes the interdependent elements forming an entity that is the system. Thus, when taking a systems approach , one begins by identifying the individual parts and then seeks to understand the nature of their collective interaction (Hanna, 1988) . 6
A system is desired to have certain qualities like:

A system must be designed to accomplish an objective/a set of objectives. A system is composed of interrelated parts called subsystems. The subsystem must have an established arrangement. Interrelationships must exist among the individual elements of a system and these interrelationships must be synergistic in nature. The basic ingredients (the flow of information, energy and materials) of a process are more vital than the basic elements of a system. Organization objectives are more important than the objectives of its subsystems.
Approaches to Understanding Organization
Organization As Systems
Components of Organization System: Organizations are systems of some interacting components. Levitt (1965) sets out a basic framework for understanding organizations. This framework emphasizes four major internal components such as: task, people, technology, and structure. These four components along with the organizations input, outputs and key elements in the task environment are depicted in Figure 1.
Task environment : Competitors, Union Regulatory, Customers
Structure
Inputs : Material Capital Human
Task
Technology
Outputs : Product Services
People Organizational boundary
Source : Levitt, Harold (1965). Figure 1 : The Components of Organization System
The task of the organization is its mission, purpose or goal for existance. The people are the human resources of the organisation. The technology is the wide range of tools, knowledge and/or techniques used to transform the inputs into outputs. The structure is how work is designed at the micro level, as well as how departments, divisions and the overall organisation are designed at the macro level. In addition to these major internal components of the organisation as a system, there is organisations task environment, such as suppliers, customers, and regulators. In simpler terms it is that part of external environment which is relevant at present or expected inforceable future to the organisations goal attainment (Thompson, 1967). 7
Differentiation And Integration : Like any other systems, organization system is characterized by two diverse forces: differentiation and integration. In a system, specialized functions are differentiated. In the human body, for instance, the lungs, heart and liver are all distinct functions. Similarly, organisations have divisions, departments and like units separated out to perform specialized activities. At the same time, in order to maintain unity among the differentiated parts and form a complete whole, every system has a reciprocal process of integration. In organizations, this integration is typically achieved through methods such as coordinated levels of hierarchy; direct supervision; and rules, procedures and policies.
The Organization As An Open System

There are two basic types of systems: open and closed. A closed system is one that is self-contained and isolated from its environment. An open system is one which constantly interacts with the environment. In the strictest sense, every worldly system is partly closed and partly open. Closed systems exist only in theory, for all real systems interact with their environment. The characteristics of an open system are :
Subsystems: A system is composed of interrelated parts called subsystems. The subsystem must have an established arrangement and need to have interdependancies. Synergy: Synergy means that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The system is to be viewed as a whole, not merely the sum of its individual consequently parts, its performance should be viewed as an integrated system.
The Input-Output Model: All open systems transform inputs into output. The system is viewed as a transformation process in dynamic interaction with its environment. Goal seeking-Open system: Open systems exchange information, energy or material with their environment. Interaction between elements results in some final state or goal. Entropy: Every transformation process involves the degradation or use of energy and resources. The tendency toward entropy is a movement toward disorder and eventually termination of functioning. To keep a system operating there must be an infusion of energy and resources. Steady State: The notion that systems are goal seeking implies that they are adaptive and self-regulating. The open system seeks a state of dynamic equilibrium. Feedback: The feedback of information regarding performance is used to adjust and control performance. Feedback is informational input which indicates that the system is deviating from goals and needs to readjust.
The open systems approach to organization takes its main idea from the work of Ludwig von Bertalanffy, a theoretical biologist in 1950s. But, Katz and Kahn were the first to apply open systems theory to organizations in a comprehensive way in 1966. The organization as an open system is composed of five sub-systems:
Goals and values, technical, psychosocial, technical, structural, and managerial, which are dependent on each other. Organization, like organisms, are open to their environment and strive to attain an appropriate relation with that environment in order to survive. As an open system, it influences and is influenced by the environment through the process of interdependency, which results in a dynamic (changing) equilibrium. As it is in continual interaction with its environment, therefore achieves a steady state or dynamic equilibrium.
Like other open systems , the organization system may be expressed in terms of input-output mechanisms. All systems transform inputs into outputs. The system is viewed as a transformation process in dynamic interaction with its environment. There are three basic elements in the input/output model: i) ii) Inputs: the resources that are applied to the processing function. Processes: the activities and functions that are performed to transform the resources.
iii) Outputs: the products and services that come out of the system The organization system can not continue to survive without the continuous influence of transformational outflow like the open system it interacts with its environment, continually receives information, termed feedback from its environment, which helps it to adjust. Figure 2 shows the open system model.
Source Sources of of Energy, Energy, Materials, Materials, Information, Information, Human Human Resources Resources
Inputs Inputs
Transforming Transforming Mechanism Mechanism
Outputs Outputs
Users
Users
External Interface External Interface Feedback Mechanisms Feedback Mechanisms

Internal Interface Internal Interface Feedback Mechanisms Feedback Mechanism
Source : French and Bell, 1999 Figure 2: A System in Interaction with its Environment
1.4 APPROACHES TO ORGANIZATION

The nature of an organization can be better understood by using different metaphors. A metaphor is defined as the figure of speech that characterizes one object in terms of another one. The use of metaphor implies a way of thinking and a way of seeing that pervades how we comprehend our world generally. According to Morgan, a number of metaphors can be used to think and explain about the nature of organization. Collectively these metaphors can be used to engender a range of complementary and competing insights into the strengths and weaknesses of different view points. Nevertheless, there is no specific theory or metaphor that gives a general point of view (Gareth Morgan, 1986/1997) .
Morgan illustrates his ideas by exploring eight archetypical metaphors of organisation: Machines, Organisms, Brains, Cultures, Political Systems, Psychic Prisons, Flux and Transformation, Instruments of Domination.
a) Organisations as Machines
German Sociologists Max Weber parallels between mechanisation and organisation. He patterns his ideal type after the vaunted Prussian army and called it bureaucracy. Bureaucracy is explained as a form of organisation that emphasizes precision, speed, clarity, regularity, and efficiency achieved through the creation of a fixed division of tasks, hierarchical supervision, and detailed rules and regulations. He mentioned that the bureaucratic form routinizes the process of administration exactly as the machine routinizes production. Mechanistic approaches to organisation work well only under the following conditions: (a) When there is a straightforward task to perform; (b) when the environment is stable enough to ensure that the products produced will be appropriate ones; (c) When one wishes to produce exactly the same product time and again; (d) when precision is at a premium; and (e) when the human machine parts are compliant and behave as they have been designed to do. Mechanistic approaches to organisation have proved incredibly popular, partly because of their efficiency in the performance of tasks that can be successfully routinized and partly because they offer managers the promise of tight control over people and their activities. In stable times, the approach worked from a managerial point of view. But with the increasing pace of social and economic change, its limitations have become more and more apparent. Its limitations are that it: (a) can create organisational forms that have great impediment in adapting to changing circumstances; (b) can result in mindless and automatic bureaucracy; (c) can have unforeseen and undesirable consequences as the interests of those working in the organisation take precedence over the goals the organisation was designed to achieve; and (d) can have dehumanizing effects upon employees, particularly those at the lower levels of the organisation hierarchy.
b) Organisations as Organisms
Morgan parallels between organisms and organisations in terms of organic functioning, relations with the environment, relations between species, and the wider ecology. The organism metaphor focuses on the following:

Organizations as open systems. The process of a adapting organizations to environements. Organizational life cycles. Factors influencing organizational health and development . Different species of organization. The relations between species and their ecology.
The organism metaphor views organization as a living system striving to survive in an uncertain environment.
c) Organizations as Brains
10 This approach to understanding organization, originally known as the decisionmaking approach, was pioneered in the 1940s and 1950s by Nobel prize
winner Herbert Simon and colleagues like James March .Exploring the parallels between human decision making and organizational decision making, Simon is famous for arguing that organizations can never be perfectly rational because their members have limited information processing abilities. Arguing that people: (a) usually have to act on the basis of deficient information about possible courses of action and their consequences, (b) are able to explore only a limited number of alternatives relating to any given decision, and (c) are unable to attach accurate values to outcomes, Simon challenged the assumptions made in economics about the optimizing behavior of individuals. He concluded that individuals and organizations settle for a bounded rationality of good enough decisions based on simple rules of thumb and limited search and information.
d) Organizations as Cultures
Organizations are mini-societies that have their own distinctive patterns of culture and subculture. Culture is a modern concept used in an anthropological and social sense to refer broadly to civilization and social heritage. This meaning of the word did not appear in an English dictionary until the 1920s. Its increasing use within the social sciences has led to definitions of varying generality, which develop in a host of ways. Taylors (1871) view that culture, or civilization is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law , morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society. Kroeber and Kluckhohn (1952), have identified almost 300 definitions, and they provide a detailed analysis of 164. There is a growing literature of relevance to understanding how organization can be understood as a cultural phenomenon. Durkheim (1934), Weber (1947), Parsons (1973), and Harris (1979) provide valuable sociological analyses. Durkheim (1934) is particularly valuable for understanding the relationship between culture and industrialization. Kerr et al. (1964) explore the similarities in the structure of all kinds of industrial societies. The approach known as Institutional theory has developed the broad tradition by examining the links between organization and social context, revealing how both are intertwined in the most fundamental sense. Sahlins (1972) helps us to see the distinctive nature of modern society through comparisons with Stone Age society. The greatest strength of this metaphor is that it shows how organizations rests in shared systems of meaning, values, ideologies, beliefs, norms, and other social practices that ultimately shape and guide organized action.
e) Organizations as Political Systems

Organisations can be understood as mini-states where the relationship between individual and society parallel by the relationship between individual and organization. There are three frames of references that are quite relevant for understanding organizations as political systems. The pluralist frame of reference emphasizes the plural nature of interests, conflicts, and sources of power that shape organisational life. The unitary frame of reference views that society can be considered as an integrated whole where the interests of individuals and society are synonymous. And the radical frame of reference views society as comprising antagonistic class interests, characterizes by deep rooted social and political cleavages and hold together as much by coercion as by consent. These three views are presented in Table 1. 11
Table 1 : Unitary, Pluralist, And Radical Frames Of Reference Unitary Interests Emphasis: on the achievement of common objectives. View: The organization is viewed as being united under the umbrella of common goals and striving toward their achievement in the manner of a well integrated team. Conflict Regards organisational conflict as a rare and transient phenomenon that can be removed through appropriate managerial action. Where it does arise it is usually attributed to the activities of deviants and troublemakers. Pluralist Emphasis: on the diversity of individual and group interests. View: The organization is regarded as a loose coalition that has just a passing interest in the formal goals of the organization. Radical Emphasis: on the oppositional nature of contradictory class interests. View: Organization is viewed as a battleground where rival forces (e.g., management and unions) strive for the achievement of largely incompatible ends. Regards organizational conflict as inevitable and as part of a wider class conflict that will eventually change the whole structure of society. It is recognized that conflict may be suppressed and thus often exists as a latent rather than manifest characteristic of both organizations and society. Regards power as a key feature of organization, but a phenomenon that is unequally distributed and follows calls divisions. Power relations in organizations are viewed as reflections of power relations in society at large and as closely linked to wider processes of social control (e.g., control of economic power, the legal system, and education).
Regards organisational conflict as an inherent and ineradicable characteristic of organizational affairs and stresses its potentially positive or functional aspects.
Power
Largely ignores the role of power in organizational life. Concepts such as authority, leadership, and control tend to be preferred means of describing the managerial prerogative of guiding the organization toward the achievement of common interest
Regards power as a crucial variable. Power is the medium through which conflicts of interests are alleviated and resolved. The organization is viewed as a plurality of power holders drawing their power from multiple sources.
Source: Burrell and Morgan, 1979.
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f) Organizations as Psychic Prisons

The idea of psychic prison was first appeared in Platos The Republic. This metaphor plays a powerful role in drawing attention to the ethical dimension of organisation. It shows that we have over-rationalized our understanding of organisation. Both in our behaviour in organisations and in our explanations of organisations, factors such as aggression, greed, fear, hate, and libidinal drives have no official standing. When they do break into the open, they are usually quickly banished through apologies, rationalizations and punishments designed to restore a more neutered state of affairs. It has placed considerable emphasis on understanding and dealing with unconscious patterns of behavior and control.
g) Organisations as Flux and Transformation

This metaphor throws ideas about chaos, complexity, mutual causality etc. Four sets of ideas explored by Morgan in this context are: The Theory of Autopoiesis: The theory of autopoiesis was first developed in Chile in the 1960s and early 1970s by Maturana and Varela. The theory of autopoiesis suggests that the way we see and manage change is ultimately a product of how we see and think about ourselves, hence how we enact relationships with the environment. The Lens of Chaos and Complexity Theory: Through the lens of chaos and complexity theory we begin to learn that organisations and their relationship with the environment are part of an attractor pattern. Key organizing rules- implanted in various aspects of structure, culture, information, mind-sets, beliefs, and perceived identity- tend to hold organisation-environment relations in a particular configuration. When pushed into edge of chaos situations the basic pattern can turn into new forms. The managerial challenge rests in nudging system into desired trajectories by initiating small changes that can produce large effects. Theory of Mutual Causality: The theory of mutual causality encourages us to understand these attractor patterns and the processes of change in terms of the positive and negative feedback loops that define complete fields of relations. The Lens of Dialectical Analysis: The emphasis is placed under this approach on understanding the paradoxes and tensions that are created whenever elements of a system try to push in a particular direction. Each phase of development sets up conditions leading to its own transformation. It invites us to find ways through which key tensions can be reframed to create new paths of development.
h) Organisations as Instruments of Domination

Throughout history, organisation has been associated with processes of social domination where individuals or groups find ways of imposing their will on others. In the view of some organisation theorists, the blend of achievement and exploitation is a feature of organisation throughout the ages. Organisation in this view, is best understood as a process of domination. This aspect of organisation has been made a special focus of study by radical organisation theorists inspired by the insights of Karl Marx and two other very famous sociologists: Max Weber and Robert Michels.
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Weber identified three types of social domination that could become legitimate forms of authority or power. He called these the charismatic, the traditional, and the rational-legal. These are mentioned in Table 2.
Table 2: Webers Typology Of Domination Charismatic domination occurs when a leader rules by virtue of his or her personal qualities. Legitimacy of rule is grounded in the faith that the ruled vest in the leader.Traditional domination occurs when the power to rule is underwritten by a respect for tradition and the past. Legitimacy is vested in custom and in a feeling of the rightness of traditional ways of doing things.Rational-legal domination, Under this model, power is legitimized by laws, rules, regulations, and procedures. The ruler can thus attain legitimate power only by following the legal procedures that specify how the ruler is to be appointed. Source: Mouzelis, 1979.
A synoptic view of all the metaphors is given in the following Table 3.

Table 3: A Synoptic View of All The Organization Metaphors Archetypical Metaphors for Organisations (and associated concepts) Machines: Efficiency, waste, maintenance, order, clockwork, cogs in a wheel, programmes, inputs and outputs, The Model standardization, production, measurement and control, design Organisms: Living systems, environmental conditions, adaptation, life cycles, recycling, needs, homeostasis, evolution, survival of the fittest, health, illness. Brains: Learning, parallel information processing, distributed control, mindsets, intelligence, feedback, requisite variety, knowledge, networks. Cultures: Society, values, beliefs, laws, ideology, rituals, diversity, traditions, history, service, shared vision and mission, understanding, qualities, families. Political Systems: Interests and rights, power, hidden agendas and back room deals, authority, alliances, party-line, censorship, gatekeepers, leaders, conflict management. Psychic Prisons: Conscious & unconscious processes, repression & regression, ego, denial, projection, coping & defence mechanisms, pain & pleasure principle, dysfunction, workaholics. Flux and Transformation: Constant change, dynamic equilibrium, flow, self-organization, systemic wisdom, attractors, chaos, complexity, butterfly effect, emergent properties, dialectics, paradox. Instruments of Domination: Alienation, repression, imposing values, compliance, charisma, maintenance of power, force, exploitation, divide and rule, discrimination, corporate interest. Source: Morgan, Gareth, 1986/1997.
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Activity B Is it appropriate to view your organization as an open system? Give reasons. .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... ..........................................................................................................................
1.5 7Ss MODEL

The Seven S Framework was first appeared in The Art Of Japanese Management by Richard Pascale and Anthony Athos in 1981. It was born at a meeting of the four authors namely Richard Pascale, Anthony Athos, Tom Peters, and Robert Waterman in 1978 and come into sight in In Search of Excellence by Peters and Waterman. The global management consultancy McKinsey has taken up it as a basic tool , therefore at times it is known as the McKinsey 7S Model. There are seven Ss in the Model and each of the Ss is presented in Figure 3 and elaborated in Table 4.There is no particular order to the 7Ss.
STRUCTURE
STRATEGY SUPERORDINATE GOALS SKILLS
SYSTEMS
STYLE
STAFF
Figure 3: The 7Ss Model
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Table 4: Details of the 7 Ss. Strategy A set of actions that the company starts with and which it must maintain. It also means the integrated vision and direction of the company, as well as the manner in which it derives, articulates, communicates and implements that vision and direction. How people and tasks / work are organized, the policies and procedures which govern the way in which the organisation acts within itself and within its environment, the organigram (e.g. hierarchical or flat) as well as the group and ownership structure. All the processes and information flows that link the organisation together, the decision making systems within the organisation that can range from management intuition, to structured computer systems to complex expert systems and artificial intelligence. It also includes computer systems, operational systems, HR systems, etc. How managers behave, leadership style, employees share and common way of thinking and behaving - unwritten norms of behaviour and thought, organisational culture etc. How the company develops managers (current and future), selection, training, reward and recognition, retention, motivation and assignment to employees appropriate work etc. Longer-term vision, and all that values stuff, that shapes the destiny of the organization. Shared values means that the employees share the same guiding values. Values are things that one would strive for even if they were demonstrably not profitable. Values act as an organisations conscience, providing guidance in times of crisis. Dominant attributes or capabilities that exist in the organization. It refers to the fact that employees have the skills needed to carry out the companys strategy. Training and Development - ensuring people know how to do their jobs and stay up to date with the latest techniques.
Structure
Systems
Style
Staff
Superordinate Goals
Skills
These seven are often subdivided into the first three (strategy, structure and systems), considered as the hardware of success whilst the last four (style, staff, skills and shared values) are seen as the software. Companies, in which these soft elements are present, are usually more successful at the implementation of strategy. All seven are interrelated, so a change in one has a ripple effect on all the others. The contending opposites of the 7Ss are mentioned in the following Table.
Table 5: The contending opposites of the 7Ss Strategy Structure Systems Style Staff Shared Values Skills Planned Elitist Mandatory Managerial Collegiality Hard Minds Maximise <====> <====> <====> <====> <====> <====> <====> Opportunistic Pluralist Discretionary Transformational Individuality Soft Hearts Meta-mise
Source: www. McKinseys 7-S and Pascales Adaptation Thereof.html
Strategy:
Planned versus Opportunistic Organisations need both planned and opportunistic tendencies, but the key to success lies in the in a dynamic blend thereof. Opportunistic responses often form the content of a new direction whilst strategic thinking identifies the underlying context. Strategy formulation is the search for a new business paradigm.
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There are two types of paradigms that apply to management, namely the business and the organisational or managerial paradigms. The business paradigm defines a companys position in the marketplace with respect to customers, technology and products. The organisational or managerial strategy relate to suppositions on how the company inspires and co-ordinates collective activity, their fundamental assumptions about human beings at work and their expectations concerning their capabilities Strategy causes us to query the basic premises on which all else rests. Strategic thinking involves the understanding of basic economics of business; identifying ones sources of competitive advantage, and allocating resources to ensure that ones distinctive capabilities remain strong.
Structure:
Elitist versus Pluralist Functional superiority can only be achieved if there is enough reliability and focus within each business unit. Pascale uses the term elites to describe those specialised organisational units with closeness to power and/or superior capability. These functions signify a particular organisations typical capability. It is, however, important that more than one such elite function exist. They need to be complementary so as to make sure that they serve as a check on another. Pascale uses the term pluralist to explain these essential forces that play a important role in decision making. The tension that is created amongst these forces stimulates thoughts and lead to self-improvement and competitiveness. Elite functions bring main strengths to an organisation, but must assist with the whole (plurality) to attain shared results.The stronger and more competent the elites are, the more difficult it is to achieve cross-functional teamwork. The organisations challenge is therefore to ensure that these functions are on a par with that of competition, but at the same time they need to ensure that they respond to market demands by cutting across these functional compartments.
Systems:
Mandatory versus Discretionary Systems do not only refer to hard copy reports and procedures but also to informal mechanisms such as meetings and conflict management routines. It is important that systems emphasise key themes, but at the same time it should permit discretion and exception. Systems are powerful influences of behaviour. Although well-managed companies try to get rid of inconsistencies by creating good fit, they must guard against inward-centredness, which could restrain the business.
Style:
Managerial versus Transformational Pascale defines managerial as an administrative orientation whose aim is to get the maximum out of the existing organisation whilst a transformational orientation aims at quantum leaps in performance. The focus is on creating a new order of the things. The managerial approach is more project than process focused.
Staff:
Collegiality versus Individuality Collegiality refers to the supportive relationships and teamwork and in organisations where this is present , one will find communal tendencies in the 17
form of consistent social rules and common identities. Such a well-constructed network can make employees feel independent but yet still part of the coherent whole.
Shared Values:
Hard Minds versus Soft Hearts Hard minds refers to the financial performance of an organisation. According to Pascale, an enterprise that cannot generate a profit is not adding enough value to perpetuate its right to exit, but when short-term profits are over-emphasised, a companys long-term competitive position can be sacrificed. Hard minds drive for financial results and this drive manifest itself in a preoccupation with concrete, bottom-line results. Hard-minded values are tied to goals that are unambiguous and quantifiable. Soft hearted values, on the other hand, pertain to intangibles that are tied to higher-order ideals that affects employees (treating them with dignity), customers (treating them with fairness) and society (making a social contribution). Soft hearts act as a counterweight to tangible financial goals.
Skills:
Maximise versus Meta-Mise A companys skills can include hard assets such as financial strengths and dominant market share, but it takes the human and managerial input to convert these into a sustainable competitive advantage. Pascale uses the terms maximise and meta-mise to describe a companys decision to decide whether it should be getting better at what it is already good at or whether it should be looking toward higher order capabilities that are beyond the old. Activity C Is it appropriate to consider the metaphor that envisions organization as an orchestra? .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... Activity D List out the name of the organizations directly affecting your day to day life today. .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... 18
1.6 SUMMARY
Organization is a system of consciously coordinated activities of two or more persons in order to achieve a common goal. It is a system of four major internal interacting components such as: task, people, technology and structure. Organisations are said to be open systems. A number of metaphors can be used to think and explain about the nature of organization. Morgan explores eight archetypical metaphors of organisation: Machines, Organisms, Brains, Cultures, Political Systems, Psychic Prisons, Flux and Transformation, Instruments of Domination. However, there is no specific theory or metaphor that gives a general point of view. The 7Ss framework provides a useful framework for analysing the strategic attributes of an organisation. Of these 7Ss, strategy, structure and systems are considered as the hardware whilst style, staff, skills and shared values are considered as the software of success.
1.7 SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS

1. Discuss the meaning and characteristics of an organisation. 2. Describe how organisation acts as a system. 3. What are the different approaches to organisation? 4. Explain the 7s model.
1.8 FURTHER READINGS

Brunsson, Nils and Olsen, Johan P. (2000), Organizing Organisations, Viva Books Private Limited, New Delhi. Burrell, G. and G. Morgan (1979), Sociological Paradigms and Organisational Analysis, Heinemann Educational Books, London. Hanna, David P.(1988), Designing Organizations for high Performance, Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, p.8. Levitt, Harold (1965), Applied Organisational Change in in Industry: Structural, Technological, and Humanistic Approaches, in March, J.G, ed., Handbook of Organisations, Rand McNally, Chicago, p.1145. Morgan, Gareth (1986/1997), Images of Organisation, Sage Publications. Mouzelis, N. ( 1979),Organization and Bureaucracy ( 2nd ed.), Routledge & Kegan Paul, London. Weber, M.(1978), Markets and Hierarchies: Analysis and Antitrust Implications, New York: Free Press. www.\McKinseys 7-S and Pascales Adaptation Thereof.htm
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UNIT 2 FACTORS AFFECTING ORGANIZATION DESIGN

At the end of this UNIT, you should be able to understand:

the meaning of organization design, various objectives of organization design, different principles of organization design, theories of organization design, important factors affecting organization design, meaning of organization effectiveness, criteria to measure effectiveness.
Structure
2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 2.11 Introduction Meaning of Organizational Design Purposes of The Organization Design Principles of Good Organizational Design Theories of Organization Design Key Factors Affecting Organization Design Other Factors Organizational Effectiveness Summary Self Assessment Questions Further Readings
2.1 INTRODUCTION
Technological advancement has brought about far-reaching changes in the methods of work and also in the organisation design. Globalisation of market, changing methods of production, economic instability etc. over the factors which affect the organisation designing. It is in this context, the present unit seeks to analyse this concept and to outline the principles and theories associated with it.
2.2 MEANING OF ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN

The term organizational design refers to how various parts of the organization and the distinct elements are brought together to make it. It considers both, how these elements match together and ways in which they may be analyzed and improved. The design aspects broadly include how the organization is structured, the types and numbers of jobs, and the processes and procedures used to:

handle and pass information; make decisions; produce results; manage quality;
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communicate information; plan, develop and manage resources; innovate and handle crises (Cushway and Lodge, 2002).
Factors Affecting Organization Design
2.3 PURPOSES OF THE ORGANIZATION DESIGN

Broadly an organization is designed to realize a number of objectives. These could be:
to support the organizations strategy. The structure should be designed in such a way as to assure the realization of the organizations goals and objectives; to arrange resources in the most efficient and effective way; to provide for the effective division of tasks and accountabilities among individuals and groups; to ensure effective co-ordination of the organizations activities and clarify the decision-making processes; to enhance and elucidate the lines of communication up, down and across the organization; to permit for the effective monitoring and review of the organizations activities; to endow with mechanisms for coping with change in markets, products and the internal and external environments; to aid the handling of crises and problems; to help to motivate, manage and give job satisfaction to individual members of the organization; and to provide for management succession (Cushway and Lodge, 2002).

2.4 PRINCIPLES OF GOOD ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN

A good organization design should go along with the following principles:
The various parts of the structure should be divided into specialist areas. These specialist areas need to be interlinked. The number of levels in the structure, sometimes referred to as the scalar chain, should be as few as possible. The span of control, i.e, the number of subordinates directly managed, will vary according to the nature of the jobs and the organization, but it should not be so narrow that it results in a structure with too many levels, or too broad to allow effective management. There should be what has been described as unity of command. For this the reporting positions and authority need to be clearly defined. Every post in the structure should have a clear role and add value to the way the organization functions. The extent to which the organization should be centralized or decentralized will need to be determined by reference to a number of factors. These include, the nature and type of industry, geographical dispersion, history, environment, resources available etc. The structure must be designed to take account of changes in the environment, which can include the economy, legislation, markets, technological developments, geography, cultural environment, and social environment. 21
2.5 THEORIES OF ORGANIZATION DESIGN

Basically, there are two theories of organization design : universalistic & contingency theories. The universalistic theory assumes that there is one best way to organize. It means the maximum organizational performance comes from the maximum level of a structural variable, for instance, specialization (Taylor, 1947). Classical management is an earlier organizational theory that argue that maximum organizational performance results from maximum formalization and specialization and it is therefore a universalistic type of theory. Similarly, neo-human relations is also an earlier universalistic type of organizational theory, which claims that organizational performance is maximized by maximizing participation (Likert, 1961). Contingency theory differs from all such universalistic theories in that it sees maximum performance as resulting from adopting, not the maximum, but rather the appropriate level of the structural variable that fits the contingency. Therefore, the optimal structural level is seldom the maximum, and which level is optimal is dependent upon the level of the contingency variable. A contingency is a variable that moderates the effect of an organizational characteristics on organizational performance. At the most abstract level, the contingency approach says that the effect of the variable on another depends upon some third variable. The third variable moderates the relationship between two variables and can therefore be called a moderator of the relationship or a conditioning variable of the relationship (Galtung 1967). In the contingency theory of organizations, the relationship is between some characteristic of the organization and effectiveness. Thus the contingency factor determines which characteristic produces high levels of effectiveness of the organization (or some part of it, such as a department of individual member). As much of the contingency theory research has studied organizational structure this tradition is referred to as structural contingency theory. Structural contingency theory contains three core elements that together form its core archetype. First, there is an association between contingency and the organizational structure. Second, contingency determines the organizational structure, because an organization that changes its contingency then, in consequence, changes its structure. Third, there is a fit of some level of the organizational structural variable to each level of the contingency, which leads to higher performance, whereas misfit leads to lower performance. This fit-performance relationship is the heart of the contingency theory paradigm. It provides the theoretical explanation of the first two points.
2.6 KEY FACTORS AFFECTING ORGANIZATION DESIGN

The selection of an appropriate design is reliant upon several factors. However the primary factors that often affect organization design are : size, environment, strategy, and technology. Table 1 identifies some indicators for each of the four primary factors.
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Table 1: Factors in Organization Design Decisions Factors Size Environment Strategy and Goals Indicators Large Small Degree of complexity Degree of dynamism Low cost Differentiation Focused Task interdependence
Technology
I. Size and Organization Design

Size is a main contingency factor that affects several aspects of structure. The size contingency refers to the total number of employees who are to be organized. Size as a key structural variable is subject to two schools of thought. The first approach, often called the bigger is better model, presupposes that the perunit cost of production decreases as the organization grows. In effect, bigger is said to be more efficient. The second approach i.e. small is beautiful revolves on the law of diminishing returns. This approach asserts that oversized organizations and subunits tend to be beleaguered by costly behavioral problems. Large and impersonal organizations are said to trigger apathy and alienation, with resulting problems such as turnover and absenteeism. Two strong promoters of this second approach are Peters and Waterman, the authors of the best-selling In Search of Excellence Recent research hints that when designing their organizations, managers should stick to a middle ground between bigger is better and small is beautiful because both models have been oversold. In reality, a newer viewpoint says complexity, not size, is the central issue. A meta-analysis of 31 studies (Gooding and Wagner III, 1985) conducted between 1931 and 1985 that related organizational size to performance found:
Larger organizations (in terms of assets) tended to be more productive (in terms of sales and profits). There was no positive relationship between organizational size and efficiency, suggesting the absence of net economy of scale effects. There was zero to slightly negative relationship between subunit size and productivity and efficiency. A more recent study examined the relationship between organizational size and employee turnover over a period of 65 months. Turnover was unrelated to organizational size.
Striving for Small Units in Big Organizations : In summary, bigger is not essentially better and small is not essentially beautiful. Hard-and-fast numbers regarding precisely how big is too big or how small is too small are hard to obtain. The best that managers can do is check the productivity, quality, and efficiency of divisions, departments, and profit centers.
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Activity A In your opinion, whether a small or big organization is more effective? Give reason for your stand. .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... ..........................................................................................................................
II. Environment and Organizational Design

Organizations, as open systems, need to receive various inputs from the environment and to sell various outputs to their environment. Therefore, it is important to comprehend what the environment is and what elements are likely to be important. The environment of an organization may be defined as general or specific. The general environment is the set of cultural, economic, legal-political, and societal conditions within the areas in which the organization operates. The specific environment constitutes its owners, suppliers, distributors, government agencies, and competitors with which an organization must interact to grow and survive. A firm, typically, much more concerned over the composition of its specific environment than of its general environment.
Environmental Complexity
Environmental complexity is an estimate of the magnitude of the problem and opportunities in the organizations environment. This is identified by three main factors: the degree of richness, the degree of interdependence, and the degree of uncertainty stemming from both the general and the specific environment.
a) Environmental Richness
For business, a richer environment means the economic conditions are improving, customers are spending more money, and suppliers (such as banks) are willing to invest in the future of the organization. A richer environment is also filled with more opportunities and dynamism, i.e., the capability for change. The organizational design must enable the company to be proverbial with these opportunities and capitalize on them. The opposite of richness is decline.
b) Environmental Interdependence
The link between external interdependence and organizational design is often restrained and indirect. The organization may choose powerful outsiders by including them. For instance, many large corporations have financial representatives from banks and insurance companies on their boards of directors. The organization may also adjust its overall design strategy to absorb or safeguard the demands of a more powerful external element.
c) Uncertainty and Volatility

Environmental uncertainty and unpredictable volatility can be particularly damaging to large bureaucracies. The obvious organizational design response to uncertainty and volatility is to go for a more organic form. However at the extremes, that ensures flexibility and is more adaptive to environment movement toward an adhocracy may be important. 24
Using Alliances Where Environmental Factors Dominate

In high-tech areas, such as robotics, semiconductors, and advanced materials (ceramics and carbon fibers), a single company often lacks all the knowledge essential to bring new products to the market. In this case, the organizational design must go beyond the boundaries of the organization and enter into an inter-firm alliances, which means announcing cooperative agreements or joint ventures between two independent firms. In Japan, alliance amount well established firms in many industries are quit common. The network of relationship is called a Keiretsu. Keiretsu is a Japanese word which, translated literally, means headless combine. It is the name given to a form of corporate structure in which a number of organizations link together, usually by taking small stakes in each other and usually as a result of having a close business relationship, often as suppliers to each other. The structure, frequently likened to a spiders web was very much admired in the 1990s. Activity B In recent years strategic emphasis is laid upon joint ventures or corporate alliances. Write the rationale behind it. .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... ..........................................................................................................................
Differentiation and Integration: The Lawrence and Lorsch Study

In their classic text, Organization and Environment, Harvard researchers Paul Lawrence and Jay Lorsch explained how two structural forces simultaneously disintegrate the organization and combine it together. They cautioned that an imbalance between these two forces could hold back organizational effectiveness. Differentiation occurs through division of labor and technical specialization. Integration occurs when specialists cooperate to achieve a common goal. In the Lawrence and Lorsch model, integration can be achieved through various combinations of the following six mechanisms: (1) a formal hierarchy; (2) standardized policies, rules, and procedures; (3) departmentalization; (4) committees and cross-functional teams; (5) human relations training, and (6) individuals and groups acting as liaisons between specialists. When Lawrence and Lorsch studied successful and unsuccessful companies in three industries, they concluded that: As environment complexity increased, successful organizations exhibited higher degree of both differentiation and integration. Activity C Do you find any evidence of integration in your current (or last) place of employment ?. .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... 25
Dynamism
Dynamism relates to the stability or instability of the environment. Several authors have identified dynamism as one of the major environmental contingencies of organizations (Child 1975; Duncan 1972; Thompson 1967). Dess and Beard (1984) emphasize that dynamism is not simply the rate of change, which itself could be constant, thereby rendering the environment predictable, but rather the degree of unpredictability. As they state, Dynamism should be restricted to change that is hard to predict and that heightens uncertainty for key organizational members. This corroborates the significance of uncertainty as a strategic element of dynamism. It is presumed that when the task and environmental uncertainty contingency is low, the mechanical structure and when the task and environmental uncertainty contingency is high, an organic structure produces high effectiveness. Mechanistic versus Organic Organizations A landmark organization design study was reported by a pair of British behavioral scientists, Tom Burns and G M Stalker. In the course of their research, they drew a very instructive distinction between what they called mechanistic and organic organizations. Mechanistic organizations are rigid bureaucracies with strict rules, narrowly defined tasks, and top-down communication. Organic organizations are flexible networks of multitalented individuals who perform a variety of tasks. Importantly as illustrated in Table 2, each of the mechanistic-organic characteristics is a matter of degree. Organizations tend to be relatively mechanistic or relatively organic.
Table 2: Characteristics of Mechanistic and Organic Organization Characteristic

Mechanistic Organization Narrow; technical Vague or indirect Rigid; routine Specific High Top-down Authoritarian High
Organic Organization Broad; general Clear or direct Flexible; varied General Low (self-control emphasized) Lateral (between peers) Democratic; participative Low
Task definition and knowledge required Linkage between individuals contribution and organizations purpose Task flexibility Specification of techniques, obligations, and rights Degree of hierarchical control Primary communication pattern Primary decision-making style Emphasis on obedience and loyalty

Source: Burns and Stalker (1961)
Types of Environment
Figure 1 illustrates the basic classification of task environments. The four pure types of task environments are : uniform-stable, varied-stable, uniformunstable, and varied-unstable. The simplest organization design can be effective in a uniform-stable environment (box 1). Although the environment is relatively stable, these firms do face some uncertainties because of competitors actions, customers changing preferences, and potential substitutes for their products and services.
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Low Uncertainty
Moderate Uncertainty
Degree of Dynamism
* Few environmental factors exist. * Many environment factors exist. * Factors are similar to each other * Factors are not similar to each other. * Factors remain basically the same * Factors remain basically the same Example: Salt manufacturers, Printing Example : Registrars offices in firms universities Gasoline refining/ distribution firms Moderately High Uncertainty High Uncertainty
Stable Unstable
* Few Environment factors exist. * Many environmental factors exist. * Factors are similar to each other * Factors are not similar to each other. * Factors are continually changing. * Factors are continually changing. Example: Fast-food firms consumer Example: Telecommunications firms products firms Biotechnology firms. Uniform Degree of Complexity Figure 1. Basic Types of Task Environments Varied
The varied-stable environment (box 2) poses some risks for managers and employees, but the environment and the alternatives are fairly well understood. The environment is relatively stable, but employees may need considerable training and experience to understand it and make it work. The uniform-unstable environment (box 3) requires managers, employees, and organization designs to be flexible. Rapid response to sudden changes in market demand or technologies means that companies need organization designs that allow for considerable flexibility and speed in allocating resources to new product. The varied-unstable environment (box 4) represents the most challenging situation for an organization because the environment presents numerous uncertainties. This environment requires the most managerial and employee sophistication, insight, and problem-solving abilities.
Differentiation Strategy
Strategic Target
Cost Leadership Strategy
Focused Strategy
Narrow Uniqueness Low Cost
Figure 2: Porters Strategic Model
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III. Strategy and Organization Design

Organizational strategy refers to the way the organization positions itself in its setting in relation to its stakeholders, given the organizations resources, capabilities, and mission. Basically two types of strategies are popular at present: Generic and Competence- based strategies.
Generic Strategies
These are in terms of cost focus and product focus. According to Michael Porter, companies need to differentiate and place themselves differently from their competitors in order to build and sustain a competitive advantage. Organizations have attempted to build competitive advantages in various ways, but three underlying strategies appear to be essential in doing so: low cost, differentiation, and focused. These strategies are shown in Figure 2.
Low Cost
A low-cost strategy is based on an organizations ability to provide a product or service at a lower cost than its rivals. The organizations design is functional, with accountability and responsibility clearly assigned to various departments.
Differentiation
A differentiation strategy is based on providing customers with something that is unique and makes the organizations product or service distinctive from its competition. An organization that chooses a differentiation strategy typically uses a product organization design whereby each product has its own manufacturing, marketing, and research and development (R&D) departments
Focused
A focused strategy is designed to help an organization target a specific niche within an industry, unlike both the low-cost and the differentiation strategies, which are designed to target industry-wide markets. An organization that chooses a focused strategy may utilize any of a variety of organization designs, ranging from functional to product to matrix to network, to satisfy their customers preference
Competency-Based Strategies
Although the list of generic strategies provides a quick general guide for many senior managers, it is apparent that a firm needs the skills and abilities to get the most out of the intended generic strategy. Eventually, the firm may develop specific administrative and technical competencies to achieve the purpose. As middle and lower-level managers bring about minor modifications and adjustments to solve specific problems and capitalize on specific opportunities, they and their firms may learn new skills. These skills may be recognized by senior management and give them the opportunity to adjust, modify, and build upon a generic strategy to develop a so-called competency strategy. In the process of building upon its capabilities, the firm may actually move generic strategies and/or combine elements of two generic strategies. Strategic choice refers to the idea that an organization interacts with its environment instead of being totally determined by it. In other words, organizational leaders should take steps to define and manipulate their environments, rather than let the organizations fate be entirely determined by external influences. The notion of strategic choice can be traced back to the work of Alfred Chandler in the early 1960s. Chandlers proposal was that structure follows strategy. He observed that organizational structures should follow the growth
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Organizational Objectives
Environmental constraints
Strategic decisions made by dominant coalition
Organizational Structure

Organizational effectiveness

Decision makers personal beliefs, attitudes, values, and ethics
Target markets Capital sources/uses Human resources Technology Total quality management
Corrective action Source: Kreitner, Robert and Kinicki, Angelo (1998), Organizational Behavior, Irwin McGraw-Hill, USA Figure 3: The Relationship Between Strategic Choice And Organizational Structure
strategy developed by the organizations decision makers. But the Model gained popularity only in 1972, when British sociologist John Child rejected the environmental imperative approach to organizational structure and proposed strategic choice model based on behavioral rather than rational economic principles. According to the strategic choice model , an organizations structure is determined largely by a dominant coalition of top-management strategists. As Figure 3 illustrates, specific strategic choices or decisions reflect how the dominant coalition perceives environment constraints and the organizations objectives. These strategic choices are tempered by the decision minor modifications and adjustments to solve specific problems and capitalize on specific opportunities, they and their firms may learn new skills. These skills may be recognized by senior management and give them the opportunity to adjust, modify, and build upon a generic strategy to develop a so-called competency strategy. In the process of building upon its capabilities, the firm may actually move generic strategies and/or combine elements of two generic strategies. In summary, strategy influences structure and structure influences strategy. Strategic choice theory and research teaches managers at least two practical lessons. First, the environment is just one of many co determinants of structure. Second, like any other administrative process, organization design is subject to the byplays of interpersonal power and politics.
IV. Technology and Organization Design

Two important technological contingencies that influence the type of organizational structure are the variety and analyzability of work activities. Variety refers to the number of exceptions to standard procedure but can occur in the team or work unit. Analyzability refers to the extent that the transformation of input resources to outputs can be reduced to a series of standardized steps.
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Some jobs are routine, meaning that employees perform the same tasks all of the time and rely on set rules (standard operating procedures) when exceptions do occur. Almost everything is predictable. These situations, such as automobile assembly lines, have high formalization and centralization as well as standardization of work processes. When employees perform tasks with high variety and low analyzability, they apply their skills to unique situations with little opportunity for repetition. Research project teams operate under these conditions. These situations call for an organic structure, one with low formalization, highly decentralized decision-making authority, and coordination mainly through informal communication among team members. High-variety and high-analyzability tasks have many exceptions to routines, but these exceptions can usually be resolved through standard procedures. Maintenance groups and engineering design teams experience these conditions. Work units that fall into this category should use an organic structure, but it is possible to have somewhat greater formalization and centralization due to the analyzability of problems.
Thompsons view on the Impact of Technology

Thompson (1967) argues that task and technology are major contingency factors of organizational structure. He offers a typology of types of technology and their respective organizational structures. Three different types of technologies are distinguished: mediating, long-linked, and intensive. These correspond to three types of task interdependence between organizational subunits: pooled, sequential, and reciprocal. Mediating technology refers to the linking of customers, such as a bank linking lenders and borrowers, and involves pooled interdependence. Pooled independence means that two organizational subunits (e.g., branches of a bank) have not direct connection, so that their interdependence is indirect, residing in their both drawing resources from some central pool. Long-linked technology refers to sequential interdependence where task A is the input to task B. Sequential interdependence means that the subunits have a direct connection, so that the output of one subunit is an input to the other subunit. Intensive technologies use varying techniques according to feedback from the object worked upon .For example, a hospital using various diagnostic and treatment techniques according to the condition of the patient, and involve reciprocal interdependence. Reciprocal independence means that the subunits have a two-way connection, in which the output of each subunit is an input to the other subunit, so that they transact back and forth in an unpredictable manner. The three types of interdependence (pooled, sequential, and reciprocal) are each fitted by varying degrees of mechanistic or organic structures. Thus task interdependence can be considered to be a contingency of organic structures.
Woodwards view on the Impact of Technology

Joan Woodward proposed a technological imperative in 1965 after studying 100 small manufacturing firms in southern England. She found distinctly different structural patterns for effective and ineffective companies based on technologies of low, medium, or high complexity. Effective organizations with either low or high-complexity technology tended to have an organic structure. Effective organizations based on a technology of medium complexity tended to have a mechanistic structure. Woodward concluded that technology was the overriding determinant of organizational structure.
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Since Woodwards landmark work, many studies of the relationship between technology and structure have been conducted. Unfortunately, disagreement and confusion have prevailed. A statistical analysis of those studies bring about the following conclusions. The more the technology requires interdependence between individuals and/or groups, the greater the need for integration (coordination). As technology moves from routine to non-routine, subunits adopt less formalized and [less] centralized structures.
2.7 OTHER FACTORS

History
The organizations present structure may have developed over a number of years, as functions have been added, changed or deleted. Obviously, the older the organization, the more significant history is likely to be. It is also more likely to have determined the current structure if there have been relatively little pressures on the organization to adapt to changing circumstance, either because it has monopolistic power or because the industry in which it operates is relatively slow-moving.
Customers and Markets

The organization structure is also affected by the type of market and customers it serves, and in a customer-responsive environment this should be one of the main determinants of structure. If the organization is providing services to a broad range of customers in a large number of locations, it may need to have many branch officers, as do Banks, the Post Office and so on. The advantages of a customer-based structure are as follows.
meeting customers requirements is more likely to lead to long-term success for the organization; it gives a clear focus to the organization; and it enables an emphasis to be put on the requirements of different customers groups, thereby improving overall service quality. there is a need to keep a close eye on market requirements which could require a lot of research; to be responsive to customer requirements the organization needs to be very adaptable so that it can respond quickly to change; in many cases the provision of different services for different customer types may not allow for the most effective use of resources or for economies of scale; it may not always be economical or profitable for the organization to provide some of the services required by customers, yet failure to do so will result in loss of goodwill; and in some environment, the need to provide services outside normal working hours or around the clock will mean that shift working, stand-by and call-out arrangements will need to be introduced which will affect the way the organization is structured

The main disadvantages are as follows:

Processes
The processes used within the organization also affect the structure. A production line process consists of a number of distinct tasks carried out by 31
people specializing in those tasks at different stages of the process. The underlying principle behind this approach is that specialization means people can develop high skills and speed, resulting in high output at low cost. There are of course disadvantages to this approach, primarily in terms of maintaining the motivation and morale of production line operatives. The advantages of organization of the basis of process or technology are that:
it allows for task specialization which means that people can develop a high degree of skill: the emphasis on the outputs from a particular process can result in high productivity; the structure is easy to understand and manage and there is likely to be little ambiguity in the outputs to be achieved; a structure that is driven by the organizations processes is likely to require less supervisory input; and processes that are particularly dirty, noisy or hazardous can be grouped together. there is a risk that by concentrating on processes the organization could lose sight of the inputs required; there is a greater need for the companys various processes to be integrated to ensure that they work towards the companys overall objectives; and there is less focus on the customer.
The main disadvantages are that:

People
People in the organization affect the structure in a number of ways. Structures do not just appear, they are the result of peoples views and beliefs and their approach to managing the organization. The structure is also be affected by the types of jobs and people within the organization. Structures with a large number of professionals are more likely to involve team working, and therefore to be relatively flat compared with an organization that has to accommodate a range of jobs from the production line operative to the chairman.
Geography
The geographical spreading of an organization affects its structure mainly because of its need to be near raw materials or customers,. Where there is a significant degree of geographical distribution, there is likely to be more need for careful co-ordination and control than with a single site location. When there is a strong need to provide products or services within a particular geographical area, the organization may be divided into regions or areas, with each being a fully self-contained, miniature version of the parent organization. In many cases, understanding the particular needs and requirements of the local area is of sufficiently fundamental importance for location to be the most significant factor in organization design. The advantages of a geographically based structure are:

Responsiveness to local needs; It makes firm able to provide a complete service at one location; A degree of autonomy can provide for more efficient decision-making and increase job satisfaction; and The organization can recruit locally based staff; it can facilitate the training and development of managers who can quickly gain varied experience in smaller branch offices before moving to larger jobs.
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Products and Services

The structure may be determined by the particular products and services provided. Large and diverse organizations have separate divisions because they are dealing with very different products and services. Similarly, the Post Office has separate organizations for the various services it provides such as mail delivery (Royal Mail), parcel delivery (Parcel force) and counter services (Post Office Counters Limited). The advantages of product specialization are that:
it provides a focus on a specific area and encourages the development of expertise in the provision of that product or service; and it is likely to provide a service that is more responsive to customer requirements. too much focus on the product may overlook customers real needs; and it may not make the best use of the organizations resources.
The disadvantages are that:

2.8 ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS

Organizations are constructed to be the most effective and efficient social units. The actual effectiveness of a specific organization is determined by the degree to which it realizes its goals. The efficiency of an organization is measured by the amount of resources used to produce a unit of output. Output is usually closely related to, but not identical with, the organizational goals. For instance, Ford produces automobiles (its output), but its goal seems to be profit-making. The unit of output is a measurable quantity of whatever the organization may be producing. Organizational effectiveness can have a broad meaning that includes efficiency, profitability (Child 1975), employee satisfaction (Dewar and Werbel 1979), innovation rate (Hage and Dewar 1973), or patient well-being (Alexander and Randolph 1985). Organization effectiveness can be defined as the ability of the organization to attain the goals set by itself (Parsons 1961), or by its ability to function well as a system (Yuchtman and Seashore 1967), or by its ability to satisfy its stakeholders (Pfeffer and Salancik 1978; Pickle and Frieddlander 1967). In its annual Most Admired Corporations survey, Fortune Magazine applies the following eight effectiveness criteria:

quality of management. quality of products/services. innovativeness. long-term investment value. financial soundness. ability to attract, develop, and keep talented people. responsibility to the community and the environment. wise use of corporate assets.
For a better understanding of this complex subject, four generic approaches to assessing an organizations effectiveness may be considered. These effectiveness criteria employ equally well to large or small and profit or not-forprofit organizations. Moreover, the four effectiveness criteria can be used in various combinations (Refer Figure 3).
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Goal Accomplishment: Goal accomplishment is the most widely used effectiveness criterion for organizations. Key organizational results or outputs are compared with previously stated goals or objectives. Productivity improvement, involving the relationship between inputs and outputs, is a common organization-level goal. Resource Acquisition: This second criterion related to inputs rather than outputs. An organization is deemed effective in this regard if it acquires necessary factors of production such as raw materials, labor, capital, and managerial and technical expertise. Internal Processes: Some refer to this third effectiveness criterion as the healthy systems approach. An organization is said to be a healthy system if information flows smoothly and if employee loyalty, commitment, job satisfaction, and trust prevails. Goals may be set for any of these internal processes. Healthy systems, form a behavioral standpoint, tend to have a minimum of dysfunctional conflict and destructive political maneuvering. Strategic Constituencies Satisfaction: Organizations both depend on people and affect the lives of people. Consequently, many consider the satisfaction of key interested parties to be an important criterion of organizational effectiveness. A strategic constituency is any group of individuals who have some stake in the organization-for example, resource providers, users of the organizations products or services, producers of the organizations output, groups whose cooperation is essential for the organizations survival, or those whose lives are significantly affected by the organization (Cameron. 1980). Strategic constituents or stakeholders can be identified systematically through a stake holders audit. A stakeholder audit enables management to identify all parties significantly impacted by the organizations performance. Managers need to identify and seek input from strategic constituencies. This information, when merged with the organizations stated mission and philosophy, enables management to derive an appropriate combination of effectiveness criteria. The following guidelines are helpful in this regard:
the goal accomplishment approach is appropriate when goals are clear, consensual, time-bounded, measurable (Cameron, 1986). the resource acquisition approach is appropriate when inputs have a traceable impact on results or output The internal processes approach is appropriate when organizational performance is strongly influenced by specific process (e.g., cross-functional teamwork). the strategic constituencies approach is appropriate when powerful stakeholders can significantly benefit or harm the organization.
The key thing to remember is no single approach to the evaluation of effectiveness is appropriate in all circumstances or for all organization types.
2.9 SUMMARY
Organization design broadly includes how the organization is structured, the types and numbers of jobs , formal system of communication, division of labor, coordination, control, authority, and responsibility essential to attain an organizations goals. An organization is designed to realize a number of objectives. Mainly, there are two theories of organization design : universalistic & contingency theories. The universalistic theory assumes that there is one best way to organize. The contingency theory assumes that maximum performance results from the appropriate level of the structural variable that fits
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the contingency. The primary factors that often affect organization design are : size, environment, business strategy, and technology. However several other factors such as history of the organization, its products and services, processes, coverage of customers, people, geographical spreading etc. also affect the organization design. Organization effectiveness denotes the degree to which it realizes its actual goals. There are four generic organizational effectiveness criteria : goal accomplishment, resource acquisition, internal processes and strategic constituencies satisfaction. As no two organizations are alike, managers need to mix and match effectiveness criteria in a manner apposite to the situation.

1. Discuss the meaning and the theories of organisational design. 2. What are the key factors that affect organisation design. 3. Describe the concept of organisational effectiveness.

Alexander, Judith W., and W. Alan Randolph ( 1985), The Fit Between Technology and Structure as a Predictor of Performance in Nursing Subunits, Academy of Management of Journal, 28:844-859. Burns,Tom, and G.M.Stalker (1962),The Management of Innovation, London: Tavistock. Cameron, K. (1980), Critical Question in Assessing Organizational Effectiveness, Organizational Dynamics, Autumn, P.67. Cameron, K. L. (1986), Effectiveness as Paradox: Consensus and Conflict in Conceptions of Organizational Effectiveness, Management Science, May, P. 542. Child, John (1975), Managerial and Organisational Factors Associated with Company Performance, Part 2: A Contingency Analysis, Journal of Management Studies,12:12-17. Cushway, Barry and Lodge, Derek (2001), Organisational Behaviour and Design, Crest Publishing House, New Delhi. Dess, Gregory G., and Donald W. Beard (1984), Dimensions of Organisational Task Environments, Administrative Science Quarterly, 29:52-73. Dewar, Robert,and James Werbel (1979), Universalistic and Contingency Predictions of Employee Satisfaction and Conflict, , Administrative Science Quarterly, 24:426-448. Donaldson, Lex ( 2001), The Contingency Theory of Organizations, Foundation for Organizational Science, Sage Publications, New Delhi Duncan, Robert B. (1972), Characteristics of Organizational Environment and Perceived Environmental Uncertainty, Administrative Science Quarterly, 17:313-327. Galtung,Johan(1967),Theory and Methods of Social Research, Oslo,Norway:Universitetslaget.. Hage, Jerald, and Robert Dewar (1973), Elite Values Versus Organisational Strusture in Predicting Innovation, Administrative Science Quarterly,18:279-290. Hellriegel , Don, Jr., John W. Slocum, and Woodman, Richard W. (2001), Organization Behaviour, Thomson Asia ptv. Ltd., Singapore. 35
MS-10
ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE
MS-10
Organisational Design
MS-10
Approaches to Work Design
MS-10
Organisational Analysis
MS-10
Organisational Development and Change
MS-10
Organisational Design, Development and Change
Block
ORGANISATIONAL DESIGN
UNIT 3 Typology of Organisation Structures UNIT 4 Some Basic Organisation Design and Restructuring Strategies 5 20

Print Production
BLOCK 2 ORGANISATIONAL DESIGN

This block consists of two units. The first unit briefly describes different types of organisation structures that have emerged over a period of time. It covers: (1) line organisation (2) line and staff organisation (3) functional organisation structure (4) product organisation structure (5) hybrid structure (6) formal and informal organisation (7) centralisation and decentralisation (8) vertical structure (9) horizontal organisation (10) project organisation (11) matrix organisation (12) virtual organisation (network structure) (13) boundaryless organisation (14) inverted pyramid (15) task forces and (16) mechanistic and organic structures. The second unit deals with the basic organisational structure and restructuring strategies. It covers the evolutionary process of organisation design, the universal perspectives of organisation designthe bureaucratic model, the behavioural model, and the contingency perspective, Henry Mintzbergs typology for integration of organisation structure to contingency factors, the new perspective on organisation design (which focuses on management process for strategic decisions of the organisations to work), and the precise nature of relationship between specific organisation developmental strategies and particular organisation structures.
UNIT 3 TYPOLOGY OF ORGANISATION STRUCTURES

Objectives
After reading this unit, you should be able to :

understand the characteristics of different organisation structures, explain the basis for evolving different types of organisation structures, examine the advantages and disadvantages of different types of organisation structures.
Structure
3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 Introduction Line Organisation Line and Staff Organisation Functional Organisation Structure Product Organisation Structure/Divisional Structure Hybrid Structure Formal and Informal Organisation Centralisation and Decentralisation Vertical Structure Horizontal Organisation Project Organisation Matrix Organisation Virtual Organisation (Network Structure) Boundaryless Organisation Inverted Pyramid Task Forces Mechanistic and Organic Structures Summary Self-Assessment Questions Further Readings
3.1 INTRODUCTION
An organisation structure specifies the various job tasks and shows how the same are formally divided, grouped, and coordinated. It provides an appropriate framework for authority relationship. It indicates the hierarchy of authority and the reporting relationships. It is a means to help the management to achieve the organisational objectives. As the objectives of the organisation are derived from the overall strategy of the organisation, it is logical that an organisation structure is closely linked to its strategy. As such, if the management makes a significant change in the organisations strategy, the organisations structure needs to be modified to accommodate and support the change. There is considerable evidence to indicate that choice of an organisations strategy (stability strategy/growth strategy) is determined by three basic factors (contingency factors): (i) the organisations size, (ii) technology used by the organisation (for converting the 5
financial, human and physical resources into products and services), and (iii) environmental uncertainty (external environment). Information technology and globalisation have had a tremendous impact on organisation structures. Many of todays managers realise that the traditional organisation structures based on bureaucratic principles no longer provide solutions to the challenges posed by the new paradigm environment. The needs of flexibility, adaptability to change, creativity, innovation, knowledge and the ability to overcome environmental uncertainties are among the biggest challenges facing many of the organisations. The result has been that the vertical (tall) structures are being replaced by horizontal (flat) structures, the organisations with mechanistic structures are being transformed into ones with organic structure . These shifts reflect a clear departure from the practice of centralised decision-making to decentralised decision-making, from command to consensus based self-control. The new forms of organisation structure that have emerged are: taskforce, network, virtual, boundaryless structures. The salient features of these and other organisation structures are briefly described here to present an overview of different types of organisation structure and their suitability under different situations.
3.2 LINE ORGANISATION

Line organisation is the simplest form of organisation structure. The line structure is based on the scalar principle, which states that authority and responsibility should flow in a direct line vertically from the highest level of the organisation to the lowest level. The primary emphasis in the line organisation is upon the superior-subordinate relationship. Every person in the organisation is in the direct chain of command. (Figure 1).
Figure 1 : Line Organisation General r* & & & " & ! Manager
Manager r * && ( "& && Production

( & &
Manager r + &% e' ! & Finance

) & &
Manager r * && g+ & " % Marketing

) & &
Deputy Manager r * && Production ( "& &&
Deputy Manager r + &% Finance e' ! &
Deputy Manager r * && Marketing g+ & " %
Foreman n ' &"
Accountants s ' %& % &
Officers ) " !!
s- % # Workers
(%%!% Assistants
(& & Salesman
One of the advantages of the line organisation is that it facilitates decision making and execution because there is a definite authority at each level of the hierarchy. However, the disadvantage is that if a wrong decision is made at the top level, the same is carried out simply without anybody down the line venturing to point out its deficiencies. 6
3.3 LINE AND STAFF ORGANISATION

Most business organisations, except the very small, have this type of structure. As the organisations have grown complex, the problems of line executives have become sufficiently complicated. The line executives being generalists, need the advice of personnel with specialised knowledge and functions to tackle these problems. For this purpose, the staff positions are created in the organisation. In line and staff organisation, the line authority remains the same as it does in the line organisation i.e. the authority flows from top to bottom; and the line executives perform the major functions; the staff functionaries support and advise the line executives. For example, for sound management of human resources, the line managers are provided specialised assistance through personnel/Human Resource managers. As staff functionaries are employed to perform supportive role, they do not have any power of command in the organisation (Figure 2).
Figure 2 : Line and Staff Organisation
of ( & & " &!&"! Board Directors
Typology of Organisation Structures
& ' ! && &%and & ! Financial Advisor Accounts ) && " !(% % && Chief Officer
+& && Managing ( !" & Director
Manager *% & && HR Manager Legal l )&&&&&

Managing (% %% "& &!!! &"* & Assistant to Director
Manager r +&& Division-I ) % !%
Manager r * && Division-II I) ! % %
Manager r ) && Division-II ' !% !%
denotes ## Line # # #" #Authority #

y # # # # #" $# denotes Staff Authority
The main advantage of line and staff organisation is that the staff specialists relieve the line executives of the botheration of concentrating on specialised functions like selection, training, development, wage and salary administration, accounting, public relations etc. However, the disadvantage of this structure is that since functionaries are not accountable for the results, they may not be performing their duties effectively.
3.4 FUNCTIONAL ORGANISATION STRUCTURE

This is the most widely used form of organisation structure because of its simple logic and commonsense appeal. Here the tasks are grouped together on the basis of common functions. So, all production activities or all financial activities are grouped into a single function which undertakes all the tasks required of that function. A typical chart of a functional organisation is presented in Figure 3. The functional structure suits best to the small to medium organisations producing one or a few products, where the goals of the organisation emphasise functional specialisation, efficiency and quality. 7
Figure 3 : Functional Organisation Structure
Managing r% # $ ## $# Director
General % #$#! # Manager
Chief r% # #! Manager $ !# $$ Production
Chief r% # #! Manager g & # !# Marketing
r $$ # Manager e$ #
Chief
Finance
Chief r% $ "! Manager Hum s% #' # #% an Resources
Chief r% # #! Manager D% R&D
Manager r$! " Production #" !"
Manager r#"" Purchase #" !
r#"" Manager y $ " ! Quality l# "! Control
Manager r#"" Engineering g"" ""
r$"" Manager g $ !" Marketing
r#"" Manager s "! Sales
Manager r#"" Ads. g # "!"
Manager r% #$ Employment % &$ #
Manager r& #$ HRD D$
r& #$ Manager $ # $# Industrial Relations s % ##
& #Wage ##$# ! Manager $# & Salary Administration % $ &$ #
The main advantages of this type of structure are that by grouping people together on the basis of their specialist expertise, the organisation can facilitate both their utilisation and their coordination in the service of the whole organisation. The functional grouping also provides opportunities for promotion and career development. One of the major disadvantages of this form of organisation is the growth of sectional interest which may conflict with the needs of the organisation as a whole. For example, the members of the production department will see their activities from the narrow perspective of their own department rather than viewing the same from the broader perspective of the entire organisation.
3.5 PRODUCT ORGANISATION STRUCTURE / DIVISIONAL STRUCTURE

This form of organisation structure is adopted by large companies producing a wide range of products. Here, the activities are grouped on the basis of the
Figure 4 : Product-based Organisation Structure Managing r&# $ ## $# Director
Director % !# #!# R&D
% !# Director e$ # Finance
Director $ "# e$ $!$ Corporate g & # !# Marketing
Director %! # Human s% #' # #% Resources
General r&###! # Manager $ ### Vaccines
General r% #$#! # Manager s % # !# Antibiotics
General r% "$""# Manager s% # #' Cosmetics
General r&###! # Manager e s$ St r i#! l e# Suppliers
Manager r& #$ $!$ #$ Production
Manager & & #$ "$# ! Salesg& and # ! # Marketing
Manager r& ## $## $ Accounts
Manager r& ## Human s% #' # #% Resource
individual products manufactured by the company. Thus, one finds autonomous little companies within the company adopting this type of organisation structure. As such, within each of these little independent units, we find all important functions viz. production, marketing, finance and human resources. The organisation structure of a large multi-product pharmaceutical company is illustrated in Figure 4. One of the advantages of the product organisation is that it enables diversification of the products to take place with minimal effort. Another advantage is that it can cope better with technological change by grouping people with expertise and their specialised equipment in one major unit. The main disadvantage of the product organisation is that each product division may promote its own product group in a way that creates problems to other product divisions of the company.
3.6 HYBRID STRUCTURE

The hybrid form combines features of both functional and divisional forms. When an organisation starts to get very large, it establishes some self-contained units. Functions that are considered important to each product are decentralised to the units; however, some functions like finance and accounting are centralised at headquarters for practical reasons (Figure 5).
Figure 5 : A Hybrid Organisation Structure
t( #&& President
Accounting (& & ''
Finance e' " &
t'& & %" &
(! Vice t( #&& President ' #& " Auto ( Parts
(!& % !(# Vice President g( & & "& Engineering s*&" & Materials
s '#& &% % "!
Sales s (%
Human n)' Resources s) &&'
Marketing g+ & #&
&& & %" &&
The functional part of the organisation is reflected in the departments centralised at the corporate level. However, each of the product divisions has specialists in functional areas for necessary assistance. The important advantages of hybrid structure are: 1. The overall organisation enjoys the benefits of both functional and product (decentralised) structures. 2. It provides the opportunity to improve coordination both within and among divisions. 3. It enables the organisation to pursue an adaptive strategy within the product divisions while at the same time achieving efficiency in the functional departments. 4. It helps in proper alignment of corporate and divisional goals. A major disadvantage of the hybrid structure is that it often leads to excessive duplication of activities between functions and divisions. Another disadvantage is its tendency to create conflict between headquarters and divisional functions.
3.7 FORMAL AND INFORMAL ORGANISATION

The formal organisation structure refers to a structure of clearly defined jobs, each bearing a definite amount of responsibility and authority. The formal organisation lays down formal procedures, rules and regulations, which guide the behaviour of individuals performing these jobs. The informal organisation is the outcome of social interaction that takes place between the individuals of the formal organisation. When people work together they tend to form informal work groups, often spontaneously, because of physical proximity, commonality of interest etc. These informal groups are collectively known as informal organisation. Unlike the formal organisation, the informal organisation is unstructured and not given. Generally, it is an unofficial organisation born out of a formal organisation. An informal organisation has its own structure, roles, procedures, norms and values which are unwritten and are evolved through consensus among the members of the informal groups. An informal organisation does not have a fixed chain of command. It is based on the sentiments of the members. The communication patterns are not fixed and as such communication may flow in any direction. In contrast to formal organisation analysis, the dysfunctional aspects of informal organisation such as conflicting objectives, restriction of output, resistance to change have received more attention than the functional ones. In other words, the informal organisation is often projected to be counter-productive to the formal organisation. In reality, however, the informal organisation can benefit the formal organisation in the following ways: 1. It serves as a useful channel of communication 2. It lightens the workload of the management, if the latter gives due importance to the informal workgroups 3. It reduces the undesirable effects of the rigidities of the formal organisation 4. It provides a safety valve for employee emotions. Activity A Briefly describe the informal workgroup that are prevailing in your organisation in terms of their leadership, their role and their contribution to the formal organisation. Substantiate your statements with illustrations. .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... ..........................................................................................................................
3.8 CENTRALISATION AND DECENTRALISATION

The term Centralisation refers to concentration of decision making at a single point in the organisation. In contrast, when the top management gives maximum, though not complete, discretion to the lower level personnel in the organisation to make decisions, then it can be said that there is decentralisation in the organisation. In a decentralised organisation, action can be taken more quickly to solve problems, and more people provide inputs into decisions. For firms having a number of plants, which are located at different places, decentralisation is more beneficial. With most of the large companies now preferring to make
10
organisations more flexible and responsive, there has been a marked change towards decentralised decision making. The main advantages of decentralisation are: 1. It reduces the burden of the top management by freeing them from many operational decisions, and enables them to concentrate on their strategic responsibilities; and 2. It can contribute to staff motivation by enabling middle and lower level managements to get a taste of responsibility, and by encouraging the use of knowledge, innovation, and initiative by all employees. The main disadvantages of decentralisation are: 1. It requires greater coordination by senior management to ensure that individual units in the organisation are not working against the interests of the whole organisation; 2. It can lead to inconsistency of treatment of customers, clients or public, especially in service industries; and 3. Decentralisation does require a plentiful supply of capable and well-motivated managers, who are able to cope with increased responsibility which decentralisation brings about.
3.9 VERTICAL STRUCTURE

A vertical organisation is that in which the size of the hierarchical chain of command is long i.e. the number of hierarchical levels are high. As such, more people have to communicate to the top management through the intervening layers of executives (Figure 6).
Figure 6 : Vertical Organisation Structure
s ) !& # &# Levels &'" Hierarchical
The main advantages of the vertical organisation are: 1. They provide better communication of the organisations mission, values, and goals to all employees; and 2. These organisations have the ability to sustain a very high degree of specialisation of functions and roles. The principal disadvantages are: 1. Too many hierarchical levels consume more time for communication and the same may lead to delays in decision making; and 11
2. As the vertical structures go hand in hand with formality and standardisation, the scope for initiative and risk taking at operational levels becomes limited. Activity B Find out whether your organisation belongs to a centralised or decentralised form of organisation. Specify the recommendations you would make in order improve the present structure of your organisation. .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... ..........................................................................................................................
3.10 HORIZONTAL ORGANISATION

As the traditional vertical, hierarchical structures of the organisations are being considered inappropriate to the requirements of the changing environment, an increasing number of modern organisations are preferring the use of horizontal structures. For example in the US, corporate giants like AT& T, General Electric, Motorola and Xerox, among other firms, have moved to the principles of the horizontal structure of organisations. The horizontal structure facilitates cooperation, teamwork, and customer orientation rather than a functional orientation. Frank Ostroff, a McKinsey & Company consultant and his colleague Douglas Smith are given credit for developing guiding principles that describe the characteristics of the horizontal structure. 1. Horizontal structures are created around three to five core processes for the time rather than traditional departmental functions. 2. The vertical hierarchy is flattened to reduce the levels of supervision. This is done by combining the fragmented tasks, eliminating work that fails to add value, and by cutting to the minimum activities within each process. 3. Multi-disciplinary/ cross functional self-managed teams (composed of personnel from different functional areas like finance, marketing, human resource, quality control and operations) are created to handle the core processes, and each team is entrusted with a core process. 4. Customer satisfaction, net profits, is the primary driver and measure of performance. As such, for horizontal structure to work, employees are brought into direct contact with customers as well as suppliers. Where relevant, customers and suppliers may be brought in as full working members of the teams in charge of the core processes. 5. All employees should be provided with all data, and they should be trained for analysing and use the data to make effective decisions as team members. 6. All employees are encouraged to develop multiple skills; and those who develop are rewarded. 7. The horizontal organisations need to build a corporate culture of openness, cooperation and collaboration. 12
Figure 7 : Horizontal Organisation Structure
s( "& # &#&'! Hierarchical Levels
Figure 7 gives an idea about the horizontal structure of an organisation. The main advantages of horizontal organisation are: 1. Decisions can be taken more quickly to solve problems; and 2. A horizontal structure has fewer problems of coordination. One of the disadvantages of the horizontal structure is the absence of proper reporting to superiors by the subordinates because of decentralisation.
3.11 PROJECT ORGANISATION

When an organisation undertakes a big project or a number of small projects, it creates project organisation(s) for the completion of the same. This is done because the existing functional structure of the organisation may not be suitable to complete the projects which are time bound and are subject to high standards of performance as in the case of aero space and aircraft companies. A project organisation (See Figure 8) is separate from and independent of functional departments of the company. Headed by a Project Manager, every project organisation consists of a team of specialists drawn from different functional areas of the company or from outside. The size of the project team varies from one project to another. Again, within a project, the size of the group may change with the different phases of the work. A project organisation has a temporary set up, and as soon as the project is completed it will be disbanded. However, when the duration of the project is very long, the project organisation takes a permanent form and it may become a regular autonomous project division of the company. The role of the Project Manager is quite challenging. He is responsible for the completion of the project exacting to the time schedule and quality standards
Figure 8 : Project Organisation General r* & & & $% " Manager
I'$ '! I Project
(# '!& Project II
Project t( #' r+& ' Manager Team Members

% $% ) )
Product t ' $' Management *&' &'
Engineering g( ''! '
y *'% Quality l(' ' Control
M( HRM
s '& Sales
)& & & Research
13
that are prescribed. The successful completion of the project depends on how well he coordinates the activities of the project team and how he utilises the advice and assistance of the internal experts (available within the company) and those belonging to external agencies / organisations. The project organisation is suitable when the company gets a one-time assignment or a huge contract or when the company faces a unique challenge. The main advantages of the project organisation are: 1. The participating specialists of the project team get opportunity for prompt, expeditious and effective accomplishment of the goals of the project. This motivates them to make maximum contribution to the execution of the project; 2. It facilitates speedy communication between the project manager and the team members; and 3. It provides flexibility in handling various tasks. The major disadvantages of the project organisation are: 1. The entire project becomes meaningless, if the project manager fails to coordinate the activities of the project properly; 2. The members of the project organisation have to sever the contacts with the mainstream organisational life. As such, they may be bypassed when opportunities arise in their respective fields for promotion; and 3. The job of the project manager becomes very difficult because he has to deal with specialists from a number of diverse fields.
3.12 MATRIX ORGANISATION

The matrix organisation combines two forms of departmentalisation functional and product. It is built around a project which is headed by a Project Manager. The Project Manager is also known as Product Manager as he is responsible for the output (product) of the project. The project teams comprise of employees (specialists) drawn from different functional departments such as the Human Resources, Finance, Production, Marketing, and Research & Development Departments of the Company. Thus, the employees of the matrix have two bosses: their Functional Departmental Managers (for example, the HR specialists of the project team have to report to the Manager, Human Resources Department) and their Project Manager. In other words, the matrix structure breaks the principle of unity-of-command which states that no person in the organisation should report to more than one boss. Figure 9 illustrates the Matrix Structure of an Engineering firm, which is composed of two projects, each having its specific objective and specific time for completion. The matrix organisation is different from the functional organisation. In the functional organisation, the project manager is given complete responsibility for the project as well as the resources needed for its completion. But in the matrix organisation, the Project Manager has to share the resources with the rest of the enterprise. The matrix structure is used in advertising agencies, aerospace firms, R & D laboratories, construction companies, hospitals, government agencies, universities, management consulting firms, and entertainment companies.
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Figure 9: Matrix Structure of an Engineering Firm Managing r* & & & ' "&' Director
General l )& ' r* & ' Manager

r +% ' Manager n )& Human s)& & & Resource
Manager r +& ' Production (# '' &
r* & ' Manager Finance e' "'
r+& ' Manager Marketing g*& #&
r* & ' Manager R& D)!D
Project I (# '!I Manager r* & '
Production (# '' & Specialists s''& & !
HR ( Specialists s('& & !
Finance e' "' Specialists s(& & & "
Marketing g*& #& Specialists s''& & !
R & D)! D Specialists s('& & !
(# '!& Project II r* & ' Manager
(# '' & Production s''& & ! Specialists
( HR s('& & ! Specialists
e' "' Finance s(& & & " Specialists
g*& #& Marketing s''& & ! Specialists
& D)! D R s('& & ! Specialists
Some of the advantages of the matrix structure are: 1. It facilitates coordination when the organisation has multiple complex and interdependent activities; 2. It ensures the effective utilisation of the services of the people with highly specialised skills; and 3. The direct and frequent contact between the different functional specialists in the matrix ensures better communication and more flexibility. The major disadvantages of the matrix structure are: 1. This structure breaks the unity-of-command concept. Reporting to one boss introduces role conflict and role ambiguity; 2. It fosters power struggle between product (project) managers and functional managers who share the same set of resources; and 3. A matrix organisation incurs higher costs than an organisation with a conventional hierarchy.
3.13 VIRTUAL ORGANISATION (NETWORK STRUCTURE)

A virtual organisation is a small, core organisation that outsources major business functions. It is highly centralised, with little or no departmentalisation. The virtual organisation creates network relationships with other organisations / agencies located anywhere in the world for the purpose of contracting out functions like manufacturing, distribution, marketing, R & D, etc. (Figure 10). The networking is done through the electronic technology. As such, the partnerships between the virtual organisation and other organisations (far-flung companies) are based on electronic contracts. The partners are less permanent, less formal, and more opportunistic. Each partner contributes to the virtual organisation its core capabilities. The managers of the virtual organisations spend most of their time in coordinating the various activities through the networking. Examples of virtual organisations include Ford, Harley Davidson, Nike, Rebok, Mobil Corp., IBM etc. 15
Figure 10: Virtual Organisation Structure
R&D ) ! ) !)!) ' Consulting Firm & " & ! "" % & (located in New (& )! ( &" York, USA)
g+ &' & #& Manufacturing ( ' +' #& % & Company , &" 'in & (Located && Bangkok,)'Thailand)
Central (Core) * #'& ' ! Organization n " && % & (Located in ,' % & Sydney, ' & % "" Australia)
)& &##&!
Manufacturing y( ' + Company ,# && %% " && (Located "&% in Pune, India)
g*&' '" &
Distributing ( "& " #" Company ( ' +' #& % & (Located in % !& ! ' &% & Tokyo, Japan)
The major advantages of a virtual organisation are: 1. Through virtual organisation it is possible to create best-of-everything organisation because each partner brings its core competence. 2. A virtual organisation allows someone with an innovative idea and little money to successfully compete against large companies. This is possible because of flexible nature. The major disadvantages of the virtual structure are: 1. It reduces managements control over the key parts of its business; and 2. The reliability of the partners may be doubtful.
3.14 BOUNDARYLESS ORGANISATION

General Electric Chairman, Jack Welch, coined the term boundaryless organisation. The boundaryless organisation seeks to remove the vertical and horizontal boundaries within the organisation and to break down external barriers between the company and its customers and suppliers. Once the management removes the vertical boundaries, the structure of the organisation looks more like a silo than a pyramid. To break down the vertical boundaries, the management adopts the following strategies: i. Creating cross-hierarchical teams (which includes top executives, middle managers, supervisors, and operative employees); ii. Encouraging participative decision making; and iii. Making use of 360 degree performance appraisal (peers and others above and below the employee evaluate his / her performance). To reduce the barriers to the horizontal boundaries, the management adopts the following strategies: i. Replacing the functional departments with cross-functional teams and organising activities around processes; ii. Using lateral transfers; and 16 iii. Rotating people into and out of different functional areas.
The external boundaries can be reduced through practices like strategic alliances, customer- organisation linkages and telecommuting (mainly with the networked computers). The major advantages of the boundryless organisation are: 1. It fosters teamwork among the employees; 2. It ensures speedy communication within the organisation (intra-organisational communication) and between the organisation and the customers and suppliers (inter-organisational communication); and 3. It can help competitiveness in the global economy. A principal drawback of this form of organisation is that it is difficult to clearly establish the relationship between superiors and subordinates in the organisation.
3.15 INVERTED PYRAMID

Organisations with this type of structure put the customers at the top and give them the most important role in driving the business. The front-line employees like sales representatives, people in charge of help-desk, etc. who come in direct contact with the customers, are also given a similar position. The Chief Executive Officer of the organisation is at the bottom of the structure (Figure 11). Thus, in this form of organisation, the role of the management changes from a commanding one to a supporting one.
Figure 11 : Inverted Pyramid Organisation Structure
s ) && # Customers
' #' ' "" " ! ' & Front-line employees
' ' ' 'Staff ' #"" Supporting
O( CEO
Some of the advantages of the inverted pyramid are: 1. This structure gives first preference to the customers. Therefore, it becomes easy for the organisation to know the customers choices, and to work out appropriate strategies to ensure customers satisfaction; and 2. In this form of organisation, the employees are given more responsibility and authority than the top management. A major disadvantage of the inverted pyramid relates to formulation of strategies. The frontline foremen are not quite equipped to formulate strategies regarding the organisation. This leaves sufficient ground within the organisation to doubt about their capabilities to make appropriate strategies. 17
3.16 TASK FORCES

A task force is a temporary structure comprising of specialists from different functional departments, formed primarily to accomplish a specific and complex task. It co-exists with the traditional structure. As such, it can be viewed as a scaled-down version of the temporary matrix. The members of a task force are transferred to another task force, once the goal of their task force is achieved. Ford Motor successfully experimented with the task force structure in the U.S. in the early 1980s. One of the advantages of the task force is that an organisation can enjoy the benefits of both the traditional structure and the task force simultaneously. The benefits are: stability, flexibility, and efficiency. The major disadvantage is that, if the management fails in its job of coordinating the activities of the task force and maintaining harmonious interpersonal relationship within the task force, the very purpose of creating the task force gets defeated.
3.17 MECHANISTIC AND ORGANIC STRUCTURES

In a landmark study conducted in 20 British firms during the 1960s, Tom Burns and G.M.Stalker identified two types of organisations mechanistic and organic. They observed that the mechanistic organisation was characterised by: rules, procedures, a clear hierarchy of authority, centralised decision making, and the control of incoming and outgoing communications from the top and a tendency for information to be provided on a need to know basis. By contrast, the organic organisation was characterised by: low formalisation, rules and regulations were not written or if written down were ignored, and open and widely used communication patterns which incorporate horizontal, diagonal as well as vertical channels. Burns and Stalkers research work stressed the belief that the organisation could change its structure in relation to its environment. Thus, in a rapidly changing environment, an organisation tends to change to organic form from the mechanistic form in order to remain competitive. The mechanistic form of organisation structure is adopted when there is relative stability in the environment. According to Stephen P. Robbins, these forms of organisation structures represent two extremes of a continuum. While the mechanistic model is generally synonymous with the bureaucracy, the organic model looks more like the boundaryless organisation. The relation of one form to the other is elastic. As such, an organisation may oscillate from one end (mechanistic) to the other (organic) depending upon the nature of the environment and other factors like the overall strategy of the organisation, organisation size, and technology. Activity C Briefly describe the structure of your organisation. Find out which type of organisation structure it comes closer to. .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... 18 ..........................................................................................................................
3.18 SUMMARY
We have briefly described the various types of organisation structures that have evolved over a period of time in response to the paradigm environment. The continuum of structures ranges from the traditional bureaucratic structure to the modern virtual organisation. Each type of structure has its advantages and disadvantages. As the traditional structures no longer proved to be adequate in the new paradigm environment, the modern horizontal, bounaryless, virtual organisations have emerged. Organisations needs for flexibility, adaptability to change, creativity, innovation, knowledge, and ability to overcome environmental uncertainties are among the biggest challenges facing the modern organisations. Some bureaucratic characteristics are in decline. But, bureaucracy is alive, and perhaps will be in vogue in the distant future.
3.19 SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS

1. Distinguish between the functional organisation and the product organisation. 2. What is a matrix structure? When is it used? 3. Briefly describe the horizontal, boundaryless and virtual organisation designs. Explain how they meet the challenges of the new environment. 4. Contrast the mechanistic organisation with the organic organisation.

Tom Burns and G.M. Stalker, 1961. The Management of Innovation, London: Tavistock. K Harigopal, 2001, Management of Organisational Change: Leveraging Transformation, New Delhi: Response Books. Fremont E Kast. and James E. Rosenzweig , 1974. Organisation and Management, Tokyo: McGraw Hill Kogakusha Ltd. Fred Luthans, 2002. Organisational Behavior, Boston: McGraw Hill Irwin. V. Nilakant and S. Ramnarayan, 1988. Managing Organisational Change, New Delhi: Response Books. Robert A. Paton and James McCalman, 2000. Change Management, New Delhi: Response Books. V.S.P. Rao and P. S. Narayana, 1986. Organisational Theory and Behaviour, New Delhi: Vani Educational Books. Stephen P. Robbins, 2001. Organisational Behavior, New Delhi, Prentice Hall of India Private Limited, (9th Edition). B.P. Singh and T. N. Chhabra, 2002. Organisational Theory and Behaviour, Delhi: Dhanpat Rai & Co. (P) Ltd.
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UNIT 4 SOME BASIC ORGANISATION DESIGN AND RESTRUCTURING STRATEGIES

Objectives
After reading this unit, you should be able to understand:

the meanings of organisation design and restructuring, the evolutionary process of organisation design, the universal perspectives of and the new perspective on organisation design, organisational restructuring strategies.
Structure
4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 Introduction The Design Process Evolutionary Process of Organisation Design Universal Perspectives of Organisation Design From Strategy- Structure to Process: The New Perspective on Organisation Design Restructuring Strategies Summary Self-Assessment Questions Further Readings
4.1 INTRODUCTION
Every organisation has certain basic parts that are made up of people who perform, supervise, and plan besides those who render support services and technical advice. As such, studying the structure or design of an organisation means analysing how these parts are put together, who reports to whom, the degree of centralisation or decision making power concentrated at the top, the extent of rules, policies, regulations, and procedures in the organisation. The building of the initial structure of an organisation may be based on the conditions prevailing in the society and the industry characteristics prevailing at the time and the personality of the founder (entrepreneur). As the organisations grow in their size from small to large over a period of time, their priorities do change and it becomes necessary for the organisations to make changes in the organisation design in order to ensure that the organisations function efficiently. Modern organisations are open systems. They are in constant interaction with the external environment. As such, any change that takes place in the environment social, political, technical, economic, legal have implications for the organisations. In order to remain competitive, organisations respond to the pressures exerted by the environmental factors. The nature of their response depends upon the degree of the pressure. Normally, organisations respond by formulating new business strategies when the degree of pressure is high. Changes in strategies often necessitate changes in organisation design. Thus, restructuring of organisation design becomes inevitable when the environment for the organisation becomes turbulent and unstable. 20
Burton and Thakur (1995) define organisation design as the total pattern of structural elements and patterns used to manage the overall organisation. Organisation design should be seen as a tool for implementation of organisational strategies and the attainment of organisational goals. According to Banner and Gagn (1995), studying the structure of an organisation means analysing the following:

Some Basic Organisation Design and Restructuring Strategies
how an organisation is put together; who reports to whom; the degree of centralisation or decision making power concentrated at the top; and the extent of the rules, policies, regulations, and procedures in an organisation.
4.2 THE DESIGN PROCESS

Any organisations design process involves both science and art. The design does not evolve purely by principles alone. The circumstances of the organisation and the whims and fancies of the entrepreneur (chief executive) also influence the design of an organisation. Within the organisation, often there is a trade-off between conflicting considerations and goals. Herbert Simon suggests that as an alternative to the principles of design we must attempt to understand the decision making and communication processes which produce the effect. Allen suggests a seven-step sequence that could be followed to set the design process into action. Those are: 1. Identify the major objectives of the firm and derive primary line functions needed to accomplish the objectives. 2. Organise from the top down by establishing a scalar change of authority and responsibility. 3. Organise from the bottom up by integrating the activities of each function. 4. Decide what management positions are needed for each activity. 5. Identify positions in group related work. 6. Seek groupings to ensure balance in the distribution of resources. 7. Check whether the spans of control are appropriate.
4.3 EVOLUTIONARY PROCESS OF ORGANISATION DESIGN

Organisations develop from small to large units by moving through four stages of a life cycle: birth stage, youth stage, middle stage, and maturity stage. This process of development is accompanied by corresponding changes in the organisation design (Burton and Thakur, 1995). Birth Stage: This is the stage when the organisation is created. At this initial stage, the organisations decision making is highly centralised. The organisation is informal. There are usually few rules and regulations, no professional staff and no internal system for planning. Youth Stage: During this stage, additional employees are employed as the sales for the companys products and services increase. 21
Although authority is fairly centralised, a few trusted employees are involved in decision making process. Some informal rules and procedures are involved. There are now a few professionals and administrative personnel in the organisation. The division of labour begins to occur as the newly formed departments are assigned tasks. Middle stage: By the time the organisation reaches this stage, it has become somewhat successful and grown in size. Its structure is similar to that of a formal bureaucracy with formalised departments, supporting staff departments and many professional and clerical staffs. A large set of rules and procedures have been introduced. Authority has been effectively decentralised. The division of labour has become extensive. Maturity Stage: During this stage the organisation becomes very large and mechanistic. A set of bureaucratic rules, regulations and policies prevail. Decision making is centralised. The division of labour is highly refined. As a result of the rigid virtual hierarchy, the organisation is on the brink of stagnation. At this stage, the organisation attempts to become innovative and flexible. As such, it decentralises authority within the lateral structures such as liaison personnel, task forces, and project teams. Thus, it is clear that an organisations structural characteristics undergo different stages of organisations life cycle.
4.4 UNIVERSAL PERSPECTIVES OF ORGANISATION DESIGN

The mechanism of organisation design is still not mature to offer theoretical principles and proven practices which would encompass a variety of organisations (Lomash and Mishra, 2003). However, there are universal perspectives of an organisation design: 1) the bureaucratic model; 2) the behavioural model; and 3) the contingency perspective.
4.4.1 The Bureaucratic Model

Max Weber, a German sociologist, conceptualised the idea of bureaucracy. Central to his work is the development of the concept of the bureaucratic organisation design. According to Weber a bureaucracy is defined as organisation founded on a legitimate and formal system of authority. The Weberian approach held that an ideal organisation should have the following characteristics: 1. A division of labour based on functional specialisation. 2. A well-defined hierarchy of authority so that the scalar chain of command runs from the top of the organisation to the bottom. 3. A system of rules covering the rights and duties of employees. 4. A system of procedures for dealing with work situations. 5. Promotion and selection based on technical competence. 6. Impersonality of interpersonal relations. All managers should conduct business in an impersonal manner, maintaining an appropriate social distance form their subordinates. One of the basic strengths of this model is that this was the first model of organisation design developed, and it still serves as the basic foundation for the understanding and application of newer organisation design approaches. However, this model has many drawbacks. The major drawbacks are :
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(1) This model tends to get bogged down with the rules and regulations, and in this process loses sight of the actual objectives of the organisation; and (2) it is not well-suited for a changing and uncertain external environment. Bureaucratic structures can become so rigid and formalised that organisations simply cannot change fast enough to cope with external change.
4.4.2 The Behavioural Model

This model has evolved from the Human Relations School of management thought. In the classical bureaucratic model, an individual is not identified and the effect of an entire group is considered in the total process of management. On the contrary, in the behavioural model the performance of an organisation is believed to depend on human beings, their behaviour, characteristics and their mutual relationships emerging from work patterns and organisational settings. The important factors which play significant roles are needs, motivations, attitudes, values, leadership, group behaviour, perceptions, communications, responsibility and authority relationship, etc. (Lomash and Mishra, 2003). In other words, the behavioural models of organisation design reflect the social and psychological implications of organisational life. The most popular behavioural models of organisation design the socio-technical systems theory and Likerts System 4 Organisation are briefly explained here.
Socio-technical Systems Theory

The socio-technical systems theory was developed by Eric Trist and K.W. Bamforth through their study of alternative methods of coalmining ; and A. K.Rice and his colleagues through their research at Englands Tavistock Institute. The socio-technical approach is based on the need to balance an organisations human side with its technical and mechanical side. As such, this theory focuses on two systems: (1) a social system that provides the framework for all the human interactions that sustain both formal and informal organisations; and (2) a technical system that provides the framework of the tasks that produce the organisations goods and services. For example, the technical systems involved in the production of aluminium include the equipment / machinery and operations such as crushing and grinding the ore (Bauxite), desanding and desilication , settling, washing and filtration, precipitation and classification, and conversion of alumina into aluminium metal. On the other hand, the social system that operates the equipment and performs the operations includes individuals and groups whose interests, ideas, creativity , motivation, and needs must be maintained. Thus, the socio-technical model contends that management must give equal importance to the technical system and the social system of the organisation in order to ensure the efficient and effective functioning of the organisation.
Likerts System 4 Organisation

Rensis Likert was a social scientist at Michigans Institute for Social Research. Likert discovered critical relationship between organisational design and organisational effectiveness. His research focused on eight characteristics of organisations: the leadership process, the motivation process, the communication process, the interaction process, the decision process, the goal-setting process, the control process, and performance goals. He observed that organisations tend to incorporate these characteristics through four different approaches, which he called Systems 1, 2, 3, and 4. Of these four, Systems 1 and 4 have made significant contributions to organisational design theory. Likerts System 1 represents bureaucratic form of organisation design (information flows only downwards and distorted centralised decision process,
23
goal-setting process located at the top of the organisation, centralised control process, group-participation discouraged) and his System 4 represents a behavioural form of organisation (information flows freely throughout the organisation and undistorted, decentralised decision process, goal-setting process encourages group participation in setting high realistic objectives, control process dispensed throughout the organisation and emphasises self control and problem-solving). On the basis of his studies, Likert concluded that organisations should adopt System 4 approach to organisation design. The most significant strength of Likerts System 4 is that unlike the bureaucratic model which treated workers as if they were impersonal, System 4 behavioural model recognises the unique value of each and every member of the organisation. A major weakness of System 4 approach is that it was based on the premise that there is only one best way to design organisations. It is well established that what works for one organisation may not work for another (Burton and Thakur, 1995). There is a strong evidence that the best way to design a given organisation depends on a number of contingency factors.
4.4.3 The Contingency Perspective

The contingency perspective on organisation design is founded on the premise that the best design for any organisation is dependent on a number of situational factors. The most critical situational / contingency factors are : 1. External environment 2. Technology; and 3. Organisation size Organisations can be open systems or closed systems. A system is a set of interdependent parts forming an organic whole. The open systems have permeable boundaries and they constantly interact with their external environment. As such, they can act on the environment and are affected by the activities in that environment. The closed systems have no such transactions with the external environment. They are self-contained and operate independently of their external environment. For the purpose of our discussion, we assume that modern organisations are open systems that interact with their environments. As the objectives of an organisation are derived from the overall strategy of the organisation, it is natural that an organisations design is closely linked to its strategy. As such, if a management makes a significant change in its strategy, the organisations design needs to be modified to accommodate and support that change. There is considerable empirical evidence to indicate that choice of an organisations strategy is determined by the contingency factors as illustrated in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Contingent Determinants of Organisation Design
(&" & External Environment t ' ' &" #
' % &' ' Technology
) $'%' "& Organisations )Strategy & & #& "! " Overall
* #' & &" Organisation )%& Design
24
e)$ ' % ' "&& Organisation Size
Strategy
An organisations strategy describes the organisations goals and the ways the organisation expects to reach those goals. An organisations strategy may need to change as changes occur in its external environment. There is strong support from empirical research for the fact that structure follows strategy. The strategic planning process of an organisation plays a mediating role between the external environment, the organisations design, and the technical process i.e. the system the organisation uses to produce its products or services. For example, the strategic planning process can react to the uncertainties in a products market (external environment) by increasing innovation relating to its product. For carrying out this product innovation successfully, the organisations design and / or technical process will have to be changed.
External Environment
Any organisation is surrounded by the general environment and the task environment. The general environment consists of economic, technical, sociocultural, political, legal, and international dimensions which have an impact on the organisation and its task environment. The task environment comprises of customers, competitors, suppliers, and government agencies. Burns and Stalker (1961) discovered, through their research in England, the linkages between organisation design and the environment. They identified two contrasting forms of environment: (1) a stable environment that remains fairly constant over the time; and (2) an unstable environment which is subject to change and uncertainty. Through their study of different organisations operating in these two environments, they found that the organisations in stable environments tended to have a different kind of structure than those operating in unstable environments. Burns and Stalker called these organisations (having two different forms of structures) mechanistic and organic organisations. A mechanistic organisation is in many respects similar to Max Webers bureaucratic organisation or Likerts System 1 organisation. Generally found in stable environments, the mechanistic organisation is characterised by rules, regulations, standardised procedures and centralised decision making. An organic organisation resembles the behavioural model and Likerts System 4 organisation. It is generally found in unstable environments. Due to the frequent changes in the environment, organic organisations adopt flexibility, non-routine methods, few rules and regulations (which are not often written down), decentralised authority and create autonomous work teams. Figure 2 illustrates the different characteristics of organic and mechanistic organisations. The work of Burns and Stalker was expanded by two Harvard Business School researchers, Paul Laurence and J. Lorsch . Their research indicated that as environments become more uncertain, organisations need special coordination mechanisms such as liaison managers, task forces, and teams.
Technology
Technology refers to the process by which an organisation converts the inputs (people, materials, equipment, money, plant, and facility etc.). The process may be mechanical as in manufacturing organisations, or it can be a service to clients as in banks, hospitals or insurance companies. The process can also be largely mental as in organisations that solve the problems or create new ideas,
25
Figure 2: A Continuum Of Organisational Designs Strategies: Mechanistic and Organic Organisations
c *&& '& Mechanistic Organisation * #' & '!

Centralised d)& &## Many +&
$ #"# !or Hierarchy y% $$ Authority
c) $ & Organic organisation ' #' & '!

Decentralised d( & & &' " Few w&
Rules &% $ & $! $## Procedures

f% # # Division of $ ## Labour
e(#& Precise
Narrow )&#
s) +' ! Ambiguous
Wide ,"
Spans of $# #$ l% $# Control
%#$!# Coordination
' '& # + Formal Impersonal ! , &&$
" ' "'# Informal & Personal ( &#&
Source: John Sechremerhorm, 1989. Management for Productivity, New York: John Wiley & Sons, p. 204
products and services. R & D organisations, advertising agencies and software development firms are examples of the latter. The research examining relationship between technology and organisation design has aroused considerable controversy. While some studies such as those by Joan Woodward, James Thompson, Charles Perrow and Howard Aldrich support technology as a contingency factor of organisation design, other studies do not. For example, the Aston Groups study conducted in Birmingham, England concluded that organisation size was more important than technology as a determinant of structure. On the basis of the findings of the studies that supported technology - design linkage, the following conclusions have been drawn: 1. Unit and process technologies work better with smaller spans of control and organic structure, whereas mass production technology flourishes with wider spans of control and bureaucratic structure.1 2. Routine technologies feature bureaucratic structure centralised decision making that uses formal written rules and procedures to guide decisions. However, organisations that use routine technologies and have many professionals use fewer formal procedures than organisations with fewer professionals. 3. Organisations that use complex non-routine technologies have more departments, fewer levels of authority, and more participation in decision making than that use more routine technologies. For such organisations, an organic structure is appropriate. 4. New Information Technology allows for reciprocal interdependency among the parts of an organisation, which in turn, flourishes in an organic structure rather than a bureaucratic one.
Unit or small batch production technology produces goods in small batches of one or a few products that are designed to customer specification. Examples include locomotives, submarines, space satellites, and custom clothing.
Mass or large-batch production technology produces large volumes of products through standardized production runs. Examples include automobile assembly lines and the large batch processes that produce appliances. Process production technology provides a completely mechanized workflow, and is the most sophisticated and complex from of production technology. The machinery does all the work, while employees read gauges, monitor cathode ray tubes (CRTs), maintain and repair machines, and manage the production process: Examples include petroleum refineries, chemical plants and nuclear power plants.
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Size
Research tells us that large organisations have different structural features than small organisations. Typically, small organisations have little specialisation, few formal written rules and procedures, and narrow spans of control, informal decision process and a simple design. By contrast, large organisations tend to have elaborate specialisation, many formal written rules and procedures, more formalised relationships, and use a decentralised form.
Mintzbergs Typology
Henry Mintzbergs typology for integration of organisation structure to contingency factors provides a clear understanding of the linkage between an organisations business strategy and organisation design. Mintzberg believed that every organisation has five basic parts as shown in Figure 3. The top management is created at the very top of each organisation. This part is also known as strategic apex. The middle management is found at the intermediate level. In the bottom is the technical core, which is otherwise called as operating core. These three parts are shown in a sequence indicating a single line of hierarchical authority. In other words, the line function is the chain of command that runs from top management to the technical core.
Figure 3: The Five Basic Parts of Organisation
Top &# ### Management $ !# (Strategic % #Apex) Technical /$#"# #/ $!# " # Professional f$ Staff
p$
Middle &# Management &# ###

l# ### # Technical% Core # #! (Operating % Core) )% #
Administrative % # %# # Supportive Staff $## # # !
Source: Henry Mintzberg, 1979. The Structuring of Organisations, Englewood Cliffs, New Jesey: Prentice Hall.
The technical and professional staff personnel are shown to the left of the middle line. These personnel are the engineers, researchers and systems analysts, who assist in the creation of the many plans and controls that are applied to the technical core. The administrative staff shown to the right of the middle line performs such indirect services as maintenance, accounting, and clerical. According to Mintzberg, the relative size of each of these parts in determined by the organisations contingency factors. Mintzberg further proposed that each of these five organisational parts combine together in five basic forms : (1) simple structure, (2) machine bureaucracy , (3) professional bureaucracy (4) divisionalised form, and (5) adhocracy . Table 1 gives details of the main features of these five forms.
Simple Structure
This form of structure typifies the firm when it is small and entrepreneurial. The structure consists of a top manager and only a few workers (assistants) performing overlapping activities. While they may be a very small administrative
27
staff, the technical / professional staff are virtually absent. Its other features are centralised decision making, informal coordination, and minimal division of labour. Organisations employing service technology or small batch processing technology adapt this form of structure. This structure adapts well to the environment. Its goals are stress survival and innovation.
Table 1 Characteristics of Mintzbergs Five Organisational Types Simple structure Structure Approach Machine structure Professional bureaucracy Divisionalised form Adhocracy
Functional
Functional
Formalisation Centralisation Lateral relationships
Low High Few
High High Few
Functional, sometimes hybrid Low to moderate Low to moderate Many
Division, hybrid High within divisions Decentralised to divisions Some across divisions, many within divisions Many headquarters departments Many within divisions Complex, changing Divisible, varies across divisions Large, mature Adaptability, efficiency
Matrix
Low Low Many, built into structure
Configuration Technical / None Professional support staff Administrative Few support staff Contingency Environment Technology Simple, changing Routine product or service Very small, Innovation, survival
Many
Few
Many-part of matrix Many
Many
Many
Stable, certain Routine product or service Large, mature Efficiency
Stable, complex Service
Unstable, uncertain Non-routine, sophisticated Moderate, midlife Innovation, adaptation
Size, life cycle Strategic objectives
Any size, age Innovation, quality
(Source: Mintzberg, 1979)
Machine Bureaucracy
The machine bureaucracy is usually found in a large company organised along functional lines with little lateral coordination. Its other features are: bureaucratic principles with heavy specialisation, many rules and regulations , centralised authority, large technical/professional and administrative staff and formalised processes. Organisations adopting routine services or mass production technology use this form of structure. The environment of the organisations using this form of structure is generally stable. The goal of the organisation is to improve internal efficiency.
Professional Bureaucracy
This form of structure is usually found in big functionally designed organisations employing professional people. These organisations adopt non-routine service technology (in which new problems arise everyday and task variety is very high and in which employees rely on experience, education, training and trial and error search for alternative procedures as there are no readymade procedures for the problems that are encountered). Hospitals and universities are the best examples. Although highly formalised, these organisations decentralise the decision making authority to those professionals who are actually engaged in the non-routine services. Organisations having this structure operate in complex and relatively stable environments. Their goals are innovation and quality. As
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the core tasks are performed by the professional staff, the technical staff is small. But there is generally a large administrative staff.
Divisionalised Form
Typically, a divisionalised form of organisation is a large organisation having different subunits (divisions ) within it, such as product or market subunits. These units have few lateral coordinating devices. They are also provided liaison service by the corporate level personnel. Decision making is decentralised. Each division is fairly autonomous. The units/divisions may have varying non-routine manufacturing technologies. The organisations external environment tends to be stable. The technical staff is concentrated at corporate headquarters and it provides services for all subunits/divisions. The administrative support is available within each division.
Adhocracy
This form of organisation is much like a matrix organisation . It evolves in complex environments. The technology used by the organisation is sophisticated. The structure of the organisation tends to be informal. There is dual chain of command for the purpose of coordination of different activities. Another feature is that the administrative staff is large, but the technical support staff is small as most of the technical work is performed by the experts located in the technical core. Activity A Fill the basic parts in Figure 3 with the typical job titles of an organisation with which you are familiar. State the functions/ activities performed by the people in various positions in each part.
Activity B (i) Identify the strategy being adopted by an organisation with which you are familiar; and examine whether corresponding structural changes are being made in the organisation design. ...................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................... (ii) Make a brief analysis of the contingent factors that have influenced the strategy of the said organisation. ...................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................... 29
4.5 FROM STRATEGY-STRUCTURE TO PROCESS: THE NEW PERSPECTIVE ON ORGANISATION DESIGN

Bartlett and Ghoshal (1992) consider the studies on strategy-structure relationship by Chandler (1962), Stopford and Wells (1972), Daniels, Pitts and Tretter (1984) and Egelhoff (1988) as the first generation approaches to organisation design because the complexity and dynamic nature of environmental demands has made the structural fit (strategy-structure linkage) less relevant and harder to achieve. Coupled with this, there has been a growing realisation that just focusing on organisational structure may not be enough to implement complex strategic concerns successfully. Therefore, a second generation of models of organisation design have been developed which focus on the management process that will make strategic decision work. The second generation models are based on the premise that all structured forms are not equally effective in implementing a given strategy, and therefore, the role of the management is to create an internally consistent and balanced design.
Design Parameters for Second Generation Organisation Design Models

In order to create an organisation design that is internally consistent and balanced, the following design parameters can be used (Jaap Paauwe and Philip Dewe, 1995):

Structural and formal coordinative mechanisms; Systems and tools (administrative mechanism); Cultural transformation (socialisation , normative integration).
Structural and Formal Coordination Mechanisms

These include: centralisation, formalisation, and specialisation Centralisation (or decentralisation) refers to whether the power of decision making lies at the upper or lower levels of the chain of command. Formalisation: (also called standardisation ) indicates the extent to which the policies, rules, job descriptions etc. are written down, and the procedures are established through standard routines. The degree of specialisation refers to the number of specific tasks that are carried out through separate and distinct functions.
Systems and Tools (Administrative Mechanisms)

The coordination mechanisms mentioned above will need to be supported and supplemented by various systems and tools (also called as administrative mechanisms). Some of the administrative mechanisms are: data management mechanisms, managers management mechanisms, and conflict resolution mechanisms (Y. Doz and C. K. Prahalad, 1981) Data Management mechanisms include information systems, measurement systems, resource allocation procedures, strategic planning, budgeting processes. Managers management systems refer to the choice of key managers, career paths, rewards and punishment systems, compensation schemes, management development and pattern of socialisation. 30 Conflict resolution mechanism include coordination committees , task forces, issue resolution processes.
Cultural Transformation (Socialisation/Normative Integration)

In order to deal with all the diversity and complexity involved in managing an organisation effectively, the socialisation of managers in key positions is crucial. In other words, the managers have to internalise certain values so as to be in a position to make strategic choices and operational decisions that are in line with the mission and goals of the company and with the relevant values of the company. The socialisation can be facilitated through:

job rotation, regular transfer of people, management development; building up an informal network through management development programmes; international conferences and forums to facilitate international and inter-unit transfer of knowledge and learning; task forces; encouraging informal communication channels.

4.6 RESTRUCTURING STRATEGIES

An analysis of the empirical studies on the relationship between organisation development strategies and structures indicates that there is a certain pattern in the relationship between the two. Table 2 gives a summary of relationship between strategies of organisational development and structure.
Table 2: Summary of Relationships between Strategies of Organisation Development and Structure Strategies of organisational development Organisational growth Growth in size per se Structural changes that are often assumed to be outcomes Increased vertical differentiation lengthening hierarchiesGrowing number of jobs and departmentshorizontal differentiationRising formalization Increased delegationPossible economies in administration, offset by rising problems of administering complexity Increased specialisation of skills and functionsDivisionalisation of major subunits Rising formalisation, especially of planning and resource allocationprocedures Increased delegation Growth of specialised professional staff Increased specialisation of skills and functions Other structural concomitants dependend on the type of technology employed Establishment of new roles, especially to manage relationships with other organisations Increased delegation More active internal communications via lateral relationships
Growth via diversification
Technological Development
Acquiring a secure domain through non-competitive means especially joint programmes
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Improving managerial techniques with a view to enhancing flexibility
Depends on methods adopted, but usually associated with: Establishment of new specialised roles to service vertical information systems for example, computer-based systems are to promote lateral coordination More active internal communication via lateral relationships Increased delegation
Source: John Child and Alfred Keiser, 1981. Development of organisations, over time in Paul C. Nystrom and William H. Starbuck (Eds.), Handbook of Organisational Design (Vol. 1), London: Oxford University Press, p.39
The four strategies of organisational development outlined in Table 2 are by no means mutually exclusive. Their choice and combination depend largely upon circumstance. Growth, for example, is possible through increase in volume of operations or through acquisitions. Both need different approaches. The degree of diversification varies depending on the companys share in the market, technological synergy, government regulations, management capacity etc. As organisations seek to become flexible, or to retain flexibility in the face of growing complexity and as they employ larger number of professional and trained personnel, the forms of effective and acceptable control and integration within the organisations change. This means that the familiar model of bureaucracy needs to be modified. The problem of elongation of organisational hierarchies and the serious problems thereof need to be tackled through policies aimed at increasing spans of control, and , thereby, delegation of responsibility. Organisational control systems have to shift from an emphasis on the specification and supervision of means how people are to behave and carry out their work towards an emphasis on results.
4.7 SUMMARY
In this unit we have outlined the seven-step sequence suggested by Allen that could be followed to set the organisation design process into action. We have described the evolutionary process of organisation design and noted that organisations structural characteristics undergo different stages of organisations life cycle. We have discussed the universal perspectives of organisation design the bureaucratic model, the behavioural model, and the contingency perspective in order to understand the theoretical principles and different variable of organisation design. We have examined why the structure follows strategy approach to organisation design has been considered less relevant and harder to achieve. We have briefly discussed the new perspective on organisation design which focuses on the management process that will make strategic decisions work. We have noted that the restructuring strategies have to be appropriate to the development strategies.

1. Briefly describe the evolutionary process of organisation design. 2. Outline the universal perspectives of organisation design. 3. Briefly explain the design parameters of second generation of models of organisation design.
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Louis Allen, 1958. Management and Organisations, New York: McGraw-Hill Inc., pp. 72-77 David K. Banner and T. Elaine Gagn, 1995. Designing Effective Organisations: Traditional and Transformational Views, Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications. C. A. Bartlett and S. Ghoshal, 1992. Transnational Management: Text, Cases and Readings in Cross-Border Management, Irwin: Homewood , IL. Tom Burns and G. M. Stalker, 1961. The Management of Innovation, London, Tavistock. Gene Burton and Manab Thakur, 1995. Management Today: Principles and Practice, New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited. A. D. Chandler, 1962. Strategy and Structure: Chapters in the History of Industrial Enterprise, Cambridge, MIT Press. J. D. Daniels, R. A. Pitts and M. J. Tretter, 1984. Strategy and Structure of US Multinationals, Academy of Management Journal, 27 (2), pp. 292-307. Y. Doz and C. K. Prahalad, 1981. Headquarters Influence and Strategic Control in MNCs, Sloan Management Review, 23, Fall, pp.15-29. W. G. Egelhoff, 1988. Strategy and Structure in Multinational Corporations: A Revision of the Stopford and Wells Model, Strategic Management Journal, 9, pp.1-14. K. Harigopal, 2001. Management of Organisational Change: Leveraging Transformation, New Delhi: Response Books. Pradip N. Khandwalla, 1991. Organisational Designs for Excellence, New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited. Sukul Lomash and P. K. Mishra, 2003. Business Policy and Strategic Management, New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd. Fred Luthans, 2002. Organizational Behavior, Boston: Tata McGraw-Hill Irwin. Henry Mintzberg, 1979. The Structuring of Organisations, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Paul C. Nystrom and William H. Starbuck (Eds.), 1981. Handbook of Organisational Design (2 Volumes), London: Oxford University Press. Jaap Paauwe and Philip Dewe, 1995. Organisational Structure of Multinational Corporations: Theories and Models in Anne-Wil Harzing & Joris Van Ruysseveldt (Eds.), London: Sage Publications Ltd., pp. 51-74. Stephen P. Robbins, 2001. Organizational Behavior, New Delhi: Prentice Hall of India Private Limited (9th Edition). Anup K. Singh, Rajan K. Gupta and Abad Ahmad (Eds.), 2001. Designing and Developing of Organisations for Tomorrow, New Delhi: Response Books. B. P. Singh and T. N. Chhabra, 2002. Organisation Theory and Behaviour, Delhi: Dhanpat Rai & Co. (P) Ltd. J. M. Stopford and L. T. Wells, 1972. Managing the Multinational Enterprise, New York: Basic Books.
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MS-10
Block
APPROACHES TO WORK DESIGN

UNIT 5 Organising and Analysing Work UNIT 6 Job Design UNIT 7 Emerging Issues of Work Organisation and Quality of Working Life 5 23 43
Approaches To Work Design

Print Production
BLOCK 3 APPROACHES TO WORK DESIGN

This block consists of three units. The first unit deals with the concept of organising and analysing work, methods to improve and measure the work processes. It has also covered the concept of human engineering, workspace and architectural ergonomics and the impact of information technology on work design. The second unit entitled as Job Design deals with meaning of job design, different approaches and factors affecting job design. It has focussed on the job design techniques and impact of advance technology on job design. The last unit deals with the emerging issues of work organisation and quality of work life.
UNIT 5 ORGANISING AND ANALYSING WORK

When you finish this Unit, you should be able to comprehend:

the meaning of work; different approaches to organizing and analyzing work; methods to improve and measure the work process; the Time and Motion study; the concept of Ergonomics; and impact of Information Technology on Work Design.
Structure
5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 5.10 5.11 5.12 Introduction Meaning of Work The Concept of Organizing and Analyzing Work Different Approaches to Organizing and Analyzing Work Work Improvement and Measurement Time and Motion Study Ergonomics Workspace and Architectural Ergonomics Impact of IT on Organizing Work Summary Self Assessment Questions Further Readings
5.1 INTRODUCTION
Work is basic to our sense of social and personal identity. After a long contemplation of the human condition, Sigmund Freud put forward work and love as the two important constituents of a contented and well-adjusted personality. Work is an important human venture because it has a potent effect in binding a person to veracity. Through work, people become firmly affixed to reality and resolutely bonded in human relationships. Work is also the soul of an organization. It is one essential reason for which an organization subsists. The nature of work and its organization has interested managers, economists and social scientists. Managers have largely been interested in maximizing output from available resources. Economists and social scientists have raised questions about the organization of work in relation to issues of the individual and society in general.
5.2 MEANING OF WORK

Many authors have tried to portray exactly what work is. Work is any productive activity undertaken to produce a given product or a service. It may be defined as the effort or activity of an individual that is undertaken for the purpose of providing goods or services of value to others and that is considered by the individual to be work( Hall,1994). 5
The meaning of work differs from person to person and culture to culture. One study found six patterns people follow in defining work, and these help explain the cultural differences in peoples motivation to work. Pattern A people define work as an activity in which value comes from performance and for which a person is accountable. It is generally self-directed and lacking negative affect. Pattern B people define work as an activity that provides a person with positive personal affect and identity. Work contributes to society and is not unpleasant. Pattern C people define work as an activity from which profit accrues to others by its performance and that may be done in various settings other than a working place. Work is usually physically strenuous and somewhat compulsive. Pattern D people define work as primarily a physical activity a person must do that is directed by others and generally performed in a working place. Work is usually devoid of positive affect and is unpleasantly connected to performance. Pattern E people define work as a physically and mentally tiring activity. It is generally unpleasant and devoid of positive affect. Pattern F people define work as an activity constrained to specific time periods that does not bring positive affect through its performance. These six patterns were studied in six different countries: Belgium, the former Federal Republic of Germany, Israel, Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States. The findings of the study show that a small percentage of workers in all six countries used either Pattern E or Pattern F to define work. Furthermore, there are major difference among countries in how work is defined. In the Netherlands, work is defined most positively and with the most balanced personal and collective reasons for doing it . Work is defined least positively and with the most collective reason for doing it in Germany and Japan. Belgium, Israel, and the United States represent a middle position between two (England and Harpaz, 1990).
5.3 THE CONCEPT OF ORGANIZING AND ANALYZING WORK

The goal accomplishment of an organization requires work to be done in many different areas, and highly specialized knowledge and experience. Hence the work is divided among people, work units such as divisions, departments and groups. Organizing work refers how to arrange matters so that people can work in concert to get the work done, division of work between people and groups, the work done by managers at different levels, and cocoordinating the work of people and groups to make possible to realize the goal of the organization . It includes issues like:
Organization Charts : Organization chart is a form of line diagram . It indicates the arrangement of work units, the delegation of work (that is the delegation of responsibility) and work units in relation to each other. Division of Work : The work is divided among people and work units such as divisions, departments or groups. The Head of each work unit is in charge for the work done by his unit as well as for the work he does himself. Organising the work done (responsibility carried) at different levels . Maintaining relationships between people at different levels . Coordinating work between people etc.

5.4 DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO ORGANIZING AND ANALYZING WORK

I. The Ancient Approach
The concept of organizing work was there even in ancient times. For instance, the ancient Egyptians built their pyramids, the ancient Chinese built the Great Wall of Chine, the Mesopotamians used to irrigate their land and wall their cities, and the Romans built their roads, aqueducts and Hadrians Wall. All these man-made construction required large amounts of human effort and therefore organizing i.e. planning, control and coordination. The Chinese philosopher Mencius (372-289BC) wrote about the concept and the advantages of the division of labor. Records reveal that the ancient Greeks understood the advantages of, and practiced uniform work methods. They also employed work songs to develop a rhythm in order to achieve a smooth, less fatiguing tempo and to improve productivity. The division of labor was also recognized by Plato (427-347BC). He wrote in The Republic, A man whose work is confined to such limited task must necessarily excel at it. However, work itself was viewed by the ancient Greeks and the Romans, as demeaning / humiliating. Those who could afford to do so were treated as employed slaves. With the fall of the Roman Empire, development was reduced; slavery being replaced by feudalism. In pre-Reformation Christian Europe work was also seen as a burden. In this period, the mechanical clock was invented by Heinrich Von Wych in Paris in 1370, and Guttenbergs printing press was set up. The former permitted accurate work measurement and the latter the ability to communicate by the printed word. Indeed Guttenbergs inspired creative thinking can be viewed as an early example of method study. However, with the Reformation the Protestant work ethic emerged based on Luthers glorification of work theory. Calvinism brought further consolidation to this principle and with it the virtues of frugality and the honorable acquisition of wealth. Work was viewed in society as respectable and idleness as awful.
Organising and Analysing Work
II. The Approach during the Industrial Revolution Period

The momentum for industrial revolution was initiated in the seventeenth century. Agricultural methods had improved in Europe. Technical advances were also being made, most notably in textile manufacturing, in the eighteenth century with the invention of Hargreavess spinning jenny, Arkwrights water frame and Comptons mule. The steam engine first developed in 1698 by Thomas savory, was harnessed by James Watt. These factors, technological developments, expanding trade/markets, growing populations created opportunities for merchants and entrepreneurs to invest in new factories. This was the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. All these necessitated the improvement in work methods, quality, and productivity of workers. With the emergence of the factory system, Adam Smith, the Father of Economics advocated making work efficient by means of specialization in the eighteenth century. He advocated dividing the work down into simple tasks. He provided three advantages of the division of labour:

the development of skills; the saving of time; and the possibility of using specialized tools 7
After the War of Independence there was a shortage of musket parts in the United States. Eli Whitney proposed the manufacturing of muskets by means of using interchangeable parts. Records form the Soho Bell Foundry in Chelsea, around the same time as Whitney, evince the use of production standards, cost control, work study and incentives during the period.. In 1832, Charles Babbage, an engineer, philosopher and researcher, examined the division of labor in his book On the Economy of Machinery and Manufacturers. Babbage proposed, as an advantage of the division of labor, that the amount of skill needed to take on a specialized task was only the skill necessary to complete that task. He illustrated this concept by breaking down the manufacture of a pin, into seven elements. The important inference for employers was that they need to pay for the amount of skill necessary to complete each individual task. He advocated breaking down jobs into elements and costing each element. In this manner, these developments foreshadow the machine age, replacing traditional manual labor and improving productivity. Machines were located near sources of power, first water later coal for steam. Large concentration of machines were gathered in one place under one roof in the factories. Huge numbers of people came together to operate these machines and in the delivery of the outputs from the factories. As a result, the management functions of control, planning and coordination were required with greater strength.. At the turn of the century, the problem of layout and method were studied by Robert Owen. Owen through experimentation at the New Lanark Mills was successful in raising the living conditions of his workers whilst reorganizing his mills on commercial principles. Robert Owen is endorsed with being the first to identify fatigue and the work environment as factors affecting the performance of factory workers.
III. The Scientific Management Approach

Frederick W. Taylor known as the father of scientific management and modern industrial engineering. By experimenting with different designs of shovel for use with different material (from rice coal to ore) he was able to design shovels that would permit the worker to shovel for the whole day. In so doing, he reduced the number of people shoveling at the Bethlehem Steel Works from 500 to 140. This work, and his studies on the handling of pig iron, greatly contributed to the analysis of work design and gave rise to method study. In 1909, he published the book for which he is best known, Principles of Scientific Management. Taylors impact has been so great because he developed a concept of work design, work-measurement, production control and other functions, that completely changed the nature of industry.
Objectives of Scientific Management

The four objectives of management under scientific management are as follows:
The development of a science for each element of a mans work to replace the older rule-of-thumb methods. The scientific selection, training and development of workers instead of allowing them to choose their own tasks and train themselves as best they could. The development of a spirit of hearty cooperation between workers and management to ensure that work would be carried out in accordance with scientifically devised procedures.
The division of work between workers and the management in almost equal shares, each group taking over the work for which it is best fitted instead of the former condition in which responsibility largely placed with the workers.
His framework for organization was: clear delineation of authority, responsibility, separation of planning from operation, incentive schemes for workers, management by exception, and task specialization.
Assumptions of Scientific Management

Two basic assumptions dominated Taylors approach to the design of jobs. First Assumption (Management): Management is assumed to be more effective than labor at devising methods for executing the work and then at planning and organizing. By breaking the work down into simple elements:

the training of workers is clearly simplified workers are more easily substituted, one for another supervision is made easier as it is apparent when workers are doing something that is not part of the specified task.
Second Assumption (Workers): Human beings are rational economic beings. The prime goal is assumed to be monetary and consequently reward systems which relate pay levels to output are seen as likely to result in maximum output. As such, humans will examine a situation and identify a course of action likely to maximize their self interest and act accordingly. All that is required to maximize output, from the organizations perspective, is to hire the right people, train them properly and construct an appropriate reward system. If the work can be paced, a worker can develop a natural rhythm and momentum.
Principles of Scientific Management

Three primary principles of scientific management directly or indirectly relating to work design are: i. Taylor assumed that it is possible to gather all of the traditional knowledge which in the past the been possessed by the workman and then classifying, tabulating, and reducing this knowledge to rules, laws, and formulae which are immensely helpful to the workmen in doing their daily work. In this way the industrial engineer (and the manager) learns the best way for a job to be performed. ii. The work of every individual employee is fully planned out by the management at least one day in advance describing in detail the task which he is to accomplish as well as the means to be used in doing the work (p.39). If management understands the process by which the work is done, it should be possible to plan out the work in the smallest detail before the employee even show up. In this way the manager and engineer know exactly how the work will be accomplished. iii. The science which underlies each workmans act is so great and amounts to so much that the workman who is best suited to actually do the work is incapable (either through lack of education or through insufficient mental capacity) of understanding this science (p.41). If management understands the best, most efficient way for a job to be accomplished, and if this is planned out in advance, no mental contribution is necessary from the worker. The scientific management approach was exceedingly successful in the first half on the 20th century. 9
Constraints of Scientific Management

Although scientific management was unquestionably effective for more than 50 years, gradually it is losing ground because of the following reasons. First, production and/or service jobs are no longer simple. Creating uncomplicated jobs was easy at the beginning of the 20th century because the products and the manufacturing processes were elementary . However this is not the case today. Even unskilled factory jobs today require reading computer screens, working with numerical tools, or using and/or making custom products and services. Second, allied with this increase in job complexity, the technology employed in both manufacturing and the service sector has also increased in complexity. The jobs of today also are changing more rapidly than in the past and so also the technology. If the technology is changing daily, so are those rules. By the time management understands the technology and how it should best be used, the technology has changed. Finally, products and services are changing at an ever more rapid rate. If we want to compete in the global marketplace, speed has become a necessity (Dumaine, 1989).
IV. Fordism
In the early 20th Century , Henry Ford dramatically established the concept of relative surplus value by doing what at the time was considered impossible. He paid workers 4 or 5 times the going rate (actually the bare minimum that could be screwed from the bosses), yet still made a huge profit. By vastly increasing the production of relative surplus value through the use of the assembly line, coupled with FW Taylors Scientific Management of the work process, he was able to vastly improve the productivity of his plants. Ford brought into existence the concept of mass worker. Whereas before the capitalist had relied largely on skilled workers to manage the production process, the mass worker was a new type.
V. The Human Relations Approach

The human relations approach arose almost as a direct result of the harshness imposed by supervisors who excessively used scientific management principles. An outgrowth of the famous Hawthorne Studies conducted during 1924-33, the human relations approach de-emphasized the technical components of a job and concerned itself with the impact of employee social and psychological needs on productivity. Originally, the goals of the Hawthorne investigators were to identify elements of the work environment which fostered productivity. Surprisingly, the investigators discovered that the greatest impact on productivity was that of the social interaction patterns of the workers rather than environmental conditions like lighting. The significance of the findings to management are that:

workers thought and acted not as individuals but as a group; workers would sacrifice their self-interest in the fact of group pressure; money is not the sole motivator. (This prompted Mayo to comment: Factory managers are going to someday realize that workers are not governed primarily by economic motives.) supervisors have significant influence on output.
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Mayos recommendations reflected these findings and were that:

managers must not ignore the informal organization but ensure its norms are in harmony with organizational goals; man is basically motivated by social needs, not economic ones; in order to influence the behavior of individuals managers must focus on the work group rather than individuals; and effective supervisors are those who satisfy subordinates social needs.

These recommendations led to principles advocating the design of jobs which facilitate social need gratification by the workers, including the use of nonauthoritarian leadership styles by supervisors and the fostering of effective work groups.
VI. The Socio Technical Systems Approach

The socio technical systems approach to work redesigns tasks in a manner that jointly optimizes the social and technical efficiency of work. Beginning with studies on the introduction of new coal-mining technologies in 1949, the socio technical systems approach to work design focused on small, self-regulating work groups. Later it was found that such work arrangements could operate effectively only in an environment in which bureaucracy was limited. Todays trends towards lean and flat organizations, work teams, and an empowered workforce are logical extensions of the sociotechnical philosophy of work design.
VII. Modern Approaches

Modern concepts, are not entirely disparate to scientific management and classical organization theory, but are evolved from earlier views and represent modifications based on research and experience. In order to counter the weaknesses of the earlier approaches discussed above that the behavioral science approach was adopted. Industrial psychologists , although at first arrived at similar conclusions to the human relations movement, based on their research concentrated on motivation of individuals .And industrial sociologists looked at the behavior of formal and informal groups at work. In the period between 1951 and 1971, managers moderated their logical approach to such things as job design and considered such alternatives as participation, job-redesign, job enlargement and job enrichment. By the mid1960s and 70s in Britain there was much puzzlement as to which theory to follow and much conflicting evidence from researchers. Goldthorpe (1969), for example, was to find that some employees, although they disliked the work which involved repetitive tasks in their Coventry car assembly plant, would put up with them for the money rather than move to more interesting jobs and lower wages in plants nearby. Experiments at Philips at Eindhoven demonstrated that although output initially mounted after enlarging the jobs in radio assembly, workers were unhappy with their new jobs and responsibilities and many left. White (1973) also found that the motivation of managers to work depended very much on two factors: the type of job that was being performed and the age of the jobholder. These findings show the boundaries of approaches such as those proposed by Herzberg and others that advocate a single best way and draw attention to the danger of viewing behavioral science as a provider of packaged solutions.
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In nutshell, advocates of each approach point the finger at the incompetence of the application of other approaches. Accordingly, it becomes clear that no single panacea exists for work organization. As advocated by the contingency theorists, it depends upon several contingent variables .
5.5 WORK IMPROVEMENT AND MEASUREMENT

Work Improvement
The term work improvement is very wide and includes the study of work and simplification and standardization of methods, equipment and working condition. It is otherwise known as method study or method engineering. Work improvement may be defined as scientific techniques of studying and analyzing the conditions influencing the quantity and quality of work done by the workers According to W.W. Haynes and J.D. Massie, All of the physical aspects of operations can be considered as a part of the work improvement study, layout of work-place, materials handling, design of equipment, working conditions including lighting, color, air-conditioning, power and so forth. Work improvement not only improves work efficiency, but also improves human comfort and satisfaction. This is also known as human engineering or ERGONOMICS.
Work Measurement
Work measurement deals with assessing the time content of a job performed by an operator to determine the proper time to be allowed and the efforts required for the efficient performance of a job. R.M. Curie has defined work measurement as application of techniques designed to establish the time for a qualified worker to carry out a specified job at a defined level of performance. Work measurement is popularly known as time study which is a major constituent of the work study. Its advantages are as follows:
Work measurement determines the normal time for a job and thereby serves as a basis of a sound wage incentive system. The standard time determined by work measurement helps in labor cost control. Work measurement provides the relevant data for efficient work planning and control. Work measurement facilitates effective manning of plant and equipment. Work measurement technique can be useful in reducing the time and cost involved in the proposed production orders.

Work Measurement vs. Work Improvement

Work measurement is the study and analysis of time taken in the performance of a specific task. Work improvement denotes the study of methods and techniques of production for increasing efficiency. These two concepts are interlinked with each other because both of these aim to increasing productivity. Efficient work improvement is a precondition of work measurement. Work improvement uses the techniques of motion study, process analysis, plant layout and materials handling whereas work measurement involves time study, work sampling and synthetic standards. Work improvement is done to suggest the best method of doing the job whereas work measurement helps in fixing fair days work, laying down wage incentive plans, and production planning and control. 12
5.6 TIME AND MOTION STUDY

Work study is an important tool in the hands of management for achieving greater productivity in the organization. It is a methodical study of the use of workers, materials and equipment in order to enhance existing methods and work performance by elimination of every type of waste. Taylor recommended the technique of time study for work measurement and determination of time standards. Gilbreths devised the technique of motion study to carry out work study. Thus, work study covers both time study and motion study for work measurement and work improvement.
Objectives of Work Study

The objectives of work study are as follows:

Effective use of manpower Effective use of methods, machines and equipment. Effective layout of plant. Elimination of unnecessary human motion. Simplification and standardization of operations. Measurement of time required to perform an operation and establishment of standard level of performance for each worker.
Motion Study
Frank B. Gilbreth, an intrusive Industrial engineer, had pioneered the technique of Motion study in association with his wife Lillian Mollar Gilbreth during 1902-12. Prior to use of Gilbreths standard method, 120 bricks laid per worker were considered to be normal. Gilbreths development of standard method using motion study resulted in an average production rate of 350 bricks per worker per hour. This increase was not achieved by making bricklayers work faster but through most effective way of doing it. For example, Gilbreth reduced the number of motions from 18 to 5 in laying the bricks. Traditionally, a bricklayer would bend over and pick up a brick from a pile of bricks on a relatively unadjustable scaffold, rotate the brick to find the best side, and then lay the brick by tapping with mortar of often poor consistency. Gilbreth suggested a different pattern. Gilbreth wanted bricklayers to be able to pick up a brick most efficiently. Therefore, he had minimum-cost laborers arranging the bricks on a pallet for ease of pick up by the master bricklayer. He then provided adjustable scaffolds, the proper location of bricks and mortar, and mortar of proper consistency. The result was a vast improvement in productivity with less fatigue. From various studies Gilbreth developed the law of human motion from which evolved the principle of motion economy. The motion study is a process of analyzing a job to find the easiest, most effective, and most economical way of doing it with the help of a close scrutiny of the motions made by a worker or a machine. Motion study can be divided into three components, namely : (i) analysis of therbligs, (ii) micromotion study; and (iii) principles of motion economy.
Therblig Analysis
Gilbreth classified the basic motions into what he called therbligs (which is gilbreths spelled back), such as search, find, transport empty, preposition, grasp, and so forth A therblig is a small part of a job. Gilbreths gave a list of 17 basic motions of a worker. The list is as follows : 1) Search (Sh) 2) Select. (St.) 3) Grasp (G) 4) Transport empty (TE) 5) Transport loaded. (TL) 6) Hold (H) 7) Release load (RL) 8) Position (P) 9) Preposition (PP) 10) Inspect. (I)
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11) Assemble (A) 12) Disassemble (DA) 13) Use (U) 14) Unavoidable delay (UD) 15) Avoidable delay (AD) 16) Plan (Pn) 17) Rest for overcoming fatigue (R).
Micromotion Study
Micromotion study is a study of the fundamental elements of an operation with the help of a high speed movie camera in order to eliminate the unnecessary motions involved in the operation and balancing the necessary motions. The speed of the camera should be 1,000 frames per minute. Finding out the numbers of films that elapse in doing a particular element of motion and knowing the speed of the camera, one can know the exact time value that could be assigned to a particular element. This value can be indicated on the frame scale or time scale drawn on the simo chart (simultaneous motion cycle chart). The study is known as memo motion study if it is done with the help of a slow speed camera.
Principles of Motion Economy

The principle of motion economy developed by Gilbreths envisage the correct application of theories behind motion elements to achieve harmonization of human body movements, best layout of work places and the optimal design of equipment and tools. There are five basic principles of motion economy which are listed below

Principles of minimum movement. Principles of simultaneous and symmetrical movement. Principles of rhythmic movement. Principles of natural movement. Principles of habitual movement.
The study of the above principles is a lengthy one, usually coming under work physiology. However, a few rules of effective motions are mentioned below: 1. Successive movement should be so related that one movement passes easily into that which follows. 2. The order of movements should be so arranged that the mind can attend to the final aim. 3. The sequence of movements is to be so framed that an easy rhythm can be established. 4. The continuous movements are preferable to angular movements involving sudden changes in the direction of movements. 5. The number of movements should be reduced as far as possible. 6. Simultaneous use of both hands should be encouraged. 7. Fixed positions should be provided for tools, materials, etc.
Time Study
Time study is an essential way of work measurement. It is the art of recording and analyzing methodically the time required to perform a motion or a series of motions. This divulges that time study is to be conducted after a motion study has been undertaken. Probably the first attempt at formally timing work was done in 1760 when Jean Radolphe Perronet studied the manufacturing of pins and attempts to establish standard times for various operations. Documents have been found relating to the Old Derby China Works for the year 1792 in which Mr. Thomas Mason pledged himself to undertake time studies in the factory. But the term Time Study was coined by F.W. Taylor. Unlike the early activities of Perronet and others, Taylor started to break the timing down into elements.
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Objectives
The need for time study arises whenever a better method of doing a work is introduced in a plant. Time study endeavors to:
Determine a standard days work by finding the amount of time needed by workers to perform the various operations and Provide production data.
Procedure of Time Study

The procedure to time study involved the following steps:

Selection of work to be studied. Establishing standardized methods, equipments and working conditions. Selecting the average worker who is to be studied while performing the work. Necessary confidence in the worker should be created so as to obtain his cooperation. Division of work into elements suitable for time study. Studying the operator doing the job. For the validity of the time study results, it is necessary that the analyst should take readings not once but a number of times. The number of times for which time study should be repeated, (i.e., number of cycles) will depend upon the level of confidence needed. Recording time with the help of stop watch on the time study board of the required number of work cycles. After the time values for each element for a sufficient number of cycles have been recorded, the mode value is selected. The mode value represents the most frequently appearing time value for an element of the job. Mode values of different elements will be added to get the normal time for doing a job. Normal time is the time required by an average worker working under normal conditions to perform a job. Adding allowance to normal time to get the standard time. Relaxation allowances include personal allowance, fatigue allowance, delay allowance, etc.

In the above mentioned procedure, it is recommended that an average worker should be preferred for the purpose of time study. If an average worker is not chosen, performance rating factor will have to be assessed to determine the normal time for each category of worker. For instance, workers are divided into three categories : (i) Poor workers (75 points); (ii) Normal or average workers (100 points); and (iii) Good Workers (125 points). If a good worker is studied, the time taken by him to perform the job will be multiplied by 125/100 to get the normal time taken by an average worker
Benefits of Time Study

The advantages of time study are as follows:
Time study helps in determining the ideal workload of different categories of workers. The standards of performance evolved as a result of time study may be used for evaluating the performance of employees. Time study helps in designing a suitable incentive wage plan to motivate the workers to increase their productivity. Cost standards are very accurate if they are based on the results of time study. 15
Limitations of Time study

Time study is not limitless. Some of the perceptible limitations of time study are like so:
There are variations of the standard time determined by different observers. Even the same observer sets different standard time each time he is asked to conduct the time study. Time study involves an element of subjectivity of the observer. Sufficient judgment has to be used by the observer in the choice of a measure of central tendency, deciding the degree of personal allowance and so on. The standard time determined by time study may not be accurate because of incorrect performance rating of the operator under study. Time study usually has an adverse effect on the workers. They may not show the normal behavior pattern when they are being observed. Even the trade unions may resist stop watch time studies.
Difference between Time Study and Motion Study

The difference between the Time and Motion study is specified in Table 1.
Table 1: Difference between Time Study and Motion Study Basis 1. Purpose Time Study Concerned with the determination of time taken by the workers in performing each operation on the job. Covers both workers and machines. Conducted with the help of a stop watch. Motion Study Concerned with the motions or movements of workers. Covers only workers. Conducted by photographic procedures.
2. Scope 3. Procedure
5.7 ERGONOMICS
Ergonomics is the scientific, interdisciplinary study of individuals and their physical relationship to the work environment It is closely associated with industrial and experimental psychology. Beginning in 1940, the term human engineering was associated with equipment design. By mid 1950s, several aircraft companies began to utilize human engineering in machine design and training programmes. Ergonomics is also called the science of human engineering. Human engineering may be described as an approach by which an engineer set about the problem of designing machine and equipment to be used by human beings. The human engineer applies scientific knowledge and research methodology to study human areas as they pertain to the operation of the machine systems and concepts. Human engineering groups generally include engineers, psychologists, physiologists, mathematicians, anthropologists, physicians and specialists from other fields. The human and machine systems possess different characteristics as shown in Table 2. Ergonomics advocates using these characteristics in complimentary manner while designing and implementing any production and mechanical operations. 16
Table 2: Man Vs Machines Man excels in 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Detection of certain forms of very low energy levels. Sensitivity to an extremely wide variety of stimuli Perceiving patterns and making generalizations about them. Detecting signals in high noise levels Ability to store large amounts of information for long periods and recalling relevant facts of appropriate moments. Ability to exercise judgment where events cannot be completely defined Improvising and adopting flexible procedures Ability to react to unexpected low-probability events Applying originality in solving problems: i.e. alternate solutions 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Machines excels in Monitoring (both men & machines) Performing routine, repetitive, or very precise operations. Responding very quickly to control signals Exerting great force, smoothly and with precision Storing and recalling large amounts of information in short time period
6. 7. 8. 9.
6. 7. 8. 9.
Performing complex and rapid computation with high accuracy Doing many different things at one time Deductive processes Insensitivity to extraneous factors
10. Ability to profit from experience and later course of action. 11. Ability to perform fine manipulation, especially where misalignment appears unexpectedly 12. Ability to continue to perform even when over loaded. 13. Ability to reason inductively
10. Ability to repeat operations very rapidly, continuously, and precisely the same way over a long period 11. Operating in environments, which are hostile to man or beyond human tolerance
Source: Woodson, Wesley E. and Donald W. Conover (1964), Human Engineering Guide for Equipment Designers, University of California Press, Berkeley.
Needs of Human Engineering

Human engineering is the study of people at work and of work methods. Its purposes are to:
Design human-machine system involving the best combination of human and machine elements. Study equipments design, hours of work and physical conditions of work. Design the machine for its users fitting it to their physiological requirements to minimize fatigue and maximize output. Reduce the types of injuries caused by poor design. Ergonomically designed spaces, systems and environment that take into account both the psychological and physical aspects of the people increases efficiency, health and prevent injuries and musculoskeletal disorders Assist in design and operation of man-machine environmental system which will ensure physical and mental ease to the human beings. Design the machines and equipments in such a manner that not only the users but also those in the vicinity should be protected against dangers of accidents. Design the machinery, equipment and tools to suit the human operator and not vice versa. It includes the following : 17

Tools and materials should be arranged at the work-place in such a way that the operator can reach them easily. Machine control should be installed in the working area so that it is within the reach of the machine operator. There should be mechanization of materials handling on and between processing points, particularly, for heavy and bulky items. The machine operator should be permitted to sit while on the job unless the nature of job requires him to stand. If he is required to stand for long hours, he should be given rest pauses so as to relax himself There should be proper arrangement to eliminate job safety hazards. Good working conditions should be provided to the operators so as to maintain their physical and mental health. There should be satisfactory lighting and sanitary facilities. The operator should have easy access to service facilities.
5.8 WORKSPACE AND ARCHITECTURAL ERGONOMICS

The design of the workspace or Architectural Ergonomics has a direct impact on the efficiency and productivity of the workers. Workspace is the space within which one perform the tasks that add up to his job. Physical design of a workspace includes working out how much space needed, and positioning of furniture, tools, equipment and any other items needed to perform the tasks, in respect of posture, access, clearance, reach and vision of the user. A poorly designed workspace, or a bad arrangement of furniture or equipment, may result in injuries and strains due to adoption of uncomfortable working postures, less spare capacity to deal with unexpected events or emergencies, the increased possibility of errors or accidents, and inefficiency. A workspace envelope is a 3-dimensional space within which one carry out physical work activities when he is at a fixed location. The limits of the envelope are determined by ones functional arm reach which, in turn, is influenced by the direction of reach and the nature of the task being performed.
Table 3: Guidelines For The Design Of Workspaces

Encourage a frequent change in posture Avoid forward bending of head and trunk Avoid causing the arms to be held in a raised position Avoid twisted and asymmetrical positions Avoid postures that require a joint to be used for long periods of time at the limit of its range of motion Provide adequate back support for all seats Where muscular force must be exerted the limbs should be in a position of greatest strength Test your workspace layouts

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Proper work place design helps to reduce or eliminate the risk of injury to a worker, minimizes the required number of movements or steps, and optimizes the flow of process or materials through the space. By designing for efficient use of space, technology and architectural features, architectural ergonomics enhances function and usability by promoting: work flow, process flow, traffic flow, wayfinding, integration of technology, facility maintenance, and accessibility. Guidelines for the design of workspaces is provided is Table 3.
Architectural Ergonomics can be incorporated into an organization by:

Facilitating employees in Participative Design Processes Design audits Ergonomics training
Digital Human Simulation and Ergonomics

A new method for determining the workspace of human motion has been established in recent years at the University of Iowa Center for Computer Aided Design (CCAD) . This method addresses the problems of interest in human motion analysis in terms of ergonomic design, workspace visualization, posture prediction, layout design, and placement. It brings in the exact boundary of the workspace in closed-form which makes it possible to :
Demarcate the exact reach envelope (boundary of the workspace) of human limbs while taking into consideration the ranges of motion. Visualize the exact workspace of human limbs. Define and plan trajectories in the workspace. Design ergonomic workplaces subject to specified cost functions. Facilitate the design of layouts and packaging. Verify measured data and validate human models. Predict realistic postures, and Optimize designs based on specified cost functions. Cost functions representing dexterity, reach ability, energy, force, and others have been developed and integrated with optimization code to address ergonomics design problems.

Activity A Suppose you are designing an internet caf. How can you use ergonomics. .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... Activity B Your neighbour has started a new school for kids. He is interested in applying ergonomics in the school. He has bought some colored and mobile furniture for classrooms, so the kids can move and organize it in several ways. Could you please help him with some ideas regarding this problem? He would also like to use ergonomics to stimulate kids imagination and to facilitate the process of learning. .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... 19
5.9 IMPACT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ON ORGANISING WORK

Over the past ten to fifteen years the emergence of Information Technology (IT) as a strategic resource has evolved new types of working and working relationships. It has not only affected the structure of organizations but has made it possible to invent new ways of working. IT has been used as a facilitator as well as an enabler of new work. As a consequence it has enabled many companies to reduce their fixed asset costs, mainly office space and buildings. A few example of new forms of IT enabled work design are: Satellite Location is an attempt to reduce the office space. Satellite Locations are networked together to form a cohesive structure. Expensive large corporate centers have been reduced in size and only a token image presence is kept in prestige locations. Hot Desking And Hoteling is another attempt to reduce office space and hence the cost of fixed assets. Employees simply plug in to office space with docking facilities for laptop computers and other support. Telecentres and Telecottages: Telecentres are specific regional centres that support many organisations employees providing all the electronic communications infrastructure needed for effective working. Telecottages are a variation on these theme to support workers in rural or thinly populated locations. Teleworking and Telecommuting: Teleworking could be described as home working with electronic communication support whereas telecommuting could be described as the mobile office in a car, hotel or anywhere, supported by the mobile phone and the laptop computer. (According to a new AT&T survey conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit , business will see a major growth in teleworking over the next two years.17% of AT&T managers now work full time from home in Virtual Offices, while the operational benefit of telework to AT&T exceeds $150 million annually). Telematics (Field Systems): A closely related concept to telecommuting but the equipment is more specialized usually fixed in vehicles. Used to communicate information between control centres and mobile workers. It is used by the utilities, service companies and the Police etc. Computer Supported Co-Operative Working (CSCW): It is gaining appreciation as a technology that can support and enhance a truly enterprise wide working environment. The Virtual Organisation: Many sole traders use agencies that provide a virtual presence for their clients using CIT (computer integrated telephony) and by providing office space and electronic facilities when needed. Teleworkers can be networked together to form their own organisations, although their clients may never see them or need to visit them. Their virtual offices may be contained in a website. Online business and E-commerce: The success and growth of the Internet has made on-line business a cost effective and available technology for many small and medium sized businesses to market their products. Amazon is a virtual bookstore, now the largest bookstore in the world.
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Activity C On the basis of your experience, explain how IT can enabled new ways of working at the work place. .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... ..........................................................................................................................
Activity D
Carefully go through the narrative on impact of IT on organizing work and construct definitions and examples of the following terms. Hotdesking and Hotelling: ............................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................ Telecottages and Telecentres: ............................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................ CSCW: ............................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................ Virtual Organizations: ............................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................ Teleworking and Telecommuting: ............................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................ E-commerce: ............................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................ Telematics: ............................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................
5.10 SUMMARY
Work is any productive activity undertaken to generate a given product or a service. Organizing work refers to arrangement of matters so that people can work in concert to get the work done. There are different ways of organizing and analyzing work as recommended by different management thinkers. 21
Work measurement is the study and analysis of time taken in the performance of a specific task. Work improvement denotes the study of methods and techniques of production for increasing efficiency. Work study covers both time study and motion study for work measurement and work improvement. While Time study is concerned with the determination of time taken by the workers in performing each operation on the job, Motion study is concerned with the motions or movements of workers. Ergonomics is the scientific study of individuals and their physical relationship to the work environment. Computer Aided Design method addresses the problems of interest in human motion analysis in terms of ergonomic design, workspace visualization, posture prediction, layout design, and placement. The use of IT has evolved many new forms of work design in recent years.

1. What are the different approaches to organising and analysing work? 2. Explain the concept of ergonomics. 3. Write down the impact of IT in organising work with suitable examples.

England, G.W. and Harpaz, I.(1990), How Working is Defined: National Contexts and Demographic and Organizational Role Influences, Journal Of Organizational Behavior, 11. Hall, Richard H.(1994), Sociology of Work, Perspectives, Analyses, and Issues, Pine Forge Press, p.5. Singh, B.P. and Chhabra, T.N. (2002), Organization Theory and Behavior, Dhanpat Rai & Co. (P) Ltd., Delhi (2002). http//:work organization 11.html
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UNIT 6 JOB DESIGN

When you complete this Unit, you should be familiar with:

the concept of job, career, and occupation; meaning and purpose of an effective job design; different factors influencing effective job design; traditional approach to job design; contemporary job design techniques; how to design a suitable job; impact of advance technology on job design; and various impediments faced by an organization while designing and implementing a new-fangled job design.
Unit Structure
6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 6.9 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 6.14 Introduction Meaning of Job, Occupation, and Career Meaning of Job Design Purpose of Job Design Factors Influencing Effective Job Design Approaches to Job Design The Contemporary Approaches Job Design and Technology Designing a Suitable Job Impact of High Technology on Job Design Impediments In Job Design Summary Self Assessment Questions Further Readings
6.1 INTRODUCTION
The structure of an organization is characterised by the task and authority relationships. Jobs are the foundation of this task authority structure .The job design process lay emphasis on the design or redesign of jobs to incorporate factors which lead to the achievement of both employee and organizational objectives. Ineffectually designed jobs often bring about boredom and consequently increased turnover, reduced motivation, low levels of job satisfaction, diminished productivity, and an increase in organizational costs. Many of these negative consequences could be avoided or minimized through effective job design or proper detection of major job components.
6.2 MEANING OF JOB, OCCUPATION AND CAREER

One of the most frequent questions people often ask one another when they first meet is What are you doing? Instead of saying, I teach in a college or I treat patients, a person often says, I am a teacher or I am a doctor like this. This exhibits the occupation of a person. Occupation provides a person his identity. It talks a great deal about ones social position. The idea
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of occupation also implies a set of social relationships (Hughes, 1945). For instance, the occupation as a professor implies that students , other professors, and publishers representatives are part of the set of their social relationships. Finally, occupations are by and large linked to the work of adults (Roe, 1956). The work carried out by teenagers is not often considered as an occupation, because it does not frame a major part of their identities as individuals. Taking into account all of these considerations, occupation is defined as the social role performed by adult members of society that directly and/or indirectly yields social and financial consequences and that constitutes a major focus in the life of an adult (Hall, 1975). A job is a persons occupation at one point in time. A career is the unfolding sequences of jobs that a person has over the life course.
6.3 MEANING OF JOB DESIGN

The term job design refers to the way the tasks are combined to form a complete job. It can be defined as building the specifications of the position, contents, method and relationships of the job so as to meet with various technological and organizational requirements as well as meet the personal needs job holders. According to Bowditch and Buono, job design refers to any set of activities that involve the alteration of specific jobs or interdependent systems of jobs with the intent of improving the quality of employee job experience and their on- the-job productivity. While designing a job, the following points are to be borne in mind:
Job redesign is an essential allegiance to quality improvement of the individual, and the organization. It should be performed from either the bottom up, or top down, depending upon the hierarchy and responsibility of the position and its relationships within the organization. Job design is a process which integrates work content (tasks, functions, relationships), the reward (extrinsic and intrinsic), and the qualifications required (skills, knowledge, abilities) for each job in a way that meet the needs of employees and the organization. Some jobs are routine because the tasks are consistent and repetitive; other are non-routine. Some require a large number of varied and diverse skills; other are narrow in scope. Some jobs constrict employees by requiring them to follow very clear-cut procedures; others allow employees considerable autonomy in how they do their work. Some jobs are most effectively accomplished by groups of employees working as a team; whereas other jobs are best done by individuals acting essentially independently. Thus jobs differ in the way their tasks are combined, and different combinations produce a variety of job designs in the organization.
6.4 PURPOSE OF JOB DESIGN

There are three objectives of jobs design which are as follows:
to meet the organizational requirements such as higher productivity, operational efficiency, quality of product/service, etc.; to satisfy the needs of the individual employees like interest, challenge, achievement or accomplishment, etc.; and to integrate the needs of the individual with the organizational requirements.
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6.5 FACTORS INFLUENCING EFFECTIVE JOB DESIGN

While designing a job, the following factors are taken into consideration. i. ii. iii. The volume of work - it will determine by and large the number of jobs. The complexity of the work - to be carried out, both in terms of its variety or breadth and its technical difficulty or depth. The work processes involved -It might be desirable for one person to be involved in an entire process, or the work flows may be such that the work process has to be divide between several different people. The nature of the people currently employed in the organization-The extent to which jobs can be redesigned depend largely on the kind of people employed The sequence of flows in the process- the succession of events and their timings affect how the work can be organized. Where activities are carried out over a longer period, this is likely to be the cause of greater complexity. The timescales - where immediate responses are required, specific jobs may have to be earmarked to provide such responses. Work requiring longer planning horizons is likely to be more complex and needs therefore to be done at a higher level. The geographical scattering of the organizations activities . The involvement of other parts of the organization in the overall process- there may be a need for extensive communication and coordination and the design of jobs should take account of the way this is to be achieved. The effect of information technology (Cushway and Lodge, 2001).
Job Design
iv.
v.
vi.
vii. viii.
ix.
6.6 APPROACHES TO JOB DESIGN

Basically there are two approaches to job designs which are based upon two different postulations about people. The first approach entails fitting people to jobs. It is based upon the assumption that people can be adapted to any work situation. Thus employee attitudes towards the job are ignored and jobs are designed to produce maximum economic and technological efficiency. This approach uses the principles of scientific management and work simplification. In contrast , the second approach entails fitting jobs to people. Is based upon the assumption that people are underutilized at the work and they desire more challenges and responsibility. Techniques such as job rotation, job enlargement etc. are used while designing jobs according to the second alternative.
The First Approach

Developed by F.W. Taylor, scientific management relied on research and experimentation to determine the most efficient way to perform jobs. Jobs are highly standardised and specialised. Taylor advocates vertical job specialization so that detailed procedures and work practices are developed by engineers , enforced by supervisors, and executed by employees. He also applied horizontal job specialization such as narrowing the supervisors role to such a degree that one person manages operational efficiency, another manages inspection, and another is disciplinarian. 25
Advantages: Job specialization increases:

Work efficiency; and Employees productivity. It increases work efficiency, but it doesnt necessarily improve job performance as it ignores the effects of job content on employees. It costs more in terms of higher turnover, absenteeism, and mental health problems. Employees are concerned only with a small part of the process, so they cant be identified with the customers needs. It ignores the motivational potential of jobs. It doesnt apply to professional knowledge workers.
Disadvantages:

The Second Approach

During and immediately after the second world war American writers, particularly, were questioning the association between job and organization design and productivity. It was being understood that problems occur in the selection of personnel if only those able to tolerate and work well in simple, highly repetitive jobs are to be recruited. As early as 1950 in the USA, job rotation and job enlargement were being both encouraged and tasted as means for overcoming boredom at work with all its associated problems. In an early case example IBM introduced changes to machine operators jobs to include machine setting and inspection. Besides they introduced other wide-ranging changes in both the production system and the role of foremen and supervisors. The concepts of both job rotation and enlargement do not have their basis in any psychological theory. However, the next generation of attempts to redesign jobs emerging from the USA developed from the researches of Frederick Herzberg. During the 1950s and 1960s, Herzberg developed his Two Factor theory of motivation.
Figure 1: Various Techniques of Job Design High Sociotechnical system Job enrichment Job enlargement
Impact
Medium
Job engineering
Job rotation Low Low Medium High
Complexity Source: Helliriegel, Slocum, and Woodman (2001).
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Thus five most commonly used approaches to job design in the second category are shown in Figure 1. The vertical axis indicates the impact dimension, which means the degree to which a job design approach is linked to factors beyond the immediate job, such as reward systems, performance appraisal methods, leadership practices of managers, customer needs, organization structure, physical working conditions, and team composition and norms-as well as its likely effect on changes in effectiveness and quality. The Complexity dimension, on the horizontal axis, is the degree to which a job design approach requires (1) changes in many factors, (2) the involvement of individuals with diverse competencies at various organizational levels; and (3) a high level of decision-making competency of successful implementation.
Job Design
I. Job Rotation
Job design involves periodic assignment of an employee to completely different sets of job activities. As traditionally used, job rotation is low in both impact and complexity because it typically moves employees from one routine job to another. Advantages:
It is an effective way to develop multiple skills in employees, which benefits the organization while creating greater job interest and career options for the employee. Job rotation may be of considerable benefit if it is part of a larger redesign effort and/or it is used as a training and development approach to develop various employee competencies and prepare employees for advancement. At times, it may be used to control the problem of repetitive stress injuries by moving people among jobs that require different physical movements.
II. Job Engineering

Frederick W. Taylor established the basis for modern industrial engineering late in the nineteenth century. Job engineering focuses on the tasks to be performed, methods to be used, workflows among employees, layout of the workplace, performance standards, and interdependencies between people and machines. Job design factors are to be examined by means of time-and-motion studies, determining the time required to do each task and the movements needed to perform it efficiently. A keystone of job engineering is specialisation of labor with the goal of achieving greater efficiency. High levels of specialisation are intended to :

allow employees to learn a task rapidly; permit short work cycles so that performance can be almost automatic and involve little or no mental effort; make hiring easier because low-skilled people can be easily trained and paid relatively low wages; and reduce the need for supervision, owing to simplified jobs and standardization.
Advantages:
It is an imperative job design approach because the resulting cost savings can be measured immediately and easily. It is concerned with appropriate levels of automation, that is, looking for ways to replace workers with machines to perform the most physically demanding and repetitive tasks. The job engineering approach often continues to be successfully used, especially when it is combined with a concern for the social context in 27
which the jobs are performed. One expert who advocates the job engineering approach while involving employees in decisions about their jobs prescribes the following golden rules of work design.
Ensure that the end product/output of the work is clearly defined, unambiguous, and fully understood by the employees. Ensure that the steps/tasks to be performed to achieve the required and product/output are clearly defined in the appropriate sequence and are fully understood by the employees. Ensure that the employees know and understand where their responsibility starts and finished in the work process. Ensure that the tools, facilities, and information needed to perform the work are readily available to and fully understood by the employees. Ensure that there is a process whereby the employees can suggest possible improvements in the work design and exercise initiative in implementing them. Ensure that the employees are involved in the work design process (Bentley,1999).
III. Job Enlargement

Job enlargement combines into one job with two or more tasks which are to be performed. Sometimes it is called horizontal loading as all tasks involve the same level of responsibility .The job enlargement approach often has positive effects on employee effectiveness. However, some employees view job enlargement as just adding more routine, repetitive tasks to their already boring job. Other employees regard it as eliminating their ability to perform their jobs almost automatically. Advantages: Job enlargement and job rotation approaches are useful in many work settings. One of their biggest advantages is that :

They offer a form of training. They allow workers to learn more than one task, thus increasing their value to the employer. As they allow workers to perform many tasks, they can be used more flexibly as circumstances require.
IV. Job Enrichment

Frederick Herzberg, the advocate of two-factor theory, cautioned that jobs designed according to rules of simplification, enlargement, and rotation cant be expected to be highly motivational for the workers. He instead suggested a clear and distinct job design alternative called job enrichment. Job enrichment seeks to add profundity to a job by giving workers more control, responsibility, and freedom of choice over how their job is performed. It occurs when the work itself is more challenging, when achievement is encouraged, when there is prospect for growth, and when responsibility, feedback, and recognition are provided. Nonetheless, employees are the final judges of what enriches their jobs. Herzberg developed the following set of principles for the enrichment of jobs:

removing some controls while retaining accountability; increasing personal accountability for work;
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assigning each worker a complete unit work with a clear start and end point; granting additional authority and freedom to workers; making periodic reports directly available to workers rather than to supervisors only; the introduction for new and more difficult tasks into the job; encouraging the development of expertise by assigning individuals to specialized tasks.
Job Design

Herzbergs Checklist
Herzbergs other major contribution to the development of ideas in the area of job design was his checklist for implementation. This is a prescription for those seeking accomplishment in the enrichment of jobs:

select those jobs where technical changes are possible without major expense; job satisfaction is low; performance improvement is likely with increases in motivation; hygiene is expensive; examine the jobs selected with the conviction that changes can be introduced; green light or brainstorm a list of possible changes; screen the list (red lighting) for hygiene suggestions and retain only ideas classed as motivators; remove the generalities from the list retaining only specific motivators; avoid employee involvement in the design process. set up a controlled experiment to measure the effects of the changes; anticipate an early decline in performance as workers get use to their new jobs.

Difference Between Job Enlargement and Job Enrichment

The difference between enlargement and enrichment is illustrated in Figure 2 . The Figure reveals that job enrichment focuses on satisfying higher-order needs, whereas job enlargement concentrates on adding additional tasks to the
Figure 2 : Difference Between Job Enlargement and Job Enrichment
HigherOrder
Accent on needs (Focus on depth)
Job enrichment
Job enrichment and enlargement
Routine job Lowerorder Few
Job enlargement
Many
Number of tasks (Focus on breadth) Source: Newstrom and Davis, 2002.
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workers job for greater variety.Adopting a new technology typically requires changes in the way jobs are designed. Often the way the task is redefined fits people to the demands of the technology to maximize the technologys operation. But this often fails to maximise total productivity, because it ignores the human part of the equation. The social relationships and human aspects of the task may suffer, lowering overall productivity The sociotechnical systems approach to work redesign specifically addresses this problem.
V. Socio-technical System Approach

At the same time that job redesign techniques were being developed and implemented in the U.S.A. progress was being made, particularly in Europe and Scandinavia, on the development of the socio-technical systems approach. The term socio-technical systems is largely associated with experiments that emerged under the auspices of the Tavistock Institute in Great Britain or have stemmed from the Tavistock approach. The focal point is the working group and the aim is to develop a match between the needs of the group and the organization in relation to the technology. Under the socio-technical system approach, jobs are designed by taking a holistic or systems view of the entire job situation, including its physical and social environment. The socio-technical approach is situational because few jobs involve identical technical requirements and social surroundings. Specifically, the socio-technical approach requires that the job designer should cautiously be concerned about the role of employee in the socio-technical system, the nature of the tasks performed, and the autonomy of the work-group. The essential elements of the socio-technical system approach are as under:
A job need to be reasonably demanding for the individual in terms other than sheer endurance and yet provide some variety (not necessarily novelty). Employees need to be able to learn on the job and to go on learning. Employees need some minimum area of decision-making that they can call their own. Employees need some minimal degree of social support and recognition at the workplace. Employees need to be able to relate what they do and what they produce to their social life.

6.7 THE CONTEMPORARY APPROACHES

I. Job Characteristics Approach
The job characteristics enrichment model involves increasing the amounts of skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback in a job. The model proposes that the levels of these job characteristics affect three critical psychological states (1) experienced meaningfulness of the tasks performed (2) experienced personal responsibility for task outcomes, and (3) knowledge of the results of task performance. If all three psychological states are positive, a reinforcing cycle of strong work motivation based on selfgenerated towards is activated. A job without meaningfulness, responsibility, and feedback is incomplete and doesnt strongly motivate an employee. The model given in Figure 3 exhibits the core dimensions of the job characteristics enrichment model and their relationships. The five core job dimensions are: Skill Variety the degree to which a job requires a variety of different activities in carrying out the work and which use different skills and talents of the person. 30
Task Identity the degree to which the job requires completion of a whole and identifiable piece of work. Doing a job from beginning to end with a visible outcome. Task Significance the degree to which the job has a substantial impact on the lives or work of other people. Autonomy the degree to which the job provides substantial freedom, independence, and discretion to the individual in scheduling the work and in determining the procedures to be used in carrying it out.
Figure 3: The Job Characteristics Model
Job Design
Core Job Characteristics

Skill variety Task identity Task significance Autonomy
Critical Psychological States

Experienced meaningfulness of the work Experienced responsibility for outcomes for the work Knowledge of actual result of the work
Individual Work Outcomes

High intrinsic work motivation High-quality work performance High satisfaction with the work Low absenteeism and turnover
Feedback
Moderators Growth-need strength

Knowledge and skill Context satisfaction
Source: Adapted from J. Richard Hackman and Greg R. Oldham ( 1975), Development of the Job Diagnostic Survey, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol.60, p.161.
Feedback the degree to which carrying out the work activities required by the job results in the individuals obtaining direct and clear information about the effectiveness of his or her performance. The first three job dimensions contribute to a jobs meaningfulness. The degree of autonomy provides feeling of personal responsibility for work outcomes. The amount of feedback provides knowledge of results. These three aspects, according to Hackman, are critical psychological states that affect a persons motivation and satisfaction on the job.
Implications for Job Design

From the above it should be clear that as far as possible jobs should:
provide variety in terms of the kind of work carried out, its pace, location etc; allow people to get direct feedback on results; allow scope for development by enabling the job to become bigger as the person becomes more skilled and knowledge; have clear objectives and outputs; 31


have clear reporting liens; give people some control over output and pace; give people the opportunity to comment and suggest changes to the work process; be supported by the appropriate level of resources and effective process.
Diagnostic Use of the Model

A Job Diagnosis Survey has been developed using the model above. The types of questions included in it are:
Are motivation and satisfaction really a problem? This can be documented through turnover, absenteeism, problems in work performance Is the job low in motivating potential? If scores on measurements of the five job dimensions are low, it suggests the motivating potential may be low or absent. What specific aspects of the job are causing the difficulty? To target the points where change in job design may be necessary How ready are the employees for change? Some employees may not have strong needs for growth; if so, introduce change with caution What special problems and opportunities are present in the existing work system? If job dissatisfaction lies outside the job itself, e.g., with hygiene factors of pay, job security, co-workers, work condition, then these may need to be addressed first.
Social Information Processing

The job characteristics enrichment model is based on the assumption that employees can respond reasonably, accurately, and objectively when asked about the characteristics of their jobs. However, the fundamental to job enrichment lies in how employees use the social cues provided by their peers and others to arrive at their own perception of their jobs. This activity is called social information processing . Social information may be provided by people directly associated with the job (e.g. ,coworkers, managers, and customers) and by people not employed by the organization (e.g family members and friends). It basically covers three elements. First, peers may suggest which of the job characteristics really count to them . Second, they may offer their personal model regarding the relative weighting of each core dimension. Third, peers may provide direct or indirect clues about their own judgments of the dimensions.. There are certain aspects of a job which arent likely to be influenced by cues from others . But most of an employees perceptions of job characteristics are subject to the influence of others with whom the employee has contact. Based on this viewpoint, the social information processing model states that the individuals social context provides:
cues as to which dimensions might be used to characterize the work environment; information concerning how the individual should weigh the various dimensions-whether autonomy is more or less important than skill variety or whether pay is more or less important than social usefulness or worth; cues concerning how others have come to evaluate the work environment on each of the selected dimensions; and directed positive or negative evaluation of the work setting, leaving the individual to construct a rationale to make sense of the generally shared affective reactions (Thomas and Griffin, 1989).
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The social Information Processing view has the following implications for job design.
Job Design
Participation in job design process may produce feelings of high satisfaction independent of any job design changes. Using the Job Diagnostic Survey, or any other questionnaire, before changing the design of jobs may sensitize people to certain job characteristics they had not noticed before. Perceptions of job characteristics can be manipulated by the social information made available to employees by managers and coworkers in the organization.
Activity A Consider your academic job as a student. Rate it on each of the five core dimensions according to how much of each is presently in it (1 = low amount; 10 = high amount). Compute a motivating potential score for yourself by using the MPS formula. What does this information tell you?
Job Dimension Skill variety Task identity Task significance Autonomy Feedback MPS Your Rating __________________ __________________ __________________ __________________ __________________ __________________
The MPS is calculated as follows:

MPS = Skill variety + Task identity + Task significance 3 X Autonomy X Feedback
Low score indicates that a student does not experience high internal motivation from his academics. High score indicates that the student experiences high internal motivation from his academics . Activity B On the basis of the discussion on job characteristics model as well as social information processing, explicate the level to which the content task characteristics and information cues from your colleagues help you on your job performance. .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... 33
Activity C Job Characteristics Inventory Directions The following list contains statements that could be use to describe a job. Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with each statement as a description of a job you currently hold or have held, by writing the appropriate number next to the statement. Try to be as objective as you can in answering.
1 Strongly Disagree This job 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 2 Disagree 3 Uncertain 4 Agree 5 Strongly Agree
provides much variety. permits me to be left on my own to do my work. is arranged so that I often have the opportunity to see jobs or projects through to completion. provides feedback on how well I am doing as I am working is relatively significant in my organization. gives me considerable opportunity for independence and freedom in how I do the work. provides different responsibilities. enables me to find out how well I am doing. is important in the broader scheme of things. provides an opportunity for independent thought and action. provides me with considerable variety of work. is arranged so that I have the opportunity to complete that work I start. provides me with the feeling that I know whether I am performing well or poorly. is arranged so that I have the chance to do a job from the beginning to the end (i.e., a chance to do the whole job.) is one where a lot of other people can be affected by how well the work gets done.
Scoring For each of the five scales, compute a score by summing the answers to the designated questions.
Score Skill variety: Sum the points for items 1,7, and 11. Task identity: Sum the points for items 3,12, and 14, Task significance: Sum the points for items 5,9, and 15, Autonomy: Sum the points for items 2,6, and 10, Job feedback: Sum the points for items 4,8, and 13, Total Score __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________
Summary interpretation A total score of 60-75 suggests that the core job characteristics contribute to an overall positive psychological state for you and, in turn, leads to desirable personal and work outcomes. A total score of 15-30 suggests the opposite. Source: Adapted from Sims H.P., Jr., Szilagyi, A.D., and Keller, R.T. The Measurement of job characteristics. Academy of Management Journal, 1976,19,195-212.
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II. Team Approach: Designing Job for Teams

Individual employees perform operating tasks, but the vast majority of them work in regular small groups. Where their work is interdependent, they act as a task team and seek to develop a cooperative state called teamwork. A task team is a cooperative small group in regular contact that is engaged in coordinated action. The frequency of team members interaction and the teams ongoing existence make a task team clearly different from either a short-term decision-making group (committee) or a project team in a matrix structure. At least four ingredients contribute to the development of teamwork: a supportive environment, skills matched to role requirements, super ordinate goal, and team rewards. Classical organization structures did not rely heavily on teams, despite that division of work into functional units and multiple levels. But in recent years, attention is focused on the design of the work group and its activities rather than the design of each individual job. In designing the work group activity one of the basic principles is that of minimum critical specification of the task and the minimum critical specification of tasks to job. Specification of objectives remains essential but the means for obtaining them in many instances can be decided by the task performer. This approach should result in a greater degree of flexibility for individual job holders within the work system and allow for their personal development through increased involvement in decision making relation to the control and regulation of the work system. Suggested guiding principles for the design of work group activity include;

Job Design
Primary work groups should have between four and twenty members. The primary work group should have a designated leader who is accountable for the groups performance. The group should be assigned tasks which make up a complete unit of work. Wherever possible the group members should have responsibility for planning their own work. Group members should then be involved in evaluating their performance in relation to the plans.

Activity D Discuss the factors that affect a persons perception of the objective characteristics of a job. What implications do you see for a job design strategy? .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... ..........................................................................................................................
III. Goal Setting

Goals and objectives, in the form of desired performance results, are important aspects of any job design.
Goal Setting Theory

Goal setting is the process of developing, negotiating, and formalising the specific outcome targets or task objectives that a person is responsible for accomplishing. Over a number of years, Edwin Locke and his associates have
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developed a comprehensive frame work that links goals to performance in the following ways.
Difficult goals are more likely to lead to higher performance than are less difficult ones. The goals must be challenging but achievable Specific goals are more likely to lead to higher performance than are vague or general ones, or the absence of any goals at all. Task feedback or knowledge of results is likely to motivate people towards higher performance. Knowing results seems to encourage the setting of higher goals for the future. Feedback is also a reward or indictor of performance accomplishment, and it is a source of information that can be sued for work adjustments to better performance. Goals are most likely to lead to higher performance when people have and are confident in the required task abilities. An individual must have the necessary abilities and to feel confident in them as well. A lack of confidence, or inadequate self-efficacy, can create performance problems for even a very capable person. Goals are most likely to motivate when they are accepted and the individual is committed to them. A way of building such acceptance and commitment is by allowing the individual to participate in the goal-setting process. This helps to create a sense of ownership of the goals.
Goal Setting and MBO

When we speak of goal setting and its potential to influence individual performance at work, the concept of management by objectives (MBO) immediately comes to mind. This concept was given by Peter F. Drucker . General Electrics was the first company to adopt MBO and put it into practice with Druckers help as a consultant. MBO is essentially a process of joint goal setting. It is a systematic and organized approach that allows management to focus on achievable goals and to attain the best possible results from available resources. The principle behind MBO is to make sure that everybody within the organization has a clear understanding of the aims, or objectives of that organization, as well as awareness of their own roles and responsibilities in achieving those aims. The details of MBO , that is, its objectives , types, advantages , disadvantages etc. are presented in the Figure 4.
Figure 4: Details of the MBO Process
Types of Objectives Routine objectives Innovation objectives Improvement objectives The objectives must be: focused on a result, not an activity consistent specific measurable related to time attainable
MBO Strategy
All individuals within an organization are assigned a special set of objectives that they try to reach during a normal operating period. These objectives are mutually set and agreed upon by individuals and their managers. Performance reviews are conducted periodically to determine how close individuals are to attaining their objectives.
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Rewards are given to individuals on the basis of how close they come to reaching their goals.
Job Design
MBO Stages

Define objectives at board level Analyse management tasks and devise formal job specifications, which allocate responsibilities and decisions to individual managers Set performance standards Agree and set specific objectives Align individual targets with corporate objectives Establish a management information system to monitor achievements against objectives

MBO : Key Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages
MBO programs continually emphasise what should be done in an organization to achieve organizational goals MBO process secures employee commitment to attaining organizational goals
Disadvantages
The development of objectives can be time consuming, leaving both managers and employees less time in which to do their actual work The elaborate written goals, careful communication of goals, and detailed performance evaluation required in an MBO program increase the volume of paperwork in an organization.
6.8 JOB DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

Technology refers to the techniques, tools, methods, procedures, and machine that are used to transform objects (materials, information, and people). Employees use technology to acquire inputs, transform inputs into outputs, and provide goods or services to clients and customers. Here, the discussion focuses on the concepts of workflow uncertainty, task uncertainty, and task interdependence as they relate to job design.
Role Of Workflow And Task Uncertainty

Workflow uncertainty is the degree of knowledge that an employee has about when inputs will be received and require processing. When there is little workflow uncertainty, an employee may have little discretion (autonomy) to decide which, when, or where tasks will be performed. For the most part, the production workers at an automobile assembly plant experience a low degree of workflow uncertainty. If fact, the application of the job engineering approach in automobile assembly plants is intended to minimize workflow uncertainty. Task uncertainty is the degree of knowledge that an employee has about how to perform the job and when it needs to be done. When there is little task uncertainty, an employee knows how to produce the desired results. Through extensive training and the standardization of jobs, management typically attempts to minimize task uncertainty in assembly plants. 37
Figure 5 : Combinations Of Workflow Uncertainty And Task Uncertainty
High
2 Brain Surgeon Design Engineer High School Teacher
Research Scientist 3 Top Manager Emergency Ward Physician
Low Task Uncertainty
Assembly Line Worker Custodian File Clerk 1
Bank Teller Toll Booth Collector Bartender
Low
Workflow Uncertainty
High
Source: Adapted from Slocum, J.W.., Jr .and Sims , H.P ., Jr. Typology For Integrating Technology. Organization, and Job Design , Human Relations, 1980,33,196; Susman, G. I. Autonomy at Work- A Socio Technical Analysis of Participative Management , New York: Praeger,1980,132.
Combined Effects of Workflow and Task Uncertainty

Figure 5 shows the main combinations of workflow uncertainty and task uncertainty. Each of the four cells contains example of jobs that fall primarily into each category. However, be careful not to stereotype particular jobs by thinking of them only in terms of a single position of the grid. Job redesign often modifies them and changes their levels of workflow and task uncertainty. Managerial jobs-including some top-management jobs-could range from the extreme upper right corner in cell 3 to closer to the center of the grid. Also, some jobs dont fit neatly into single cell. For example, an auditors job at an accounting firm might generally be plotted some where in the middle of the grid. The socio technical system and job enrichment approaches generally increases workflow uncertainty and/or task uncertainty. However, the assembly-line job shown in cell 1 could be enriched but still be generally classified as a cell-1 type of job. Some people who occupy cell-3 types of jobs could experience stress from too much workflow and task uncertainty.
Role of Task Interdependence

Task Interdependence is the degree to which decision making and cooperation between two or more employees is necessary for them to perform their jobs. The construction of the structural steel framework of a high-rise building involves a high degree of task interdependence between the crane operator, ground crew, and assembly crew in moving and joining the steel girders and beams. The three basic types of interdependent task relations are pooled, sequential, and reciprocal. Pooled interdependence is the ability of an employee (or team) to act independently of others in completing a task or tasks. Sequential Interdependence is the need for an employee (or team) to complete certain tasks before other employees (or teams) can perform their tasks. In other words, the outputs from some employees (teams) become the
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inputs for other employees (teams). The sequence of interdependencies can be a long chain in some mass-production activities. Reciprocal Interdependence means that the outputs from an individual (or team) become the inputs for others and vice versa. Reciprocal interdependencies are common in everyday life. Examples include (1) a family, (2) a basketball team, (3)a surgical team, (4) a decision-making team, and (5) a class project assigned to a small team of students. Reciprocal interdependence usually requires a high degree of collaboration, communication, and team decision making.
Job Design
Interrelationships among Job Design and Technology Concepts

Task interdependence, working uncertainty, and task uncertainty must all be considered in job design. An increase in the use of pooled interdependence decreases the amount of required coordination among jobs. Less coordination often means less sequential and/or workflow uncertainty of employees. New information technologies often change task interdependence, workflow uncertainty, and task uncertainty-either reducing or increasing them for the employee. The specific impacts will be influenced by how employees are expected to use the technology and whether higher management uses the technology to empower employees or more closely monitor and control them.
6.9 DESIGNING A SUITABLE JOB

In the above sections various alternative approaches to designing jobs are examined. The limitations as well as strength of these approaches are identified on the basis of which a list of some attributes of jobs which contribute to the motivation of employees and can be translated into principles for the design of jobs is prepared . The list is given below:

an optimum level of variety; an appropriate degree of repetitiveness; an appropriate degree of attention with accompanying mental absorption; an optimum level of responsibility for decisions and degree of discretion present; employees control over their own job; the presence of goals and achievement feedback; perceived contribution to a socially useful product or service; opportunities for developing friendships; where dependent upon others for task achievement some influence over the way the work is carried out; perceived skill utilization.

6.10 IMPACT OF HIGH TECHNOLOGY ON JOB DESIGN

In recent years, as computers and high technology become more and more ingrained in the modern workplace, the basic problem arises how to successfully fit technological advancements into job designs.
Automation
Highly simplified jobs often cause problems because they offer little intrinsic motivation for the worker. The tasks have been defined so narrowly that they lack challenge and cause boredom when someone repeats them over and over
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again. Given the high technology available today, one way to deal with this problem is by complete automation-allowing a machine to do the work previously accomplished through human effort. This approach increasingly involves the use of robots, which are becoming more and more useful and reliable.
Flexible Manufacturing
Flexible manufacturing cells, teams of workers using special technology, exploit adaptive and integrated job designs to shift work among alternative products. This approach is gradually more widespread. Under this system, a cellular manufacturing system hold a number of automated production machines that cut, shape, drill, and fasten together various metal components. Each machine is attached to the others by convertible conveyor grids that allow quick change from manufacturing one product to another-such as from air-conditioner compressors to engine crankshafts. Workers in the cells perform very few routine assembly-line tasks. As an alternative, they dedicate most time to make certain that operations are carried out correctly and to handling changeovers from one product configuration to another. Above and beyond, to keep production flowing slickly, each worker needs to improve expertise across a wide range of tasks. In this way flexible manufacturing cells comprise jobs that are often enriched on the core characteristics.
Electronic Offices
Electronic office technology was the key when U.S. Healthcare, a large, private-practice based health maintenance organization (HMO), became interested in improving the quality of its health-care services. The company installed large electronic bulletin boards that monitored progress toward a range of performance goals. It also installed an electronic main (e-main) system, used robots to dispense paper mail, and installed a computerized telephone answering machine. Fundamentally, the company tried to automate as many tasks as possible to free employees for more challenging work. Continuing development in these electronic offices present many new job opportunities for those with the necessary abilities and interests, but they can be stressful and difficult for those who lack the necessary education or skills. Clearly, todays high technologies must be carefully integrated with the human factor, and continuing education and training are still needed to equip people to deal with emerging workplace technologies.
Work-Flow and Process Reengineering

One of the most recent approaches for upgrading job designs and organizational performance is based on the concept of process reengineering. Process engineering means the analysis, reshuffling, and reconfiguration of actions and tasks required to reach a work goal. This approach methodically breaks work processes down into their specific components and subtasks, analyses each for relevance and simplicity, and then does everything possible to reconfigure the process to eliminate wasted time, effort, and resources. Job redesign through process reengineering focus on every step in the process, from the seeking out for items and vendors, to the obtaining of bids, to the completion of necessary forms, to the securing of required signatures and approvals, to the actual placing of the order, and so on to the point at which the new computer actually arrives, is checked in, is placed into an equipment inventory, and is finally delivered to the workplace. 40
Activity E Use of various forms of electronic communication is continuing to change work and the work process. Do you think complete automation can replace the human factors at work place? .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... ..........................................................................................................................
Job Design
6.11 IMPEDIMENTS IN JOB DESIGN

Inspite of the possible benefits, job design is not easy to implement. The major difficulties are as follows: i. Complexity in measuring the core job characteristics accurately. Objectively measuring job content is very costly and tough. Therefore the most prevalent tool for measuring job content is to ask employees to portray their perceived job characteristics However it is supposed that these perceptions are very often biased. Until an accurate and cost effective way to measure job content is found, job design experts would not be able to point at which jobs entail changing and how well job design strategies are working. The contemporary knowledge about job design is restricted by its focus on individual jobs. Especially, the literature tends to overlook job design characteristics that apply to team settings. Furthermore, many work settings require team-based job redesign because the technology is fixed or the work is too complicated for one person to finish alone. Job design interventions over and over again face resistance to change. Some supervisors dont like job redesign interventions because they change their roles and may threaten job security. Trade union leaders have been hostile antagonists of job specialization and scientific management, yet they complain that job enrichment programs are management ploys to get more work out of employees for less money. Unskilled employees may lack the confidence or growth need strength to learn more challenging tasks. Skilled employees are known to resist job redesign because they believe the intervention will undercut their power base and compel them to perform lower-status work.
ii.
iii.
6.12 SUMMARY
In this unit we have looked at traditional as well as more recent approaches to the design of jobs. The challenge facing managers at the present and in the future, is that of employing the new technology with all its prospects in ways which not only meet the organizations needs but also the expectations and desires of employees. In order to achieve this more effectively, there is the need to further develop these approaches to job and work organization design which facilitate these broader criteria being incorporated into the design process as well as the tools with which to achieve the task. The job facing responsible organizations would therefore be to attain a balance between the needs of the organizations to achieve its goals and the creation of a working environment which results in the job satisfaction for employees.
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1. Discuss various approaches to job design. 2. Describe the contemporary job design techniques. 3. What is the impact of high technology on job design?

Bentley, T. Computer talk: Workflow systems, Management Accounting, London, January 1999, 54-55. Bowditch, J.L. and Buono, A.F. A Premier on Organizational Behaviour, New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1985. p.210. Drucker, Peter F . The Practice of Management, New York ,Harper &Row, 1954. Helliriegel, Don, Slocum, John W . and Woodman , Richard W, Organizational Behaviour, South- Western College Publishing , 2001. J. Richard Hackman and Greg R. Oldham, Development of the Job Diagnostic Survey, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol.60, p.161, 1975 J. Richard Hackman, Designing Work for Individuals and for Groups, pp. 94103 of Developing Managerial Skills in Organizational Behaviour, 2nd ed. by LA Mainiero and CL Tr omley, Prentice-Hall, 1994. Mc Shane, Steven L. and VON GLINOW, Mary Ann, Organizational Behaviour, TATA McGraw- Hill Publishing Company Limited, New Delhi, 2002. Newstrom, John W. and Davis, Keith , Organizational behavior, human behaviour at work, TATA McGraw- Hill Publishing Company Limited, New Delhi, 2002. Robert Heller and Tim Hindle, Essential Managers Manual, 1998. Samuel C. Certo , Modern Management, Ninth Edition, 2002. Schermerhorn, Jr. John R. Hunt, James G. and Osborn, Richard N., Basic Organizational Behaviour, John Wiley & Sons .Inc. , USA, 1998 Thomas, J.G., and Griffin, R.W. The power of social information in the work place, Organizational Dynamics, Winter 1989, pp. 63-75. Hall, Richard H. Sociology of Work, Perspectives, Analyses and Issues, Fine Forge Press.
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UNIT 7 EMERGING ISSUES OF WORK ORGANISATION AND QUALITY OF WORKING LIFE

After reading this Unit, you should be able to understand :

the up-and-coming trends in work organizations; the concept of quality of work life; and how the emerging trends affect the quality of work life of employees.
Structure 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 Introduction Emerging Trends in Work Organizations Prophesying the Future Quality of Work Life (QWL) Summary Self Assessment Questions Further Readings
7.1 INTRODUCTION
The concept and the nature of work has undergone numerous changes over the years. During the 19th Century, workers wrestled to safeguard their right to determine how and when they would work. This was the great age of cooperatives, strikes and political movements led by small artisans defending individual methods of working against the factory system. As the 20th Century progressed, workers were gradually trapped within the formal economy of jobs and factories, and tussled to control the amount of labor they would have to give to the system in order to live. This was the age of the struggle for the eight-hour day, for weekends off, holiday and sickness pay, of a decent wage and guaranteed employment. The defeat of these struggles has reduced the ability of the working class to oppose the intensification and casualisation of work, while increasing their dependence on the bosses to obtain the means to live. For some, working time has increased beyond the eight-hour shift into overtime and additional part-time work. An employee cannot say no to do overtime work. In low wage industries workers get overtime work as a favor from managements and union leaders. Companies avoid laws requiring premium pay for overtime by calling it overstay or offering hardship allowances instead of overtime pay. Additionally there has been a huge change from long-term employment with its often-better pay and conditions to sub-contracting and self-employment. In this manner in the new economy there are several changes in the nature of economic activity, such as strong growth in the services sector, increased levels of productivity growth and globalized markets. Work in the new economy is deemed to be different to work in the old economy because the spreading of information and communications technologies (ICT) has changed the way in which firms do business and create value. ICT has augmented the flexibility of capital goods, making capital investment more productive and encouraging firms to substitute capital for labour. This trend contributes to the globalization of markets, has changed the nature of work and its ramification for quality of work life of people.
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7.2 EMERGING TRENDS IN WORK ORGANIZATIONS

The pressure of competitiveness due to globalization and privatization has resulted in many far reaching changes in the work place. Companies are designing their work systems around the following four props : virtual organizations, flexible and adaptive workforce, contingent pay and democratic governance at workplace. Keeping people engaged in the work of the organization and making them realize that they contribute to the mission of the organisation is a key challenge. Table 1 provides insights into the shifts depending on whether a company is engaged in traditional agriculture or manufacturing or information technology leveraged manufacturing and service sector. Table 1: Shifting Focus In The Realm Of Work
Aspect Traditional Agriculture Land Brawn/Muscle Early/Traditional Industry Money Machine-tending Post-Industrial Service/High-tech Mind/Information Brain/Mind Attitude and ability matter, not just skill Egalitarian
Wealth Skill/Effort
Management Philosophy Management Style Employment Context Relationship
Unilateral
Pluralistic
Autocratic
Paternalistic
Collegial
Master Servant
Employer Employee
Partners
One-sided dependence Top-down Fear Information confidential, boss Direction and control
Interdependence
Mutuality and independence Transparent Fairness Formal, open, participative appraisals Consensus/ Commitment
Communication Motivation Performance Appraisal Control
Two-way Favour Formal, one-way
Inducement
Source: C.S. Venkata Ratnam (2001), Globalisation and Labour management relations, page.303, Response Books.
Details of a few changes are mentioned below. I. Job Insecurity And Work Intensification Lets look at an instance of how intensification is launched into the workplace. In 1974 at the Eicher factory in Faridabad 450 workers produced 80 tractors per month. Supervisors then drove workers to make 150 tractors in a month. An incentive scheme was introduced in 1978 and workers started producing 500 tractors a month, then 1000 in 1982 and 1500 per month in 1988. In 1989 a re-engineering plan was implemented. The number of workers was halved, though they still had to produce the same number of tractors, and the incentive scheme was discarded. Eicher then used the latest human resource development scheme to reduce the number of workers further and goaded them to produce 2000 tractors monthly. At some time incentives were given when a tractor was assembled in 15 minutes. Now it is done in 10 minutes without incentives, and the management wants it done in seven. The unions in 44
the factory have fought the workers cause and fought it well: their members are allowed to take all of nine minutes, not seven, to assemble a tractor. Among industrial wage-workers, then, incentives for increased production are often used to make workers supervise intensification of their own bodies. Incentives are meant to lure workers to give more than normal production. The increased levels of production become the new norm - to be met without incentives. Management then begins a new cycle of increasing work-load and intensity ( Adapted from www.WORK.htm). A major study conducted in 1999 reported that the root cause of job insecurity and work intensification lies with the reduced staffing levels pursued by senior managers in response to market pressures from competitors and dominant stakeholders . That same study revealed that 60% of employees in Britain claimed the pace of work and the effort required to do it had greatly increased, resulting in poor general health in the workforce and tense family relationships. Stress and ill-health are made worse by job insecurity. Of course the two are used together to exploit workers more intensively: if you want to keep your job, work harder and unless you work harder, you will lose your job. 30% of the workforce work longer than 48 hours a week, with 39% reporting an increase in working hours. Between 2000 and 2002 alone, the number of men working more that 60 hours per week rose from one in eight to one in six. The number of women working long hours has doubled. 50% of workers report inadequate or very inadequate staffing levels and as production and quality suffer, performance appraisal systems are introduced, causing more stress and worry. A major source of job insecurity is the distrust employees have of their bosses. Few employees consider their managers have any faithfulness towards them. The longer one remain in a state of insecurity the more his physical and mental well-being deteriorates. II. Flexibilisation & Casualisation Flexibilisation is often presented as the creation of flexible working patterns . Many employees have no objection to flexible hours and working but it is the imposition of flexibility that provokes so much opposition. Interestingly (and not surprisingly), those with interesting jobs are greatly in favor of flexible working. For them it means more time with their family members, more leisure and quality time. They claim to be able to work smarter and harder. Study after study show, however, that this choice is not open to working class people in cul-de-sac type jobs. The working class response to flexibilisation a high labor turnover, absenteeism, low commitment and poor performance is matched by the reduction in benefits, performance management techniques and rigorous monitoring of work and working. The report SMEs and Flexible Working Arrangements, by Shirley Dex and Fiona Scheibl, of the Judge Institute of Management, Cambridge, is published by The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, found that flexible working arrangements, practiced informally, are far more common in small organizations. The researchers divide types of employer into 3 groups in terms of their adoption of flexible work: holistic, selective, and resistant - in other words, those who go for it, those who do a bit, and those who dont. The Britain Government introduced the Work-Life Balance campaign in 2000. The campaign was to help employers to recognize the benefits adopting policies and procedures to enable employees to adopt flexible working patterns. This would help staff to become better motivated and more productive because they were better able them to balance their work and other aspects of their lives.
Emerging Issues of Work Organisation and Quality of Working Life
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Conversely, casualisation is the process by which the power of employers to give or refuse to give employment is greater than before. Many bosses are introducing zero hour contracts, where there is no assurance of work and one is permanently on standby. This has the benefit to the bosses as workers are not having any rights or protection under the law. The risk associated with the uncertainties of unplanned economies, of having to pay idle workers for instance, is transferred to the workers themselves. Many millions of jobs have always been or are rapidly becoming casualised. III. Macdonaldisation Donaldisation (the modern form of Taylorism ) is a system of producing goods and services in which the work process is broken into its smallest part, systematically analyzed, re-engineered to maximise profit and replicated in each and every working environment that produces those goods. Making things becomes a series of entirely independent, discrete, controllable actions, eliminating independent thought and creativity. Employees become estranged from the process, required to perform a series of meaningless tasks. Such alienation from the work produces depression, anger, an unthinking and uncaring remoteness from other people. Everywhere this process is used the bosses are happy with the amount produced but appalled by its low quality. The labor turnover in these factories is evidence of the determination of people to resist their exploitation. The bosses get rid of any worker who shows signs of resistance or who are too demoralised to produce efficiently. This system is also often known as Toyotism, after the Toyota, Japan factory system introduced in the 1960s and 1970s. The level of control over workers has been deepened by the introduction of individual work contracts and other processes that impose obligations to produce on the individual while weakening collective agreements and relationships creating what is known in Europe as the diffuse factory. What is new about Toyotism is just-in-time production and prompt reaction to market requirements; the imposition of multi-jobbing on workers employed on several machines, either simultaneously or sequentially; quality control throughout the entire flow of production and real-time information on the progress of production in the factory. Production is often come to a standstill and work-teams, departments or even the whole factory called to account. Anybody who shows a waged-workers indifference to the companys productivity requirements and decides not to join quality control groups etc, is stigmatised and encouraged to leave. The same system is applied to the commodities that are used in the process with every stage of how they are produced and processed minutely regulated. A cow is not a living creature but a sack of usable and unusable meat, fat and gristle. How the useful is divided from the not-so useful is a science in itself. Increasingly consumption and leisure are being McDonaldised. Now we expect to be able to find the same brand names throughout the world. Culture is increasingly global but it also increasingly mass-manufactured and distributed, designed for mass appeal . IV. Commodification Work used to be a purposeful and meaningful activity. There was spiritual contentment in working and co-operating to meet the needs of oneself, ones family and people. People chose the work they did if they could and invested much of their personality and abilities in the making and production of useful, better or beautiful things. Today, the supremacy of consumption as a social good and conferrer of social status on people as individuals has made the
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product far more important than the producer . Work has died away to have a personal value for those who sweat. In many cases it does not have a social value to society. Large amounts of work is simply about the reproduction of capitalism. It matters only because this is the means by which capitalism rationalises itself and produces the means money for its own continuation. The activity produces nothing, except money, whose social value is zero. Work only matters in terms of what is produced the commodity - and the social and personal value of what is produced to the person consuming it. Of course, many people realise this but are themselves trapped by the artificial need and desire to consume. We become our own gaoler! It is through consumption that the majority channel their aspirations to pleasure, to a sense of meaning and personal identity. Our aspirations to freedom have been transferred from the workplace to the rest of our lives but the commodification of personal life and leisure has simply built more cares around our life. The refusal to work must be accompanied by the refusal to consume (and vice versa), to participate in the reproduction of everyday life through the production and consumption of useless commodities via a co modified process: work. V. Rescheduling Working Arrangements Alternative ways of scheduling the days and hours of work are increasingly common. These arrangements reshape the traditional schedules, such as the 40-hour week and 8 to 5 day, in ways that better accommodate individual needs. These arrangements help employees balance work with their non-work responsibilities and activities, and are among the innovations commonly found at family friendly employers. Compressed Workweek A compressed workweek is any work schedule that allows a full-time job to be completed in fewer than the standard five days. The most common compressed workweek is the 4-40, where 40 hours of work are accomplished in four 10-hour days. Someone working a 4-40 often benefits from increased leisure time, more three-day weekends, free weekdays to pursue personal business, and lower commuting costs. The organization can benefit, too, in terms of reduced energy consumption during three-day shutdown, lower employee absenteeism, improved recruiting of new employees, and the extra time available for building and equipment maintenance. However, some workers complain about increased fatigue from the extended workday and family adjustment problems. Customer complaints occur due to service interruptions and breaks in work coverage. Part-Time Work Part-time work has become increasingly common in modern society. It has also proven controversial in some important respects. There are two kinds of part-time work: (1) temporary part-time work is where an employee is classified as temporary and works less than the standard (e.g.,40-hour workweek), and (2) permanent part-time work is where a worker is considered permanent but works fewer hours that the standard workweek. Organizations sometimes employ part-time workers in order to hold down labor costs and more easily adjust staffing to peaks and valleys in the business cycle. Both temporary and permanent part-time work can benefit people who hold full-time jobs elsewhere, or who only want to work part-time for personal reasons.
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Job Sharing Job sharing is dividing one full time work between two or more people according to a schedule agreed to among themselves and the employer. The two typically work different parts of the week with some overlapping work time in the weekly schedule to coordinated activities. This works for some people , but the major challenge is finding a partner with a compatible work style and pace. Telecommuting Telecommuting describes work done in the home or in a remote location via use of a computer and/or facsimile machine linked to a central office or other employment locations. Sometimes this arrangement is called flexi place. Teleworkers may be described as those who spend a substantial proportion of their time at home and who use telephone and computers in the course of this work. Studies of teleworking identify the main advantages as:

reduction in office costs; increased motivation and productivity; improved recruitment and retention; more opportunities for those with family responsibilities and the disabled: increased flexibility; improvement in equal opportunities; meeting employee demands; reducing the time, cost and stress of commuting to and from work; and less absenteeism.
The main disadvantages to the employee are social segregation and the difficulty of self-motivation, and for the employer they are those of ensuring effective communication and management and the difficulty of ensuring that the worker complies with health and safety requirements. For teleworking to succeed, there needs to be significant mutual trust between the employer and employee plus clear goals and procedures for the workers involved. Call Centres On of the recent developments in organizations has been the growth of call centers. These are functions within organizations designed to respond to a large volume of calls from customers, or to generate sales, and comprise a large number of operators, usually at least ten, whose role is to provide a first line of service to callers. They are sometimes described as the battery farms of the information age. Call centers bring with them a whole thrust of different issues for organizations to confront. These include:

how to maintain motivation and morale in such an environment; how to measure and reward performance; how to avoid high levels of stress arising from the intensive nature of the work; and ensuring that the call center staff have the required levels of skills and training.
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Activity A In the light of your work experience, elucidate whether flexible work arrangements actually help employees to balance work with their non work responsibilities and activities ? .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... ..........................................................................................................................
Table 2: Difference Between Traditional Work and Knowledge Work HRM dimension Employees career Formation Knowledge work External to the organization through years of education and socialisation Traditional work Internal to the organization through training, development, rules and prescriptive career schemes To the organization and its career systems Narrow and often functional
Employees loyalty
To professions, networks and peers Specialised and deep, but often with diffuse peripheral focuses In groups and projects Customers, problems, issues Rapid Lengthy from a business perspective Process effectiveness Potentially great, but often erratic
Skill/knowledge sets
Locus of work Focus of work Skill obsolescence Activity/feedback cycles Performance measures
Around individuals Task, objectives, performance Gradual Primary and of an immediate nature Task deliverables Little (as planned), but regular and dependable Many small contributions that support the master plan
Impact on company success
A few major contributions of strategic and long-term importance Hierarchic, mechanistic, atomic
Organizational structure Control of work
Holographic, Organic, overlapping
Vested in the supervisory process Functions Hierarchical position, command and control Remains with central management
Vested in the Individuals
Managerial functions Authority/power
Process Professional influence, communication Negotiated between supervisors and groups of knowledge workers
Control of work outcomes
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VI. Growing Relevance of Knowledge Work Over the years the relevance of knowledge work has been increased. The nature of knowledge work is significantly different from traditional industrial work. Charles Despres and Jean-Marie Hiltrop of The International Institute of Management Development, Switzerland have defined these differences of knowledge and traditional forms of work. These differences are illustrated in Table 2.
7.3 PROPHESYING THE FUTURE

A report published by the DTIs Future Unit of U.K Government, Work in the Knowledge-Driven Economy, takes a look at what work might be like in 15 years time and concludes that for many in this generation, the world of work will be very different to that of their parents. It warns we must all prepare for change and will need new skills in the work-place of the future. The report envisages that:
The move from manufacturing to service sector jobs and from blue collar to white collar jobs will continue. White collar clerical work will decline whilst highly skilled knowledge-based jobs will grow. Service sector employment will become increasingly important as the human touch will be difficult to replicate with machines. Teleworking could grow substantially.
The report develops two possible scenarios of the world in 2015 to help understand how the future of work might change. These are: Wired World Depicting an economy composed of a network of individuals, working on projects through the Internet. In Wired World, individuals will no longer be able to rely on the comfort zones created by larger companies (personnel advice, legal, marketing, technical and financial expertise). It is a world where individuals develop sets of skills and a knowledge base and sell these to other individuals or companies Built to Last Describing a world in which large companies use incentive packages and other powerful mechanisms to keep the knowledge of their employees in-house. The future will contain elements of both scenarios and whatever the mix, if as predicted the speed of change increases, people will have to become more adaptable. This has implications for the skills that we need and the way we learn. Activity B How do you see the future of your organization after a decade? .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................... 50
7.4 QUALITY OF WORK LIFE (QWL)

Organization, in the past, gave more importance on innovative technology for higher productivity surpassing the needs and mental state of its employees. This created a negative impact on the working environment among the employees. Thus it was realised that societal support goes hand in hand with technical innovations. This integration can only be made through quality of work life programmes. Quality of work life refers to all the organizational inputs which aim at the employees satisfaction and enhancing organizational effectiveness. Having concern with the life on the job is not new. The increased upheaval of union activities in the 30s and 40s, through collective bargaining and legislations, led to improved working conditions. Even before that, labour was vigorously protesting management attempts to change the work environment. A study by Professor Robert F.Hoxie, Chicago University in 1915, reported how the unions, particularly the machinists, were fighting scientific management techniques. In the late 1950s, the term QWL was used to stress the prevailing poor quality of life at workplace and it was first defined then in terms of peoples reacting to work, particularly an individuals job satisfaction and mental health. In the new economy , emphasis is placed upon the latest technology, most ground-breaking management practices, and state-of-the-art office buildings. However these are of no worth without the talent, commitment, and contribution of a quality workforce. Every organization must do its best to provide a working environment that is inclusive, enriching and encouraging to all employees. This spirit must be visible in all work processes and benefits. Meaning and Concept of QWL The term quality of work life (QWL) has different meanings of different people. Some consider it industrial democracy or codetermination with increased employee participation in the decision making process. For others, particularly managers and administrators, the term denotes improvement in the psychological aspects of work to improve productivity. Unions and workers interpret it as more equitable sharing of profits, job security and healthy and humane working conditions. Others view it as improving social relationships at workplace through autonomous workgroups. Finally, others take a broader view of changing the entire organizational climate by humanizing work, individualising organizations and changing the structural and managerial systems. In general terms, QWL, refers to the favorableness or unfavorable-ness of a job environment for people. It refers to the quality of relationship between employees and the total working environment. According to Harrison, QWL is the degree to which work in an organization contributes to material and psychological well-being of its members.One expert defines quality of working life as a process of joint decision making, collaboration and building mutual respect between management and employees. It is concerned with increasing labour management cooperatives to solve the problems of improving organizational performance and employee satisfaction. According to the American Society of Training and Development, it is a process of work organization which enables its members at all levels to actively participate in shaping the organizations environment, methods and outcomes. This value based process is aimed towards meeting the twin goals of enhanced effectiveness of organization and improved quality of life at work for employees. Broadly the definition of quality of work life involves four major parts: safe work environment, occupational health care, suitable working time and appropriate salary The safe work environment provides the basis for the person
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to enjoy working. The work should not pose a health hazard for the person. The employer and employee, aware of their risks and rights, could achieve a lot in their mutually beneficial dialogue The working time has been established by the state according to legislation. The standard limits on overtime, rest days, and public holidays etc. have also been stipulated. The appropriate salary is agreed upon by the employee and the employer and fixed by the Pay Commission. The Government also establishes the rate of minimum wage , the employer should not pay less than that to the employee. The concept of QWL is based on the assumption that a job is more than just a job. It is the center of a persons life. In recent years there has been increasing concern for QWL due to several factors :

increase in education level and consequently job aspirations of employees; association of workers; significance of human resource management; widespread industrial unrest; growing of knowledge in human behaviour , etc.
Objectives of QWL The main objectives of the QWL programs are to :

Improve employee satisfaction; Improve physical and psychological health of employees which creates positive feelings; Enhance productivity of employees; Reinforce workplace learning; Improved management of the on-going change and transition; and Build the image of the company as best in recruitment, retention, and in general motivation of employees.

Basic Issues in QWL Quality of work life is concerned with the following types of questions. I. II. III. IV. V. How to develop careers that allow employees to realize their full capabilities and interest? How to design jobs to provide meaningful, interesting and challenging work experience? How to utilize group dynamics and participative management to improve the quality of life at the workplace? What supervisory strategies help to improve the quality of work life? How can the desired organizational changes be carried out?
Activity C Think of the job you now have . Discuss both the favorable and unfavorable QWL characteristics contained in it. ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... 52
Characteristics of QWL Improvement Programmes The results, reported from a number of quality of work life improvement programmes, have some common characteristics. These are :
Persistent commitment from management to the open non-defensive modus operandi of sincerely inviting collaborative inputs from the workforce regarding problem identification and suggestions for improving any aspect of the organization or the policies, practices and structure of work with incentives provided for such participation. Invited involvement of members of tasks groups in recommending resolution of identified problem. Training of supervisors to prepare them to function effectively in a less authoritative style. Implementation of practicable suggestion and explanations for rejected ideas. Feedback and recognition for good results achieved. Selection of personnel who can be motivated under appropriate conditions to strive for excellence in task performance. Evaluation and analysis of results, including failures, leading to renewed effort towards continual improvement in modus operandi.

Eight Practices Of QWL Quality of working life though came into circulation in 1970s became popular only in 90s and organizations realised its potential to enhance the productivity in the new century. This works as a comprehensive model to those employers who want to ensure quality in working life of their employees. An ideal quality of work life programme will include practices in eight major areas as discussed below: Adequate and fair compensation. This is fundamental to QWL. Human beings work for livelihood. Therefore success of rest of the initiatives depends upon fulfillment of this. However, important here is that compensation offered must be adequate implying it must be proportionate to labour, and there should be internal consistency among salaries of employees. Safe and healthy working conditions. Unsafe and hazardous working conditions cause problems to both employers and employees. There may be little advantage to the employer in short-term but in medium and long-terms, it adversely affects the productivity. Therefore, adequate investment must be made to ensure safe and healthy working conditions. Immediate opportunity of use and develop human capacities. The jobs have become routine, meaningless and too specialized, depriving the employees of fulfillment satisfaction. Therefore, efforts should be made to increase the autonomy, perspective and exposure to multiple skills. Future opportunity for continued growth and security. This is related to career aspects of employees. Meaningful career paths must be laid down and career mapping of employees is to be followed. The provision of advancement opportunities play a central role in QWL. Social integration in the work organization. Relationships between and among the employees is an indicator of healthy work organization. Therefore, opportunities must be provided for formal and informal interactions. All kind of classes religions, races, crafts, and designations must be treated equally on a social platform. In other words, it creates egalitarian environment. 53
Constitutionalism in the work organization. This is related to organizational norms that affect the freedom of an individual employee. Efforts must be made to see right norms are formed in the organization. It means norms that accommodate the privacy of an individual employee, freedom of speech, equity and freedom to dissent on some aspects. Work and the total life space. Employees should not be allowed to continuously exert themselves. The continuous hard work causes psychological and physical strains. Therefore, there has to be a balance between personal and professional life. Organization must create proper work offs to enrich the life of employees. The social relevance of work life. Employees must be given the perspective of how his/her work in the organization helps the society. This is essential to build relevance of the employees existence to the society he/she lives in. Techniques of Improving Quality of Work Life The concept of quality of work life has been operationalised through various systems such as job enrichment, workers participation in management, organization development, quality circles, employee welfare, etc. While some of these schemes have been successful in improving the quality of work life, others are still to show results. The quality of work life movement is of recent origin and has a long way to go. Individuals as well as organized efforts are required to improve the quality of work life for millions of workers in the country. In 1981 the National Productivity Council organized a national seminar on quality of work life. The seminar made several suggestions and pointed out the responsibilities of different groups in improving the quality of work life. These responsibilities are summarised below: 1. Responsibilities of Employers: a. Provision of physical amenities at the work place, health and safety and welfare provisions. b. Involving workers in decision making on all matters. c. Initiating suitable forms of work design. d. Formalisation of QWL experience for future use. e. A re-examination of policies of work. f. Developing an appreciation of changing environment. 2. Responsibilities of unions and workers: a. Educating and making workers aware of QWL. b. Search areas of collaboration with management. c. Identifying ways and means to satisfy workers needs through non-monetary alternatives. d. Organising labour in the unorganised sector and specially making them aware of QWL e. Encouraging workers to participate in QWL activites. 3. Responsibilities of professional organizations: a. Organise workshops and seminars to bring about greater awareness of QWL. b. Initiate specific research projects in this field.
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c. Provide professional assistance to organizations to help generate internal competences. d. Developing state-of-art profiles on QWL. e. Developing special programmes for various classes of workers. f. Developing a network for collection, storage and dissemination of information on QWL. 4. Responsibilities of the Government: a. Legislating standards and norms in newer areas. b. Change in policy to provide greater autonomy to experiment with QWL. c. Executive action to ensure implementation of legislated facilities. d. Encouragement and adoption of appropriate technology. e. Finding projects on QWL. f. Suitably modifying the structure and scope of education in the country. Some of the techniques used to improve QWL of an average worker in India are given below: 1. Job Redesign: Narrow jobs need to be combined into large units of accomplishment. Jobs should be redesigned to enrich them, Job enrichment helps to satisfy higher order needs by providing interesting, stimulating and challenging work. 2. Career Development: Opportunity for career advancement and growth personality improve commitment. Career planning, counseling second careers, etc, help to meet expectations of achievement-oriented employees. 3. Autonomous Work Groups: In an autonomous work groups, employees are given the freedom of decision making. In such a group the workers themselves plan, coordinate and control their activities. The group as a whole is accountable for success or failure. It is also called a self-managed work team. 4. Flexible Work Schedules: Flexible working hours (flexitime), staggered hours, reduced work weak, job sharing, part-time employment and other types of alternative work schedules provide freedom to employee in scheduling their work. 5. Participative Management: Employees want to participate in deciding matters which affect their lives. Therefore, quality circles, management by objectives, suggestion system and other forms of employees participation in management help to improve QWL. 6. Job Security: Adequate security of job is a high priority of employees and should be provided. 7. Administrative Justice: The principles of justice, fair and quality should be applied in disciplinary procedure, grievance procedures, promotions, transfers, work assignment, leave, etc. The Role of the Supervisor in QWL The Supervisor is one key to the quality-of work life. A study by University of Michigan which sought to relate a large number of characteristics of workers jobs to overall satisfaction illustrates the wide variety of ways by which supervisory behaviour affects subordinate satisfaction. The eight most closely related factors are listed below:

Having a nurturant supervisor Receiving adequate help, assistance, etc. 55
Having a few labour standard problems (such as safety hazards, nonavailability of materials, or poor transportation) Fair promotional policies Supervisor not supervising too closely Having a technically competent supervisor Autonomy in matters affecting work A job with enriching demands.

The supervisor influences quality of work life directly or indirectly. He affects subordinates directly through his daily interaction with them. He can be supportive or disagreeable, friendly or distant, available to provide help or always busy. He influences the design of jobs, plays a key role in the administration of career and reward systems, and is also in a position to foster the development of social systems. Nonetheless, the vigilant supervisor can join together these factors so that quality of work life will be enhanced as well as organizational objectives will be accomplished. The Role of the Management in QWL Management has to play a very significant role in improving quality of life of employees. Management must strive to make the quality of employees work life as satisfying as possible. At the moment employees are challenged as never before to balance work and personal responsibilities. Therefore the management should continually addresses these challenges by utilising personnel flexibilities and establishing programs that help employees meet their work and personal obligations. The steps that should be taken by the management are :
Establishing appropriate, reasonable and enforced work rules. Work rules can help to create and maintain an orderly atmosphere that is pleasant to work in where employees can work effectively. Work rules can help improve quality of work life by: creating an atmosphere where employees are treated with dignity and respect. helping to ensure that employees conduct themselves in a professional and safe manner. encouraging open communication between employees . ensuring that all employees are treated fairly and that they follow the same rules. Develop and implement a flexible work policy and procedure Provide training to managers and supervisors on how to respond effectively to work life issues Provide resiliency and personal accountability training for staff Invest in organization-specific quality of work life programs in eldercare, childcare, diversity, etc. Encourage participative work teams to reinforce an environment of trust and help employees to work more effectively and efficiently in order to accomplish organisation mission. Provide employees assistance through the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), a free, confidential counseling and referral service to resolve personal problems. Actively support employee health and wellness .

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How to Measure QWL The following indices may be used to judge the quality of work life in an organizaton:
Job Involvement : It represents the degree of an individuals identification with or ego involvement in the job. The more central the job is to the individuals life, the greater is his involvement in it. Therefore, the individual spends more time and energy on the job. People with high job involvement are better motivated and more productive. Research reveals that skill variety, achievement and challenge help to improve job involvement. Job Satisfaction: It implies the workers satisfaction with the environment of his job environment consisting of nature of work, quality of supervision, pay, coworkers, opportunities for promotion, etc. Job satisfaction is related to job involvement and people involved in their jobs are satisfied with their jobs and vice versa. Sense of Competence: It refers to the feelings of confidence that an individual has in his own competence. Sense of competence and job involvement reinforce each other. An individual acquires a greater sense of competence as he engages himself more and more in work activities. When he feels more competent he become more involved in his job and becomes better motivated. Job Performance : When an individuals job involvement, job satisfaction and sense of competence increase, there is a rise in job performance. Productivity: When the level of job performance increases the output per unit of input goes up. Thus, match between job characteristics and productivity traits of employees generally result in higher productivity.
The Effect Of Quality Work Life The positive aspects of QWL are:.
Improved communication and co-ordination among the workers and organization helps to integrate different jobs resulting in better task performance. Better working condition enhances workers motivation to work in a healthy atmosphere resulting in motivation and increase in production. As QWL includes participation in group discussion and solving the problem, improving the skill, enhancing their capabilities and thus building confidence and increased output. QWL attracts talented employees and make them loyal towards the organization. Making employees feel valued . Increased productivity Reduced absenteeism Earned the reputation of being an employer of choice Retaining valued employees . Help employees to have work-life balance .

The net result is - more satisfied and productive workers produce better and quality products . Activity D What is work-life balance? How is it beneficial to both employers and employees? ........................................................................................................................... 57
........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... Conditions for Successful QWL Programs The following conditions are highly essential for the success of QWL programmes.

Shared recognition of a need for change. Strong leadership. Collaborative planning for change. Allocation of adequate resources to manage the change. Invitation to a third party who can introduce novel ideas , serve as a communication link, and help eliminate stereotypes and distrust.
7.5 SUMMARY
In the new economy there are several changes in the nature of economic activity, such as strong growth in the services sector, increased levels of productivity growth and globalised markets . Companies are designing their work systems around the following four pillars: virtual organizations, flexible and adaptive workforce, contingent pay and democratic governance at workplace. Job insecurity and work intensification, flexibilisation & casualisation , Macdonaldisation, co modification, emergence of knowledge workers and rescheduling working arrangements are a few changes taken place in the organization in the New- Economy. QWL, refers to the favorableness or unfavorable-ness of a job environment for people. Making employees feel valued, increased productivity , reduced absenteeism earning the reputation of being an employer of choice, retaining valued employees , and helping employees to have work-life balance etc. are some of the positive aspects of QWL.

1. Write an essay on the upcoming trends in work organisations. 2. What are the eight practices of QWL? 3. Discuss the role of supervisor and of the management in QWL.

Gupta, C.B. Human Resource Management, Sultan Chand & Sons, 2002. http://www.jrf.uk/ www.\WORK.htm Schermerhorn, Jr. John R. Hunt, James G. and Osborn, Richard N., Basic Organisational Behaviour, John Wiley & Sons .Inc. , USA, 1998. Shirley Dex and Fiona Scheibl, Human Resource Management in the knowledge Age: Current Practice and Perspectives on the Future, Employee Relations, 1995. 58
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ORGANISATIONAL ANALYSIS
UNIT 8 Organisational Diagnosis: Tools and Techniques UNIT 9 Questionnaire as a Diagnostic Tool UNIT 10 Interview as a Diagnostic Tool UNIT 11 Workshops, Task-forces and other Methods 5 33 65 75

Print Production
July, 2004 (Revision) Indira Gandhi National Open University, 2004 ISBN-81-266-1330-0 All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form, by mimeograph or any other means, without permission in writing from the Indira Gandhi National Open University. Further information about the Indira Gandhi National Open University courses may be obtained from the Universitys Office at Maidan Garhi, New Delhi-110 068. Printed and published on behalf of the Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi by Director, School of Management Studies. Cover designed by King Craft, Karol Bagh, New Delhi. Lasertypeset by ICON Printographics, B-107 Fateh Nagar, New Delhi-110 018 Paper Used: Agro-based Environment Friendly
BLOCK 4
ORGANISATIONAL ANALYSIS
An understanding of organisations and their nature is important to bring about any improvements in organisations. The various units under organisational analysis attempt to equip the reader with an understanding of organisations, including various elements and processes of organisations. The first unit aims at helping the reader to know about the various methods of diagnosing organisations. Second unit deals with Questionnaire measures of organisational phenomena in view of the large number of questionnaire available and their importance to the understanding of organisational phenomena. The third unit deals with Interview as a diagnostic tool. Within a short span of period interview technique helps in understanding the issues involved in an organisation. The fourth unit deals with workshops, task-forces and other methods. These methods also help in diagnosing instead of relying only on questionnaire and interview methods.
UNIT 8 ORGANISATIONAL DIAGNOSIS: TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES

Objectives
After going through this unit, you should be able to understand:

the concept and purpose of organisational diagnosis steps and methods of organisational analysis.
Structure
8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 8.8 8.9 8.10 8.11 What is Organisational Diagnosis? Organisational Analysis as First Step in Diagnosis Illustrative List of Organisational Subsystems Illustrative List of Organisational Processes Purpose of Organisational Analysis Organisational Analysis Perspectives Methods of Organisational Analysis Practical Perspectives on Organisational Analysis Summary Self-Assessment Questions Further Readings
Appendix 1: Organisational Analysis
8.1 WHAT IS ORGANISATIONAL DIAGNOSIS?

In some ways organisations, their structure and functioning can be compared to structure and functioning of the human system. Just as an organism has several parts an organisation is also structured with several subsystems. Effective functioning of the human sub-systems depends on the effective functioning of all the constituent parts. When the human system is in trouble it is either due to a problem in a part that could be located or due to problems that affect the entire system. In any case when there is trouble the entire system gets affected. Just as a doctor diagnoses the problem with the human system on the basis of the symptoms and analysis of the system using some tests (standard tests like pulse rate, BP etc. as well as special tests) an organisation facing problems could be diagnosed by an organisational specialist on the basis of noticeable (visible) symptoms and using tests to bring out what is not evident. The only difference is that the human organism normally functions as a whole as it has a single mind. An organisation has several parts each having its own independent minds and they may not always function in a fully unified way. So even when the top management think that there is a problem other systems may not think so or vice versa. Organisation has several minds that is what adds to the complexity of the organisation. Another parallel between the diagnosis of the human being and an organisation is the need to go through a diagnostic check up periodically even if there are no problems. Fitness tests are quite common for the human being. From the time a child is born there are periodic check ups that are conducted which are used as diagnostic instruments. The size, growth, activity level, heart rate etc. are all assessed. Even in the school it is common to put a child through fitness
tests. As the person grows into his forties he is advised to get annual check ups done. Similarly an organisation can put itself through periodic check ups or diagnostic exercises to assess its growth, dynamism, strengths, weaknesses etc. Thus organisational diagnosis is an exercise attempted to make an analysis of the organisation, its structure, subsystems and processes in order to identify the strengths and weaknesses of its structural components and processes and use it as a base for developing plans to improve and/or maximise the dynamism and effectiveness of the organisation. Organisational diagnosis could be done as a periodic routine exercise like the case of periodic medical check up of an individual or may be undertaken whenever there is a cognizable problem that is affecting the functioning of an organisation. Just as in the case of the medical sciences there is a lot more unknown about the human being and quite a few things cannot either be diagnosed or cured, management science also has gaps and quite a few problems of organisations are not easy to diagnose or cure. But an equally good number of problems can be solved and the organisational effectiveness improved if the diagnosis is done well by competent people. These units on diagnosis, development, and change are not intended to make the reader into an organisational specialist. Such a thing requires different training. These units are intended to develop a basic understanding about the organisational analysis, so that when a need or an opportunity arises the reader is aware of what is to be done and whom to approach. In addition when his organisation undertakes a diagnostic exercise he may be able to contribute better.
8.2 ORGANISATIONAL ANALYSIS AS A FIRST STEP IN DIAGNOSIS

Analysing the organisation, in terms of its components and their functioning is the first step in a comprehensive diagnosis. Every organisation can be conceived as consisting of various subsystems or parts. Effective functioning of each of these parts is essential for effective functioning of the organisation. In addition the coordinated functioning of these subsystems also contributes to organisational effectiveness. For making organisational diagnosis the strengths, weaknesses and potential of each of the subsystems need to be examined. In addition the various processes that contribute to the effective functioning of the organisation as a whole need to be examined. As emphasized by Bechard The development of a strategy for systematic improvement of an organisation demands an examination of the present state of things. Such an analysis usually looks at two broad areas. One is a diagnosis of the various subsystems that make up the total organisation. These susystems may be natural teams such as top management, the production department, or a research group; or they may be levels such as top management, middle management or the work force. The second area of diagnosis is the organisation processes that are occurring. These include decision-making processes, communication pattern and styles, relationships between interfacing groups, the management of conflict, the setting of goals and planning methods. Thus organisational analysis may either focus on the structural aspects (subsystems, various components etc.) or on processes. The following is an illustrative list of the various subsystems of an organisation and the processes which could form a focus of diagnosis.
8.3 ILLUSTRATIVE LIST OF ORGANISATIONAL SUBSYSTEMS

Various departments/sub-units of an organisation (e.g. Production, Personnel, Materials, Marketing, Accounts, Maintenance, Training etc. or in an educational institution the various subject based units, the establishment section, library, hostels, examination unit, registrars office etc. or in a bank the branches, regions, zones, headquarters etc.)
Organisational Diagnosis: Tools and Techniques
Various levels in the organisation (e.g. top management, middle management, first level supervisors, skilled workers, unskilled workers etc. or gradewise like Grade I, Grade II, Grade IV etc. or designation based categorisation like officers, managers, executives, general managers, vice-president, directors etc.). Geographic units (e.g. North, East, West, South Zones or Madras region, Calcutta region, Delhi region, Bombay region etc.). Functional background based subsystems (e.g. engineering services Vs. nonengineering group teaching faculty Vs research staff; line Vs. staff etc.). Experience and education based subsystems (e.g. new recruits Vs. experienced employees, or employees joined one year ago, two year ago, three years ago, five years age, 10 years ago etc., undergraduates, graduates, post-graduates etc.). Division-based subsystems (e.g. product based division such as agricultural product division, chemicals division, automobile accessories division etc.). Personnel and HRD Policies (e.g. recruitment, rewards, induction, performance appraisals, promotions, training, job rotation etc.). Research and Development (e.g. interest in new technology and investments in R&D structure of R&D, linkages with other subsystems). Stake holders and their contribution (share holders, unions, top management, board members, government employees etc.). Financial Management (e.g. sources of finance, investment decision who makes them and how they are made, accountability etc.). Marketing Management.
This is only an illustrative list and not an exhaustive list.
8.4 ILLUSTRATIVE LIST OF ORGANISATIONAL PROCESSES

Communication Is it one way or both ways (upward and downward)? How is the sharing of information? How much openness exists in communication? Who has information? Is it loaded in some pockets? How is the information used? How much of distortion takes place when messages are sent? What channels are used to send messages to people? How good are these? Do people who need information get it on time? Is it formal or informal? 7
What kinds of information is shared? Are peoples expectations met in terms of availability of information etc.?
Goal Setting How are goals set? Is there clarity of tasks and objectives? Who provides clarity? How frequently? What is the process of goal setting? Is it participative or autocratic? Does the process of goal setting ensure commitment to tasks?
Role Clarity Do employees know well what they are expected to do? Is there a discipline to plan their work? To what extent is there ambiguity of roles resulting in tensions, ad hocism etc.? Is there periodic dialogues between supervisors and their subordinates to increase role clarity? What is the extent of flexibility/rigidity in defining roles for employees? Is it functional or dysfunctional?
Culture What are the norms and values in the organisation that are widely shared? To what extent openess is valued? Do people trust each other generally? Is there general collaborative attitude among staff? Do people value experimentation, risk-taking and initiative? Is punctuality valued?
Management Styles Is the management bureaucratic or entrepreneurial or professional or conservative? What is the style of decision-making in relation to new investments, people, technology, structure and the like?
Conflicts and their Management How frequently do conflicts occur? How are they dealt with?
Management of Mistakes When people make mistakes how are they handled? Organisational Learning Mechanisms Teams and Team work How much is team work valued? Are there committee systems? How do they function? What are the attitudes of employees to them? etc.

Work Motivation Are people generally satisfied with work and their job? What is the level of their involvement? Do they take pride in what they do? What is the level of loyalty to the organisation?
This is an illustrative list and the questionnaire measures described in the next unit provide more dimensions for organisational analysis.
8.5 PURPOSE OF ORGANISATIONAL ANALYSIS

Organisational analysis may be done for different purposes. These include: 1) Enhancing the general understanding of the functioning of organisations (i.e. educational or research purposes.) (The direct beneficiary is the researcher or the analyst rather than the organisation). Such a study may aim at enhancing the understanding of human behaviour through a study of it in organisation, or to enhance the understanding of the society as reflected in organisational life. 2) Planning for growth and diversification An analysis or a diagostic study may be necessary for planning growth, diversification, expansion etc. Organisational analysis may reveal the strengths that could be used for growth and diversification, weak spots that need to be removed in the new plans, the precautions to be taken, structural dimensions to be kept in mind etc. Several insights may be provided on structure, people, systems, styles, technology etc. that have implications for growth. 3) Improving Organisational Effectiveness or Planning General Improvements Organisational Analysis may be used also for improving the general efficiency of an organisation. On the basis of a diagnosis made out of the analysis action steps could be initiated in terms of toning up administration, introducing new management systems and processes, reduction of wasteful expenditure, introduction of time savers, change of personnel policies to enhance employee motivation, restructuring of some parts, training, elimination of unwanted structures and teasers, improvements in general health of the organisation etc. 4) Organisational Problem Solving Whenever some subsystems departments, units etc. fall sick or start creating problems a diagnosis may be undertaken with a view to identify the source of the problem and take corrective action. A sick unit, a bottleneck, a communication block, a poor performing department, frequently occurring conflict between two departments, repeated failures of a management system or an organisational process, a frequent violation of an organisational norm, fall in discipline, reduction in output absenteeism, increase in conflicts etc. can all lead to the need for an organisational diagnosis of a part of the organisatioin or the entire organisation.
8.6 ORGANISATIONAL ANALYSIS PERSPECTIVES

Organisations can be analysed with different perspectives in mind. The perspectives one takes depends both on the purpose for which the analysis is being done and the professional background of the people doing organisational analysis. The following perspectives could be used for analysing organisations: 1) Economics Perspective 2) Political Science Perspective 3) Sociology and Social Psychology Perspective 4) Management Perspective 5) Applied Behavioural Science or OD Perspective
Economic Analysis of Organisations

The economic analysis focuses primarily on the use of money, allocation of resources, distribution and consumption patterns, pricing decisions etc. 9
The following is a sample of questions that are usually asked in the Economic Analysis of an Organisations:

How are the resources allocated? What is the market structure? (Is it competitive, monopolistic, oligopolistic? etc.) What is the organisatioins market and its characteristics? Are the products and services in the industry homogeneous or differentiated? What is the nature of demand for organisations services? What is the cost of making the product or service? How are the various elements in the process of making it related? Are there substantial economics of scale?

Economic analysis of organisations is particularly helpful for the first three objectives mentioned earlier. It helps streamlining the organisational efficiency, eliminating wastes, and gives insight while planning for growth, diversification etc. However, when it comes to problems not all types of organisational problems can be answered by economic analysis.
Political Analysis
Political analysis deals with the tactics and strategies employed by the individuals and groups in the organisation as well as the organisation itself in the quest for power. The following is a sample of questions asked in the analysis:
Who is most influential in the organisation? (individuals, groups, departments, etc.) What is the power base of each of the categories of people in the organisation (Is it positioned based, competency based, collectivity based like in unions, is it because of closeness to top executive or ruling party? Is it due to the ability of the person to reward, hire and fire?) How is the power distributed among individuals, groups and departments? What strategies do people use in influencing or controlling each other? How is the power used? How much for orgnisational purposes? How much for expanding ones power base? etc. What are ideologies of different groups? What implications do these have for organisational functioning? Is there congruence with organisational goals? How much is there a commitment for organisational goals? Is decentralisation functional or centralisation useful? What kinds of control are needed to regulate the behaviour of people?

Like Economic analysis, political analysis of organisations is useful for understanding the organisation. Political analysis helps understanding many softer and strategic dimensions of an organisation. However, it has limitations in providing guidelines for the planning of growth and diversification of an organisation. It helps immensely in understanding organisational dynamics. However, such an understanding may become onesided unless it is enriched with other perspectives.
Sociological and Social Psychology based Analysis

Sociological and social psychological perspective focuses on the social behaviour of individuals and groups in the organisation. The formation of groups, habits,
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norms and values of the organisation, the process of socialisation, conflicts, strikes, protest behaviour etc. issues are studied. The influence of the Society on the organisation is also focused. The following is a sample of questions that are normally asked with sociological and social psychological perspectives:
What is the nature of the work force and different categories of employees? Where do they come from and what personality, attitudes and values do they bring with them that influence organisational functioning? What are the groups? What interests do they serve? What binds them together? What are the formal and informal sources of socialisation? How are people being socialised? How is this affecting the organisation? What structural forces ensure stability and order in the functioning of the organisation? What causes disorder? What forces contribute to change? What forces bind different groups/departments/units together? What is the distribution of power and authority? What are the attitudes of people to work? What are the attitudes of people to each other? Is there alienation? What seems to contribute to it if it is there? How could it be reduced? How frequent are the strikes? What is the incedence of absenteeism, accidents, alcoholism, indiscipline etc. phenomena? What seems to cause it? How do members relate to each other outside work hours? How do their interactions affect their work behaviour?

Sociological and social psychological analysis helps in understanding organisations for research and study purposes, for planning growth and expansion (especially location decisions, recruitment, structural decisions, departmentation) and for organisational problem solving.
Professional Management Perspective in Organisational Analysis

For a long time management was not accepted as a separate discipline. With rise of management schools all over the world a new class of people with professional management background and skills have emerged. With the availability of a large number of professionally trained managers and management scientists there is a professional management perspective that is emerging. This perspective focuses on various management dimensions of organisational life. Each branch of management can analyse a significant pay of organisations functioning. The branches normally include Business Policy and Strategy Management, Production and Operations Management, Personnel Management, Marketing Finance and Accounting, Organisational Structures and Dynamics and Managerial Economics. The following are the sample questions that could be asked with this perspective for organisational analysis:
What are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing the organisations with respect to its business and its functioning? What are the business goals? Is there a long term plan? What are the strategic consideration the organisation has in planning its business activities? Is the structure best suited for its goals? What is the technology being used? Are better technologies available? What are the problems in changing technology? How is the production planned? What is the capacity utilisation? How could it be improved? How frequent are the break-downs? What is the level of inventory? Are materials available on time? What is the rate of rejection of products? What is the wastage? How could it be reduced?

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How are people recruited? How are they trained? What attracts people to this organisation? What retains them? What reward and punishment system exist? Are there unions? How many? What are their attitudes? How satisfied are the people with the work? What are personnel policies? What is unique to this organisation? How do they suit the technology and business of this organisation? What is the financial position of the organisation? What are the sources of finance? How are the surplus used? What are the investments made by the organisation? What control systems exist? How are the products priced? What are the marketing strategies being used? How much of competition exists for the organisations products and services? What new products are planned to be introduced? What is the experience with the existing product? Has the organisation established its name in the market? Is the structure functional, divisional or matrix? Does it suit the organisation requirements? What are the characteristics of employees? How are the interpersonal relations/ What is the source of conflicts? Do people take initiative and show leadership qualities? How is team work and collaboration?
Professional management perspective helps in a thorough analysis of an organisation. However, most often such exhaustive case studies may not be required of all functions. Normally organisation analysts are interested in some functions more than the others. A professional management perspective is the most useful perspective for overall improvements in organisation and for demonstrable results in terms of output, cost reduction, profits an the like. It helps besides for problem solving in designing organisations for future growth and diversification.
OD or Applied Behavioural Science Perspective

While applied behavioural science is a part of the Professional Management Perspective, with the availability of specialised knowledge in the field and the extent of human issues occurring in organisational life has made it a distinctive necessity. Most often when a managerial perspective is taken an analyst is tempted to focus on dimensions like the materials and money as they are easy to deal with get concrete results. It is easy to talk of investment decisions, introduction of computers, streamlining information systems, introducing performance budgeting, advertising, pricing decisions etc. There are so many such variables the human processes and up becoming one such set. In reality it is an important set because it is people who are behind these decision and who need to implement them. Fortunately a lot of technology and skills are available from the applied behavioural science field. The OD perspective focuses on the human process dimensions of organisations functioning. These human process dimensins deal with the individual per se, the individual in relation to the role he is expected to perform, the team work, inter-team collaboration, organisational culture and health. The OD perspective primarily focuses on examining the attitudes, norms, values, systems, processes etc. that exist in the organisation.The question asked is Are they facilitating the utilisation and development of human competence available individually or collectively in the organisation? Is the organisational culture facilitating people to contribute their best to the organisation? Some of the questions asked in this perspective are as follows:
What is the extent Openness, Collaboration, Trust, Autonomy, Pro-action, Authenticity, Confrontation characterising the organisations culture? What is the profile of people who join the organisations? What values do they have? What is their view of the human being?
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What is the level of organisational health as reflected in communications, conflicts, role clarity, job-satisfaction, work motivation, team work, participative decision-making, goal setting, discipline, management of mistakes etc.? What is valued by most people in the organisation?Is it excellence, power, relationships, status, helping each othercontrol or what? In what order are they valued? How much of creativity is there and is encouraged? Do people take initiativeand risks? What processes encourage/prevent creativity and initiative? Are jobs defined clearly? What mechanisms are there to communicate expectations and difficulties? What mechanisms exist to solve problems? Do people experience a sense of growth? What processes seem to generate organisational identity and we feeling? What processes create problems for team work? What characterises various groups and their functioning?

The OD perspective is essentially useful for organisational problem solving and organisational renewal. It is useful for every organisation to undertake periodic renewal exercises so that they can examine various organisational processes and strengthen the functioning of an organisation.
8.7 METHODS OF ORGANISATIONAL ANALYSIS

Of the various perspectives presented so far the Professional Management and the OD perspective encompass the Economic, Political and Sociological and Social Psychological perspectives. These are also more modern and are being more frequently used. Among these two of the professional management perspective is vast and covers the entire management field. Since the focus of this course is on Organisation Design and Development, the OD orthe Applied Behavioural Sciene Perspective is more appropriate for discussion here. Hence in the subsequent part of this unit and subsequent unit more details are presented relating to the organisation development. There are many ways of analysing and diagnosing organisations and their phenomena. The following are the most frequently used methods: 1) Questionnaires 2) Interviews 3) Observation 4) Analysis of records, circulars, appraisal reports and other organisational literature 5) Analysis of hard data of organisations and various units 6) Task forces and task groups 7) Problem identification/problem solving workshops 8) Seminars, symposia and training programme 9) Recording and examining critical incidents, events. These methods are described in some detail in the subsequent units of this block. The purpose of the analysis is Organisational Diagnosis. Diagnosis gives the state of the organisation or one or more of its subsystems and points out the scope for improvements that could be made for achieving organisational effectiveness. Hence the methodologies presented in the subsequent sections are limited to this goal.
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8.8 PRACTICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ORGANISATIONAL ANALYSIS

This involves a study of the entire organisation in terms of its objectives, its resources the allocation and utilization of these resources for achievement of its objectives as well as its dynamic interaction trends with external environment. The philosophy for the entire organization can be developed in terms of the following steps: 1) Analysis of Objectives: Analysis of organisations objectives provides a clear understanding of both short and long-term objectives as well as the priorities that are accorded to various objectives. Specific goals and strategies should be stated for various divisions, departments and sections of the organization as a means of achieving the long-term priority objectives. Through continuous review of the objectives and their subsequent modification it is positive to translate general objectives into action plans. 2) Resource Utilisation Analysis: Having analyzed the objectives, the second step involves evaluating the process of allocation of various human and physical resources in the organization. Various efficiency indices can be derived to determine the adequacy of specific work flows, so that detailed examination of the inputs and outputs of the total system is possible. The focus should be on the contribution that human resources make towards these indices.
Human Resources
Raw Materials Technological Inputs ORGANISATION Deliver articles
Machines Financial Resources Figure 1: Organisational Analysis
3) Environmental Scanning: This involves analysis of the enterprise as a subsystem operating in a socio-cultural, economic, legal, political and competitive environment. This enables the organization to manage certain aspects of its environment and to accept others constraints which cannot easily be handled. Yet strategies can be devised to control these. 4) Organization Climate Analysis: The climate of an organization is a reflection of its employees attitudes towards various aspects of work, supervision, company procedures, goals and objectives and Productivity in the organisation. 5) Work Practices: The practices adopted for execution of various activities in different functional areas. These practices are like norms, which are followed by all employees in order to maintain a uniformity in performing various tasks. 6) Technology: Technology is responsible for driving various Organisational Processes. Technology converts raw materials into final Products and Services offered by the organisation. 14
7) Other resources: Other resources are financial resources, business practices, Administrative Practices, management expertise information resources, R & D etc. 8) Systems: Are overriding set of interacting elements that acquire inputs from the environment transforms then and discharges outputs to the external environment. The prevailing organisational climate, especially the attitude towards employee development, determines the Human Resource Policy. Lack of management support for the objectives of a particular HR Strategy reduces or eliminates its potential for serving the organization. Often, HR Practices must be supported by other actions in the organisation such as job enrichment, change in style of supervision, etc. to bring about desired changes. Another important consideration, particularly in management development is an enterprises needs to be alive to the employees career development aspirations.
Need to undertake Organisational Analysis Why do some Organisations perform very well despite many constraints and others fail when apparently things are going very well and should not. It is important to know how an Organisation is doing at any point in time. Secondly, the environment being highly dynamic entities are in a state of continuous change and transition. Third, any organisation would have numerous stakeholders in terms of owners, Board of Directors, Employees etc. They have their own expectations from the organization as to how it is doing.
Overall Approach
In analysing any organisation these are the following elements that need to be reviewed: 1) Mission & Vision: It is important to know whether there is a proper Mission / Vision, if not, it has to be developed. For developing Corporate Vision & Mission, improvement of all employees is a must and a joint sharing and unanimity of understanding is a must. 2) Organisation structure: This describes how accountabilities, tasks and roles are allocated, within the organisation. It is important because of the impact it can have on the way people perform their jobs and on the effectiveness of the organisations processes. 3) Processes: These are the mechanisms by which the organisations activities are carried out and they will usually determine how the organisation is structured, although they may be tailored to suit the structure. They will also influence the kind of people employed. 4) Culture: Culture comprises of set of values, guiding beliefs understanding and ways of thinking shared by members of an organisation. It is important to analyze the culture of an Organisation at regular intervals to get a feel of the Organisations health and to take corrective measures of things which are going wrong. 5) Work Ethos: Ethos can be defined on the underlying spirit or character of an Organisation and is made up of its beliefs, customs and practices. At the base of ethos are core values. The relevant core values, which contribute directly towards building a healthy organisation are :

Openness Confrontation Trust Authenticity 15

Proaction Autonomy Collaboration Experimenting
6) Work Practices 7) 8) 9) People Technology Other Resources
10) Systems 11) People: the central resource of any organisation is its people. Raw material remains just that without their intervention. They in turn determine the organisations structure and processes. How many times are the theoretically most logical structures and processes changed to suit individuals? While each of these three elements will need to be examined separately in depth, no analysis would be complete unless it reviewed all three and took account of the interrelationship between them. They should all support the organisations mission and strategy. (Figure 2)
Culture and Climate

The organizations culture and climate will also have an impact on its efficiency and effectiveness and, therefore, analyzing them is also an important part of gaining a full understanding of the organization.
External Environment
Mission Vision
Corporate Strategy
STRATEGY
PROCESSES
SYSTEMS
PEOPLE
TECHNOLOGY
Figure 2: Major elements of the organisation
Organisation Culture The organisations culture is made up of the deeply held beliefs about the way the organisation should operate it. It is organisations value system and will influence the way in which work is carried out and how employees behave. People who may be very able and efficient in their own right, but who nevertheless do not fit into the culture, for example because of the way they dress, will be unlikely to achieve long-term success in the organisation.
Organisation Climate
The climate is the prevalent atmosphere in the organisation, encompassing the feelings and emotions of the people within it. It is their perception of what it is like to work there. As the employees feelings and attitudes will clearly have an impact on the way they carry out their work, they are an important part of analyzing the organisation.
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Business Analysis
This business analysis section covers a number of different approaches to analyzing the organisation in its entirely, not just the individual elements of structure, processes and people. The term business in this context also covers the public sector. Swot Analysis SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Strengths may be described as those positive aspects of the organizatioin like its unique attributes like skills of employees, technology, work practice culture, management practices etc. which may lead to further opportunities and which can therefore, be built on. What are the companys competitive advantages and unique profile. Weaknesses are any deficiencies in the companys skills and resources, work practices technology levels performance management systems and style. Opportunities are provided by external environment in terms of new possibilities, which may provide advantage. These are likely to arise from changes in technology, markets, products, legislation and so on. Threats are dangers or problems that might undermine the position of the organisatioin, due to competition from other Organisations operating in the external environment, for example the introduction of a new product by a competitor, changes to safety standards, changing fashions, or problems with suppliers or customers. Whereas strengths and weaknesses primarily concern the internal workings of the organisation, opportunities and threats arise primarily from the external environment. Organisation Analysis Factors:
Overall Organisational Objectives and business adopted including the monitoring and review process; The performance management system, performance measures and standards used by the organisation to ensure desirable levels of efficiency and performance. Balanced Score Card is one such mechanism; The budgetary and financial control procedures in use; Organization design and structure; Staffing levels Activity levels; Overhead costs; and Review of procedures and activities

Financial Analysis One of the most important aspect of undertaking Organisational analysis of any organisation is analyzing its financial stability. Most of the modern enterprises are dependent on long-term financial strength. Such analysis is usually carried out by working out various financial ratios and ROIs. Statistical Analysis There are many statistical analysis that can be undertaken to diagnose organizational health. Many are those which relate to productivity. However, there are also a number of less obvious measures that can be used to determine how well the organization is performing.
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These include the following: 1) Rate of Employee turnover: The number of employees expressed as a percentage leaving the organisation on account of various parameters.. It will vary between industries and will be affected by the current state of the economy. In a recession, when jobs are more difficult to find, the turnover rate would be expected to be relatively low. The turnover rate of software companies and service industry is high whereas turnover rate in brick and mortar companies is relatively low. It has been seen that during the harvest season, the workers in production units go to their native states for harvesting. During these months absenteeism and lateness is high. 2) Grievances and disputes: It is perhaps self-evident that where a high number of disputes and grievances are raised by employees, there is likely to be low morale, with specific grievances perhaps being symptoms of a more deep seated problem. It is as well to remember that only the tip of what has been described as the organisational iceberg is actually seen and there is a vast array of attitudes, fears and beliefs hidden beneath the surface. 3) Employee attitudes: Employees attitude towards the work, and organisation is an indication of employee satisfaction and motivation. It is valuable to seek the views of employees about the organization, as it is important for them to be committed to its objectives if they are going to work effectively. Employee satisfaction is a very valuable parameter. Though attitude survey can be conducted by the HR department in-house, attitude surveys can be conducted by an external agency to get appropriate feedback regarding adopting suitable measures to correct some of the existing maladies. Some of more valuable attitude surveys are those that seek to measure employees perceptions of organizational climate and leadership style. Their results will help managers determine whether or not messages about the organizations overall mission and objectives have been understood and acted on. They will also be strong indications of any actual or potential organizational problems. Organization Development (OD) Exercises / Interventions Organizational development is a long term effort, led and supported by top management, to improve an organisations visioning, empowerment, learning, and problem-solving processes, through an ongoing, collaborative management of organization culture with special emphasis on the culture of intact work teams and other team configurations, utilizing the consultants, facilitator role and the theory and technology of applied behavioural science, including action research. Some of the main technique, or interventions, coming under the OD umbrella are the following: i) Role analysis ii) TQM (Total Quality Management) iii) Quality circles iv) Assessment / development centers v) Re-engineering vi) Large-scale-systems change vii) MBO (Management by Objectives) viii) Team building ix) T groups (also called encounter groups and sensitivity training)
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x) Work re-design and job enrichment
xi) Survey research and feedback xii) Third party interventions xiii) Quality of work life projects xiv) Grid training xv) Action research
Action research
Action research (Developed by Kurt Levin in 1947) is a core component of organisation development and an important tool of organisational analysis. It is a process of systematically collecting research date relating to a specific goal, objective or need of the organisation, feeding the results back to the sources of the original data and planning further action based on discussion of the results obtained. This may be regarded as an interactive process whereby the data is obtained, discussed and further refined before actions are jointly planned to meet the original objectives of the review. The key feature of action research is that it is a process that is continually being applied and re-tested until the desired results are obtained. Organisation Structure Analysis There are a number of techniques that may be used to analyse the structure of organisations. The fundamental aim of the analysis are to determine whether:

The existing structure is appropriate to the needs of the organisation; The existing structure supports the mission and strategy; It provides the most logical and cost-effective grouping of functions; The structure maximizes the people strengths in the orgaisation.
Some of the main techniques for assessing these factors are given below. Organisation design criteria An organisation design criterion is a basic principle or characteristic of an organisation, which will help it to achieve its strategic objectives and meet its critical success factors. To analyse a structure on this basis it is necessary:
to determine which criteria are of central importance to the organisation for example, the desire to provide a strong, locally based customer support service might suggest a geographically based structure, whereas a need for an effective corporate approach and tight cost control might suggest a more centralised structure: to measure their impact on the previously identified critical success factors. to weight these criteria both in terms of their current importance to the organisation and also in terms of the impact they would be likely to have on organisation strategy; to rank these criteria and test them against different organisational types examples of organisation design criteria are given below, and a completed rating worksheet (as used by Hay Management Consultants) is shown below:

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Table 1: Examples of organisation design criteria for a Global company 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Maintain a healthy work environment and culture Integrates all activities across board the Organisation to ensure conformity to corporate strategy The Organisational policies are employee friendly and induce motivation Provides for rapid and effective decision-making at the point closest to the customer Provides effective communications Channels in the company Focus on result orientation Ensures effective employee relations Encourages the development of highly skilled managers/employees through appropriate Training and Development Practices Proactive response to market opportunities on a global scale being a global player.
To conduct the Organisational analysis, the following steps may be taken: 1) List the criteria on which analysis is to be conducted 2) Rate criteria as currently perceived 3) Estimate the impact on startegy 4) Rate the impact on previously identified critical success factors (CSFs). 5) Calculate current rating + strategic impact + number of times it relates to a CSF. 6) Rank the criteria based on the total scores. The overall issue to be considered in reviewing the organisation design criteria is what the organisation structure is to achieve. Once it is known what direction to take, it is much easier to decide on the appropriate route.
Job Analysis
Job analysis is an important part of organisational analysis. In particular, jobs should be reviewed to determine any overlaps in tasks and accountabilities, both vertically with subordinates or superiors and horizontally with colleagues across the organization structure. To be effective, an analysis of the kind described must:

Be supported by accurate and agreed job descriptions; Have regard to previously identified strategic objectives and action steps; Be analysed by teams which include those holding the key posts covering the accountabilities described, otherwise incorrect assumptions might be made about where a particular accountability lies.
It should be noted that this kind of analysis can be extended beyond individual jobs to include particular organisational units and various kinds of activities carried out so that, in the final analysis, there is no misunderstanding about who is accountable for what. The analysis explain above can be replicated in all units and departments in the organisation in order to rule out any duplication.
Process Analysis
While a review of organisation structure is an essential component of improving the effectiveness of an organisation, it is also vital to examine the process by which activities are carried out and managed. Many of these will cut across functional or departmental boundaries and it is important, therefore, to ensure
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Table 2: Responsibility and Accountability

Position Areas of Responsibility and Accountability Finance Director J C C C Operations Director J C J C HR Director Sales Director (Marketing) J C J C
1. Developing business plan for the Organization 2. Develop incentive reward strategy 3. Devise Company Policy 4. Develop Performance Management System
J C P P
P = prime responsibility & accountability for results J = Joint responsibility & accountability for results C = contributes to result but not directly accountable An inter-accountability matrix (Hay)
that there is effective management horizontally within the organisation. This may often be seen, for example, in the shape of project teams composed of people from a range of disciplines brought together to achieve one specific objective or programme. However, a classic organisation problem occurs when different functions such as sales, marketing, production, and research and development all have completely different priorities, resulting in internal conflict and a less effective service to the customer (Table 2). Processes should be designed to ensure that they support corporate objectives and provide the required quality and types of products and services. Approaches for analyzing the organisations processes are considered below.
Business Process Re-engineering

This relatively new approach developed by Davenport and Hammer (1992) and Champy (1993) which is also called business process improvement or value chain analysis, reviews the overall horizontal workflows and processes in the organisation, not just to improve them but to fundamentally re-examine them. The approach:

Examines the processes that are critical to the success of the organisation; Determines those processes which are priorities in terms of giving the company competitive advantage; Determines the types of change or new investment required to ensure the maximum efficiency and efectiveness of these processes; Determines what changes to aspects of the companys strategy and structure may be necessary Reviews managerial accountabilities and redefines jobs as required ensuring that the processes can be optimized where possible.
Activity Profiling
Activity profiling is a methodology developed by Price Waterhouse Urwich to analyse the relative contribution made by different activities to the achievement of organizational objectives. In these analysis essential activities and the costs of those activities, including manpower costs, resource usage, opportunity costs and so on, as well as any cash outlay, is compared and ratios produced. From this information, it is possible to compare the cost of the activity with the contribution that activity makes towards the achievement of core objectives.
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Clearly there will be some activities, which are fundamental to the organisation and essential, whereas others may be discretionary. Information can be gathered about these two types of activity and the relative contribution measured against the cost. Decisions can they by made about how resources could be allocated in the future.
Benchmarking
Benchmarking is a process of comparing the performance levels and associated business practices and processes of an organisation with others to enable that organisation to set performance targets of its own that are competitive with those others. This can also include adopting, where possible, those working methods that will help in the achievement of these targets. The benchmarking process is also used to compare performance and processes internally.
Activities Very high A
High
Medium
Low Low Medium High Very high
Figure 3: Benchmarking Activities
Relative contribution A = very high cost, low contribution B = Medium cost, low contribution C = High cost, high contribution D = Medium cost, high contribution The main stages involved in carrying out a benchmarking exercise is as follows: 1) Identify the core performance issues to be addressed and the key performance indicators to be used for comparison purpose. These may be a mixture of unmet customer needs, obvious performance gaps, the need to gain a competitive advantage, problem areas etc. 2) Collect internal data, which may also reveal the need for improvements to internal processes. 3) Identify external organisations to form the basis for comparison. 4) Obtain relevant data from comparative organisations, major improvement opportunities. 5) Compare and contrast this with own oragnisation data to identify major improvement opportunities. 6) Review the processes and procedures used by comparative organisations to determine what improvements can be translated to own organisation. 7) Implement the new processes i) Getting the data from competitors being sensitive ii) Translate the data, gathered to ones own organisation 22 iii) Possibility of dispute with the competitor
Zero-based budgeting
There has always been a tendency in large organisations to base the figures for the current years budgets on what was spent in the previous year, with an allowance for inflation. The zero-based budgeting (ZBB) approach required that every activity with a separate budget head must first of all justify its existence, and then indicate what level of spending is required to meet likely needs. ZBB works on a bottom-up basis with individual budget holders having to justify their budget projections and with each activity being ranked according to priority. The budget projections are then reviewed at different levels in the organisation. Finally, top level decisions may be made about priorities and service provision. Work Measurement The techniques of work measurement are well established, particularly in the case of work study methodology for manual and craft jobs.In such jobs, and also for routine clerical tasks, it is possible to measure relatively accurately the time take to produce certain levels of output. There are also a large number of jobs for which the techniques of work measurement are inappropriate. These include, for example, jobs where it is the quality of thinking rather than any tangible output that is the important consideration. This would apply to most professional and managerial jobs, where the measures have to be based more on customer satisfaction and competencies. Effective Communication Processes There would probably be little disagreement that effective communication is vital to organisational success and there is, therefore, a strong case for trying to measure the processes of communication. Although the organisation chart will show the formal lines of communication, there are of course many informal links and these may be the more important sources of information. Everyone knows about the power of the grapevine. Measuring communication in an organisation can be achieved using socio-grams which map the number of interactions occurring between different members of a particular work group. In this way those who are central communication links, and those who are peripheral, can easily be identified. This in turn has implications for the organisations structure and the roles carried out by certain posts.
People Analysis
While reviews of organisations frequently concentrate on structure and processes, it is vital to review the organisations human resources as they will make the structure and processes work. Efficient and well-motivated employees will overcome the deficiencies of poor structure and processes, while the best structure and processes will not work without employees full co-operation.
Psychometric Tests and Assessment Centers

Two broad approaches which are increasingly being used are psychometric tests and assessment centres. Psychometric tests are structured questionnaires, presented in written form, or computer generated. They are aimed usually at assessing measures of ability, such as numerical reasoning, or capacities, such as building and developing relationship, leadership, team building etc. Whereas tests are typically wholly objective and produce fairly hard numerical outputs, assessment centres are based on observation of performance.
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A number of tasks are undertaken either individually or in groups and observed by assessors who then classify the behaviour in relation to its strength on a range of dimensions of skills or competence. Assessment centres are particularly powerful in determining fit to future roles that may not have been experienced before. The exercises undertaken are simulations of such roles but do not require specific knowledge of them. For instance, an analytical planning exercise might be given to assess the persons capability for dealing practically with numbers and making sound business judgments, but particular knowledge of the industry concerned will not be required. Assessment centres can also be classed as development centres. In these the emphasis is not so much on identifying suitability for a particular job but areas for further growth and development. Right sizing There are a number of methodologies in existence designed to establish the optimum number of employees required by an organisation. It is designed to help the organisation change the level of the resources allocated to a particular activity, either upwards or downwards, to meet the requiements of markets, competition, or economic and other constraints. Attitude Surveys The use of employee attitude survey can be considerable value, particularly to determine how the informal structure of the organisation works, to ascertain the climate and culture of the organisation and to gain views about the prevalent management style (which is part of the organization culture). One of the more useful ways of classifying organisation culture is that proposed by Harrison (1972) who describes the different types as follows: 1) Power Culture: in which there is a central power source which exercises strong control over the organisation. It is characterized by few rules and procedures, little bureaucracy and by decisions being achieved more by influence than on purely logical grounds. 2) Role Culture: in which there are formal roles and procedures, with work being allocated logically according to the tasks to be undertaken. In this culture, the position becomes more important than the personality of the individual. 3) Task culture: in which most of the emphasis is on getting the job done and the organisation is therefore, structured to bring together the appropriate resources and people to achieve results. The matrix organisation is a typical example of this kind of culture, which encourages team working. 4) Person culture: which exists mainly to serve the people within it? Examples are partnerships, social groups and some small consulting firms. Analyzing the culture of the organisation is important for determining whether it is appropriate to the circumstances and whether the people within the organisation subscribe to it.
24
The 7S Framework One of the more recent tolls for analyzing culture and climate was developed by Peters and Waterman and the McKinsey Company in the 1980s and is known as the McKinsey 7S Framework. This comprises seven elements all beginning with the letter S which can be used as a basis for analyzing that organisation, particularly its climate, culture and organisational health. The elements in question are:

Strategy; Skills: the corporate strengths of the organisations; Shared values: the guiding beliefs of the people in the organisation i.e. its values and culture; Staff: the people of the organisation; Systems: the technical systems and procedures relating to accounting, personnel and the carrying out of the organisations jobs; Style: the way things are done within the organisation, particularly in respect of management style; Structures: the organisation chart and associated project teams, committees and ad hoc working parties.

When the seven Ss are fitting together well the organisation should be operating successfully but that where any of these are out of step with the others, there are likely to be organisational problems that need to be addressed.
8.9 SUMMARY
There are many different ways of analysing organisations. The various approaches, used with discretion, are valuable for assessing organisational effectiveness and for determining where improvements can be made. They are, therefore important elements in the design of organisations for achieving high motivation and morale among employees. In this unit we understood that organisational diagnosis is a method which analyses an organisation, its structures, subsystems and processes, in order to identify their strengths and weaknesses and to improve the effectiveness of the organisation, Perspectives which could be used for analysing an organisation and different methods by which an organisation could be analysed were discussed.

1) Explain what is organisational analysis and organisational diagnosis. Why are they necessary? 2) In order to analyse an organisation what should one identify in an organisation? 3) What are the different perspectives of an organisation analysis? Discuss. 4) What are the different methods of an organisational analysis? Discuss. 25

P.N. Khandwala. (1977) The Design of Organisations, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc., New York. Harry Levinson, (1972) Organisational Diagnosis, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass. Butt, HA and Palmer, D R (1985) Value for Money in the Public Sector-the Decision Makers Guide, Blackwell, Oxford. CBI/Coopers & Lybrand (1993) Survey of Benchmarking in the UK executive summary 1993. Civil Service Department (1981) A Chain of Command Review (unpublished). Davenport, T (1992) Process Invitation: Re-engineering work through Information Technology, Harvard Business School Press, Cambridge, M.A. French, W L and Bell, H B Jr., (1995) Organization Development behavioural science interventions for organization improvement, 5th edn, Prentice-all, Englewood Cliffs, N). Hammer, M and Champy, (1993) Re-engineering the Corporation: A manifesto for business revolution, Harper Business, London. Harrison, R (1972) How to describe your organization, Harvard Business Review, Sept-Oct. Lewin. K (1947) Frontiers in group dynamics, Human Relations, 1(2), PP 143-193. McNair, C J and Liebfried, H J (1992) Benchmarking: A tool for continuous improvement, Harper Collins, London. Mumford, E (1996) Business process re-engineering RIP, People Management, 2 May, pp 22-29. Peters, T J and Wateran R H (1982) In Search of excellence: Lessons from Americas best-run companies, Harper and Row, New York.
26
Appendix 1 Organizational Analysis

A. GOVERNANCE
1. Board a. Board devises overall policy direction and haldles boundary management b. Is accountability and credibility a Board function and if so what is the degree c. What are the overall number of Board Members. d. Are the Board Members committed to safeguard the interest of stakeholders. e. Feedback of stakeholders react the Board members & action is taken on them f. Board executes its role of advocate for the community. Does the Board contribute towards the social upliftment of the community? 2. Mission/goals a. The Organization has devised clearly articulated mission & goals b. The employees are aware of the mission. State of the company c. Corporate strategies are devised based on company mission d. Corporate strategies are clearly understood and have clear linkages to objectives e. Action plans to achieve corporate strategies are worked out jointly by management & employees 3. Stakeholders a. There is clear cut accountability towards the key stakeholders b. Stakeholders are given due weightage and are treated like partners c. Feedback from stakeholders are given due weightage and is built into the strategic planning process. d. Are stakeholders involved in the process of devising Mission & strategies. 0 0 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 6 6 6
0 0 0
1 1 1
2 2 2
3 3 3
4 4 4
5 5 5
6 6 6
6 27
contd...
contd...
e. The top management follow the dictum of healthy corporate governance. 4. Leadership a. Senior management have a clear understanding of their respective roles and responsibilities as providers of overall direction. b. Leadership style of senior management is participatory. c. Senior management is accountable to key stakeholders d. Leadership qualities are visible in the Managers. 1. Organization Culture a. Corporate polices have been devised keeping in view the organizational objectives b. Corporate polices take into account the resources, environment, nature of operation of the organization and human resources. c. Organization culture supports the strategic vision of the organization. d. Culture is reflected in work ethos & work practices. e. Generally the employee satisfaction level is good. f. Systems are in place to ensure proper execution of jobs. g. The policies & procedures are well defined and clear understanding exists in the minds. 2. Strategic Planning a. Inputs from external environment in the form of feedback is taken from all stakeholders and is built into the strategic planning process. b. There is appropriate sharing and joint development of strategy by management & employees. c. Strategic intent is explicit & visible employees. d. Strategic delivery of various plan is achieved by total involvement of employees at all levels. 28
0 0 0
1 1 1
2 2 2
3 3 3
4 4 4
5 5 5
6 6 6
B. MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
0 0 0 0
1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2
3 3 3 3
4 4 4 4
5 5 5 5
6 6 6 6
0 0 0
1 1 1
2 2 2
3 3 3
4 4 4
5 5 5
6 6 6
contd...
contd...
3. Business Development a. Environment scanning is an ongoing process in the organization. b. Market research exercise is conducted periodically. c. Does the company utilize the services of the consultants to conduct surveys in the industry segment for providing information on various indices. d. Information regarding various financial ratios is calculated. e. Business plans are developed various industry trends. f. Analytical tools like supply chain & value chain analysis is used to identify competitive edge of the company. 4. Personnel a. Human Resource Planning exercise is carried out to devise various HR plans. b. Appropriate recruitment & section procedures are used for hiring the right kind of personnel. c. Policy for intake of people from internal & external sources has been well devised and well accepted. d. Job analysis exercise is conducted without fail e. Clearcut job descriptions are available. f. Employees clearly understand their individual roles. g. Right-fit between the employees and the jobs assigned is ensured 5. Administrative procedures a. Administrative procedures and manual exist b. Administrative procedures are adhered to c. Procedures and operating manuals are updated regularly 6. Audit Management a. Systems are in place to minimize organizational malpractices b. Regular audit of inventory is conducted c. Annual external audit reports include a review of management practices 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 6 6 6
contd...
0 0
1 1
2 2
3 3
4 4
5 5
6 6
0 0
1 1
2 2
3 3
4 4
5 5
6 6
0 0 0 0
1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2
3 3 3 3
4 4 4 4
5 5 5 5
6 6 6 6
0 0 0
1 1 1
2 2 2
3 3 3
4 4 4
5 5 5
6 6 6
29
contd...
d. Recommendations on management practices in annual external audit reports are implemented. 7. Management Information System a. Systems exist to collect, analyze and report data and information. b. Trained personnel are in place to manage information systems c. Systems are used process, disseminate and ensure feedback of information all sources. d. The Human Resource Information System (HRIS) is place. e. Reports are generated through MIS for admission management 8. Management Reporting a. Management Reporting appropriate reports aregenerated through ERP or SAP or the likes. b. Regular activity reports are prepared & viz. Project Report etc. presented to management. c. Various evaluation reports are prepared regulalry d. There is practice of publishing and disseminating information on its operations. e. Report formats are flexible, varied and respond to stakeholder information requirements. Reports generated are customized and flexible for optimum reporting
0 0 0
1 1 1
2 2 2
3 3 3
4 4 4
5 5 5
6 6 6
0 0
1 1
2 2
3 3
4 4
5 5
6 6
0 0
1 1
2 2
3 3
4 4
5 5
6 6
C. HUMAN RESOURCES
1. Human Resources Development a. Human Resource Information system (HRIS) is being practiced b. Human resources development planning is in place c. Training & Development is based on capacity, needs and strategic objectives d. Opportunities exist to integrate skills acquired in training into the work environment 30 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 6 6 6
contd...
contd...
e. A Proper performance management system exists. Job appraisals are performance based and equitable. f. Upgradation/promotions are performance based ad equitable g. Personnel policies provide 2. Human resources management a. Job analysis is carried out b. Job descriptions are documented and updated c. Roles are clearly defined d. The employees possess requisite skills e. Salaries are clearly structured and competitive f. Incentives/Rewards policy is documented and implemented g. The company follows standard labour legislation policy h. Grievance redressal policy exists and is used when required. i. Employee welfare policy is in place 3. Work Organization a. Departmental meetings are held regulalry b. Management decisions are implemented regularly. c. Team work is in vague d. Information sharing is prevalent among employees. e. Employees are encouraged to take initiative and be selfmotivated 4. Diversity a. Employee diversity is valued and equitable benefits are provided.
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
0 0 0 0 0
1 1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2 2
3 3 3 3 3
4 4 4 4 4
5 5 5 5 5
6 6 6 6 6
6
contd...
31
contd... D. FINANCIAL RESOURCES
1. Accounting a. Financial procedures and reporting systems are in place. b. Latest Account tools are used for generating reports for stakeholders. 2. Budgeting a. Budgeting process is integrated into annual implementation plans b. Financial unit responsible for the preparation, management and implementation of he annual budget exists. c. Annual financial projections are made d. Annual budget is implemented e. Budget is controlled on an ongoing basis 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 0 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6
0 0 0
1 1 1
2 2 2
3 3 3
4 4 4
5 5 5
6 6 6
32
UNIT 9 QUESTIONNAIRE AS A DIAGNOSTIC TOOL

Objectives

when to construct a questionnaire how to construct a questionnaire questionnaire as an important tool for analysing an organisation
Structure
9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 9.8 Introduction Dimensions Diagnosed through Questionnaires Some Available Questionnaires How to Construct Questionnaires Administering and Using Questionnaire Summary Self-Assessment Questions Further Readings Appendix 1: Organisational Climate Questionnaire Appendix 2: HRD Climate Survey Appendix 3: Designing and Conducting Organisational Surveys Appendix 4: Instruments of Organisational Analysis Appendix 5: Scanning Your Business Environment
9.1 INTRODUCTION
Questionnaire, Interviews, Workshops and Task-forces are the most frequently used methods of organisational diagnosis in India. They are used separately or in combinations. Of the four, Questionnaires are more commonly used as they could be used with ease and by persons inside the organisation. In this section Questionnaire method is described in some detail. There are a number of fairly standardised Questionnaire for Organisational diagnosis. It is also easy to develop Questionnaire to suit each organisations requirements. A sample of standardised questionnaire are also described in this section. Choice of a questionnaire depends on the purposes of diagnosis and the indications available from a preliminary diagnosis of the dimensions needing indepth study. Normally before the decision to use a questionnaire the person or the group, intending to use it should have identified the area of concern through interviews, complaints, observed symptoms or general opinions of interest expressed by the top management etc.
9.2 DIMENSIONS DIAGNOSED THROUGH QUESTIONNAIRE

There are many dimensions that could be studied through questionnaire. The following is a list of these dimensions more frequently studied for diagnostic purposes.
33
General Organisational Health The general well being of an organisation could be measured through Questionnaire. The general organisational health is indicated by a comprehensive index obtained through the measurement of perceptions of employees of the organisation. The comprehensive index deals with the health of the organisation on all possible variables (psychological, sociological, political, behavioural, managerial, organisational etc.) that affect the functioning of the organisation. These include the feelings of security, need-fulfilment, job satisfaction, scope for self-actualisation, extent of happiness with the organisation, power-distribution, working of groups, objectivity, favouritism, distortion of communications, trust, leadership, team spirit, tension in the organisation, conflicts, prejudice, work-organisation, effectiveness of meetings, convenience of working hours and work atmosphere etc.
Organisational Culture The commonly shared attitudes, values, beliefs, norms and behaviour of employees in the organisation constitutes its culture. Organisational climate variables are similar to organisational health variabes. Organisational culture is studied normally in a descriptive way whereas organisational health is studied in an evaluative way. Organisational health variables indicate fuctional and dysfunctional aspects of the organisational proesses.
Motivational Climate Organisations could be diagnosed in terms of the prevailing motives that characterise the organisations function. Does concern for excellence characterise its culture or control? or relationships? or dependence? or expert power? or helping each other? etc.
Role Oriented Variables There are many Role related variables that influence the organisations functioning. These include Role Efficacy, Role Ambiguity, Role Overload, Role Erosion, Inter-role linkages and the like. Some of these variables are explained later with illustrative examples of questionnaire.
HRD Climate HRD climate questionnaire deal with the extent to which a development oriented climate or learning climate exists in an organisation. Openness, collaboration, trust, proaction, authenticity, confrontation, risk-taking etc. are normally characterised as facilitating development culture. Performance appraisals, training, feedback, counselling, job-rotation, group meetings, career development plans etc. are considered as instruments to facilitate change.
Leadership and Supervisory Styles The human resources management philosophy as believed and practiced by the supervisory and managerial staff determines also to a large extent the motivation and morale of people and thereby influences the organisational functioning. The general philosophy, beliefs, and behaviours can be measured through questionnaires. The variables measured may include Theory X Versus Theory Y Orientation; or task-centred and people-centred supervision; or authoritarian versus participative management; or benevolent, critical and development styles, etc.
Job-Satisfaction, Work Motivation and Work Committment With the decline of work ethics in some organisations, many diagnostic efforts are being focused on studies on job-satisfaction, work-motivation, jobinvolvement and the like. The variables measured give insights into the existing patterns as well as sources giving rise to dysfunctional behaviours. Questionnaire to measure elimination, work attitudes also fall in this category.
34
Specific Variables In addition to these general variables the diagnostic questionnaire may focus on specific variables depending on the need of the organisation. For example, if communication is perceived as an issue there could be questionnaire to deal with all aspects of it. If team work is perceived as a problem there could be questionnaire developed to deal with. Thus any organisational process or human processes in organisational life can be taken up for diagnosis depending upon the preliminary investigations or need felt by the organisation.
Questionnaire as a Diagnostic Tool
In the subsequent sections of this unit details are presented about some of the questionnaire available.
9.3 SOME AVAILABLE (QUESTIONNAIRES)

Organisational Climate Questionnaire
A typical organisational climate diagnostic questionnaire is given in Appendix 1. This questionnaire has 60 items. Each item has 5 alternative responses. The respondent is required to give his assessment of the organisational climate as it exists at the time of his answering it as well as the desired climate. The gap between the actual and desired indicate the dissatisfaction level or scope for improvement. Smaller the gap more healthy the organisation is. This instrument reproduced in full because it gives a fairly comprehensive coverage of all the organisational variables that could be considered under organisational climate or organisational health. The best way to learn about the variables used in this Questionnaire is for the reader to answer that Questionnaire. After answering the Questionnaire find out the gap between the actual and desired scores for each item by converting the ratings into a 5 point scale.You can assign a score of 5 points to alternative E, 4 to D, 3 to C, 2 to B, and 1 to A for positively worded items i.e. where A is least desirable and E is most desirable. For the esteriked items assign a score of 5 to A, 4 to B, 3 to C, 2 to D and 1 to E. For each item find the difference (ignore the sign while calculating difference). Add the differences on each item and calculate the overall difference on all the 60 items. It will give the overall index of dissatisfaction with organisational climate. There is no hard and fast rule about what can be considered as desirable or undesirable. A gap of 30 may be a tolerable gap as it may mean marginal variation between the actual and desired in 30 items or noticeable variation (about 2 points) on 15 items. A difference score of 30 can be obtained in many ways. Total organisational climate score can also be obtained by adding the scores (A=5, B=4, C=3, D=2, E=1 respectively for aesteriked items and A=1, B=2, C=3, D=4, and E=5 for other items) on the actual dimension. A maximum score of 300 is possible. Scores above 240 (i.e. 60 % 4) indicates a healthy organisational climate. Scores between 180 and 240 indicate a moderately good organisational climate with some scope for improvement. Scores below 180 indicates substantial scope for improvement. This questionnaire can be administered to a large sample of employees in an organisation (at least 10% in large organisations employing several thousands of people or for the entire population in smaller organisations employing only a few hundreds). Item-wise scores can be tabulated. Those questions or items on which there are low scores and high degree of consensus (low variations) could be taken up for working out corrective mechanisms. 35
HRD Climate Questionnaire With the recent emphasis on HRD, many organisations are focusing their attention on HRD culture of their organisations. The Centre for HRD at XLRI Jamshedpur have developed a simple diagnostic questionnaire to diagnose HRD climate. This questionnaire is presented in Appendix 2 in this unit. The HRD climate of the organisation is characterised as consisting of the following tendencies on the part of the organisation: A tendency at all levels starting from the top management to the lowest levels to treat people as the most important resource. A perception that developing the competencies of employees to the job of every manager/supervisor. A belief that employees can change and acquire new competencies at any stage of life. A tendency on the part of all employees be open (encouraging free expression of ideas, opinions and even feelings) trusting, encouraging experimentation, collaborating, authentic and pro-active. Team spirit. Tendency to discourage stereo-types and favouritism. Supportive personnel policies and HRD practices including performance appraisals, job-rotation, training, reward administration, career planning etc. This questionnaire consisting of 30 items can be modified to suit the requirements of any organisation intending to use it. The Centre for HRD at XLRI has data on a large number of organisations. These data are available for organisations interested in comparing themselves with others. The questionnaire uses a 5 point scale. The overall HRD climate score can be obtained by adding the scores on all the 38 items. Scores between 152 (38 % 4) and 190 (38 % 5) indicate a good HRD climate existing in the organisation. Scores less than 152 but higher than 114 (38 % 3) indicate a moderate HRD climate with some scope for improvement and scores less than 114 indicate poor HRD climate with substantial scope for improvement. Norms for comparison purposes are available from published sources given at the end of this chapter (Rao and Pereira, 1985). For diagnostic purposes the questionnaire should be administrated to a representative sample of employees and organisation wide scores should be computed on each items. Items that show low scores indicate areas for intervention or corrective action. There are organisations that have changed their HRD policies and practices and improved their HRD culture after getting to know their HRD climate diagnosis.
9.4 HOW TO CONSTRUCT QUESTIONNAIRES ?

Ready made questionnaire have some limitations and some advantages. One advantage is that they are normally standardised and data from other organisations (norms etc.) may be available for interpretation and comparison purposes. The main disadvatage is that they may not suit the needs of an organisation seeking diagnosis. For example, most of the available questionnaire are developed in business settings and hence may be of limited value to educational and such other organisations. Secondly an organisation may be interested in having a look at a few specific aspects than studying everything outlined in the questionnaire. In such cases it is useful to construct separate questionnaire exclusively for a given organisation/situation. The following are some considerations that could be kept in mind while preparing the questionnaire.
36
Questionnaire for organisational diagnosis normally measure the perceptions of employees or participants in an organisation. It is the aggregate of these perceptions that indicate the organisational strengths and short-comings. The employees/participants of an organisation sometimes are in a good position to provide dimensions/variables on which questionnaire can be framed. For example, to diagnose the organisational health of an agriculture university a group of scientists of that university were assembled and requested to make statements about what in their opinion is good and bad in the university. All their statements were collected, edited and a questionnaire was made. Subsequently it was administered to all the scientists in that university. Thus interviews/group discussions/meetings/workshops help in developing questionnaire. Another form of developing a questionnaire is to sample test any standardised questionnaire on a group of respondents. The respondents could be asked to indicate variables/items that should be used for diagnosis. In preparing a questionnaire, structured questionaire are more easy to analyse data and for providing statistical information.
9.5 ADMINISTERING AND USING QUESTIONNAIRE

Since organisational diagnosis questionnaire measure perceptions of employees, and in giving their perceptions employees are giving sensitive data care should be taken to prevent distortions in data collection. Employees may distort data depending on their perceptions of those who collect data and the purposes for which data are being collected. The following points may be kept in mind for collecting data.
When the respondent knows the purpose the quality of data he gives will be better. Hence it is important to explain the purpose (in the questionnaire itself or through other media). If the respondent trusts the person(s) collecting data and subscribes to the purposes for which data are being collected, the quality of information he supplies may be better. Hence it is important to use consultants, teams, individuals or firms that are known and trustworthy for organisational diagnosis. Partly such as trust can be built by proper use of data and taking action on the basis of diagnosis. If an organisation or the top management keep on diagnosing and take no action the employees may lose faith in such exercises. If the respondents have any fear of identification they are not likely to express opinions freely. Hence it is useful to collect data without the respondent having to reveal his identity. Sometimes organisations may find it important to collect some basic information about the respondent like his Grade, Educational Qualifications, years of service with the company, department, section etc. Such details are useful for a meaningful analysis of the diagnostic data. For example it is useful to know if organisational health or work motivation or distortion of communications etc. are high in some departments than others. Similarly, it is useful to know if the organisation is perceived as healthy by the senior employees rather than juniors. Therefore, for such comparisons it is useful to collect some minimum background information from the respondents. However, the designer of the questionnaire has to give sufficient thought before deciding on what information to collect. It is useful to test out the thoughts on some employees to ensure that no data is obtained that distorts responses. Another dimension that affects the quality of data is the length of the questionnaire. It is useful to have questionnaire that could be completed by a respondent before fatigue sets in. Questionnaire that take more than an hour are normally perceived by respondents as fatigue setting. It is preferable to have questionnaire that could be completed in less than an hour.
37
The administration of questionnaire becomes easy in groups than individually. Respondents could be gathered in small groups and administered the questionnaire. It also provides an opportunity for those conducting the diagnostic study to explain in detail the purposes of the study. Timing of administering the questionnaire is another factor that should be kept in mind. If questionnaire is administered immediately after a significant event has occured in the organisation, to some extent the perceptions may get distorted. It is useful to administer the questionnaires after their impact settles down.
Use of diagnostic data obtained from questionnaire also require some skills. As will be explained in the subsequent units Survey Feedback is a frequently used OD intervention. The tabulated data when fed back to the respondents in an aggregate form and an opportunity is provided to discuss the data and their implications already the seeds get sown for the change process. In analysing and presenting data it is useful to focus on every single item of the questionnaire rather than aggregate score. Total scores often conceal a lot than reveal. Hence item-wise analysis is more useful. Even while analysing item-wise responses, computing percentage or respondents giving extreme responses on each item reveal more about that variable rather than mean scores. Wherever qualitative responses are sought content analysis and categorisation of responses is necessary. The use of diagnostic information partly depends upon the way it is presented. Hence attention should be paid to the analysis and presentation aspects even at the time of designing the questionnaire.
9.6 SUMMARY
Questionnaire is a very useful diagnostic tool. There are several questionnaires developed by organisational scientists in our country that are useful for diagnostic purposes. These questionnaires could be used with appropriate modifications to suit the diagnostic needs of each organisation. It is advisable to develop organisation specific questionnaire for diagnosing problems unique to the organisation. Comparative data may be available if standardised questionnaire are used for general diagnosis purposes. Participative methods of developing questionnaire enhance the quality of questionnaire through increasing the organisational relevance of items. Survey feedback, maintaining organisational health profiles, designing other interventions are some of the useful purposes served by questionnaire. Care should be taken to ensure getting good quality data through proper administration (clarifying purposes, maintaining anonymity of respondents, administering in groups etc.) of questionnaire.

1) What are the dimensions which could be diagnosed through Questionnaire? 2) How do you construct a Questionnaire? Discuss this with reference to your Organisation? 3) How is Questionnaire an important tool for Organisational diagnosis?
9.8 FURTHER READING

D.A. Nadler, Feedback and Organisation Development: Using Data-Based Methods. Addison Wesley Publishing Company, Inc. 1977 38
Appendix I
ORGANISATIONAL CLIMATE QUESTIONNAIRE Sixty statements are given below about organisations. With each statement are given 5 alternatives. Read each statement and select one of the alternatives which describes most accurately your organisation. Write down the letter of that alternative (a, b, c, d, or e) under A (i.e. actual). Then choose an alternative which in your opinion is desirable for your organisation. Write down the letter of the alternative under D (i.e., desirable). Against each statement complete both A and D columns.
Actual 1) How often do you feel that an employees career is harmed in the Organisation? A. Almost always B. C. E. 2) Usually Sometimes Almost never ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... Desired
D. Rarely
How are the targets set in this organisation? A. Orders are issued with no opportunity to raise questions or give comments. B. Orders are issued and explained and then an opportunity is given to ask questions. Orders are drawn up, but are discussed with subordinates and sometimes modified before being used.
......
......
......
......
C.
......
......
D. Specific alternative objectives are drawn up by supervisors and subordinates are asked to discuss and choose the one they prefer. E. Problems are presented to those persons who are involved and objectives are then set up by the subordinates and the supervisors jointly by group participation and discussions.
......
......
......
......
3)
Serious anomaly does not exist in the way benefits are awarded to persons in the organisation. To what extent do you agree with the statement? A. Strongly disagree B. C. E. Disagree Neither agree nor disagree Strongly agree ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Agree
39
Actual 4) For important decisions to be taken regarding any work, the tendency here is to pass the files on to somebody else for making the decisions. How often does it happen here? A. Almost always B. C. E. 5) Usually Sometimes Almost never ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
Desired
...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Rarely
To what extent do the superiors and the knowledgeable colleagues take pains to help and employee who wants to learn more about his job? A. To a great extent B. C. E. To a considerable extent To some extent Not at all ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. To a little extent
6)
Attempts to do things in better ways are encouraged in this organisation. How often does it happen here? A. Almost never B. C. E. Rarely Sometimes Almost always ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Usually
7)
Do people here get an opportunity to develop their skills further to do their jobs? A. Almost all the people B. C. E. Most of the people Some of the people Almost none ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. A few people
8)
How often do the employees here try to do things better than what they have done last time A. Almost never B. C. E. Rarely Sometimes Almost always ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Usually
40
Actual 9) How much do you agree with the statement that this organisation is better than other similar organisations in the country to work in? A. Strongly agree B. C. E. Agree Neither agree nor disagree Strongly disagree ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
Desired
...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Disagree
10) How often are your ideas for change given a good hearing? A. Never B. C. E. Sometimes Often Always ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Almost always
11) Is it true that remaining busy is not enough in this organisation? One has to show results? A. Yes, it is true here to a very great extent B. C. Yes, it is true here to a great extent Well, it is true to a negligible extent No, it is not true at all ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. No, it is not quite true E.
12) To what extent do you agree that quite often a subordinate here has to attend to orders issued by more than one person at a time. A. Strongly disagree B. C. E. Disagree Neither agree nor disagree Strongly agree ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Agree
13) To what extent do you think that when decisions are being made about certain work that you are to do, you are asked for your ideas? A. Almost never B. C. E. Rarely Sometimes Almost always ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Usually
41
Actual 14) Somebody says, There is so much work to do here every day that I have to do it somehow, and I dont have the time to think about how the quality of the work can be improved. How much woud you agree with the statement? A. Strongly disagree B. C. E. Disagree Neither agree nor disagree Strongly agree ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
Desired
...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Agree
15) To what extent do you receive correct information about your work, duties etc.? A. Not at all B. C. E. To a very little extent To some extent To a very great extent ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. To a considerabe extent
16) There is a general feeling here that grievances of the employees are handled properly. To what extent do you agree with this statement? A. Strongly agree B. C. E. Agree Neither agree nor disagree Strongly disagree ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Disagree
17) Do you agree that almost everyone here knows who is working under whom in this organisation? A. Strongly disagree B. C. E. Disagree Neither agree nor disagree Strongly agree ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Agree
18) To what extent do people in your department encourage one another in work? A. Not at all B. C. E. To a little extent To some extent To a very great extent ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. To a considerable extent
42
Actual 19) How frequently do you think it is true that in this organisation it is easier to deal with those things that have a precedence? A. No, it is not true in any case B. C. E. Yes, in some cases Yes, in many cases Yes, in almost all the cases ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
Desired
...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Yes, in most of the cases
20) Is the organisation receptive to new ideas? A. It is never receptive B. C. E. It is sometimes receptive It is often receptive Always receptive ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Almost always receptive
21) The general feeling here is that people do not get fair hearing from those who are higher up. How much do you agree with it? A. Strongly agree B. C. E. Agree Neither agree nor disagree Strongly disagree ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Disagree
22) How adequate is the amount of information you get about what is going on in other departments and units of this organisation? A. Very inadequate B. C. E. Inadequate Neither inadequate nor adequate Very adequate ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Adequate
23) To what extent do you feel that the employees here are allowed to make decisions to solve their problems without checking them with their superiors at each stage of the work? A. To a very great extent B. C. E. Toa great extent To some extent Not at all ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
43
Actual 24) Is there a general feeling amongst the employees of your level that anybody can be removed from his job at any time? A. Almost all the employees feel so B. C. E. Most of the employees feel so Some of the employees feel so None of the employees feel so ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
Desired
...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. A few employees feel so
25) How often are the rewards (such as raise in salary and promotions) given strictly on the basis of valid reasons? A. Almost always B. C. E. Usually Sometimes Almost never ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Rarely
26) In order to stay here, one just cant perform work somehow: work has to be well done. To what extent do you agree with it? A. Strongly agree B. C. E. Agree Neither agree nor disagree Strongly disagree ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Disagree
27) To what extent are there facilities and opportunities for individual creative work in this organisation? A. Not at all B. C. E. To a little extent To some extent To a very great extent ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
28) In your observations, how often do the employees in this organisation seem to be bored with their work? A. On all occasions B. C. E. On most occasions On some occasions Not at all ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. On a very few occasions
44
Actual 29) The nature of things that an employee is supposed to do in this organisation are so varied that it is logically difficult to put them together. How much do you agree with this statement? A. Strongly agree B. C. E. Agree Neither agree nor disagree Strongly disagree ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
Desired
...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Disagree
30) To what extent are people in the higher levels ware of the problems of lower levels in this organisation? A. Not at all B. C. E. To a very little extent To some extent To a very great extent
...... ...... ...... ...... ......
...... ...... ...... ...... ......
31) How often do you have advance information of any changes which are planned? A. Almost always B. C. E. Usually Sometimes Almost never ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Rarely
32) To what extent is the information passed from one person to another in this organisation distorted or deliberately made inaccurate? A. To a large extent B. C. E. To a considerable extent To some extent Not at all ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
33) Are discussions at meetings in this organisation free and open? A. No, they are very guarded and defensive B. C. E. Quite guarded and defensive Slightly defensive Very free and open ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Quite free and open
34) One cannot simply go ahead and do a thing here unless one has discussed it with ones superiors before. How often does it happen here? A. Yes, it is almost always the case here B. C. E. Yes, it is usually the case here Yes, it is sometimes the case here No, it is almost never the case here ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. No, it is rarely the case here
45
Actual 35) If someone of your colleagues does his job in a more improved way than it is usually done, does he get proper recogntion for it? A. Almost never B. C. E. Rarely Sometimes Almost always ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
Desired
...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Usually
36) Which of the following best describes the manner in which problems between depatments are generally resolved? A. The problems are worked out at the level, where they appeared, through mutual effort and understanding B. C. E. Very few of them feel happy to leave this organisation Some of them feel happy to leave this organisation All of them feel happy to leave this organisation
...... ...... ...... ......
...... ...... ...... ......
37) How much do you think the top management of this organisation is aware of the working condition of its employees? A. Not at all aware B. C. E. Very little aware Somewhat aware Very much aware ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Much aware
38) How often are the employees in this organisation helpful to each other? A. Almost never B. C. E. Rarely Sometimes Almost always ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Usually
39) How much do you think your organisation has interest in the welfare of the employees? A. They are not at all really interested B. C. E. They are not very much interested Only in certain ways they are interested They are very much interested ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. They are somewhat interested
46
Actual 40) In some places, anybody can go to anybody else to discuss any problem he faces. In your opinion, how often does it happen here? A. Almost never B. C. E. Rarely Sometimes Almost always ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
Desired
...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Usually
41) Do you agree that in this organisation the capabilities of its employees are fully utilised A. Strongly agree B. C. E. Agree Neither agree nor disagree Strongly disagree ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Disagree
42) How often do you think the professional jealousies obstruct the performance of duties in this organisation? A. Almost always B. C. E. Usually Sometimes Almost never ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Rarely
43) Do the employees here work with a team spirit? A. Team spirit does not exists at all B. C. Team spirit exists in a few members Team spirit exists in quite a few members Team spirit exists in almost all the members ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Team spirit exists in many members E.
44) Are there things around your working environment (people, policies, conditions) that discourage you from working hard? A. Yes, practically everything around here discourages me from working hard B. Yes, a great many things around here discourage me from working hard; only a few do not discourage me About as many things discourage me as encourage me to work hard
......
......
...... ...... ...... ......
...... ...... ...... ......
C.
D. No, most things around here encourage me to work hard E. No, practically everything around here encourages me to work hard.
47
Actual 45) Considering the busy schedules and workload here, the employees seldom find time to share their concerns with each other. How much do you agree with it? A. Strongly agree B. C. E. Agree Neither agree nor disagree Strongly disagree ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
Desired
...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Disagree
46) How often do superiors invite their subordinates for an informal discussion? A. Almost never B. C. E. Rarely Sometimes Almost always ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Usually
47) How much influence do you think your colleagues have in deciding what should be done in this organisation? A. Very much B. C. E. Much Some Not at all ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Little
48) To what extent do you have confidence in the people you work with? A. Not at all B. C. E. To a very little extent To a some extent To a great extent ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
49) How often do the employees here trust one another? A. Almost always B. C. E. Usually Sometimes Almost never ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Rarely
50) Are suggestions often solicited from employees here? A. Yes, from senior officers only B. C. Yes, from some officers only Yes, from all the officers only ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Yes, from all the employees except Class IV
48
E.
Yes, from all the employees
Actual 51) How often does a person in this organisation receive credit and appreciation if he finds out a different way of doing things which nobody has ever done before? A. Almost always B. C. E. Usually Sometimes Almost never ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
Desired
...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Rarely
52) How much is your job important in this organisation? A. Very much B. C. E. Much Somewhat Not at all ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Little
53) This organisation facilitates the self-improvement of its employees. Do you agree with this statement? A. Strongly disagree B. C. E. Disagree Neither agree nor disagree Strongly agree ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Agree
54) How often is a conscientious attempt made to consider the views of people concerned? A. Almost never B. C. E. Rarely Sometimes Almost always ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......
D. Usually
Source: Developed by Somnath Chattopadhyay. Reproduced with permission from Udai Pareek., T.V. Rao and D.M. Pestonjee; Behaviour Processes in Organisations, New Delhi: Oxford & IBH, 1981.
49
Appendix II
HRD CLIMATE SURVEY Organisation ................... Designation ................... Date.............
Any organisation that would like to be dynamic and growth oriented has to pay attention to the development of its human resources. People must be continuously helped to acquire capabilities for effective performance of new roles/functions/tasks that may arise in the process of organisational growth and change in the environment. Thus HRD becomes crucial for organisational dynamism and growth. In the recent past, mechanisms like performance appraisal, counselling, OD, potential appraisal, job enrichment have been introduced in various organisations. A minimal positive developmental climate is essential for the success of these programmes. This survey is to find out the extent to which such developmental climate exists in your organisation. We propose to combine the responses received from several employees of your organisational and prepare profiles of developmental climate for your organisation. As these profiles may form the basis of your organisation taking further step with regard to its HRD practices, we would appreciate your frank responses. A number of statements are given below describing the HRD climate of an organisation. Please give your assessment of the HRD climate in your organisation by rating your organisation on each statement using the 5 point scale. A rating of 5 indicates that the statement is almost always true with your organisation; a rating of 4 indicates that the statement is mostly true; a rating of 3 indicates that the statement is sometimes true; a rating of 2 indicates that the statement is rarely true about your organisation. Give your assessment by encircling the appropriate number. 5 = Almost always true 2 = Rarely true 4 = Mostly true 1 = Not at all true 3 = Sometimes true
1. The top management of this organisation goes out of its way to make sure that employees enjoy their work 2. The top management believes that human resources are an extremely important resource and that they have to be treated more humanly. 3. Development of the subordinates is seen as an important part of their job by the managers/officers here. 4. The personnel policies in this organisation facilitate employee development. 5. The top management is willing to invest a considerable part of their time and other resources to ensure the development of employees. 6. Senior officers/executives in this organisation take active interest in their juniors and help them learn their job. 7. People lacking competence in doing their jobs are helped to acquire competence rather than being left unattended. 8. Managers in this organisation believe that employee behaviour can be changed and people can be developed at any stage of their life. 50 9. People in this organisation are helpful to each other.
54321
54321 54321 54321
54321 54321 54321
54321 54321
10. Employees in this organisation are very informal and do not hesitate to discuss their personal problems with their supervisors. 11. The psychological climate in this organisation is very conducive to any employee interested in developing himself by acquiring new knowledge and skills. 12. Seniors guide their juniors and prepare them for future responsibilities/roles they are likely to take up. 13. The top management of this organisation makes efforts to identify and utilise the potential of the employees 14. Promotion decisions are based on the suitability of the promotee rather than on favouritism. 15. There are mechanisms in this organisation to reward any good work done or any contribution made by employees. 16. When an employee does good work his supervising officers take special care to appreciate it. 17. Performance appraisal reports in our organisation are based on objective assessment and adequate information and not on favouritism. 18. People in this organisation do not have any fixed mental impressions about each other 19. Employees are encouraged to experiment with new methods and try out creative ideas. 20. When any employee makes a mistake his supervisors treat it with understanding and help him to learn from such mistakes rather than punishing him or discouraging him. 21. Weaknesses of employees are communicated to them in a non-threatening way. 22. When behaviour feedback is given to employees they take it seriously and use it for development 23. Employees in this organisation take pains to find out their strengths and weaknesses from their supervising officers or colleagues. 24. When employees are sponsored for training, they take it seriously and try to learn from the programmes they attend 25. Employees returning from training programmes are given opportunities to try out what they have learnt. 26. Employees are sponsored for training programmes on the basis of genuine training needs. 27. People trust each other in this organisation. 28. Employees are not afraid to express or discuss their feelings with their superiors. 29. Employees are not afraid to express or discuss their feelings with their subordinates. 30. Employees are encouraged to take initiative and do things on their own without having to wait for instructions from supervisors. 31. Delegation of authority to encourage juniors to develop handling higher responsibilities is quite common in this organisation.
54321
54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321
54321 54321 54321
54321 54321 54321
54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321 54321
54321
54321 51
32. When seniors delegate authority to juniors, the juniors use it as an opportunity for development. 33. Team spirit is of high order in this organisation. 34. When problems arise people discuss these problems openly and try to solve them rather than keep accusing each other behind the back. 35. Career opportunities are pointed out to juniors by senior officers in the organisation. 36. The organisations future plans are made known to the managerial staff to help them develop their juniors and prepare them for future. 37. This organisation ensures employee welfare to such an extent that the employees can save a lot of their mental energy for work purposes. 38. Job-rotation in this organisation facilitates employee development.
54321 54321
54321 54321
54321
54321 54321
Source : Rao, T.V. and Pereira, D.F. (Eds). Recent Experiences in Human Resource Development. New Delhi: Oxford & IBH, 1985.
52
Appendix III
DESIGNING & CONDUCTING ORGANISATIONAL SURVEYS Most commonly used instruments are: i. Attitude Survey ii. Opinion surveys Such instruments are used in-group and Organisational settings to measure behavioural dynamics, morale, organisational climate, Leadership and a plethora of other variables that relate to human behaviour. In order to conduct a survey pertaining to Organisational Analysis, the following guidelines should be followed: 1. Define the Objective: The purpose of conducting a survey should be the starting point. What is that you want to analyze: Organisational Structure & Design? Organisational Climate? Organisational Ethos? Organisational Culture? Organisational Effectiveness? Organisational Change? or Organisational People Issues? The reasons of conducting the survey should be specific & preferably should be important. If there are a number of things that one is attempting to get feedback on, the picture becomes hazy and the respondents are likely to abandon the exercise. 2. Identify the Population to be Studied: In order to identify and analyze the organizational issues to be studies it is important, to administer the survey instrument to major share of population thus making the sample size quite big or adequately representative of the entire population in the Organisation. A practical method of doing this is to look at the size/strength of employees at each level and work out percentages at each level in terms of number of employees to whom the questionnaire can be administered. For example, let us say an Organisation has 400 employees, having the level wise distribution as under : C & MD Board Level Directors Executive Directors General Managers DGM Managers Asst. Managers Executives Staff Workers 1 3 6 20 40 80 120 240 60 30 } } } } } } } } } } Middle Management Junior Management Staff & Workers Senior Management
53
3. Select the survey sample Considering the above distribution, we have 4 district cadres, where we can administer questionnaire. We can administer questionnaire as below: The sample selected for this purpose should be randomly selected and should also represent the populated. Senior Management Cadre - 20% Middle Management Cadre - 25% Junior Management Cadre - 25% Staff & Workers - 25% Again as mentioned above, the question should be randomly administered and if the above% is maintained, it would be a fairly representative sample size. 4. Developing the Instrument Developing the instrument is fairly tardy exercise requiring a high degree of expertise framing the right kind of questions to elicit the desired information requires a number of attributes like skills in writing, understanding of the Organisational Processes, understanding of Systems, and People Issues & behavioural dimensions. Four important dimensions are to be tackled viz: i. The covering letter enclosing the Questionnaire ii. The design of questionnaire iii. The scales iv. The codes i. The covering letter should be written in a simple effective manner covering (a) What is the purpose of conducting the survey? (b) What is the benefit of the Survey to the respondent and to the Organisations (considering the fact that organisational quality runs high in most of the respondents), (c) Maintaining the anonymity of the respondent Personal touch in these matters is of great significance conveying a feeling that title RESPONDENT S opinion is of great value so a personal letter duly signed by the person conducting the survey would do wonders. Due to the personal touch, a better response can be expected. ii. The Content The heart of the Survey instrument, the questionnaire has to be sculpted with care being the most important while designing the questionnaire, the objective of the survey has to be kept in mind. A few rules have to be followed for writing the questionnaire: 1) One must address only one issue through each question. For example, questions like Are Employees motivated and deliver high performance. Here two aspects are coming into play i.e. (i) Motivation level of Employees and (ii) High level of Performance. Another example How is the work culture and what level of employee satisfaction does it generate? Here again there are two questions embedded in one question i.e. (i) Nature of Work Culture and (ii) Employee Satisfaction level. 2) Second Common error while constructing the questionnaire is to mix the scale or rating or frequency viz putting a question Are employees highly Motivated rather than a question How Motivated employees are? 3) Yes/No Avoid Agree or Disagree or right or wrong type of questionnaire as they dont provide any value addition question like Do you agree that Sales Personnel should try to achieve higher targets or The ethical behaviour of the top management is responsible for setting high moral standards for the entire organisation.
54
4) Psychological Domain of the respondent should not be treated with disdain. In other words through the questionnaire the respondents should not get threat perception. For example, Do you agree that non performing employees should be displeased with? or Would you agree that Highly aggressive and demanding boss creates a demoralizing effect on the subordinates and should be removed? 5) The Scales: Most commonly used scales in the questionnaire are Likert Scales. These have normally 5 or 7 multiple choice alternatives viz Strongly agree, (1) Dont agree, (4) To a great extent, (1) Less than Average, (4) Very important, (1) Not Important (4) Highly Motivated (1) Generally motivated (3) Generally not motivated (5) Highly Demotivated (7) Agree, (2) Dont Agree at all (5) To moderate extent, (2) Not at all (5) Important (2) Totally Unimportant (5) Moderately Motivated (2) Non Committal (4) De motivated (6) No Comment, (3) or Average (3) or No Comments (3) or
Generally a 5 or 7 multiple choice scales is just right through at times. People may adopt 9 point or 3 Point Scales but these either become unmanageable or become very inadequate. 6) The Code: Providing a coding mechanism is important for data analysis. Code will decide what weightage should be attached to each scale point i.e. if respondent pegs a question at 3 in the 5 Point likert scale, what should be weightage given to the question etc. 7) Pilot Test the Instrument/Questionnaire: Pilot testing or pre-testing the questionnaire is important to see what kind of response it is evoking from the respondents. Sometimes even the respondent (s) may give either a favourable or unfavourable feedback on the design aspect of questionnaire to the extent that the instrument may not be representative of the practices being followed in the Organisation and may require minor changes or modifications. At times the questionnaire designed may fail to arouse interest in the respondents which may make it in fructuous in achieving the designed results. So pilot testing is likely to expose the shortcomings in the instrument which can be corrected before finally administering it to the Population. 8) Do not make a very short or very lengthy questionnaire. Very short questionnaire 5 to 8 comprising of only Questions is too short to elicit any worthwhile information. Similarly questionnaire of more than 25-30 questions becomes very lengthy unless of course if the questionnaire has a research bias. The Questions has to be applicable across both situations a) A large number of post graduate students of Engineering or Management disciplines undertake project work. The questionnaire 55
developed by them is very short Maximum 10 questions and it has been noted that these fail to address even the vital issues and only tend to be very superficial. b) I remember receiving a questionnaire from Head, HR of a Banking Institution. The questionnaire had almost 150+ questions. Though highly enthused seeing the vast content qualitatively and otherwise. Despite my level best efforts I never ended up filling the entire questionnaire. 9) Final Draft: After making necessary corrections, taking into account the feedback thrown up by pilot pre-testing the final draft of the questionnaire should be made ready. 10) Administering Questionnaire: As already indicated earlier, the final version of questionnaire should be administered to the target population through a Personal letter, duly signed. In the letter the importance of the questionnaire as also the objective of the study, where and how the final outcome of the study is going to be used, who are going to benefit etc should be in built in order to get really considered views & opinion from the respondents. 11) Follow up: Many a times the respondents need a lot of follow up before they really respond. The researcher must take pains to ensure that respondents spend the desirable time in comparing the questionnaire even if the researcher has to sit with them. 12) Code the Responses: Once the responses start coming in, the codification of responses from each respondent must be completed. This is a very important aspect and unless lots of pains are taken in executing this step properly, the results may miss the expected mark either totally or partially. 13) Tabulation of Results: Tabulation of results should be done in the format which people can understand and derive interpretation from the information generated. The modus operandi would involve tabulating everything to start with. Many results generated may not be required later and only some of the more relevant results may be considered and the rest ignored.
Sample Tabulation of Employee Motivation Employee Motivation % (N) Higher Motivated 60 (90) Moderate by High 20 (30) Generally Motivated 10 (15) De-motivated 6 (9) Highly motivated 4 (6) Total 100 (150)
The above tabulation gives a very clear picture of Total No of Employees subjected to administered questionnaire is 150 in Parenthesis (N) and % given outside the parenthesis. 14) Report Preparation: The final report should consist of: a) Brief overview of summary Summary should begin with description giving highlights of data, tables, analysis etc. This is followed by elaboration of Analysis, conclusions, recommendations etc. Some Action Plans could also be suggested for management to take them or leave them according to their needs. Certain aspects to be considered are: i) The report should not hurt the interest of organization & the employees studies
ii) Report should be targeting the end users and be meaningful for them and 56 iii) Is in a format which can be put to immediate use.
Appendix IV
INSTRUMENTS OF ORGANISATIONAL ANALYSIS 1. Summative Scale The Summative Scale or Likert scale was developed by Renesis Likert (Likert 1932. The Likert Scale is constructed by devising certain statements about a person. Some reasonable categories are then developed for the respondent to use for indicating his or her feelings about statement. The most commonly used responding categories are: 1. Yes, not sure & no 2. True, not sure, False 3. Strongly agree, agree, disagree & strongly disagree etc. Examples are Strongly agree Agree Slightly agree Slightly disagree Disagree Strongly disagree = SA = A = SLA = SLD = D = SD
Uncertain / unsure = U
Example of a statement using Likest Scale: I am a highly motivated & dedicated worker SA A SLA U SLD D
SD
A more refined version may contain A or 5 point scale viz Agree = A Unsure = U Disagree = D A further variation could be where more close distinction is sought. For example Agree Unsure, yet might agree Unsure, yet might disagree Disagree = A = UA = UD = D
Example of this sort of question is I can develop rapport with people Very easily _________ A UA How to obtain the Score: Let us look at a set of questions on a 5 point rating scale: 1. I mind my own work without interfering with others. 2. I discuss my work with my colleagues 3. I feel happy when my colleagues are also standing by my side at the work place 4. I morually like to a share a cup of coffee with my Colleagues during the breaks and at the end of Duty 57 UD D
Rating of the above scale has been done as follows: Always Mostly Generally Never - 5 - 4 - 3 - 1
Sometimes - 2
In the above example the scoring can be done for which let us look at the ticks (9) given by the respondent against each question The sample questionnaire has Extroversion on one extreme and Introversion on the other extreme. The questions have to be rated according to the scale constructed by the surveyor. If extroversion is given rating of 5 then the ratings would appear as under: Question No. Always 1 2 3 4 1 1 1 1 Mostly Generally 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 Sometimes 4 4 4 4 Never 5 5 5 5
So the scoring of the 4 questions given above would be: Q.1. Q.2. Q.3. Q.4. 1 1 3 3
Total score would be = 8
Rating Scales Semantic Differential Prepared by Osgood, Suci and Tanxenbaum (1957) bipolar scales are created to analyze Organizations, practices, people etc. The scales can be prepared on the basis of two extremes and can be on the basis of 2 systems (i) from 1 to 7 or II) 3 to +3, though the first one is more in use. The scales would look like The Organization 7 Active 6 5 4 3 2 1 Passive
Productive
Unproductive
Carrying to people issues
Non Carrying to people issues
Motivating culture
Demotivating culture
58
Forces choice scales Questions are constructed in the manner that the respondent has to choose one of the two options provided. He/she may either choose one of the options or may not choose any. For example: Instructions: choose the activity which you prefer by placing a tick in front of the question in the space provided. Be sure to respond to each pair. I would prefer: 1. Lazing around in the bed on a Sunday morning Take a stroll in the city park 2. Attend the talk by an eminent speaker on a Friday evening Watch a movie with the family The advantages of these scales are: 1. Since the options are already provided, the respondent does not require to think of the possible options. 2. The options may not be restricted to 2 only. Could be more than that i.e. 3 or 4. This will help in getting an answer very close to the reality. 3. When the options are 3 to 4, the respondent may nor resort to a forced artificial response. Disadvantages 1. With only 2 options, the respondent may have to make a forced choice which may give him/her a sense of unease and at times this may result in his/her not answering the question(s). Behaviourally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS) These are scales constructed to measure the effectiveness of organizational process with particular reference to behaviours exhibited. Once constructed these can be used for subsequent analysis. BARS are mostly customized by organizations for their own used. An example can be given here. To start with a problem area to be studied is identified by pooling in the views of the group members. There could be a number of issues confronting the group and it may be necessary to construct number of such scales. However the group has to develop the scales for each issue/problem area. Let us consider that one prominent issue confronting the group member when they meet is inadequate participation of team members. This issue i.e Inadequate Participation may be one of so many viz. Lack of Cooperation, Lack of open Communication, Lack of attention to process, Lack of Contribution, Lack of Coordination, Lack of Clarity on roles etc. A BARS Constructed for Participation may look like. Participation 123456789
Inputs from all the members is considered before arriving at decisions. These scales are then used by individuals to rate their usual meetings.
The meeting dominated Members contribution by a few members. flagging comes in experts only through provocation.
59
Validation of the Instruments

A test has 2 important characteristics, validity and, reliability. Validity is important because if one cant ascertain what really is the test measuring, it would be of little use. Validity: The accuracy with which a test, interview and so on measures what it purports to measure or fulfills the function it was designed to accomplish. Test validity means to establish evidence that the test is job related. In other words, it means that the performance on the test is a valid predictor of subsequent performance on the job. Criteria validity: A type of validity based on showing that scores of the test, i.e. predictions are related to job performance (i.e. criterion). Content validity: A test indicating content validity would be one consisting of fair sample of tasks & skills actually required for the job being looked at. Reliability: It is the characteristic of the test which measures the consistency of the test. The characteristic which refers to the consistency of scores obtained by the same person when retested with the identical or equivalent tests. What could cause the test to be unreliable? Suppose one takes a test say on Employee Satisfaction and say the person takes another equivalent test after a mouth. If the scores of the later test change dramatically, it would indicate test unreliability. Validation of Test: The validation process consists of 5 steps: 1. Analyze the job 2. Choose Tests 3. Administer tests 4. Relate Test Score & Criteria 5. Cross validation & Revalidation
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Appendix V
SCANNING YOUR BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT 1. Identify the major business challenges and opportunities facing your organization. (You will naturally focus on the market and shareholder environment but dont forget other key groups such as employees and supplier.) what are the implications for strategy, people, systems or structure? 2. What mechanisms does your business have in place to ensure continuous feedback from key customer groups? 3. How does your organization monitor and assess the significance of social, economic, political and technological developments? 4. Where would you place your business on the Greiner growth model? Please complete the organization development diagnostic questionnaire. Organizational Development Diagnostic Questionnaire Instructions for completion: 1. The organization development diagnostic consists of sixty descriptive statements. Your task is to work through this list and to identify those statements you believe to be accurate in describing your company. 2. Each time you come to an apt description you should tick it on the questionnaire. When you have looked through all sixty statements, please transfer the ticks to the score sheet, recording your choice on the score sheet by putting a tick in the box carrying the same number. 3. Add up your ticks and total them at the bottom. Around which vertical columns do your scores group? This would appear to be your diagnosis of your companys present stage of development. What are the inherent challenges you face? 1. The organizational structure is very informal. 2. Top management are finding themselves bombarded with many Unwanted management responsibilities. 3. Management focus mainly on the efficiency of operations. 4. Staff lower down in the organization possess more knowledge about, For example, markets, products, trends, etc., than do top management. 5. The main management focus is to expand markets. 6. Top management feel they are losing control of the business. 7. The main management focus is co-ordination and consolidation. 8. There is a lack of confidence between line managers and specialist staff/head office and the field. 9. The main focus of management is on problem-solving and innovation. 10. There is an overemphasis on teamwork. 11. The top management style is very individualistic and entrepreneurial. 12. Top management takes too long in responding to queries and requests.
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13. The organizational structure is centralized and functional, i.e. based on Specialism. 14. There is not enough freedom to act delegated to those capable of doing so. 15. The organization structure is decentralized and individual divisions or Departments have a high level of autonomy. 16. Many people at lower levels have too much freedom to run their own show. 17. Decentralized units have been merged into product groups. 18. Line managers resent heavy staff direction. 19. The organization is a matrix of task or project teams. 20. There is dependency on group-think to the extent that some managers are losing the confidence to make individual decisions. 21. The main control system is whether or not the sales targets are met. 22. Top management do not provide enough direction. 23. Top management style tends to be directive. 24. Management tends to be over-directive and could easily delegate. 25. The top management style is delegative. 26. The organization has probably become too decentralized, breeding Parochial attitudes. 27. The top management style is to be a watchdog. 28. We seem to have lost the ability to respond to new situations or solve Problems quickly. 29. The top management style is highly consultative, meeting together Frequently on problem issues. 30. We are directing too much energy into the functions of our internal Teams and tending to overlook what is happening in the outside world. 31. Long hours are rewarded by modest salaries but with the promise of Ownership benefits in the future. 32. Top management arent as visible as they ought to be. 33. The main control systems seem to be concerned with standards and Costs. 34. Flexibility suffers because those who could take decisions have to wait For management to agree. 35. The main control seems to be in the form of profit-centre reporting. 36. Power seems to have shifted away from top management. 37. Each product group is an investment centre with extensive planning Controls. 38. Everyone is criticizing the bureaucratic paper system that has evolved.
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39. The main control system is for work groups to evaluate their own Performance through real-time information systems integrated into daily Work. 40. There is almost too much personal feedback about behaviour at meetings, etc. 41. The management focus is mainly on making and selling. 42. Top management are very harassed; conflicts between them are growing. 43. The main way managers are rewarded is by salary and merit increases. 44. People are demotivated, even leaving, because they do not have enough personal autonomy in their jobs. 45. The way manners are rewarded is by individual bonuses. 46. More co-ordination of operations is needed if things are to improve. 47. The way mangers are rewarded is through profit-sharing and stock options. 48. Fun and excitement seem to be lacking in the company. 49. Rewards are geared more to team performance than to individual achievement. 50. The constant high expectation for creativity in the organization is stressful. 51. Top management are close to customers and have a good understanding of what the market requires. 52. Top managers do not seem able to introducet he new business techniques Which are necessary. 53. To get on in this company, lower managers do not question decisions made By their seniors. 54. Staff have their performance appraisals from bosses who have little Understanding about the subordinates job and work problems. 55. People are told what is expected of them and then allowed to get on their jobs as they see fit. Its management by exception. 56. Senior mangers are continually checking up to make sure that jobs are Completed they tend to over do this. 57. There are many head office personnel who initiate company work programmes to review and control line mangers. 58. Too many people are working to the book. 59. Interpersonal conflicts are brought into the open and, on the whole, managed in a non-destructive way. 60. Trying always to be spontaneous and open in relationships at work is proving stressful.
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Organisational Analysis Phase I Growth through creativity
Organization Development Diagnostic Score Sheet.

1 Crisis of leadership Phase 2 Growth through direction 2 Crisis of autonomy Phase 3 Growth through delegation 3 Crisis of control Phase 4 Growth through ordination 4 Crisis of red tape Phase 5 Growth through collaboration 5 Crisis of ?
1 11 21 31 41 51
2 12 22 32 42 52
3 13 23 33 43 53
4 14 24 34 44 54
5 15 25 35 45 55
6 16 26 36 46 56
7 17 27 37 47 57
8 18 28 38 48 58
9 19 29 39 49 59
10 20 30 40 50 60
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UNIT 10 INTERVIEW AS A DIAGNOSTIC TOOL

Objectives

importance of interview as a diagnostic tool the process of interview
Structure
10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 10.9 10.10 10.11 10.12 Introduction Purpose of Interview Forms of Interviews Group Interviews How to Conduct Interviews for Organisational Diagnoses How to Analyse and Use Interview Data Variables Studied/Diagnosed Comments on the Illustrative Example of a Diagnostic Report on the Basis of Interview Methodology List of Commonly Asked Questions for Diagnostic Interviews Summary Self-Assessment Questions Further Readings Appendix 1: Air Conditioners International: A Diagnostic Study Report
10.1 INTRODUCTION
Interview methods of data collection for organisational diagnosis purposes is used mostly when an organisation engages outside consultants for diagnostic and development purposes. Sometimes interview methodology is also used by internal teams and/or change agents. Interviews have the major advantage of providing an opportunity for face-to-face interaction with the participants of the organisation. Infact in medical diagnosis interview is the first step and forms the basis for subsequent testing. In organisational diagnosis studies, interviews may form the first step as well as the last stage of diagnosis. They could be exploratory interviews, hypotheses testing interviews, change inducing/idea testing interviews. There could be individual interviews or group interviews. Some details of interview methods of organisational diagnosis are presented in this section.
10.2 PURPOSE OF INTERVIEWS

Interviews can be used the following purposes:
Sensing the organisation and identifying general areas of strengths and weaknesses for further diagnosis. Probing for details and getting deeper insights into a given problem or issue bothering an organisation (e.g. Why team spirit is low? What are the bottlenecks in fast decision making? Why are people unhappy with a particular policy or issue? Why absenteeism is going up? etc.). 65
Testing out the success potential of new ideas/actions/decisions and assessing organisational preparedness (e.g. what are the attitudes of people to an open appraisal system? How do they react to computerisation of personnel information system? What are their reactions to a newly proposed reward system? etc.). Generation of ideas for strengthening the existing systems and processes. (e.g. How to improve the suggestion scheme? How to improve work environment? etc.) Assessing the general level of health and climate of the organisation using structured or semi-structured interviews/questionnaire.
Thus the interview data may form the beginning of organisational diagnosis or the last step in organisational diagnosis.
10.3 FORMS OF INTERVIEWS

The interviews may range from highly structured forms to totally unstructured form. Normally unstructured interview methodology is used for exploratory diagnosis purposes. In exploratory diagnosis the interviewer may simply open the interview session by saying that he is trying to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the organisation and the interviewee may talk about anything he sees as the strength or weakness. In such cases the interviewee may reveal a lot of significant information about strengths and weaknesses. The issues he chooses to speak themselves may reveal the concerns of employees. Unstructured interviews also could be used for probing in relation to specific issues. In such probing every question asked by the interviewer depends on the responses given by the interviewee earlier. Unstructured interviews require skilled interviewers. Semi-structured interviews may consist of a list of pre-determined set of questions the interviewer has with him and seeking answer to these questions. These interviews are useful for hypothesis testing and probing. Highly structured interviews are almost like questinnaires. They may infact take the form of verbal administration of questionnaires or asking a series of openended questions which are pre-determined. These forms of interviews are useful if the respondent cannot answer questionnaire or if the respondent is likely to give better quality responses in interview settings than in writing, idea generating, influencing, probing for more insights etc. Typical Questions in a structural interview are given in Table 1.
10.4 GROUP INTERVIEWS

When there are a large number of employees to be covered for diagnostic study, it is quite common practice to use group interviews. For group interviews the interviewer invites a group of people and interviews them. The group interviews may be conducted departmentwise or grade-wise across the departments. Respondents may feel inhibited to give their views in front of others and specially seniors or their supervising officers. Hence if group interviews are planned care should be taken to compose the groups in such a way that the interviewees feel free to give their opinions, reactions etc. Normally respondents of the same grade/background from different departments are assembled for group interviews. 66
Table 1: Typical Questions in Structured Interview 1. Job Related : (i) Please describe your job. (ii) Explain various components of your job. (iii) Give the organizational perspective guidelines, rules concerning your job. (iv) Who are people interfacing you job i.e. superiors, subordinates colleagues, people from other departments, consultants, vendors suppliers, clients, gout etc. (v) What tools, tackles you use? (vi) Resources required to accomplish your job. (vii) The Job: How would you describe what you do? What objective are you currently working on? (viii) What are the core activities of your job? (ix) The Work: How is the work of your department carried out? What are the main components of your job? What is the performance level? Which are your main contacts? What happens to the result of what you do? 2. Individual skills, capabilities related: (i) What % you use your skill & knowledge in execution of your job. (ii) Do you possess adequate knowledge & skill carrying out your job. (iii) Have you identified any gaps in your capability to handle the job? (iv) What extra inputs in terms of extra skills or managerial acumen you think you require. (v) Extra inputs (if any) are in which areas? skill related, behaviour related, attitude-related. 3. Inter-personal Relationship : (i) Do you think you click well with all who you interface with. (ii) What type of relationship you maintain with others? (iii) What kind of relation others demonstrate towards you? (iv) Do you fall out with some of your colleagues/co-workers once in a while? If so why? (v) Do you have harmonious relationship with all in the department. 4. Managerial/supervisory attributes related : (i) Are you a good team player? (ii) Are you a good manager/supervisor? (iii) Are you aware of proper methodology of giving/taking instructions? (iv) Do people listen to & execute your instructions properly. (v) Are you able to maintain a congenial friends environment in your Dept. (vi) What are the major problems in getting work done here? (vii) Rewards: What measures or standards are applied to your work? How do you get feedback on the results of your work? If you doa good job, will you be rewarded for it through pay, promotion, personal praise? (viii) Problems and Changes: What do you see as the major problems/ blockages in doing you job? (ix) How do you expect your job to change over the next 1-2 years and why? How do you think your job could be improved? (x) Training: What training have you had? Was it useful? What do you think you need to learn in order to do your job better or with greater satisfaction.
Interview as a Diagnostic Tool
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For group interviews some extra effort needs to be made by the interviewer to create an open climate so that the interviewees give diagnostic information freely. The size of the group should not be too large for group interviews. About 6-8 is a good size for interviews. Normally some participants tend to speak more in such interviews. In such cases te interviewer should occasionally ask those who are not talking, to express their points of view. Group interviews could also be used to select a few employees for in-depth interviews. Normally in any organisation, once it gets known that employees are being interviewed in groups, much of the inhibitions get removed and employees start giving a lot of informatioin.
10.5 HOW TO CONDUCT INTERVIEWS FOR ORGANISATIONAL DIAGNOSIS

In the case of medical diagnosis the patient goes to the doctor with a problem and hence in his own interest he gives all information whereas in organisational diagnosis although the top management who goes to the consultant may give all information, the other interviewees may not have the same need as the top management and hence may not be willing to volunteer information. Alternately they may distort data depending on their attitudes to top management, the consultant and the study. Therefore it is very important for the interviewer to establish credibility and build rapport. Before interviews are conducted it is useful and even necessary for the top management to legitimise the dianostic study by informing all those who are to participate in it. Such a legitimisation could be done either through an announcement giving details of the study, its purposes, the consultants or interviewing team members and the help they need from the employees etc. After such a legitimisation, in the interview process itself the interviewers should clarify once again the purposes and assure the confidentiality of responses. Aggressive postures trying to impress the interviewee by talking about the closeness of the interviewer to top management, lecturing, demanding, criticising others, expression of interviewers opinions even before the interviewee starts etc. are behaviours that hinder rapport building. Starting with general and non-threatening issues, talking about the background of the interviewer himself, getting to know each other, pleasantries etc. help in establishing rapport. Using open ended questions, information seeking questions and suggestive questions helps in probing and discovering many unknowns. Sometimes during the interview process paraphrasing the responses given by the interviewee may help in improving the listening process and understanding process. It is useful to conduct diagnostic interviews in settings which are free from noise and other disturbances. A peaceful atmosphere always enhances the quality of data collected. In case of probing interviews the interviewer should constantly guard himself against the danger of putting ideas into the mind of the interviewee. Normally after interviewing a few, the interviewer starts developing hypothesis. Presenting these hypothesis impatiently to the subsequent interviewers may endanger the diagnostic process. An example on diagnostic interview has been given in Appendix 1.
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10.6 HOW TO ANALYSE AND USE INTERVIEW DATA

Interview data are relatively more difficult to code and analyse as compared to questionnaire data. Since interview data are qualitative data after a few interviews are completed it may be useful to develop a coding/analysis scheme. It is useful to categorise all responses into those coding categories. Number of person giving a particular response, pointing out a particular weakness, or suggesting a particular hypothesis etc. can be indicated. The greatest advantage of interviews is the amount of insight it can provide into organisational processes. Many hypothesis can be generated and tested spontaneously during interviews. Interview data obtained from a small sample of individuals using semi-structured interviews is presented at the end as an illustration.
10.7 VARIABLES STUDIED/DIAGNOSED

Interviews can be used to study any variables/dimensions for diagnosis. All the variables mentioned in the earlier units can be studied using interviews. More softer the dimensions more useful are the interviews. Organisational norms, values, management styles, communication, decision-making, job-involvement, team work etc. are the variables that are normally studied using interview methodology. The illustrative example of Air Conditioners International illustrates the variety of variables that may come up during the diagnostic study. From among the variables that come up during interviews, any significant variables (e.g. ad hocism, insecurity, long range planning, lack of co-ordination etc.) could be taken for an in-depth analysis if necessary.
10.8 COMMENTS ON THE ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE OF A DIAGNOSTIC REPORT ON THE BASIS OF INTERVIEW METHODOLOGY
The Appendix 1 presents illustrative example of a diagnostic report prepared by a consultant on the basis of 24 interviews conducted by him. The interviews were all conducted in a few days time. They are unstructured interviews. The consultant took notes for each interview. By the time the consultant completed interviewing he has gathered a good deal of diagnostic data. The interviews were open ended to assess generally the strengths and weaknesses of the organisation. After completing the interviews the consultant decided to include only those observations that are mentioned at least in 3 different interviews. The consultant also decided not to mention the number of people making a particular comment as the interviews are unstructured and therefore the numbers may be misleading. The report given in the appendix is intended to give a flavour of a diagnostic report that emerges out of interviews. The following points may be noted from this report.
This is a quick diagnostic study but a lot of information got generated in a short visit of four days and 24 interviews. Which means every day about 6 interviews may have been conducted. The diagnostic study only brings out major issues but does not go into details of the sources of these issues. This study is therefore a first level diagnosis.
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No individuals name or identity is mentioned in the report. Only general diagnostic statements are made. The analysis from interviews is presented in the form of weaknesses, strengths and recommendations. The interviews are limited to executive levels and the diagnosis does not go to lower levels.
10.9 LIST OF COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS FOR DIAGNOSTIC INTERVIEWS

The following is the list of questions that are commonly used in interviews: 1) What is your job? How much satisfied are you? What contributes to your satisfaction? What contributes to your dissatisfaction? 2) What are the strengths of this organisation? What is going on well and what good things exist in this place? 3) What are some of the weaknesses in this organisation? What improvements can be made? 4) What factors provide you satisfaction? 5) What things frustrate you? What are some of the irritants or dissatisfying things?
10.10 SUMMARY
Next to questionnaire, interview is a potential tool for organisational diagnosis. A lot can be achieved in a short period of time using this method. Interview skills are very crucial for an effective use of t his method. Ustructured interviews are useful for general diagnosis as given in the illustrative example. Structured interviews are useful for in-depth explorations. Interviews are used in combination with other methods as explained in subsequent sections.

1) How interview is an useful method for Organisational Analysis? 2) What are the different forms of interview and how the interview has to be conducted? 3) How do you analyse and use interview data? 4) How do you conduct interviews for analysing your Organisation or any other Organisation which you are familiar with?

D.A. Nadler, 1977, Feed back and Organisation Development : Using Data Based Methods, Addison Wesley Publishing Company.
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Appendix 1
AIR CONDITIONERS INTERNATIONAL : A DIAGNOSTIC STUDY REPORT Introduction At the request of the Chief Executive and Managing Director (MD) of the Air Conditioners International (ACI) to make a quick diagnostic study and prepare proposals for assisting the company, the consultant visited ACI from May 4-7, 1988. Interviews were held 24 executives including two of the General Managers. The following is a diagnostic report emerging out of the discussions and interviews with these executives. This is followed by a set of recommendations in the form of preliminary proposals for consideration. Background ACI was started in the year 1958. In the early years when it started with foreign collaboration it took pride in the products it manufactured. Till around the year 1975 the company did well and maintained a considerable degree of market stability. Its sales turnover ranged between Rs. 15 to 20 crores consistently with a capital investment of about Rs. 6 crores. during 1975-76 the company suffered a set back due to economic recession and fall in demands for Air Conditioners. During 1980-81 there was a major industrial unrest for several months. A number of employees had to be retrenched. From 1983 onwards the company started making profits again. However, what was considered monopoly items (mixers and grinders and aircoolers) started getting made by competitors and a number of others setting up small scale units. 1985 onwards the compnay again started making losses. An analysis indicated that the Air-Coolers and mixers division of the company is contributing greatly to the losses along with a high a demand for managerial time and resources. As a result it was decided to close down this division in 1987. By mid 1987 this was closed down and about nearly 600 employees had to be removed in an operation to retain only those who are competent and needed. This pruning included parting with a sizeable number of managerial staff who were considered redundant. According to one of the Senior Managers the company was doing around 1974 about the same amount of work with half the staff in 1986-87. So the pruning operation was badly needed. Diagnostic Observations from Interviews From the interviews and discussions with the 24 executives the following observations could be made.
The general morale of the executives appeared to be low. This is mostly traceable to the events in the last few months where a number of employees were asked to leave and the Air-coolers division was closed. While several of them appear to appreciate and support the decisions to close the Air-coolers division and removing employees some of the executives have a lurking fear that their turn may also come sometime. Jobinsecurity seem to haunt several of them. It appears that when decisions are taken, they are not given enough time to implement and they get changed soon. Several executives mentioned that in the eagerness to improve things the top management may be changing decisions too fast without giving themselves enough time. There are seem to be quite a bit ad hocism perceived by the executives in the way the decisions are taken. To-day something appears important so a decision is taken on the basis of appearance rather than on the basis of an in-depth 71
study and a professional approach. A few days later the decision appears to be of doubtful impact and something else appears to be better, and immediately it is changed. This adds to the feeling of insecurity and uncertainty in the minds of employees. This also brings down their motivation.
The changes in decisions is aggravated by lack of communication and a high degree of grapevine adding to the insecurity and confusion according to some employees. Employees do not get any information about why decisions are changed and they are left to guessing. Executives would like to feel that they are a part of the company and the company is theirs. As a result of lack of communication their commitment and we feeling are very low. There is no professional way of appraising the employeesparticularly executives. These are considered very subjective. The top-management seem to think more of the short-term goals and the longest term they can think of is 6 months. Such short-term goal orientation hampers organisation building and promotes ad hocism. For example, acceptance of defective raw material for fear of loss of production. On the marketing side packaging is considered poor while the product is good. There is no formal way in which the production department gets feedback from branches. Most executives resent too frequent changes at top level-particularly at the General Managers level. By the time a General Manager settles down and tries to find his way he is out. The next man comes out with his own policies and people down the line have to change their thinking all of a sudden, not knowing for how long. As a result there is a high sense of instability resulting in low motivation. The top-management and senior executives seem to spend time on small routines issues rather than concentrating on strategic plans. For example even the finance departments time is spent more on employee finance than company finances. Tasks are assigned informally rather tha after careful thinking and planning. Accountability is not fixed. The company has not been adding any new products. R&Ds contributions are side tracked by asking them to concentrate on small things. People are not at the same wavelength. Due to insecurity and personalised dealings everyone tries to impress the top management rather than showing concern for work. In this process openness and frankness gets eroded. Team spirit comes down and complaints against one another increase. There is a need to bring everyone at the same wavelength through frequent communications and get togethers. One of the executives remarked we need to generate a May I help you feeling in staff. We need energy tablets and a common goal. Employees are afraid to take risks for fear of failure. Too frequent change in systems (e.g. procurement system changes with change of hands). No periodic meetings (monthly or weekly) to discuss various issues.

Strengths
Against all these problems and issues ACI has strengths. The executives are more or less unanimous in identifying these strengths and feel that they should be cashed on. These include: A dynamic and professional-minded chief executive who means business, and is committed to make ACI more dynamic.
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Staff with extremely good potential and competencies. These, however, need to be used rather than stagnated. High quality of the products they make and the sense of pride the executives have in their product. Good product image. The care company takes of its people. Liberal welfare policies and incentives given to executives and other staff. Small size of the company giving opportunity to promote family orientation and cohesiveness. This needs to be cashed on. Capacity to take tough decisions when required. Technical support of foreign collaborators. Large scale operations of the company, small size of competitors, past image and collaborators and capability to delivery large quantities in short periods. Variety of products being manufactured. Past experience and well chalked out market which can be further expanded with some imaginativeness and hard work.

Recommendations and Proposals

The above report makes it clear that there is a need to be a number of things to lift up ACI to its potential heights. On the organisational front it may be useful to prepare a long term plan and follow it up. Such a plan should visualise ACI in a 5 to 10 year perspective and attempt to take it from 20 crores turnover to 30-50 crores or even more. It may be useful to take the help of a corporate planning expert who could work with the internal team of General Managers and other Senior Executives. Regarding the internal functioning of the organisation there is a need to improve communications and turst. This cannot be done through a training programme as envisaged earlier but through establishment of a number of systems and processes around organisational tasks. Some of these systems are suggested below. Weekly Review Meetings of Production and Marketing: Every week on a specified day all the senior managers (about 10-15) should get together and review the progress in the week and discuss plans for the next week. Each head of the department or one of his managers should present a review of the previous weeks activities, accomplishments, difficulties as well as plans and suggestions for the next week. The Chief Executive can share any information he has about the external environment and also use this meeting as a mechanism of understanding problems, solving them, fixing accountability and reviewing progress. In subsequent years the frequency of such meetings could be reduced. Every manager/officer should have his key accountability areas identified and should be given full responsibility. Every manager should have a specific task not overlapping with his boss or subordinate as far as possible and he should be asessed for it once a year. A formal system of performance appraisal should be introduced in the company. Each manager may be encouraged to write down his own performance and accountability areas and these could be discussed generally in a seminar form. The present efforts to consolidate human resources has reached a meaningful stage. Before any one else is recruited it is necessary to do prepare a manpower needs and utilisation plan. This exercise may become meaningful if done along with recommendation. 73
A number of management systems need to be introduced that can reduce costs and increase efficiency. On the basis of the interviews it is difficult to pin-point what is lacking but it may be worthwhile examining the scope of improvements in the following areas. i) Management Accounting and Control Systems (The finance Department with its computer cell may be capable of doing it. Their time utilisation for productive matters need an examination. Their potential is probably not being well utilised now). ii) Materials Management (although managers claim substantial improvements, there are reasons to believe that this needs some attention, specifically the inventory management for raw materials). iii) Improvements in packaging and company image. iv) Strengthening the competencies of marketing staff. It may be useful to get them together once in a while and then promote their initiative-taking and aggressive selling qualities. iv) Exploring new product lines. Specially the R&D efforts have to be streamlined. Their accountability should be fixed. They should be given freedom and some working arrangements to test out the products evolved by them need to be made.
It is useful to stop all further retrenchment, specially at higher levels. Identify clearly the areas where very manager has to contribute, fix up their accountability, given them freedom and time to demonstrate their competence and have trust in them till then. The company has given enough financial and other welfare incentives, whose value is probably not seen due to job insecurity. It is time that they are provided with job-securities. The Chief Executive and the General Managers should spend their time on larger issues relating to the company and its future and leave the day-to-day operations management largely to its managers.
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UNIT 11 WORKSHOPS, TASK-FORCES AND OTHER METHODS

Objectives

workshops in analysing the problems involved in the organisation. task-forces, i.e., a group of employees constituted by the top management help in analysing an organisation. observation method helps in diagnosing the problems of an organisatioin.
Structure
11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 11.7 11.8 11.9 Introduction Diagnostic Workshop Methodology When to Use Workshop Methodology Task-forces and Internal Teams Management Assessment Centres Other Methods Summary Self Assessment Questions Further Readings Appendix 1: Sigma Engineering Consultants & Construction India Ltd.: A Diagnostic Study Report Appendix 2: Workshop Method: An Illustrative example of a Fast Food Chain Appendix 3: Force Field Analysis Appendix 4: Assessment Centres at American Telephone & Telegraph Company
11.1 INTRODUCTION
While questionnaire and Interviews are very popular and most commonly used methods, in the recent past workshops and internal-task forces are also becoming very popular. There is greater involvement and team-work involved in workshops and task forces as compared to questionnaire. External help is minimised in task-forces and workshops and sense of purpose is high as teams of employees are involved in diagnosis. Hence these methods are explained in some detail with illustrative examples. Observations and other unobtrusive measures are additional diagnostic tools. They are also described briefly here.
11.2 DIAGNOSTIC WORKSHOP METHODOLOGY

In the Workshop Methodology participants (employees) of an organisation are assembled in groups (usually ranging between 20 to 30) for purposes of diagnosis. They are divided further into small groups (usually with a size of 6 to 8) and are requested to discuss a particular issue and diagnose the situation. SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) or Force Field Analysis (Symptoms - Sources - Solutions - Action Plans) are conducted by the small groups with respect to a given issue/problem/dimension needing the study. The following procedure is normally followed in the workshop methodology. 75
Defining the Problem/Issue for Diagnosis: First it is important to clearly state the problem or issue at hand before the decision to use workshop methodology is taken. The problem may be general or specific.
Examples of General Diagnosis a) The organisation is wanting to improve its general performance through improving the productivity and motivation of its employees. The present level of motivation and efficiency of employees at all levels is considered to be good but there is a feeling expressed by several categories of people that it can be still better. What is contributing to the present level of efficiency and what would help improving it. b) The organisation is wanting to diversify. New units are expected to be added in the same locations. Some of the existing staff may have to look after the new units also with appropriate rationalisation of work loads. What are the factors that should be taken into consideration for implementing the diversification decisions? c) There is general feeling that the employee motivation is low and organisational health is poor. What are the reasons? What are the critical variables that could be dealth with? d) The organisation is simply interested in improving itself. What are the ways in which the organisational functioning could be improved? Examples of Specific Issues a) The organisation is interested in changing the performance appraisal system and strengthen the open culture. What are the problems and possibilities? What do people feel about the existing appraisal system? What changes do they want? b) The absenteeism is on increase in some departments. What are the reasons? What could bed one? c) The organisation would like to improve the team spirit and interdepartmental collaboration. What is contributing to team spirit to-day? How to enhance it? d) The organisation would like to introduce computers in several sections. What is the existing situation and what steps/variables should be considered for an effective implementation? The process of defining the problem itself is important. To define the problem itself the top management team may need to have a meeting or a series of meetings. Some times even outside consultants could be used who may conduct a few preliminary interviews and make an assessment of the problem. While it is important to define the problem/issue before the workshop is convened, the facilitator of the workshop should be open enough to go beyond the stated problem if the workshop participants indicate the need for the same.
Preparatory Work: In addition to developing clarity about the problem it is necessary to plan for the workshop in terms of the composition of the groups, introducing the problem, presentations, class-room facilities etc. The participants called for the workshop should be those concerned with the problem/issue, those affected by it and those who are likely to contribute to the diagnosis and subsequet improvements. The workshop participants should be selected in such a way that there are not too many levels of hierarchy present in the same workshop. This is because juniors may feel inhibited to talk about the problems in the presence of seniors. If the group is small and if people of different hierarchial levels get included the sub-groups in the workshop may be so composed to take care of any inhibitions.
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Workshop Itself: The workshop may begin with an introduction by the Chief Executive/Unit Head/Sponsor of the diagnostic study. However, after the introduction it should be left for the facilitator to conduct the session. It is advisable if the sponsor of the study is not present during discussions in order to facilitate free expression of views. However, he could join the workshop at the end to listen to presentations. Some times the culture of an organisation may not be open enough even for that. In such cases, the sponsor of the study could be given a presentation by the facilitator himself.
Workshops, Task-Forces and Other Methods
Thus the workshop itself would consist of four groups of activities: i) Legitimisation by the top management in terms of introducing the study, the facilitators, plans for use of diagnostic data etc. ii) Rapport Building by the facilitators in the form of explaining the meaning of diagnosis, sharing experiences of other organisatioins, explaining importance of the data they generate, assuring confidentiality, explaining the rationale for group formation, announcing the groups or forming the groups there itself on the basis of suggestions by the members, and introducing the methodology. iii) Group work where the groups will use Force Field Analysis, SWOT Analysis or Source-symptoms-Action Plan Analysis. iv) Presentation by groups consolidation of data and prioratisation of variables for action etc. and closing. The atmosphere in the workshop should be free, open and informal. The facilitator has to play a major role in creating this atmosphere. Some examples are presented in the Appendix explaining SWOT Analysis and Force-Field Analysis, Plans Analysis. All the three are good diagnostic tools and throw up a lot of useful diagnostic information.
11.3 WHEN TO USE WORKSHOP METHODOLOGY

Workshop methodology could be used under the following conditions:
If the problem/issue to be discussed is believed to be amenable for improvemens, solution. The decision-makers or the top management of the organisation are committed to bring about change/improvements in the situation and are willing to invest some resources for it. The organisation values partcipative processes and there is some amount of openness or willingness to participate and share organisational concerns. Involvement of employees becomes important for solving the problem.
11.4 TASK FORCES AND INTERNAL TEAMS

In India many organisations use internal task forces for organisational change. A number of Organisational Designers and OD Consultants make it compulsory for the organisation to appoint an internal task force to assist the facilitator in the change process. A task force is a group of employees of an organisation constituted by the top management and charged with the responsibility of working on a specific task/assignment in additin their formally assigned job specific roles. The task force when constituted should have terms of reference. Normally, each task force has a convenor, a secretary and a set of resources to complete the task. The terms of reference should contain the details of the
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purpose why the task force is constituted, the methodology they can use, the flexibility they have in reformulating or redefining the job given to them, the resources they have, the assistance they need/expect from other employees, the time frame and office bearers. When such task forces are constituted, it is customary to make an announcement of the task force and its terms of reference (at least a summary of it) to all employees (at least to all those concerned with the issues) of the organisation. The task forces may work independently or under the general direction/ guidance of the Chief Executive a Top level Manager (like a Director) or a Consultant or Facilitator. The work of the task force is time-bound. Thus an organisation can use any number of task forces depending on the problems/issues are willing to take up. Normally, the task forces are constituted for diagnosis of spcific problems and working on specific issues. General organisational diagnosis is not entrusted to task forces as such diagnosis can be done better through the earlier outlined methods. However, OD Consultants are known to use task forces as sounding bodies when they use questionnaires, interviews and the workshop method. The task force can be used as an overseeing mechanism, guidance mechanism for analysis of data and presentation of the data gathered from other sources and preparing action plans. The following steps used by a Performance Appraisal task force are illustrative of the way the task forces function. Appointment: The top 20 Executives including the Chief of an Engineering comany constitute an Organisation Development or OD Group. They meet every quarter to review the progress of the organisation specially with reference to its human processes. Every time they meet, they meet for about 2 full days to discuss all issues. In one of the meetings they identified a large number of areas needing changes, improvements for better functioning of the company. Of the 20 and odd issues/areas/problems identified size issues were listed as priority items (e.g. Performance Appraisal, Rewards, MIS etc.). They constituted six different task forces are drawn from these 20 the membership of the task force went beyond the top 20. In some of the task force junior level executives were also included. Each task force was given a terms of reference and target date for completion of their diagnosis and preparation of recommendations. The task forces were required to keep presenting their interim reports to the OD Group. Performance Appraisal Task Force: This task force consisted of three senior executives. They were given the freedom to engage a consultant to help them. The task force is to evolve a open system of performance appraisal. They were also required to design a format and a manual keeping in mind the concerns expressed by the OD Group. They are also required to assist in implementing the system the operational aspects of which will be taken up by the personnel department. Initial Meetings: The task force had a few initial meetings to clarify their own role and list various activities they need to undertake. They decided to commission a quick study of the attitudes of employees (officers and executives) to the existing appraisal system and their preferences for what should be included in the new system. They decided to put a couple of young MBAs to design the questionnaire administer it, analyse it and prepare a status report. They simultaneously decided to take the help of a consultant to help them design and implement the system.
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Evolving a Format and Objectives: After the survey was conducted the task force had a series of meetings and identified the main and sub-objectives of the appraisal system. They have also identified the components and prepared a format incorporating these objectives. Testing out the Format: The task-force then identified a representative sample of executives and contacted them individual for testing out the format. Each member interviewed a few executives. The interview consisted of explaining the objectives and format to each executive and taking their views and reactions to it. Preparing a Manual: On the basis of this preliminary try out the task-force prepared an accompanying manual and also finalised the performance appraisal system. Preliminary try-out: The task force then conducted a series of orientationcum-trial workshops to introduce the new system. After such workshop again views and opinions of executives were obtained. Six members after the workshop another series of interviews were conducted to diagnose the difficulties experienced by executives in implementing the system. Reporting to OD Group: Periodically the task force went on reporting to the OD Group. After the first round of trials a decision was taken to implement the new system and the task force was dissolved and other monitoring mechanisms were worked. Although all details of the working of the task-force are presented here, the above description may make it clear the way task-forces function. Since they are drawn from the practicing world and their time is valuable, the task forces means business. Their diagnosis may be continuous and forms a part of the action plan. The task-force mentioned above went on diagnosing the mood of the people and the process support required to implement the new appraisal system. They used interviews, workshops, surveys, informal discussions and their own observations as diagnostic tools. They have also combined diagnosis with continuous action.
11.5 MANAGEMENT ASSESSMENT CENTRES

A situation in which management candidates are asked to make decisions in hypothetical situations and are scored on their performance. It usually also involves testing and the use of management games. In a two-to three day management assessment center 10 or 12 management candidates perform realistic management tasks (like making presentations) under the observation of expert appraisers; each candidates management potential is thereby assessed or appraised. The center itself may be a plain conference room; but it is often a special room with a one way mirror to facilitate unobtrusive observations. Examples of the simulated exercises included in a typical assessment center are as follows: The in-basket. With this exercise, the candidate is faced with an accumulation of reports, memos, notes of incoming phone calls, letters, and other materials collected in the inbasket of the simulated job he or she is to take over. The candidate is asked to take appropriate action on each of these materials. For example, he or she must write letters, notes, or agendas for meetings. The results of the candidates actions are then reviewed by the trained evaluators. 79
The leaderless group discussion. A leaderless group is given a discussion question and told to arrive at a group decision. He raters then evaluate each group members interpersonal skills, acceptance by the group, leadership ability, and individual influence. Management games. Participants engage in realistic problem solving, usually as members of two or more simulated companies that are competing in the marketplace. Decisions might have to be made about matters like how to advertise and manufacture and how much inventory to keep in stock. Individual presentations. A participants communication skills and persuasiveness are evaluated by having the person make an oral presentation of an assigned topic. Objective lists. All types of paper-and-pencil tests of personality, mental ability, interests, and achievements might also be a part of an assessment center. The interview. Most centers also require an interview between at least one of the expert assessors and each participant. Here the latters current interests, background, past performance, and motivation are assessed. The agenda for a typical two-day assessment center is presented in Appendix 4.
11.6 OTHER METHODS

Other methods like observation and analysis of factual information records etc. could also be used for organisational analysis. However, they have serious limitations and are not very popular in India.
Observational Methods
This method is most useful when an outside consultant is used for diagnosis. Insiders are most often blind to the events and data that are a part of the organisation. An outsider could observe a number of things. For example, the behaviour of people when the work hours begin in the morning, at the time of the close of working hours, the notices displayed, the work organisation, the behaviour of people in meetings, the kind of memos written to each other, tea and lunch breaks, canteen and the way it is organised, behaviour of employees in the organisation etc. could be observed and inferences made. The main limitations of this method are: i) Not all processes are amenable to observation and the observers own biases get reflected in observations. Observation methods could be used as preliminary diagnostic tools. Unless they are supplemented with interviews or other methods a good quality diagnosis may be different, Nadler (1977). ii) The basic strength or weakness of observation as a tool is that the observer is the data-collection instrument (as opposed to the questionnaire as the observation instrument). A sensitive observer making use of an effective structure for observation can be an effective data-collection tool. An observer who has little sensitivity and no guiding structure may spend hours observing, see nothing, and report no usable data.
Secondary Data and Unobtrusive Measures

Records maintained by organisations can be very useful sources. Now-a-days with easy accessibility of computers most organisations collect and store a lot of data. Absenteeism rates and patterns, grievances, costs, delays, work
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performance records, attendance at meetings, circulars and other office communications provide ample opportunities for diagnosis. Minutes of meetings, points of view expressed in meetings etc. also offer enough insights. These methods unfortunately are less frequently used. For example, analysis of performance appraisal reports can give a lot of significant data about the problems and difficulties of employees, their competency gaps and so on. Similarly an analysis of the delays in submitting reports (MIS, budgets, appraisals, reward recommendations), leave applications complaints etc. may also provide significant insights.
11.7 SUMMARY
Every method has some advantages and some limitations. Interviews have the advantage of studying the problems in depth and offering scope for generating and testing many hypothesis. Task-forces are very useful in continuous diagnosis and implementation. Questionnaire provide systematic information and comparability with other organisatioins and of the same organisation at different points of time is enhanced. Observations and secondary data provide direct insights into the existing situation and are factual. The quality of diagnosis is likely to improve if a number of methods are used simultaneously than relying on a single method.

1) When do you use work shop method for Organisational diagnosis? Explain in detail the process of Work shop method? 2) What are task forces and internal teams? 3) Explain the method of observation and its limitations.
11.9 FURTHER READING

D.A. Nadler, Feedback and Organisation Development: Using Data Based Methods. Addison Wesley Publishing Company, 1977.
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Appendix 1
SIGMA ENGINEERING CONSULTANTS & CONSTRUCTION INDIA LTD.: A DIAGNOSTIC STUDY REPORT Introduction: Sigma Engineering & Construction company a well entrenched diversified company possessing monopoly in concept to commissioning and construction areas into intrastructure development, steel plants, petroleum refining and petro chemicals, highways etc. due to highly competitive environment was facing acute order crunch. The chief Executive hired a consultant to study the cause(s) of Lower productivity of employees, compromising quality of products and services and consequent low morale of employees. Background: Sigma Engineering & Construction Company was started way back in 1953 by a couple of enterprising engineers with a capital of 1 crore. The basic training of the 2 engineers had taken place abroad followed by around 8 years experience of working in large conglomerates in U.S. & Europe with their sound knowledge of the trade, excellent and credential excellent contacts it was not difficult to get orders form good companies. The company made steady growth for almost 20 years by remaining profit making throughout. As company expanded its operations and ventured into newer domains, its employee strength increased form 150 additional employees to a staggering 2343 employees as on the date when the Chief Executive hired the services of the Consultant. Company has come for long way form Joint Ownership Company to a Limited company with a Board of Directors and various stakeholders. Companys shares are being quoted in the Bombay Stock Exchange & NSE. However alongwith the growth, other aspects like pushes and pulls for acquisition of power at the Board level and various for like officers Association and Employees Association (Employees Union) are constantly having a showdown with the Companys management for garnering a bigger share of incentives for employees. Amidst these issues, the vital issue which are being partially side tracked and which needs urgent attention are: i) Technological Upgradation of work processes ii) Devising appropriate corporate strategies for remaining competitive in the face of onslaught of some MNCs who are perpetually trying for a larger share of the pie. iii) Carving more professional company policies and work practices. iv) Developing a motivating work culture and environments. The employee productivity is on the decline for various reasons and the chief executive is concerned about various indicators which do not augur well for the organization and is convinced that some immediate steps in the right direction are needed to be taken. He has worked out an Action plan alongwith his Board Members. One of the areas which needs looking into is the people issues i.e. creating a motivating and invigorating work culture. Hence the hiring of the consultant. The chief Executive has given the scope of study and is waiting for the diagnostic study and the recommendations. Modus operandi: The consultant got down to work immediately and formed groups to start interview process simultaneously at the Head office and various regional offices. Detailed questionnaire have been devised covering all aspects which need to be studied. 1. In the first round all executives were interviewed starting with Top Management cascading down to their perception were noted, observations collated and a draft report prepared.
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2. In the second round the Staff and workers were interviewed, their perceptions were recorded; observations for the consultants were also recorded and based on this report generated. 3. Immediately thereafter the Consultant undertook a SWOT analysis for the entire company in order to make available the strategic dimension which the Corporation could adopt which would provide avenues to employees for their growth. This in turn will enable the consultant to formulate appropriate strategy for enhancing employee motivation and satisfaction. Diagnostic observations from interviews The outcome of interviews with 150 odd executives is summarized below: i) General morale of employees is low because of a number of non friendly employee policies of company as also lack of growth avenues. There is a lurking fear that with low order position, some employees may be asked to leave. ii) Because of low order position often there is not enough work for all which creates a number of uneasy thoughts in the minds of employees: a) Lack of motivation b) Fear of being asked to leave c) Loss of incentives/bonus d) Erosion of authority e) Depreciating market value f) Lowering of image as compared to similarly placed professionals in competing organizations g) Diminishing sense of self worth. iii) Suggestions for improving work practices or technical suggestions from executives at Junior levels or middle levels take endlessly long before these get approved and still longer before implementation. Many a times the decision of top management are imposed recklessly without going into their merits. This makes the entire decision making process erratic and lopsided thus not giving the desired results. This also results in lot of expenditure with a likelihood of is being scrapped altogether at a later date and substitution by yet another not very well thought out decision. This creates a feeling of inadequacy and demoralization in the employees. iv) The manner in which the decisions are implemented is yet another grey area. Normally a systematic manner of implementation would comprise of step-by-step procedure laid down/documented and not an adhoc manner. In the instant case, one find day top management would take a decision, next day would shoot orders and from third day it would be expected to be implemented. A more systematic manner would have been: An idea/suggestion is mooted The idea/suggestion would get discussed in a committee like Suggestions Committee having senior functionaries from various functional disciplines as members. Once the idea is found to have some worth, its practical feasibility would be studied in the context of organization. On the recommendations of the committee the suggestion would then get considered by the concerned department and its practical implementability, cost involved how it would impact the organization (whether it would be accepted by larger population), the likely benefits to be derived, its long term inability etc will be looked into.
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It would then be put up to the top management for their final approval. Once the approval is accorded then only implementation can be taken up. As against that, the current prevalent practice in the organization is: Top management roots the idea They take decision among themselves one way or the other without involving either the concerned department representative or even the officers/employees associations which makes the decision totally adhoc. This has resulted in large scale frustration among the employees. Since neither their involvement in the decision making process is sought nor their technical competence is made use of. There are no open channels of communication available to employees. Communication is mostly one way that is top down. Open bottoms up communication is neither encouraged nor tolerated. Organizational culture which at one time was considered excellent stands initiated now due to infighting between the top management cadres and approach bordering on phycophancy and one-up-manship. Management style is biased in a way you show me the face and I will show you the rule. Though an objective performance appraisal system is existing but the prevalent culture makes it highly subjective and due to which employees do not have any turst. Donkeys and Horses appraised on the same yardstick and at times the donkeys may outsmart the horses. Professionalism has taken a back seat to the extent that those close to the management call all shots views of the experts may not be taken into cognizance. Strategic planning process dealing with devising long-term and short-term goals/objectives has been given a back seat. The strategic planning exercise is merely a shorn and action plans display the high handedness and wishful thinking of top management. Overall discipline in the organization is a all time low with people getting away with favouritism. The top management team is more into routine jobs rather than urgent corporate Governance issues requiring their attentioin. In doing so they end up usurping the authority of their subordinates which has a cascading effect, adversely affecting the morale of employees at all levels. Job rotations and transfers at senior levels are too frequent at the whims and fancies of people in authority. This leads to lack of continuity in organizational processes with a resultant low productivity all round. Because of whimsical approach of senior management, employees at lower levels try to impress their seniors and spend more time in gaining favours rather than doing their duty. This further hampers the flow of work. Lack of confrontation with the real issues by the top and senior management. The problematic and time consuming issues are pushed under the carpet and mostly remain unattended. Lack of leadership qualities in the top management delays decision making and even then the decisions are taken, those are not in the best interest of the organization. Because of varius maladies mentioned above mere sustenance of organization has become crisisridden. Nobody is looking at the growth initiatives like diversifying, increasing the market share, investing in latest technology, meeting competition etc.
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Lack of systems orientation leads to wastage of time, energy of employees and infrustuous expenditure. There is a total lack of trust between various levels of employees and between employees and management in the organization. Employees are afraid to take risks for fear of being branded and of failure. No system is followed in execution of jobs. Quality standards and norms are flouted. Monthly, weekly and routine meetings are sporadically handled. Strengths: Though the Organization has become ridden with problems there are a number of inherent strengths as well. These strengths if properly encashed upon can not only bring the organisation back to its glory but can take it on a sustained growth path. The strengths which got highlighted during the interviews are: i) ii) A dynamic and committed professional Chief Executive who intends taking the organization forward. Highly competent professional cadres of employees with skills and competencies second to none. Organisation can build on these strengths for achieving its long term objective rather than allow these to stagnate.
iii) The brand value and image of the company is very good. iv) The product/services image is good. v) People are generally satisfied and it is expected that employee motivation will increase if the Management style and practices improve.
vi) Employee Welfare practices and company policy are good. vii) The incentive schemes and productivity linked reward schemes have been signed well and the past track record is good. viii) Company has sound personnel polices in place. ix) The employees are treated as interval customers and given due importance. x) The technical knowhow & technological superiority over the competitors is known and accepted in the industry.
xi) Fellow feeling among the employees, sharing and helping attitude and a family environment is the basic strength of the organisation. xii) Long standing goodwill in industry and experience of operating in the changing global scenario. xiii) Low turnover of employees. Highly experienced employees with long term employment in the company. xiv) Most of the employees are having overseas experience of working on various projects abroad. xv) Employees feel sense of loyalty towards the company having spent more than 15-20 years with the company. xvi) Highly professional work environment with freedom to experiment with innovative ideas. Recommendations Looking at some of the maladies tormenting the organisation due to wrong governance polices as well as looking at the strengths thrown up by the diagnostic study, the consultant has come up with the following recommendations for proposed turnaround of the corporation. 85
i) Strategic Dimensions a) It is important to devise a vision & mission statement and company objectives for the company by involving. b) A consultant to undertake environmental scanning exercise to help develop a corporate plan for 5 to 15 & 20 years. c) Constitute various functional committees for developing long term & short term strategies in various functional areas i) ii) Corporate strategy Marketing strategy
iii) Operating/production strategy iv) Financial Management Strategy v) R & D Strategy vi) Procurement/Materials Management Strategy vii) Project Management/Construction Management Strategy viii) Human Resource Strategy All the above strategies should integrate at apex level with corporate Strategy. d) Internal Environment Scanning After conducting the diagnostic study the following observations have been made by the consultant. i) ii) Need to improve the Trust which is low. Channels of Communication which are should be revitalized by ensuring that all communication should be a two way process.
iii) Top Management to follow practice of Openness & transparency in all matters. e) Regular Meetings to be held in all functional domains viz. Departmental Meetings, Divisional/zonal meetings and review meetings-in areas like Production and Planning Meetings Marketing Human Resources Project Planning These review meetings are essential to take stock of progress made, utilization of resources allocated, production/project various etc. f) Individual responsibility & accountability at each level to be documented. g) Individual roles to be clearly defined without any overlaps. h) Systems should be put in place to ensure that various work processes as well as people processes are executed through these systems viz. Production Planning & Control System ERP Enterprise Resource Planning System Performance Appraisal System Manpower Planning System Human Resources Information System (HRIS) Management Accounting & Control System Inventory Management System Exist Management System Knowledge Management Syst. 86 i) To curb employee turnover by introducing more employee friendly policies.
j) Introduce TQM, Just in time or six sigma quality practices for quality product/service delivery. k) Introduce Customer Proximity or Customer Relationship Management Programme. l) The Chief Executive alongwith other board members should focus attention on better governance and boundary management activities and delegate routine activities to senior management levels. m)Image building exercise should be undertaken organisation wide.
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Appendix II
WORKSHOP METHOD FOR ORGANISATIONAL DIAGNOSIS: AN ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE OF A FAST FOOD CHAIN The Fast Foods Chain (FFC) is located in a metropolitan city. It has over a 100 outlets in the city and is planning to open at least another 200 in the next 2-3 years. The FFC has become so popular in the city that there are demands from other cities to open their branches. There is a master kitchen in the city where some of their popular items are made and distributed every day to the restaurants. Their Pizzas, Juices and Ice Creams are very popular. Their head office consists of about 20 officers and 30 support staff. Their employee strength is about 100 in the master plant and about 2,000 in the restaurants. Each restaurant has an officer in-charge and reports to the area manager. There are 8 area managers in the head office looking after the various restaurants. The FFC is a partnership firm. The organisation is in the process of expansion but problems are already in the rise in some of its restaurants and in the master kitchen. In order to plan better for expansion the headquarters team decided to take stock of the existing situation. An OD Consultant was appointed to study the existing strengths and weaknesses of the organisation, its ability to cope with increasing business in the coming years and the preparation required for the same. For this diagnosis the consultant interviewed all the headquarters staff individually and a sample of restaurant manager. Since he could not get to interview all restaurant managers and at the same time interested in getting as many views as possible he requested for a workshop of the restaurant managers. 3 managers were called from each region for the first workshop. After explaining the purpose of the workshop they were divided into 3 groups distributing the managers from each region into different groups. Some of the managers worked earlier in the head-quarters office as their jobs are transferable. The following is a sample of items mentioned by the 3 groups as a part of their SWOT analysis. The list is illustrative and not exhaustive. Strengths 1. Informality and accessibility of top management. Any one can approach them at any time. 2. Fast decision-making at the top. 3. Moderate pricing of all food items. 4. Good quality of food items supplied by them. 5. Committed managers of restaurants. 6. Good advertisements and publicity. 7. Excellent co-ordination between master kitchen and restaurants. 8. Honest and sincere top management. 9. Concern of management about the Welfare of Staff. Weaknesses 1. Top management is conservative in financial investments. 2. Outdated kitchen machinery. 3. Lack of cleanliness in master kitchen, partly due to outdated machinery. 4. Top management is too flexible. Todays decisions may get changed tomorrow. 5. Too low salaries for staff.
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6. Unionism setting in the employees. 7. No autonomy to Restaurant Managers. For every small decision they have to go to top management. 8. Too much of paper work as too many daily returns are to be submitted to headquarters office. 9. Understaffing of some restaurants. 10. No one looks after personnel development and training needs of staff. 11. Poor facilities in restaurants for staff. 12. No reward system for better performing restaurants. 13. Some of the staff are not motivated. At the same time it is difficult to get new staff. 14. People have to work too hard. No time for relaxation for restaurant managers and no compensation. Head-quarters people are less burdened.
Opportunities
1. Demand from other cities to open chain. 2. Diversification into frozen foods vegetables, bakery, cool drinks and other areas. Threats 1. Break-up in the partners in the event of conflict. The FFC cannot afford it. 2. Competitors may enter the market and may be able to offer better environment to customers. 3. Deterioration in quality of foods with expansion. 4. Unionization of staff. 5. Increasing Fast Food restaurants in number and quality.
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Appendix III
FORCE FIELD ANALYSIS AS A DIAGNOSTIC TOOL* Force field analysis is a systematic way of analysing any given problem situation with the objective of identifying the possible solutions to improve the existing situation. Force field analysis is based on the assumption that any given situation at a given point of time can be understood as a resultant of two types of forces acting on it. The first type of forces are called the driving forces (or facilitating forces), and the second type are called the restraining forces (or inhibiting forces). Every situation or a given problem has an objective or an end state which is desirable. In order to reach the end-state a number of things may have to bedone. At a given point of time the movement towards the goal or the end-state can be assumed as stationary. This equilibrium can be understood as a resultant of the two types of forces mentioned above. Driving forces are those that push the existing situation towards the ultimate goal that is desired. These forces facilitate the movement towards achieving the goals. The restraining forces are those which hinder the movements towards the goal or act against it. A force field analysis of the marketing of handloom products is presented in Exhibit 1. The goal the group had in mind was to increase the marketing of handloom products from 40 to 80 per cent in a single year. The analysis was done in a workshop of Managers and other Executives in charge of Handlooms.
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* Reproduced with permission from Udai Pareek. TV Rao and DM Pestonjee. Behavioural Process in Organizations, New Delhi, Oxford & IBH, 1981, Pages 262-269.
Appendix IV
ASSESSMENT CENTRES AT AMERICAN TELEPHONE & TELEGRAPH COMPANY Assessment centers are used increasingly as a selection tool. They were reportedly introduced at the American Telephone & Telegraph Company in the 1950s and are still in use there.
Day 1:
Orientation Meeting Management Game: Conglomerate Forming different types of conglomerates is te goal with four-person teams of participants bartering companies to achieve their planned result. Teams set their own acquisition objectives and must plan and organize to meet them. Background Interview: An 1 hour interview conducted by an assessor. Group Discussion: Management Problems. Four short cases calling for various forms of management judgement are presented to groups of four participants. In one hour the group, acting as consultants, must resolve the cases and submit its recommendation in writing. Individual fact-Finding and Decision-Making Exercise: The Research Budget. The participant is told that he or she has just taken over as division manager. He or she is given a brief description of an incident in which his or her predecessor has recently turned down a request for funds to continue a research project. The research director is appealing for a reversal of the decision. The participant is given 15 minutes to ask questions to dig out the facts in the case. Following this fact-finding period, he or she must present the decision orally with supporting reasoning and defend it under challenge. Day 2: In-Basket Exercise: Section Managers In Basket. The contents of a section managers in-basket are simulated. The participant is instructed to go thought he contents, solving problems, answering questions, delegating, organizing, scheduling, and planning, just as he or she might do if he or she were promoted suddenly to the position. An assessor reviews the contents of the completed in-basked and coducts a one-hour interview with the participant to gain further information. Assigned Role Leaderless Group Discussion: Compensation Committee. The Compensation Committee is meeting to allocate $8,000 in discretionary salary increases among six supervisory and managerial employees. Each member of the committee (participants) represents a department of the company and is instructed to do the best he or she can for the employee from his or her department. Analysis, Presentation, and Group Discussion: The Pretzel factory. This financial analysis problem has the participant role-play a consultant called in to advise Carl Flowers of the C.F. Pretzel Company on two problems: what to do about a division of the company that has continually lost money, and whether the corporation should expand. Participants are given data on the company and are asked to recommend appropriate courss of action. They make their recommendation in a seven-minute presentation after which they are formed into a group to come up with a single set of recommendations. Final Announcements Day 3 and 4: Assessors meet to share their observations on each participant and to arrive at summary evaluations relative to each dimension sought and overall potential. 91
Exhibit 1
Driving and Restraining Forces Operating on the Marketing of the Handloom Products Analysed Using Force Field Analysis.
Rating
Very Strong Strong Somewhat Strong Weak Very Weak Problem : Goal Desired : Handloom Marketing To achieve 80% marketing of the products from the present level of 40% within a year and to continue it. Figures within the brackets indicate the strength of the force; 5 represent a strong force and 1, a weak force. 5 4 3 2 1
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Driving Forces
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Good foreign market available for handlooms (4) Liking for Indian handloom (3) Delicacy in handloom texture and still in production (3) Handlooms can cater to the needs of small requirements (4) Handlooms can cater to the need for special designs as per individual requirements (4) Providing greater employment with less investment (4) Local market readily available (4) Availability of traditional craftsmenship (5) Use of new fabrics in handloom (3)
Restraining Forces
Lack of improved designs and colours schemes (5) High cost of yarm (3) High price of products (4) High cost of inputs (3) Exploitation by master weavers (4) Lack of publicity (4) Lack of appreciation of handloom products (4) Lack of purchasing capacity (4) Competition from powerloom mill sectors (5) Lack of good finishing facilities (4) Government requirement being met from powerloom and mill sector (3) Non-availability of yarn (2) Fluctuation of yarn price (3) Outdated looms in utilisation (4) Lack of market research (5)
6. 7. 8. 9.
10. Flexibility and wide range of production (3) 11. Availability of sales subsidy (4) 12. Availability of export incentives (3) 13. Good demand in handloom garments and make-ups (3) 14. Government encouragement in various forms (3) 15. Preferential government purchases (3) 16. Lack of standardisation (5) 17. Lack of quality control (5) 18. Lack of quality consciousness (5) 19. Inadequate salesmanship (4) 20. Lack of window displays (4) 21. Lack of holding capacity (3) 22. Lack of incentives to salesmen (4) 23. Lack of commission agents (4)
24. Lack of sales drives and exhibitions (4) Exhibit 2 deals with the objective of bringing as many weavers as possible into the hold of weavers cooperatives. At present weavers are reluctant to join cooperatives. It is aimed at getting at least 60 per cent of the weavers into cooperatives.
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Exhibit 2
An Analysis of the Factors Influencing Weavers in Joining the Cooperative.
Driving Forces
Ratings of the strength of the force

(4) (2) (2) (4) (4) (5) (4) (3) (3) (4) (3) (4) (1) (3) (3) (4) (4)
1. More average income 2. Sense of ownership 3. Participation in democratic management 4. Government assistance in the form of loans and subsidies 5. Package of incentives for modernisation 6. Continuous employment 7. Provision of housing facilities 8. Training and education facilities 9. Sharing of surplus in the form of dividend 10. Elimination of middlemen 11. Collective bargaining powers in the purchase of raw material 12. Supply of quality inputs which facilitates weaving 13. Open and voluntary membership 14. Availability of processing facilities 15. Assured marketing facilities 16. Financial assistance for marketing in the form of rebate 17. Institutional finance at concessional rate Inhibiting Forces 1. Ignorance about the benefits of the cooperative form of organisation 2. Sentimental and traditional attachment to master weavers 3. Financial loyalty to master weavers 4. Mismanagement of cooperative societies 5. Dormancy of cooperative societies 6. Obligation to contribute share capital 7. Non-availability of consumption finance 8. Weavers lured by higher wages by master weavers during peak season 9. Strict insistence of quality control in cooperative societies and likely discontinuance of work for substandard work 10. Compulsory deduction from wages for contribution to thrift fund 11. Politicisation of managements of cooperative societies 12. Economic non-viability of cooperative societies 13. Availability of finance under DPI scheme 14. Lack of interest shown by the government in managing cooperatives 15. Lack of managerial capabilities in those managing cooperatives 94 16. Lack of personal touch
(5) (4) (3) (4) (4) (3) (5) (3) (3) (2) (2) (4) (4) (4) (4) (5)
New Forces (Brainstorming) 1. Enrolment of project weavers wherever feasible. 2. Provision of consumption finance from government through cooperative societies. 3. Obtaining contribution by government to the thrift fund contribution by weavers. 4. Director of handlooms to be vested with all powers of Registrar of Cooperative Societies in relation to Weavers Cooperative Societies 5. Fixation of minimum wages for weavers. 6. Extension of Bonus Act to handloom weavers. 7. Extension of gratuity and old-age benefits to weavers. 8. Extension of ESI benefits to weavers. 9. Strict enforcement of reservation orders. 10. Director of Handlooms to be delegated with enforcement powers in relation to reservation orders. 11. Compulsory purchase by government and semi-government organisations from cooperative societies. 12. Liberalisation of managerial subsidy and caderisation. 13. Matching contribution for rebate by centre for the duration the states give. The above analysis was done by a group of managers employed in the handlooms sector. After the analysis the managers decided that they can not do anything about the following forces as they are not within their control: Driving forces: 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 16 and 17. Inhibiting forces: 2, 3, 6, 7, 10 and 11. From among driving forces they chose the following forces for strengthening further: 3, 11, 14 and 15. They also chose the following inhibiting forces for weakening them: 1, 4, 8, 13, 14; 15 and 16. In addition they decided to explore the possibility of adding some of the new forces suggested. On the basis of these further action plan were worked out for implementation. The forces identified in force-field analysis may have different strength. Some forces may contribute highly towards the movement in the forward or backward direction in achieving the goal. Some forces may be very weak. Some forces may be irreversible or unchangeable. Some other forces may be easy to change. In using force field analysis as a technique of organisational diagnosis and problem solving the following steps are followed: 1. Define the ultimate goal or objective or the desired end-situation. 2. Locate the existing situation diagramatically on a straight line where one end of the straight line represents the desired goal state and the other end represents starting point. 3. List the various forces that are blocking the movement towards its goal and those that are acting against the movement. Brainstorming in group settings has been found to be very useful in making an exhaustive list of restraining forces. As many forces as possible should be listed without debate. There
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could be differences of opinion on some but it is useful to list even controversial forces. 4. Make an exhaustive list of driving forces as above using brainstorming techniques. Some of the driving forces may be just opposites of the restraining forces. 5. Using brainstorming techniques add as many new forces as possible to the existing list of driving forces. At this stage do not think of the possibilities. It is useful to suspend rationalistic thinking in brainstorming and merely list them. 6. Quantify the strength of each forces (both restraining and driving forces) a 5-point scale (where 5 indicates that the force is very strong and point 1 indicates a weak force in the direction indicated). 7. Remove all the forces one by one through discussion about which the problem-solving group has no control or can do nothing about it. 8. Select those driving forces which are very weak. Identify the mechanism of strengthening these forces through discussion. 9. Select new forces which could be added and identify the mechanism of introducing these forces through discussioin. 10. Select the strong forces among the restraining forces. Identify the mechanisms of weakening these forces. 11. Identify the mechanisms of removing some of the restraining forces. 12. Work out an action plan to introduce change to bring out the desired endstate. Force field analysis does not require any special skills for using it. It is a systematised approach towards problem solving. The use of force field analysis is groups has been found to be an effective way of bringing about change. There have been several experiments conducted in the past which indicate that through a systematic analysis of this kind, change can be brought in easily. Managers and administrators when faced with problems or when they find that they have not been able to achieve targets they desired, it is useful to have a group meeting of their staff or team members and do a force field analysis of the situation. They should be prepared to spend at least half a day to one day on this. Familiarisation with brainstorming techniques would help greatly in conducting such sessions effectively. Force field analysis helps in systematically analysing the problems and the invovement of those who are expected to implement change in identifying the change strategies increases commitment. It has other advantages of increasing morale, getting people to know to solve their problems at their levels, enjoyment of work and so on. A great degree of resistance to change can be countered with this techniques. The driving and restraining forces are diagnostic dimensions of the problem or situation. This technique could be used for a specific situation or for general diagnosis of an organisation.
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MS-10
Block
ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE

UNIT 12 Organizational Development (OD) UNIT 13 Alternative Interventions UNIT 14 Process of Change UNIT 15 Change Agents: Roles and Competencies UNIT 16 Institution Building 5 20 55 80 117

Dr. Sasmita Palo Berhampur University Berhampur Prof. D.V. Giri Berhampur University Berhampur Prof. B.K. Dhup Fore School of Management New Delhi Mr. Parth Sarathi AGM BHEL, NOIDA Prof. Ravi Chandra Osmania University Hyderabad Prof. G.S. Das IMI, New Delhi Prof. Pestonjee (Course Editor) Ex-IIM Ahmedabad Prof. B.B. Khanna Director School of Management Studies IGNOU, New Delhi Course Co-ordinators: Dr. Srilatha School of Management Studies IGNOU, New Delhi Dr. Nayantara Padhi SOMS, IGNOU, New Delhi
Print Production
July, 2004 (Revision) Indira Gandhi National Open University, 2004 ISBN-81-266-1303-3 All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form, by mimeograph or any other means, without permission in writing from the Indira Gandhi National Open University. Further information about the Indira Gandhi National Open University courses may be obtained from the Universitys Office at Maidan Garhi, New Delhi-110 068. Printed and published on behalf of the Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi by Director, School of Management Studies. Cover designed by King Craft, Karol Bagh, New Delhi. Lasertypeset by ICON Printographics, B-107 Fateh Nagar, New Delhi-110 018 Paper Used: Agro-based Environment Friendly
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BLOCK 5 ORGANISATIONAL DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE

This block consists of five units. The first unit deals with Organisational Development (OD) in which it has discussed about objectives and substances of OD. The second unit describes different OD intevention techniques. The third unit i.e. process of change discusses the types of change, process of change and resistance to change. The fourth unit deals with various roles of change agents and their competencies. The last unit of the block describes how an organisation becomes an institution.
UNIT 12 ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (OD)

Objectives After studying this Unit, you should be able to understand :

what is Organizational Development (OD) its definitions, the objectives of O.D. stages of O.D.
Structure 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 12.7 Introduction Definitions Stages of Organisation Development Essentials for Success of Organisational Development Summary Self-Assessment Questions Further Readings
12.1 INTRODUCTION
There is a lot of similarity between an organization and an organism (living things). All organisms take birth, survive, grow, impact the environment, stabilise after some time and the start decaying and ultimately die. Organizations also take birth and undergo similar stages as the living organisms except the last two stages. If appropriate steps are taken, the last two stages can be avoided in case of organizations. Today the vulnerability of the organizations has increased. Due to rapid knowledge and technology explosion, many organizations are becoming unviable within no time. A number of options and new features are available to customers, hence product-life has shortened. Newer approaches to cost reduction, quality improvement and delivery time reduction are posing continuous threats. Rapid changes in economic, political and social environment are bringing new types of problems. Thus, modern organizations have no option other than continuously striving for enhancing their coping abilities. A variety of interventions under the umbrella of Organization Development are available to the modern organizations for remaining effective and growing in the rapidly changing environment.
12.2 DEFINITIONS
Organization Development has been defined differently by different people. Some of the definitions are given below. a) Warren Bennis "A response to change, a complex educational strategy intended to change the beliefs, attitudes, values and structure of organizations so that they can adapt to new technologies, markets and challenges and the dizzying rate of change itself." b) Richard Beckhard An effort (1) planned (2) organization-wide (3) managed from the top to (4) increase organization effectiveness and health through (5) planned interventions
in the organizations processes using behavioural science knowledge. Such efforts are usually long term (at least 2-3years) action oriented (rather than merely training) focused on changing attitudes and/or behaviour through experience based learning activities primarily in a group setting. c) Wendell L. French and Cecil H. Bell OD interventions are sets of structured activities in which selected organizational units (target groups on individuals) engaged with a task or a sequence of tasks where the task goals are reflected directly or indirectly to organizational improvement. Interventions constitute the action thrust - of OD, they make things happen and also, whats happening. d) Udai Pareek A planned effort initiated by process specialists to help an organization develop (a) its diagnostic skills (b) coping capabilities (c) linkage strategies (in the form of temporary and semi-permanent system) and (d) a culture of mutuality. e) Thomas G. Cummings and Edgar F. Huse A system wide application of behavioural science knowledge to the planned development and reinforcement of organizational strategies, structures and processes for improving an organizations effectiveness. f) National Training Laboratories, U.S.A. Using Knowledge and Techniques from the behavioural sciences, Organization Development attempts to integrate individual needs for growth and development with organizational goals and objectives in order to make more effective organization.
12.3 STAGES OF ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT

OD efforts are made in stages. The details of activities in each stage depend on the model being followed. Three models that may be mentioned are: i) ii) iii) Lewins Change Model having three stages: Unfreezing, Movement and Refreezing; Planning Model with the stages: Scouting, Entry, Diagnosis, Planning, Action, Stabilization Evaluation and Termination; and Action Research Model comprising the stages: Problem Identification, Inviting a Behavioural Science Expert, Data gathering / Preliminary diagnosis, Feedback to groups, Joint Diagnosis of Problem, Action and Data gathering after Action.
For the sake of more clarity, the stages followed in the OD efforts (a large organization) have been shown in Figure 1.
12.3.1 Initiation
This stage consists of the following substages. a) Feeling the need Organization Development efforts are mainly initiated when a top management person feels the need. Some times the need is felt when organization is doing very bad and sometimes when the organization is doing very good. For example, in a large public sector organization, the need was felt by the head when there was continuous problems in quality of the products. It has been observed that in many organizations, felt the need when the organization was striving to define its vision and mission for coping with the future challenges.
Sometimes the need is felt by seeing other organizations especially competitors growing and prospering. Need has also been felt in some organizations when they were making strategies for turn around or when a consultant makes presentation giving success stories of other companies. If need is felt by somebody at the lower levels, he has to make efforts for convincing the senior management, because unless the CEO is convinced and assures active support, OD activities should not be initiated.
Initiation
Organizational Development (OD)
Diagnosis
Planning & Design of Interventions
Carrying out the Plan (Making Interventions)
Evaluating Results
Termination or Going for Next Phase
Figure 1: Stages in Organization Development Efforts A General Model
b) Inviting Consultants Once the need is felt, consultants are invited. Consultants may be internal or external. Due to low knowledge level of clients, some times consultants who have a good name in management field but are not expert in organization development get entry. Therefore, selecting a consultant for organization development is very important. Organization Development is a Behavioural Science based approach, hence the first requirement is that the consultant should possess an indepth process skill understanding behavioural processes. Accredited Behavioural Process Facilitator therefore is the most desirable requirement. This is more so because Organisation Development approaches are largely based on Process Consultancy. c) Identifying and Clarifying the Need The consultant initiates discussions for ascertaining what the client would like to change in his organization and what help is required from the consultant. Interaction may be held with the Chief of the Organization and a few other top management persons for identifying and clarifying the need. In some cases the CEO is found to be very clear on some needs and in some organizations the CEO completely depends on the consultant for identifying and clarifying the needs. Unless and until the need is not truly felt by the CEO, it is advisable not to initiate organization development efforts.
For clarifying the need a number of methodologies may be used like, environment analysis - internal and external, SWOT analysis, scenario building, developing Mission, Vision, Values and Strategies, comparison with competitors etc. Success stories of successful organizations and Satisfaction surveys are also some times used. d) Exploring Readiness for Change Inspite of the strongly felt need, it is essential to explore the readiness of the organization to change. A process facilitator may call a meeting / workshop of senior people and on the basis of observations on the interaction, he can get an idea of the readiness to change. When too much fascination for the status quo is sensed, fear and apprehensions are strongly expressed, case of failure are cited more than success stories, resource scarcity is repeatedly presented. OD should not be initiated in a hurry. Some consultants conduct a few workshops for assessing the readiness. Instruments/questionnaires are also used by some consultant. An approach developed by J William Pfeiffer and John E Jones may be suggested. This approach is based on 15 indicators which they have developed in the form of a check list (instrument). The indicators are being enumerated in Table 1 under three broad classes.
Table 1.15 Indicators for Readiness to Change General Considerations Size of the organization Growth rate Crisis (situation) Macro economics OD history Culture
Resources Time commitment Money Access to people Labour Contract limitations Structural flexibility
People Variables Interpersonal skills Management development Flexibility at the top Internal change agents
Source : OD readiness by J.W. Pfeifer and John E Jones in The 1978 Annual Handbook.
This instrument / check list can be served to a number of people in the organization, including the top management and the findings should be discussed. This will not only give an idea about the readiness, but also raise the awareness towards some of the crucial pre-requisites. 8
e) Formulate Contract The role of the consultant and the client, and objective of the project, resources required by consultant, the outcome desired by the client all the important aspects are clarified and then an MOU or contract between the client and consultant is formulated for carrying out the OD interventions. Financial implications should also be clarified at this point.
12.3.2 Diagnosis
Diagnosis is the process of assessing the functioning of the organization or departments to discover sources of problems and areas of improvement (Cummings and Huse, 1989). This stage consists the following substages. a) Problem Identification (Preliminary) Problems may be of many types. Some may be hidden and some apparent. Usually, the symptoms are visible but not the causes or problems. A problem may be there in any one of the organizational component task, structure, technology, human resources or prevailing in more than one component. Many a times, the problems are experienced in the environment ( internal or/and external). Problems are situations in which we experience uncertainty or difficulty in what we want to achieve. Problems arise when obstacles prevent us in reaching the desired objective. In problem identification, there is a high possibility of taking symptoms as problems. Some managers have a strong tendency to look at problems from one (technical / functional) view point only and thus the multi-disciplinary aspect of problem is ignored. It is also a widely prevalent fact that managers, particularly those having more experience have pre-conceived ideas about the causes of problems but they may not be knowing the real problems. The things in the foreground will be fully visible only when there is a background, therefore, sometimes the study of the background helps in understanding the problem. How the problem is seen, experienced and perceived by different people in the organization is very important for its solution. The preliminary problem identification stage includes gathering and analysis of information on the organizations activities and performance. This can be done by going through various reports including annual reports, types of grievances raised, industrial relations related data etc. The most important data comes through discussions with Senior management personnel, Trade Union leaders, Workers, Middle management and supervisory levels. The Consultant at this stage is not interested in details but is trying to understand the trends, relationships, communication, decision-making, circles of influences etc. Consultants use a number of approach for identifying important problems. In one organization, the Consultant first had a long discussion with the CEO asking his perception of problems the organization was facing. He identified the problems mainly in the background of what he wanted the organization to achieve but the organization was not achieving (i.e. gaps). When the consultant wanted to know the causes of the gap, some of the problem areas were identified. He subsequently talked to a few persons at different levels in the organization and could know about various problems. In another organization, a Top Management Workshop conducted in which individuals first identified problems by writing on slips (confidentially) and then
the slips were collected and segregated. Problem identification workshops were held for other levels also and then a few commonalties and trends were identified. One company tried to identify problems by a SWOT Analysis. While others preferred to make comparison with competitors and identify problem areas, or going for a functional approach function by function SWOT analysis. The use of sophisticated techniques like FOCUS Groups and Play Card Method is also increasing gradually. Thus, a variety of approaches and methods are used for initial problem identification the main purpose is to identify some crucial areas for further analysis. Identification of Organizational Need Does the organization need OD interventions? At this stage, this is ascertained. The commitment of the CEO is crucial; the willingness of the Senior Manager team is also crucial because OD is a Top Down Approach. In one organization, after a long discussion with the Consultant, the CEO told to go ahead if the consultant experiences the need and the consultant did not initiate OD efforts in the company. Why? Because he did not sense a strong need for OD in the CEO. The Consultant has to make sure, whether OD is the right intervention for solving the problems of the organization. Only after making sure he should proceed ahead. Identification of Areas for In-depth Analysis OD is costly intervention. On the basis of preliminary problems identification, and resources likely to be made available, areas for in-depth analysis may be identified. Too many problems should not be taken up in the beginning. b) Diagnosis In OD, organizational diagnosis is a collaborative process between organizational members and OD consultant leading to collection of relevant information, analysis and drawing inferences for planning actions and interventions. A number of diagnostic models explain the characteristics of organizational diagnosis. But the Systems Model showing organization as an open system is quite fundamental. Apart from the three components (Input, Processing and Output). Input Processing Output Outcome
Feedback
Figure 2 : Systems Model
Feedback and interaction with boundry is also very important from diagnosis point of view. Indepth diagnosis can be designed for the critical problem areas identified in the previous steps. However, normally organizational systems can be diagnosed at three levels. The diagnosis may focus on anyone or all of the components as each level (Table 2). 10
Table 2 : Levels of Organisational Diagnosis Organizational level : Input Processing (Conversion) Goals Policy Strategy Environment Resources Task Structure Technology/Systems Human Resources Culture Effectiveness/Efficiency Market share Return on Investment Quality Delivery (timeliness) Cost Satisfaction of customers Benefits to Society or Impact on Ecology / Environment etc.
Outputs
Outcome Group level : Input Processing
Organizational design Organizational norms Task Structure Norms of Performance Interpersonal relations Other characteristics of Individuals Quality of decisions Team effectiveness Cohesiveness Collaboration Organizational environment Satisfaction, pleasure in Work. Achievement orientation Customer satisfaction
Output
Outcomes
Individual level : Inputs Organizational design Workgroup design Personal characteristics of employees. Job content/requirement Matching of Job and employee profile. Task identity Skill variety Task significance Task identity Autonomy / Feedback Personal effectiveness Performance level Quality of performance Job Satisfaction Motivation / Achievement Motivation Creativity / Risk taking Personal growth etc.
Processing
Output
Outcome
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From the above mentioned Table, or on the basis of preliminary diagnosis, area for in depth diagnosis is identified. For example, customer satisfaction, poor morale and motivation, Quality / Delivery of Products and Services, Organizational Environment, Managerial / Leadership styles etc. c) Design of Data Collection / Survey A variety of data collection methods may be used for this purpose. Some are enumerated as:

Questionnaires; Interviews; and Observations.
Usually, a mix of these three are used In designing a diagnosis, it is essential to collect data both in respect of content and process aspects. Whatever method is used, it should be designed properly and tested and validated before actual collection. It is advised to use statistical methods in determining the sample size. A number of organizational diagnosis instruments are available through various sources which may be successfully used. A few of the approaches or organizational diagnosis have been briefly suggested in the book Planning, Auditing and Developing Human Resources, By Parth Sarathi. d) Analysing the Data, Making Inferences The data which has been collected through various techniques are to be analysed systematically. A number of statistical methods like frequency diagrams, scatter diagram, run charts, correlation and regression analysis are useful for quantitative analysis. For qualitative analysis techniques like Force Field Analysis, Fish-bone diagrams (root cause analysis), Affinity diagram, Why-Why diagram, How-How diagram are very useful. e) Sharing of Diagnosis and Feedback OD differs from other interventions in one way that the data, after analysis is feedback to the population from where it has been collected. For this, Survey Feedback meetings are organised where the analysis of the data collected is presented. The audience is encouraged to give their comments / reactions. It serves two purposes the credibility of OD group is established because they are showing what they have collected, analysed and infered. It also provides opportunity for seeking clarifications and supplementary data to test the inferences. This is a very powerful intervention because the persons get a picture of the organizational issues, perceptions and feedback on individual and group behaviour. Survey feedback intervention includes of collection of data / information about organizations and giving feed back in the form of the data/information to managers and employees so that they can diagnose problems and develop action plans for solving them. Generally, questionnaires (standard or custom designed) are used for data collection. The salient features of findings are shared with people in groups starting from Top Management to the lower levels. Both content and process observations emerging during this sharing session are noted down and further clarity is obtained by seeking more data whenever required. Certain precautions are taken while interacting mostly those which are taken care of while giving feed back to an individual. The analysis should
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(i) represent reality, (ii) raise some anxiety and (iii) be descriptive rather than evaluative. For example, an organizational diagnosis was carried out in an organization and the information contained in Table no. 3 was presented. Organizational and personal pride, performance excellence and Team Working and Communication were found to be the weakest dimensions, which was readily agreed by most of the groups, but created some anxiety considering the impact on the future of the organization. A few senior executives and also a few from the personnel function gave some defensive replies which were thoroughly discussed.
Table 3 : Organizational Norms Score and Ranking Norm 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Colleague & Associate Relationships Customer & Client Relationships Innovativeness & Creativity Leadership & Supervision Profitability & Cost Effectiveness Candor & Openness Training & Development Team Work & Communication Performance & Excellence Organizational & Personal Pride V G G G G G G G G G P AA AA AA BA BA BA BA BA BA BA Average Score + 43.69 + 37.86 + 34.06 + 27.4 + 27.39 + 27.15 + 26.69 + 26.42 + 21.46 + 17.04
12.3.4. Planning and Design of Interventions

An intervention is a set of structured activities in which selected target group (individual, groups, organizational unit) engage with a task or sequence of tasks where the task goals are related directly or indirectly to organizational improvement (French & Bell, 1983). In other words, OD interventions refer to range of planned, programmed activities in which people participate during the cause of a formal OD effort. The OD interventions are focused on Individual, Dyads, Triads, Teams and Total Organization. Some of these are enumerated in Table 4.
Table 4: Levels of OD Interventions Level of Intervention Individual Intervention Education, Training for improving knowledge, Skills and Attitudes. Coaching and Counseling Sensitivity Training (T-Group Training) Interviews (for problem diagnosis, action planning) Process Consultation (for interpersonal relations, Communication) and Conflict resolution. Group/Team Team Building Improving communications Survey feedback Conflict Resolution Conflict resolution Organizational mirroring MBO, QWL, TQM, Strategic Planning, Change (Values and beliefs, cultures etc.)
Dyads/Triads
Teams/Groups Organization
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OD was carried out successfully for over a decade in a large Public Sector Engineering Company. Organizational issues, which emerged, may be presented here for illustration: Strategic Management Issues

Product mix - Classification of products, differential strategies for future. Competitiveness Customer Satisfaction Coping with future change in environment Organizational values / objectives Relationship with collaborators New products
Technical / Technological Issues

Competing on Technology front Upgrading of machines and technology Technology vs. Human Resource costs Readiness for new products R&D vs. Technology acquisition Quality, productivity as competitive edge.
Structural

SBU / or Product Manager structure or Functional structure. Manufacturing Companies or Project Management company. Business Sectors - relationships Hierarchical differentiation and interaction Work design
HR Issues / HR Process Issues

Morale and Motivation Retention of experts Setting goals Rewards Career / Succession Planning Leadership Communication Interpersonal relation Problem Solving
Finance / Economic Issues

Unrealised funds Huge inventory Rejects / Return from customers Investment vs. revenues Resource Crunch Unproductive assets Delay in payments Stores in transit
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All of these issues may not be resolved only through OD intervention, but these issues can be brought to surface, a common understanding can be established, issues / sub issues can be prioritised and planned efforts for resolving them may be made under OD framework. This helps in getting the commitment and involvement of people in resolving the issues. Some of the typical OD interventions used in resolving the issues may be enumerated as : Strategic Interventions Self designing organizations, Culture change, Open system planning, Trans-OD, Strategic change. Techno-Structural Interventions

Differentiation and integration Structures formal, collatral Work design Quality of work life
HR Process Interventions

Goal setting Rewards system Career Planning Development Stress Management T-Group Third party intervention Team Building Process Consultation Survey feed back Organizational confrontation meeting Normative approach Inter-group relations
The activities under the Planning Design and Intervention stage are briefly enumerated as : a) Selecting Areas of Improvement After sharing the feed back, the working team of OD sits together and prioritizes areas for improvement. For example, after diagnosis and feed back, the following areas were identified for work in one company. Achievement Team work Participation Raising Quality Awareness The areas are not selected randomly. Involvement of top management and some representatives of the involved areas is essential at this stage. b) Setting Goals OD interventions are time bound. What output/outcomes are expected in each of the selected areas need to be clearly identified. They should be specific,
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measurable, flexible and time bound. The criteria for understanding and assessing the accomplishment of goals and methods of assessment and measurement should also be developed before making the interventions. Complete clarity and agreement on the above is a must. c) Developing Alternative Strategies / Interventions For achieving the goals, alternative interventions are to be designed. Some interventions may be common for all or many goals and some may be specific to one or few goals. d) Selecting Alternative Strategies Each of the proposed alternatives are evaluated carefully to select the most appropriate one. Some of the appropriate interventions will be situationally determined, but considering the following aspects will be helpful.
The key variables in the relationship that will determine the success or failure of the intervention. The Behavioural Science Theories and concepts which will be used in process of understanding the organization. The basic elements of the organization (health, culture, climate) and interventions / techniques (e.g. T-Groups, team building, organizational mirroring, confrontation sessions) to be used to help the organization solve its problems.
There should be complete agreement on the intervention selected and the resources and competencies available / to be made available should also be considered. e) Develop Implementation Plan A plan for implementation of the intervention should be chalked out early identifying the activities, lead persons, facilitators, resources required, help required and time frame.
12.3.5 Carrying out the Plan: Making Interventions

This stage consists of the following substages. a) Preparing the Team For carrying out the interventions, a team of internal resource persons is prepared. Ideally, this is a multi-disciplinary team which would make the interventions and help in its successful implementation. The internal resource persons should be skilled in Human Process facilitation and should have undergone intensive training programmes. b) Conducting the Activities Whatever interventions have been planned, are to be implemented. In many areas, employees would pose resistance which is to be overcome. If the approach appears to be inadequate or inappropriate amends are to be made. The experience are to be documented highlighting both process and content aspects. Regular interaction with the committee / task force members and Consultants is very essential. c) Mid Course Evaluation After interventions have been made, periodic evaluation is required for ascertaining whether the interventions are bringing desired results. If yes, then further follow up is required. If not, it must first be examined whether interventions have been made as per the plan. If interventions have been made as per the plan but are not giving the desired results, the causes must be
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examined and if need, alternative interventions should be designed and introduced.
12.3.6 Evaluating the Results

After all the interventions have been made, the results should be evaluated. The criteria developed earlier should be used as the reference points. A variety of methodologies such as comparison of the actual results (tangible) with the planned results, interviews and survey through questionnaire and workshop etc. may be used as per the need. The members of the OD Task Force jointly with the Top Management and Consultants should decide the future course of action.
12.3.7 Terminating
OD intervention should be terminated after achieving the desired results. The termination should be done in a planned manner. If the Organization decides to go for the next phase, again the cycle should be repeated.
12.4 ESSENTIALS FOR SUCCESS OF ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The essentials for success of OD are mentioned below: 1) Perception of organizational problems by the Top Management and Key persons in the organization. 2) The acceptance of the fact by the Top Management / CEO that his primary accountability is Profit but his primary responsibility is OD. 3) A belief in the Applied Behavioural Science profession, and willingness to invite a consultant. 4) Active involvement and support of Top Management. 5) Willingness to do Action research: conceptualizing implementing evaluating. 6) Patience in waiting for results adequate awareness of (Behavioural) Processes and emphasis on improvement of Process aspects. 7) A genuine belief in Human Resources. 8) An OCTAPACE climate (Udai Pareek, 2002) Openness Confrontation Trust Authenticity Pro-action Autonomy Collaboration Experimentation
9) Success in initial OD efforts. 10) Belief in Training and Development. 11) Involvement of Line Managers and HR Managers companys HR Policies congruent with OD philosophy and values. 12) Identification and Development of Internal resource persons (Facilitators for OD)
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13) A high level committee of Top / Senior level managers who are knowledgeable in their functions, managerially competent, optimistic, having a sense of inter-dependences and urgency, clarity and belief in the super ordinate goals of the organization and a learning attitude. 14) Willingness of the members of the organization to change their thoughts and feelings as a result of OD efforts. 15) A belief in searching for the better way of doing / managing and adaptability to change. 16) Interventions should aim at change in the organizational climate / environment as well as the social processes within the organization. 17) The interventions should be based on scientific diagnosis and parameters for measurement of success should be clarified in advance. 18) Continuity of OD efforts even after change in Top Management. 19) No imposition of any thing the interventions should be chosen by the client from amongst many alternatives.
12.5 SUMMARY
To cope with the changing business scenario, a variety of interventions are available under the umbrella of OD for the modern organisations. In this unit number of definitions of OD has been discussed also general model of OD efforts having six steps has been given.

1) Define OD and what are the objectives of OD? 2) Discuss the stages of OD. 3) What are the essentials for sucess of OD?

Bennis, Warren. Organization Development, its nature, origin and prospects, Addison Wesley (1969). Beckhard, R. Organization Development: Strategies and Models, Addison Wesley (1969). French, Wendell L. Jr. Cecil, H Bell. Organization Development, Prentice Hall of India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi (1983). Pareek, Udai, The concept and the process of organization development, Indian Journal of Social Work (1975), 36(2). Chattopadhyaya, Somnath & Pareek, Udai Managing Organizational Change, Oxford & IBH publishing Co. (1982). Cummings, Thomas G. & Huge, Edgar F. Organization development and change (4th Ed.) West Publishing Co. New York (1989). Adams, J.A. Theory and Method in Organization Development: An Evolutionary process. Va: National Training Laboratories, Institute of Applied Behavioral Science 2,1 (1967). Kurt Lewin. Field theory in Social Science, Harper and Row, New York (1951).
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Pfeiffer, J.W Jones, E.J. O D Readiness, The 1978 Annual Handbook for Group Facilitators, University Associates, California (1978). Sarathi, Parth Planning, Auditing and Developing Human Resources, Manak Publications, New Delhi (2002). Alexander Mark. Organizational Norms Opionnaire, The 1978 Annual Handbook for Group Facilitator (Ed. Pfeiffer, J.W John, E. Jones), University Associates California (1978). Pareek, Udai Organizational Culture: OCTAPACE Profile, Training Instruments in HRD and OD (2002).
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UNIT 13 ALTERNATIVE INTERVENTIONS

Objectives After studying this unit, you should be able to:

understand the meaning of an OD intervention, learn the range of OD interventions, learn deeply a few selected HR based interventions.
Structure 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6 13.7 13.8 13.9 13.10 13.11 13.12 Introduction OD interventions: Nature and Rationale Survey Feedback Process Consultation Confrontation Meetings Organizational Mirroring Team Building T-Group Training Role Analysis Summary Self Assessment Questions Further Readings
Appendix 1 : An example of Process Consultancy Appendix 2 : Team Building Programme - A Case Study Appendix 3 : Formats for Role Analysis
13.1 INTRODUCTION
During the course of an OD programme there are several occasions in the organisation to collect data, initiate action, observe processes and provide feedback. All these activities are planned and carried out jointly between the change agent and client organisation; and in OD language are called interventions. Interventions are the action thrust of OD and collectively comprise the OD strategy in a programme of organisational renewal. A strategy is basically aimed at developing organisational climate, ways of work and relationships that will be congruent with the future needs. Needless to say, specific interventions are designed only after the overall strategy, has been decided based upon a systematic diagnosis.
13.2 OD INTERVENTIONS : NATURE AND RATIONALE

OD interventions are sets of structured activities in which selected organizational units individuals / groups engage with a task or sequence of tasks where the task goals are related directly or indirectly to organizational improvement. Interventions make things happen and are whats happening (Wendell L. French and Cecil H Bell Jr, 1983). Intervention is defined as a behaviour which affects the ongoing social processes of a system (Beckhard, 1969).
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Different experts have tried to classify OD interventions in their own ways and it is not possible here to present all classifications. A few approaches which have helped in understanding the nature and rationale of interventions are described as below.
Organizational Structure intervention Perspective intervention Cultural intervention Theory intervention Discrepancy intervention
Alternative Interventions
OD INTERVENTIONS
Dilemma intervention Experimentation intervention Relationship intervention Procedural intervention
Figure 1 : OD Interventions
1) Robert Blake & Mouton the pioneers of Grid OD, classify OD interventions in the following categories. Theory Interventions Theory and concepts especially in the area of Applied Behavioural Science are used to explain the behaviour and the underlying assumptions. This provides a suitable background for understanding some of the behavioural processes emerging during the interventions. Discrepency Interventions Many a times a contradiction, discrepancy or gap is observed in the behaviour and / or attitude of the people in the organization. In such situations, discrepancy interventions are used to focus attention and exhibit the matter. Procedural Interventions Such interventions focus on the critical appraisal of systems and procedures indicating how something is being done. This is aimed at examining whether the best methods / systems have been used.
Relationship Interventions
Inter-personal relationships are crucial in the organizational processes. Such interventions focus on analyzing the relationships and evolving ways and means to create conducive relationships. Experimentation Before taking a final decision, the proposed changes are tested for knowing their consequences in a small area. The decisions may be modified or retained after reviewing the results/ outcomes. Dilemma Interventions In dilemma interventions, an imposed or emergent dilemma is used to enable close examination of the possible alternatives involved and the assumptions underlying them. Perspective Interventions These are aimed at drawing attention away from immediate actions and demands, and allow a look at the historical background, context and future objectives in order to assess whether or not the actions are still functional. 21
Organizational Structure Interventions By examination and evaluation, structural causes for organizational ineffectiveness are identified and suitable interventions made under such interventions. Cultural Interventions Such interventions help in examining the traditions, precedents and practices existing in the organizations culture and appropriate efforts are made to bring desired changes. 2) Blake & Mouton further developed a typology called Consulcube, a 100cell cube depicting all consultation situations. The three dimensions of the cube are
What the consultant does: the type of interventions consultants use: Interventions used to give client a sense of worth, value, acceptance and support - acceptant. Interventions for helping the client generate data and information in order to restructure the clients perceptions - catalytic. Interventions for pointing out the value / attitudinal discrepancies in the clients beliefs and actions - confrontation. The interventions telling the client what to do to solve the problem prescription. Interventions used for teaching the client relevant behavioural science theory so that the client can learn to diagnose and solve his or her own problems. Power - authority Morale / cohesion Norms / Standards of conduct Goals and objectives etc. Individual Group Inter group Organization and larger social systems.
The focal issues causing the clients problems.
The targets of change
3) Another simple approach to classification is based on the focus on i) Individual - group; and ii) Task process. Individual - group: the interventions are aimed at individual learning, insight and skill building. Task - Process: The interventions focus on task, what is being done or Process How it is accomplished? How people relate to each other and what processes and dynamics are occurring ? 4) Another way of classification is HR based interventions, Techno- structural Interventions and Socio-technical interventions. In the table given below all the interventions except those in italics are HR based interventions. 5) If all the approaches are combined together, OD interventions can be classified into the following typology may be with some overlaping. 22
Table 1 : HR Based Interventions

Individual. Role Analysis T-Group (Sensitivity Trg) Education & Training & Development Job Enrichment Grid OD Transactional Analysis Process Consultation Third party peace making Team Building / (Task or Process focused) Survey Feedback Socio technical system Techno-structural activities Confrontation meetings Organizational Mirroring Strategic Planning Activities Life planning, career planning * * * * * * * * * Ph I * * * PhI,II * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Dyads/ Triads * * * * * * Ph III * Ph IV,V,VI * Teams Groups Inter Group Total Organization
OD has tremendous potential it may encompass all change efforts and enhance the competence of the organization in facing challenges. Being a Behavioural science based approach, developing internal resource person assumes top priority. It is a medium to long term intervention, hence no magic in the short term should be expected. This enhances the self-renewing ability of the organizations. OD efforts ideally take care of all aspects of growth and development. However, a proper balance and interrelationship between OD(HRD) efforts and strategic management efforts should be ensured to have a growing, developing ,healthy and dynamic organization. OD is essentially a Behavioural Science based approach, therefore human process interventions are the core OD interventions. Some of these interventions are quite unique but many have some overlap with others. It is very difficult to describe the interventions, because variations are common. In this unit, an attempt has been made to present the salient of some of the commonly used Human Process interventions. A few of these interventions have been described with the help of actual examples also. The interventions discussed here are: Survey feedback; Process Consultation; Confrontation meetings; Organizational mirroring; Team building; T-Group training; and Role analysis. Each of the interventions have been briefly described below.
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13.3 SURVEY FEEDBACK

This is the most widely used OD intervention involving data collection (through questionnaire), analysis and feedback of findings to the organizational members. Through Survey feedback, the managers and employees are provided with analysis of data collected from them for better diagnosis, prioritization of issues and planning of further activities. The steps are described below with an example. i) Feeling the Need of the Survey A feedback survey is conducted after some significant person feels the need of identifying and understanding the problem. In the present example, the Personnel Chief at the Head Office of a large multi unit company was keen on improving the organizational climate. He called an internal OD facilitator who advised to go for a preliminary diagnostic intervention to know the perceptions of executives on certain important dimensions. It was decided to cover all executives working in different departments at the Head Office. ii) Deciding Objectives (purpose of the survey) and Scope of the Survey Before conducting the survey, it is essential to decide and clarify the objective of the survey. The Consultant, client and his representatives meet together and discuss different aspects. In this study the main objective of the Survey was defined as To find out the perceptions of the executives on various dimensions of organizational norms with the aim of identifying areas for improvement of organizational environment. The study was confined to Executives working in various departments of the Head office. iii) Selection of Instrument (Questionnaire) Normally data is collected through questionnares (instruments which are designed specifically) since design and testing of a questionnare is a complex task needing high expertise, redesigned questionnaires are commonly used. Considering the likelihood of debate on the validity of questionnaire, it was decided to go for a standard questionnaire (Organizational Norms Opinionnaire developed by Marks Alexander). Organizational norms develop gradually and informally as the employees learn what behaviours are necessary for the group to function more effectively. In this instrument, Alexander has tried to enable the understanding of environment on the basis of the organizational norms. Norms (oughts of behaviour) are the behaviours which are considered to be acceptable behaviours as prescribed by groups and organizations. Positive norms support organizations goals and objectives and negative norms have the opposite effect. There were 42 one line statements in the questionnaire covering the 10 dimensions of norms; the responses were scored on the basis of the key. The following scale was used for interpretation. - 40 and below - 40 to - 20 - 20 to - 10 - 10 to 0 - 0 to 20 20 to 40 40 to 60 60 and above Extremely negative Very negative Moderately negative Low negative Poor Good Very good Exceptional
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The theoretical range of scores was from - 100 to + 100. iv) Methodology of Data Collection A variety of methods are used for data collection interviews, Emails, semi structured questionnaires, workshops, secondary sources etc. In this survey, it was decided to serve the questionnaire personally to all executives in the Head Office except the Top Management (Directors, EDs). Wherever the population is large, statistical sampling methods are used to determine the sample size. The questionnaires were collected back from who had responded. The response was over 40%. v) Scoring and Summary of Findings Some questionnaires are direct and some concealed type. In the later type, it is difficult to understand the dimensions of data collection, hence scoring key with instruction is used. It also gives some framework for interpretation. After scoring, the data was analysed by the internal consultant to find out the status and patterns. The highlights of findings (at the H.O.) level are given below. a) Ranking and Relative Status Frequency Distribution for the whole division is shown in Table 2. In actual report the same for different departments were also shown in different tables.
Table 2 : Frequency Distributions Norm 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Note : Colleague & Associate Relationships Customer & Client Relationships Innovativeness & Creativity Leadership & Supervision Profitability & Cost Effectiveness Candor & Openness Training & Development Team Work & Communication Performance & Excellence Organizational & Personal Pride VG - Very Good G - Good P - Poor AA- Above Average BA - Below Average VG G G G G G G G G P AA AA AA BA BA BA BA BA BA BA Average Score + 43.69 + 37.86 + 34.06 + 27.4 + 27.39 + 27.15 + 26.69 + 26.42 + 21.46 + 17.04
The above table shows that all the norms perceived by the employees are positive in nature. This means all the norms support the organizations goals and objectives and are able to foster behaviour directed towards achievement of the desired goals, but the range of the overall scores vary from 17.04 to 43.69. The average of the two (mean) scores comes out to be 30.365, on the basis of which the average score for individual norms have been evaluated as AA and BA. The score above 40% has been achieved only in case of Colleagues and Associate Relationship norms. 25
b) Strong Norms The Colleague & Associate Relationship, Customer & Client Relationship and Innovativeness & Creativity have been perceived as strongest positive norms in descending order. i) The overall rating of the colleagues & associates relationships has come as Very Good and the scores are Above Average. This shows that strong interpersonal relations exist in the organization, but the relatively low ranking of Team work raises some questions. One hypothesis may be drawn that on a personal level relationships are very good and cordial but when the question of working together comes, it is not very good. Leadership & Supervision style and Reward system may have important bearing on this.
ii) The second very positive norm has been identified as customer & client relationships. The high concern for customer & client satisfaction is a very healthy sign for the company and if sustained and increased, it will go a long way in achieving corporate objectives. iii) The third higher ranking is of Innovativeness & Creativity. It shows that to a large extent, original activities and creative behaviour are considered important in the organization. Efforts for planned change have a good potential of success. If somebody has the will and desire, he can do new experiments and implement things, but since the overall score is only Good such efforts may not succeed without sufficient preparation in raising awareness & breaking the inertia. c) Weak Norms One of the most striking findings is the lowest position (10th) of Organisational & Personal pride. Overall rating of this norm is Poor and Below average. This indicates a poor identification with or sense of belongingness in the organization. This also shows the presence of we-they attitude. This also indicates that the employees feel a lack of compatibility between their own and organizational needs. For a reputed organization, it should be a matter of concern. The next weak dimension is of Performance and Excellence (9th). This shows that the behaviour of striving towards productivity and quality is not strong but in other words, the quest for excellence or improvement is weak. This may have very wide ramifications. The reward system is specifically under question mark. In a climate, where rewards are based on objectively assessed performance, people value this dimension. d) Not so Strong Norms The remaining four dimensions i.e. Leadership and Supervision, Profitability & Cost Effectiveness, Candor and Openness and Training and Development fall in between. i) Leadership and Supervision has been perceived as Good but the score is below average. This shows that supervisors are seen as helpers, trainers and developers but to a lesser (varying) degree. Therefore, there is a great scope or need to improve the quality of Leadership & Supervision.
ii) The Profitability and Cost Effectiveness has been evaluated as Good but the score is below average. The positive score shows that there is a good climate to encourage people to save money and reduce costs, but it needs to be further improved. iii) The organizational norm on Candor and Openness has also been similarly placed i.e. Good and Below average. This shows that the environment of trust does not prevail to a greater degree. People see threats in sharing the feelings & information freely and openly. 26
iv) The 7th rank has been received by Training and Development. The overall scoring of 26.69 shows the presence of positive norms in the division, and indicates that there is encouragement of training and development activities to some extent. Department wise and level wise analysis was also carried out and findings were also given. v) Presentation of Feedback A meeting of the representatives from various departments along with the senior / top level executives was convened in the Conference Hall. The Consultant gave a brief presentation on OD and Organizational Environment. He also talked about some of the challenges the company was facing and the need of improvement. He gave a brief talk on how to give and receive effective feedback to prepare a climate of positive listening and exploration . This helped in creating a non-defensive (Supportive) climate before presentation of the findings. He encouraged the participants for free and frank interaction and presented the highlights of the findings. Many expressed their shock on Organizational and Personal Pride and Performance Excellence taking the lowest rank. They had a sigh of relief by observing that Colleague and Associate Relationship was at the top although the score was not very high. Department level findings created much interaction and concern many defensive responses started pouring in but were nicely facilitated leading to acceptance and exploration. After the presentations, there was a consensus to work for improvement on certain dimensions especially those, which have been placed in the lower ranks. They selected:

Organizational and personal pride Performance and Excellence Team work and Communication Training and Development
vi) Action Planning

Four Cross functional teams were constituted for preparing the recommendations and action plan to be presented in another workshop 4 weeks later: One of the suggestions was to prepare a hand book giving helpful and restraining practices for each of the norms. The Survey feedback workshop served as an effective intervention because the awareness of the status and implication raised a lot of interest and desire for improvement. Some improvement would have been initiated in some corners only by the effect of listening the findings of the survey. vii) Follow up A core group of 3 Senior level managers from 3 different departments was constituted for follow up action. Concluding Remarks Designing instrument for Survey feedback is the most important task and should be carried out only by trained persons. The methodology of data collection and sampling plans also need be decided professionally. The samples should be statistically valid.
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Standard questionnaires should be used if adequate expertise for questionnaire design is not there. The findings should be developed only after in depth analysis of the collected data. The presentations should be designed and organized in an effective manner. A Survey feedback session motivates the listeners to come together and work for problem solving and improvement.
13.4 PROCESS CONSULTATION

According to Schein, Process Consultation is a set of activities on the part of the Consultant, which helps the client to perceive, understand, and act upon the process events occurring in the clients environment. Expert help (solutions to problems) is not directly provided to the clients, rather on the basis of observations of functioning of the group, they are helped to diagnose the nature, dimensions and extent of the problems and evolve their own solutions. Process Consultants do not give solutions (contents, subject matter, techniques etc.) themselves but emphasise on and facilitate behavioural processes to enable the clients come out with their own solutions. Process consultancy is different from other models of consultancy and have following distinguishing characteristics:
Facilitation of communication a free and frank exchange of information and expression of feelings, apprehensions, fears by the clients and his personnel. etc. Enhancing problem solving abilities of the client so that they are able to solve their problems. Developing a process based relationship with the personnel involved. Develop open and authentic relationships with clients and their people.

Generally, the organizational processes such as communication, leadership, group norms, problem solving and role and functions are of primary concern in Process Consulting. Process Consultancy is useful when (i) the client experiences the effect (symptoms) but is not aware of the problems (ii) he does not know what specific help is required (iii) he understands that problems are attitudinal and behavioural but is not able to intervene and (iv) the client is motivated to learn and develop problem solving abilities in himself/his people. According to Schein, a variety of interventions may be used in Process Consulting:
Interventions aimed at making the group sensitive to its processes and enhance their interest in analysing the problems. Interventions aimed at problem identification and analysis (diagnosis). Interventions aimed at giving feedback. Interventions aimed at helping individuals / groups to observe and process their own data, learn giving and receiving feedback and solve the problems. Coaching and counseling also are frequently used. Interventions aimed a structural measures like job allocation, role changes etc.

An example of process consultation is given in Appendix 1.

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13.5 CONFRONTATION MEETINGS

Originally developed by Beckhard, this OD intervention is used for identifying and prioritising problems in organizations and beginning the working on the solution of the problems by involving many people. The typically used steps have been indicated as given below. 1) Convening a meeting of representatives of all departments in the organization. 2) Assuring and motivating the participants to be open, free and frank in communication, and giving a brief presentation on the need and importance of problem identification and working for solution in groups. 3) Dividing participants in small groups (5-7) and asking them to identify problems which are inhibiting their own and organizational performance. 4) Convening all groups together and make presentations of the identified problems. 5) Distributing copies of problems to be given to each participant and using an appropriate method. Problems are classified into different groups such as Human, Economical, Structural, Technological etc. 6) Prioritising the problems involving the entire participants arranging and synthesizing the problems for more meaningful understanding. 7) Facilitating the participants to collectively select a few problems for solution. 8) Dividing participants into groups according to the classification and nature of the problems and assigning them time to bring an approach for solution (or solution) with an action plan. 9) Convening the groups and making presentations by each group. Incorporating modification wherever required. 10) Getting the approaches and solutions examined by the top management and getting their decision on future course of action . Making a follow up and implementation plan and formal communication in this regard. 11) Preparing follow up plan. This intervention is very simple and needs a good internal or external facilitator. The climate building is crucial for success because a conducive environment will encourage the participants to give their ideas without any fear. Confrontation meeting can be held for Department / Function level and/or organization problems identification and solution. Different techniques may be used for problem identification, generation of alternative solutions, prioritization of alternative solutions and choice of appropriate solution etc. Generally such meetings are of 6-8 hours duration but depending upon the nature of problems, may be of longer durations having a few days gap between two meetings if one is not adequate.
13.6 ORGANIZATIONAL MIRRORING

This is an intervention, which is used by a section (department / function etc.) of an organization to collect the perception of other relevant sections of the organization with the aim of improving its performance, image and relationships with other sections. In a large multi unit company the Corporate Personnel Department wanted to know the perception of the unit Personnel Department and a few other significant departments. For this a Consultant (in this case internal) was invited
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and briefed. With the help of the Consultant and senior executives of Corporate Personnel, a few significant clients (customers) of Corporate Personnel Department were identified Corporate Finance Personnel Department of Major Units Personnel Department of a few sites Shop Floor (Production) Deptt. Training Department Trade Union representatives
Representatives (2-3 from each of these departments) were invited for a Workshop on a specified date. From Corporate Personnel, the head along with group leaders and a few others were the hosts. The Consultant had separately interviewed some representatives of each of the client group including the host group and collected relevant information regarding expectations from host group and their perceptions about the host group. In the beginning of the Workshop, the Head of the Corporate Personnel welcomed all representatives and explained that the Corporate Personnel wanted to bring in improvement in their performance and satisfaction of the internal customers. He assured that all the perceptions and impressions will be taken in a real positive way and requested to give free and frank opinion. The Consultant divided the representatives in 7 groups and asked them to discuss and bring out their perceptions about functioning of the Corporate Personnel covering both the positive and negative aspects. He also emphasised that the perceptions should be data based, objective and should be prepared keeping in view the requisites of effective feedback. The host groups were also asked to bring out their perception of their own performance. After 40 minutes, all groups were called in the hall and the representatives of Corporate Personnel (group leaders) sat in the Centre and around them, the members of other groups were made to sit. The host group requested outside groups to tell them their perceptions. A person was assigned the task of noting down the points on white board. By turns each group shared their perception. In case of confusion, the host group was seeking clarification. Members also interacted with each other in a controlled manner. After completion of sharing by every group, the hosts summarised and divided the main themes of perceptions in three parts: a) positive perceptions (appreciation) b) negative perceptions and c) main expectations (from Corporate Personnel) Once again, the total participants were divided into 4 groups by the Consultant and every group was asked to identify and prioritize issues / areas of improvement of the performance of Corporate Personnel. After 30 minutes, the groups were once again convened and presentations were made by the representatives of each group. Thereafter, a core group was constituted which identified key issues and presented to the whole group. Once the issues were discussed, consensus was
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arrived at and an action plan was prepared for implementation. The method used in this exercise is a simple example of Organizational Mirroring. Organizational mirroring intervention is very effective in improving performance and optimising the inter-departmental / inter-functional relationships. The facilitator (Consultant) intervenes for creating a conducive, non-threatening climate, eliciting desired information, making process observations to make group process more effective and crystallizing the issues.
13.7 TEAM BUILDING

Team building is the most commonly used OD intervention. It takes different forms and emphasises different aspects depending on the need and expertise of the Consultant and Trainer. A team is widely understood as a group of people working together to accomplish common goals. Thus there are two important aspects in the working of any team:
Task aspect: What is to be achieved or carrying out and the related aspects; and People or Relationship aspects: How do the members feel while interacting and working with each other? How do they communicate with each other? How do they respond? Who is trying to dominate any leadership issues? Are there conflicts? How conflicts are resolved?
The Task aspects are covered by Content aspects and People or Relationship aspects by Process aspects. Any team exists in environment and has interaction with several other teams within and outside the organization. Thus the teams may have different issues/ processes within the organization and focus may also be different like:

Intra-team task (content) focus; Intra team people (process) focus; Inter team task focus within the organization; and Inter team people focus within the organization
A team may have interactions with team(s) external to the organization like: Inter-team task focus Inter-team people focus with team(s) outside the organization; with team(s) outside the organization.
Team building programmes under OD efforts are carried out using interventions for release of pent up emotions, clarifications and strengthening perceptions, confrontations involving examination of ones own and others assumptions, resolution of conflicts, problem solving and concept based approaches and strengths for bringing synergy. Thus, team building issues have a wider implications and all aspects should be explored while deciding interventions. There are a variety of approaches but generally content based approaches, process based approaches and mixed approaches are used. Depending upon the diagnosis, the theme and competence of the facilitator, methodologies are chosen. Sometimes, Problem Solving approach is used in 31
team building intervention where the team / teams are facing some difficult problem. Here the design of a Team building programme conducted for a leading 2-wheeler manufacturer is being outlined briefly. The proceedings of this programme presents an in-depth explanation, it is available in the book Planning, auditing and developing Human Resources, Parth Sarathi. As a result of phenomenon increase in the awareness of the benefits of Team Work many organizations are organising training programmes on Team Building. Some programmes are organised as a sequel to diagnostic exercises or as a part of on-going OD activities and others as independent events. Various approaches are also being used to design such programmes. The use of process-based interventions in Team Building programmes is increasing. One major parameter for the choice of interventions is the orientation of the HRD Head / Consultant or the faculty engaged for such programmes. Another important constraint is the duration of the programme. It is believed that Team Building programmes based on T-group methodology are most effective, however, the batch-size (of maximum 10 participants) and the programme duration (minimum 5 days ) impose a serious limitation on using this methodology. Another constraint is the availability of professional T-Group Trainers; as such only accredited facilitators should facilitate programmes. The use of process based Structured experiences along with appropriate instruments in Team Building programmes helps in overcoming these constraints to a great extent. Such experiences may be designed or adapted from Structured experiences available in some books. Prior diagnostic exercises, indicating the strong or weak dimensions of team working are of great help in designing short-duration team building workshops. The structured experiences are able to simulate the real life situation, raise the feelings and provide suitable opportunities for making appropriate interventions at the de freezing, learning and refreezing stages. Such experiences create less hostility, give desired pace of movement to the group, create a situation where all participants are involved and facilitate giving and receiving feedback effectively. An experience is narrated in Appendix 2, which shows how structured experiences supported by instruments and facilitated through process skills can make the need based Team Building programme for Engineers truly effective.
13.8 T-GROUP TRAINING

Introduction T-Group (Training Group) is a small unstructured group in which the participants learn from their own inter-actions and evolving dynamics about issues pertaining to inter-personal relations, group dynamics and leadership. This is also primarily known as Sensitivity training and is a training approach based on experiential learning. In a group, around 10-12 participants assemble together and work with a facilitator to discover something about themselves their strengths, styles, inter-personal relationships, participation in the group, how they are perceived by others etc. The group does not have any pre-determined agenda and evolves its own agenda over the time. The participants act as a resource to each other and help in creating a climate, which is conducive to discovery through the data generated in the group. The group evolves like a laboratory where learning takes place mainly through experiencing, reflecting,
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hypothesizing, experimenting and conceptualising rather than through lectures. The individual is encouraged to express oneself and increase ones personal and inter-personal effectiveness in the group setting. T-Group Training normally adopts two paths (directions): i) ii) To gain deeper understanding about self and personal growth (inter-personal focus); and to explore group dynamics and relationship between members. This leads to team building interventions (Interpersonal and organizational focus).
Objectives Every T-Group is organised with some objectives. The following are some of the objectives frequently set for T-Groups:
Enhance understanding about self, gain insights into ones own behaviour and its impact on others including the ways in which these are interpreted by others. Enhance the understanding and awareness about others behaviour (thoughts, feelings and actions). Enhance the understanding and awareness of group and inter-group processes; processes that facilitate and inhibit group effectiveness. Identify and develop greater awareness of behavioural processes associated with ones life. Increasing diagnostic skills in inter-personal and inter-group situations. Experimentation of new behaviours initiated during the lab. Improve ones effectiveness in inter-personal situations so as to derive greater satisfaction from them. Discover ones dormant potential to live more effectively and meaningfully. Increase ability to transform the learning into action etc.

Benefits of T-Group Training The benefits of T-Group training may be enumerated at individual, group and organizational levels. Individual Level Many benefits of undergoing T-Group training have been reported and observed at the individual level. With the venting out of feelings bottled since long, the person becomes more spontaneous, tension free and is able to perceive things in more unbiased manner. The stress level decreases and thus the physical and mental health increases. He becomes more sensitive to himself, and is able to own up his feelings. This causes decrease in defensive behaviour and clarity in perception. The hopefulness increases; the latent strengths and limitations become known which result in realistic and achievement oriented goal setting. One is able to look into and examine his self-concept realistically and takes appropriate steps for strengthening it. This enhances self-esteem. The capability to explore options increases and therefore the decision-making becomes more effective. The internal locus of control gets strengthened and the motivation to make efforts for achieving individual and organizational goals increases. The willingness to change and coping abilities increase.
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Inter-personal Level Due to increase in the insights to understand others, and enhanced self-esteem, communication with other persons becomes supportive resulting in productive relationships. Since the self-disclosure increases, one is able to get more feed back which keeps on increasing the arena (open) resulting in creation of a trusting and open relationship with others. Aggression and defensiveness decrease which help in developing better relationships and increased influence. People want to work together and thus the teamwork improves. The assertiveness (concern for self) and cooperativeness (concern for others) undergo enhancement resulting in collaborative behaviour. Over dependence and counter dependence reduce and inter-dependence increases. It becomes easy to praise and give positive feedback to others, reduce the hostility towards others and receive feedback from others in a positive manner. All these aspects facilitate personal growth and effective inter-personal relations. Organizational Level T-Group training increases openness, trust realisation and inter-dependence which helps in creation of a conducive climate where everybody strives for realizing his potential. Hostility reduces and new and better ideas become available. The change interventions are better appreciated and if a large number of persons have undergone this training, the capability to cope with future challenges increases. Due to increase in the influencing ability, empathy and assertiveness, the leadership styles become more effective. The T-Group Training is not beneficial to Corporate Sector alone, it has been observed to be equally effective for persons engaged in the areas of Education, Health Services, Social Work and Industry. There are some Management Institute where the Postgraduate students compulsorily undergo T-Group training or Human Processes Labs or Personal Growth Lab. It should not be misunderstood that this training is useful for Trainers/HRD Professionals only. This is one of the most effective interventions for Self Development / Personal Growth and is useful to all persons irrespective of their education or level in the organizational hierarchy. The leaders in various sectors who are instrumental in influencing and developing others will be especially benefited. Persons who are finding it painful and difficult to cope with the inter-personal, team, family, social or organizational set-up will experience this training as a unique opportunity. It is essential for those who are in the role of facilitators in various organizational efforts such as - HRDI, Organization development, Total Quality Management, Business Process Re-engineering, Quality Circle, Productivity Circles etc. A Brief Outline of Working of T-Group There are 8-12 members (participants) in a T-Group. To start with the Trainer (called facilitator) informs the group that he is a member and a resource to the group and after brief introduction vanishes into silence. There may be spells of silence, the participant start inter-acting with each other, a leadership agenda may be created and the group keeps on struggling to work and its own methods for proceeding further. Whatever goes on, the group generates here and now data for learning experiences. Individual members try out different roles successfully or unsuccessfully as the group struggles with procedures. Sometimes, members become very active, involved, and aggressive and sometimes there a long patches of silence, withdrawal and sulking. The facilitator remains a member of the group and makes different types of interventions depending upon the purpose of the laboratory, his own style and
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the stages / processes within the group. The members are desired from bringing outside data and emphasizes on here and now data. The facilitator, through his interventions, encourages members to understand what is going on in the group, their feelings, behaviours and impact of the behaviour on themselves and others. An open, supportive and caring atmosphere where all members and facilitator are at the same level - is created which ultimately enhances experimentation, observation, sharing of data (thoughts and feelings and actions), processing of data with others for driving inferences, generalising the inferences (learning) and then applying it again and again. This facilitates greater insights into their own and others behaviour and understanding of group dynamics. Many a times, individuals undergo tremendous emotional pressure and turbulence and the bottled feelings find a venting out in the form of intensive emotional outbreaks. The individual gets a unique experience, which brings in clarity in their thoughts and feelings. They are able to perceive and respond more clearly and objectively. The facilitator does not teach them and never imposes his decisions. Some Basic Assumptions T-Group function under few assumptions : a) Learning is the responsibility of participants; b) The role of trainer is to facilitate the examination and understanding of the experiences in the group; c) Learning is largely a combination of experiences and conceptualisation and uses the experiential learning cycle: experiencing - publishing - processing - generalising - applying experiencing ..; d) Peoples learning is optimised when they establish authentic relationships with others; and e) The development of new skills (in working with people) is maximised as they examine the basic values, acquire concepts and theories, practice new behaviours and obtain feedback. T-Group Trainer A T-Group Trainer is called a facilitator. A facilitator is a process guide and makes a process easier or more convenient and guides the group towards a destination. It is difficult to enumerate the roles of a facilitator. One of the initial challenges in the role of the facilitator is his own leveling with the participants they should consider him a member of the group and not on a higher pedestal. He manages group by providing opportunities, alternatives, direction, setting standards and directing the communication. He ensures that the members understand the contents and processes actively and encourages them to reflect, interpret and explain what they are thinking and feeling. He helps them in processing and also occasionally in inferring and in this own way, gives meaning to their experiencing. Members get emotionally charged, become aggressive, sad, angry, excited and in the state of emotional turbulence quite often, the facilitator may also have similar experiences. In such situations, the role of facilitator in handling his own and others feelings become critical. He may have to stimulate / manage the emotions by challenging and confronting; facilitate release of strong pent -
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up emotions and playing a catalyst for interactions. He has to design and use a variety of interventions, which would encourage venting out of bottled feelings, dispelling apprehensions, and facilitate a free and frank sharing. In order to ensure that all these happen, a conducive group atmosphere will have to be created. Thus, relationship building is another important role of facilitator. Developing Facilitators Becoming a facilitator needs a lot of vigour and time. There is no academic qualification, which makes a facilitator; becoming facilitator is a tedious and time-consuming project. Indian Society for Applied Behavioural Science is the only Organization in India which develops accredited T-Group Trainers through different stages of a systematic programme. The stages for being an accredited T-group trainer (facilitator) are: 1) Basic Human Process Laboratory (One Week) 2) Advances Human Process Laboratory (One Week) 3) Professional Development Programme - Phase A (2 Weeks) 4) Professional Development Programme - Phase B (2 Weeks) 5) Internship (2 Weeks) A lot of inter-phase work is to be completed before progressing to the next stage right after stage No. 2. The progression to next stages is based on evaluation and recommendation. Concluding Remarks T-Group training, in spite of its limitations is spreading fast. It is an indispensable intervention for Team Building and OD, HRD professionals with process competencies have been found to have a definite edge over others who have not acquired such competencies; and therefore T-Group training has become one of the most important training outputs for them. Most of the Line Managers, who have undergone even one Laboratory (Basic Human Process Laboratory) have acquired some basic process competency and developed reasonable insights for understanding self and others, have become more proactive, their relationship with others has increased and they have become better team leaders/members. Many of the ex-participants have reported that they are facilitating HRD / OD / TQM / BPR initiatives more successfully after undergoing these laboratories. Increase in the coping skills, assertiveness, leadership effectiveness, persuasiveness, stress relieving etc., are some of the other benefits which have been reported. There are many individuals who have come out of their agonies, frustration and stagnation and are facing the challenges of life happily and successfully after undergoing process training. T-Group is the basic process training. At the organizational level - this has contributed tremendously in managing change. There are many organizations who have achieved their turn around, growth development and self renewal through process based interventions. One of the severe limitation of T-Group training is availability of competent and Accredited Facilitators. ISABS has so far not produced more than 100 facilitators. Conducting T-Group Labs by non-accredited facilitators may not only jeopardize the effectiveness but also cause immense harm to the others.
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13.9 ROLE ANALYSIS

Role analysis is a technique used for clarifying and prioritising the expectations of significant role senders from a role occupier/holder. A role is the pattern of behaviour expected by others from a person occupying a certain position in an organizational hierarchy. A role holder is a person occupying a role, and role senders are those persons who have some significant expectations from the role occupier. Dr. Udai Pareek and Dr. TV Rao have clarified a few related terms. According to them, a position or office becomes a role when it is defined by various expectations from that position. Some terms commonly used in this context are:

Task - basic element of a job; Job - a module of work; Work - productive activities; and Position - a point in an organization structure, role tasks expected (in a position) by self and others. Thus, the role definition is different from job description, the latter is static and impersonal but role definition is dynamic and personal. Personal qualities, growth, perceptions, motivations, ambitions, values, environmental instability are some of the factors determining a role. Success of an individual in a role largely depends upon the clarity of objectives. Role analysis helps in establishing this clarity. An approach for conducting role analysis has been given in this unit. The block diagram shown in Figure 1 can be referred for knowing various stages.
Decision to carry out Role Analysis
Constitution of the Core Task Force
Selection of Persons/ Positions for Role Analysis
Constitution of Specific Task Forces
Identification of Role Sender
Collection of Role expectations and preparation of Summary
Identifying Key Performance Areas (Role Definition)
Identification of Competencies required for the role
Identification of Gaps in capabilities
Plans and activities for development
Figure 1: Role Analysis : Block Diagram
Decision to Carry Role Analysis Role Analysis is a complex exercise affecting many persons and activities, and therefore, should be initiated after ensuring the support of Top Management. Some important aspects to be divided are: Coverage in terms of function and level; 37
Time frame for conducting the studies; Engagement of consultant; Identification and training of internal resource persons; Commitment for a) Budgets and resources; b) Development/updating of systems/procedures, work instructions; c) Changes in delegation of powers, if required; and The Core Task Force Coordinator.
Constitution of the Core Task Force The role analysis exercise should always be carried out by a group of managers, as such, it is essential to constitute a Core task force. This Core task force should bear the approval of the top management and consist of members from different functions. For multi unit organizations, the Core task force will be overall responsible for role analysis exercise through out the organization but at each unit and division, a separate core task force will be constituted. The members of the core task force should be given adequate training in role analysis by some internal or external consultants if required. Selection of Positions / Persons for Role Analysis Role analysis exercise preferably should be conducted for top / senior level positions in the beginning and gradually it can come down to lower levels of management. A list of positions/managers selected for role analysis exercise should be made indicating their names, staff numbers and place of posting. The job descriptions of the executives / managers (positions selected as above) will be carefully prepared. This will indicate the main work areas and responsibilities for each of the position. Constitution of Specific Task Forces Depending upon the coverage, specific task forces should be constituted for carrying out the Role analysis activities in specific levels / positions. Task forces should be constituted with some members from the Corporate Task Force and some from the concerned area and important interfacing area. Identification of Role Senders For each of the positions selected for role analysis, role senders should be identified. Role senders are those persons who have some work related expectations from the position or role. A list of role senders for each of the positions selected should be prepared. Collection of Role Expectations A format* (No. 01) will be prepared for each of the positions/roles to be studied. A copy of this format should be sent to all the role senders identified for that position. The role senders may be superiors, colleagues, subordinates, customers in his own department or other departments. The role senders will be requested to send the filled up format by the specified date. For each of the positions/roles, the formats duly filled up by the role senders will be collected and the task force members will discuss the same. A summary for each of the positions/roles will be prepared in format No.02 after resolving the discrepancies and discussions with the role senders and their superior. Thus, the main functions/activities required to be carried out by the concerned role occupier will be outlined and prioritized in the format No 02.
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* All the formats are appended at the end of the unit in Appendix 3.
Defining Key Performance Areas (Role Definition) Activities which are bearing highest priority will be identified from the above mentioned format and entered into format no. 03 in decreasing order of importance. These are the key performance areas for that specific role. This will be done by the task force members but the concerned manager will also be involved. These key performance areas provide the role definition for that particular role. Identification of Competencies Required for Carrying out the Roles Effectively Effectiveness of a person in the role depends on so many factors and one of the major factor is the competencies possessed by the person occupying that role. Competency is a word which has been used by different people with different meaning. Here the term competency has been used to include all the characteristics which are related to effective and or superior performance of a person in a role and includes the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities. Abilities include qualities, attributes, sets of values and beliefs and attitudes which would lead to effective performance in that role. For managerial positions, the competencies can be identified in each of the following aspects.
Technical/Functional requirements: Methods, Systems, Procedures, Techniques Managerial/Administrative requirements: Planning, Organizing, Coordinating, Monitoring, Controlling, Supervising. Strategic / Conceptual requirements. Envisioning, environmental understanding, analysing and prioritising, resource allocation and mobilisation, decision making, developing strategies.
Behavioural: Personal/inter-personal effectiveness, Leadership, Team Building, Goal setting, Motivating, Counseling, Developing, Delegating.
Identifying the Gaps between the Capabilities Possessed and Required After identification of the important competencies for a particular role, gap in competencies will be identified by comparing with the competencies possessed by the role occupier. This can be done by the self analysis by the role occupier, use of some bench marks or instruments, assessment centres or evaluation by the superior. If there is an appropriate HRD climate, this exercise will be quite easy, otherwise, people will experience various types of difficulties and differences. The HRD Department normally have experts in Personnel assessment and their contribution would be valuable in carrying out this activity. Gaps will be thus identified and prioritized for each roles. An inventory of gaps for each of the roles will be prepared as shown in format no. 04. Plans and Activities for Development After prioritising the gaps in competencies for various roles, strategies for enhancing those competencies would be prepared jointly by the role occupier, his superior and the HRD professional. Various alternatives for enhancing the competencies may be education, training, deputation to another activity, nominations in cross functional teams, coaching etc.
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Conclusion As mentioned earlier, the concept of role is dynamic. As such, periodically, the role definition should be updated. If implemented sincerely, role analysis will become a valuable tool for identifying suitable incumbents for placement on important jobs, career planning and succession planning. This will also prove to be one of the most effective methods of identifying the training and development needs and infusing achievement orientation in the role holders. Role analysis can also trigger efforts for organizational restructuring, Job redesign, Process re-engineering and design, outsourcing of managerial activities, review of Personnel policies, Delegation of Powers etc. This will be most useful for other HRD activities.
13.10 SUMMARY
At the outset of the unit, we discussed the meaning and scope of OD intervention. Subsequently a selected set of such techniques like survey feedback, process consultation, confrontation meetings, organisational mirroring, team building, T-Group training and role analysis have been discussed with the help of relevant case studies and illustrations.

1) Explain the meaning of OD Intervention. 2) Write short notes on: a) Process consultation b) Organisational mirroring c) Role analysis d) Team building

Blake R, Mouton J. The Managerial Grid, Gulf (1964). Becknard R The Confrontation Meeting in Harward Business Review 45 (1967). Blake R, Mouton J. Consultation, Reading Mass, Addison Wesley (1976) Schein E. Process Consultation: Its role in Organization Development, Addision Wesley (1969). French, Wendell L. Jr, Cecil H Bell, Organization Development, Prentice Hall of Indian Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi (1983) Beckhard, R. Organization Development: Strategies and Models, Addison Wesley (1969). Alexander Mark. Organizational Norms Opionnaire, The 1978 Annual Handbook for Group Facilitator (Ed. Pfeiffer, J.W John, E. Jones), University Associates California (1978). Schmuck, R.A, Miles M.B. OD in Schools, Pfeiffer & Co. San Diego (1971). Frohman, Mark. A. et al. Action-research as applied to Organization Development in Organization Development and research (Ed. Wendel, L. French etal, Business Publications Inc Dallas (1978). Pareek, Udai Rao, T. Venkateshwara. Designing and Managing Human Resource Systems, Oxford IBH Publishing Co. New Delhi (1981).

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Appendix 1 AN EXAMPLE OF PROCESS CONSULTANCY

After joining the Corporate Office, one of the Directors was not feeling comfortable. The Director had been a dynamic Unit head in one of the large manufacturing units of the company and in the Corporate Office, he was responsible for another function (Personnel). There were a good number of personnel executives at different levels who had been in the office since long and had developed their own way of working and inter-acting which was largely bureaucratic in nature. In a few formal meetings and inter-actions, the new Director asked the executives about their problems but no response. After spending a few months, in one of the Departmental meetings, he expressed his uneasiness and also told that he wanted the department to work differently. During this period, different executives had different types of experience with him but largely he was seen as a strong and autocratic type management personnel. Some persons have been treated very harshly on occasions and there was a fear in everybodys mind and therefore, they were not interacting with him openly. During the meeting, one of the executives told that there were problems but nobody was sharing because of fear. On this, the Director proposed to invite an external Process Consultant for identifying the problems and doing the needful for their solutions. The Consultant was briefed of the situation and he preferred to interview executives at all levels over a time period. After the interview, he arranged a Workshop in which he gave some inputs like FIRO-B, Johari Window and also introduced the Win as much as you can exercise for looking into the collaborative behaviour. With the help of these inputs over the two days, the executives started looking into themselves, trying to understand other persons in a better way and also the value of interactions. After some gap, another Workshop was organised in which the executives except the Head of Personnel and Director (Personnel), everybody participated. Some behavioural science based inputs were given here also followed by task of writing perceptions of different levels of executives. For example, executives were divided into different groups and each group were given the task of writing : a) How do they perceive themselves? b) How do they perceive their superiors ? c) How their superiors perceive themselves ? and d) How do the superiors perceive other officers ? The Consultant collected the perceptions of the Director and the Head about their executives and also about themselves. In the next part of the Workshop, all were invited and with the permission of all present, the Consultant shared the responses of the previous exercise. This perception sharing identified the commonality in perceptions and also the sharp differences. The differences were discussed and gradually all including the superiors started expressing their thoughts and feelings openly. Much of the venom, which had been collected over time was out and after some time calmness prevailed. A number of interventions for the future were designed jointly and one of the most effective interventions was to have a morning meeting from 9.15 to 9.30 everyday where all executives will be present and would share anything, which they consider significant. This meeting ultimately proved to be the means of major break through in the sense that there was tremendous increase in openness, trust and concern for each other amongst the executives. The role of the Consultant was that of a Process Consultant as he made his process observations right since the stage of interview and based on his
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observations, he chalked out future interventions and initially the interventions were focused on enhancing the competence of the executives to understand their own and others behaviours, experiencing the need of an open and trusting relationship, sharing mutual concern, empathy and moving towards collaboration. Based on the understanding of the human process, the facilitator created an environment which was desired by everybody and the clients evolved the necessary interventions leading to improvement / solution of problems. Concluding Remarks A survey is useful only if it is prepared in an unbiased manner, the concerned persons receive the findings in a non-defensive manner and action follows the diagnosis. In order to keep it perfectly unbiased a standard fully validated questionnaire has been used and identity of the respondents has not been disclosed. It is a natural tendency in human beings to first deny the medical diagnosis report and then get into a state of shock. The same is true in case of the organizational diagnosis reports also. Hence a conducive climate will have to be made before presentation. This should be seen in totality and any attempt to present a segmental view may be disastrous. The Process Consultation interventions are highly helpful in achieving this. Since everything comes from the clients, their confidence increases gradually and they start owning up the diagnosis. Since they are actively involved in designing the interventions, implementation becomes easier and their problem solving abilities also increase. It is expected that it will be received by the top management in the right perspective with the ultimate aim of bringing in improvement in all facets of organizational working.
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Appendix 2 TEAM BUILDING PROGRAMME A CASE STUDY

Background During the course of the ongoing organizational development efforts in the two wheeler company under reference, it was diagnosed that poor team work was one of the major problems in two main areas of the Factory. Although the problem appeared to be more intense in the other area but considering the willingness of the Head of the department (HOD), to participate, it was decided to hold the programme for this area first. It was expected that by the success of this programme, the HOD of the other area will be motivated to hold the programme for this area. A preliminary diagnosis based on the Building blocks questionnaire (Team Development Manual by Mike Wood Cock) was conducted and the following were identified as the comparatively weaker dimensions

Regular reviews Cooperation and conflict Appropriate Leaderships Openness and Confrontation Support and Trust Sound intergroup relations also was perceived as a weak dimensions but less in comparison to the above mentioned five dimensions.
Another diagnostic exercise had revealed the following aspects needing improvement.

Inadequate team organization Unconstructive climate Inappropriate leadership
A few other dimensions needing attention for improvement were identified as :

Soft critiquing Lack of creative capacity Low achievement orientation Insufficient group commitment Negative intergroup relations
Discussions had also been held with the heads of departments and the Chief Production Executive (CPE) of the factory who had some conflicting perceptions and unanimity on the opinions appeared to be difficult. Keeping in view the dwindling sales position, the company had drastically cut down the production; the cash position was not satisfactory, still the CPE decided to hold the Team Building workshop for one of the main areas. However, keeping in view the financial and operational constraints the duration was limited to three days and one evening. The most encouraging aspect was that all executives in that area were requested to attend this workshop. The CPE himself was very much keen to attend but opted out because of the fear that his presence would inhibit others from an open participation. Designing the Programme Based on the diagnosis and discussions, the following broad objectives were identified : 43
Broad Objectives
Identification / appreciation of the factors inhibiting the performance of executives. Providing an opportunity to experience the joys, frustrations, inhibitions of working in group. Sharing their concerns and feeling about each other and top management openly. Realising the impact of their behaviour on others. Bringing out an action plan for improving their performance as individuals and group. Bringing in synergy in the group.

The executives had earlier been exposed to interventions in the area of Interpersonal Relationships (FIRO - B) and a few had undergone Personal growth Lab based on T-group methodology etc. hence these inputs were not included in this programme. Duration of the programme The duration of the programme was 3 days full time on residential basis. The participants had been asked to report on the previous day evening (7.00 PM) so that approximately 2 to 3 hrs might be utilised on the opening day also. Broad structure of the programme The broad structure of the programme as planned before the commencement of the programme was as given below. Some changes occurred subsequently. Micro Lab (One Hour) The objectives were :
To have an informal introduction, defreezing and giving a glimpse of what is likely to happen during the programme and To get an indication of the energy level and inertia of the participants.
The methodology was planned to be interactive consisting of short instructions for sharing various personal and organisational perceptions, feelings, closeness to each other sandwitched between interesting spells of activities. Group Status Awareness (One and a half hour) The objective was to set the norm for group working that the whole programme would be centered on data generation, collection, analysis, open sharing and inference making and future planning will be done on that basis. It was also aimed at facilitating the awareness of the participants about the purpose of the programme and looking into the willingness and optimism about such interventions. The methodology included, data collection through a simple questionnaire, joint analysis and discussion. This session was planned to be initiated with a brief introduction to the background of organising this programme. A questionnaire (instrument), TORI developed by Gibbs was also planned to be filled up by each participant for capturing current and unbiased data to be analysed and discussed in one of the forthcoming sessions.
Agenda Building (3 Hours)

44 This module was proposed with the aim of involving the participants in identification of major issues to be dealt in the programme and also to become
aware of their perception of the factors inhibiting and facilitating their performance. It was planned to prepare a force field diagram by groups of participants showing the inhibiting and facilitating factors. It was also planned to process interpret and exhibit the outcome of the TORI instrument to give them the individual and group status of TRUST and its associated attributes like Trust, Openness, Realisation and inter-dependence. Group Working Experience (3 Hours) This session was designed to provide an opportunity to the participants to have an awareness of the content and process aspects, task and maintenance factors, the individuals impact on others and vice-versa, leadership roles and resource utilization, problem solving etc. A structured experience called STRAW & PINS modified to make it appropriate for the theme was proposed as means to have these experiences and emerging observations. Decision Making Process in Group (2 Hours) For giving further experience in group working, especially in the context of decision-making where achieving synergy is very important, an exercise called LOST AT SEA similar to the famous NASA or Desert Survival exercise was planned. This exercise was expected to enable them to get a quantified type of feedback regarding their performance in such situations. Conflict Management (4 Hours) This session was planned considering the need of increasing awareness about different types of conflicts, strategies for conflict resolution, to get a feedback on their predominant style of conflict handling etc. The focus was kept on interpersonal conflict, intergroup conflict and conflict management style. This session was also expected to enhance their collaboration and cooperation besides helping them to adopt the appropriate styles in conflict resolution and problem solving. The methodology to be used was experience through fantasy, instrumentation and lecture. Trust Building (1.5 Hour) In order to give them an experience of how trust builds up, a structured experience was planned. Interpersonal Relationships (3-4 Hours) Keeping in view the fact that participants had been earlier exposed to interventions like FIRO-B earlier, the session was kept as an optional one, to be taken up only if found to be necessary. The following interventions were kept in mind.

FIRO - B Johari Window / Giving and Receiving Feedback Interpersonal effectiveness profile
Survey Feedback (1.5 Hour) Since all the participants had responded to the diagnostic questionnaire as mentioned in the paragraph No. 2.0, it was planned that a brief presentation would be made on the findings of the study. 45
Image / Perception Sharing (2 Hours) The perception of one class of employees about the others play the crucial role in interpersonal relationship and team work. This session was included for providing an opportunity to different groups of participants to crystalize and share their perceptions about each other. It was also envisaged to practice giving and receiving feedback, and also to get an idea of the learning through the previous sessions. Action Planning (Three Hours) In order to develop an individual and collective action plan for bringing in real improvement not only in terms of Team Work but related matters, this session was planned. It was also thought that it would provide a very good opportunity to motivate them to apply the learning to their work. The preparation and implementation of Action Plan would be accompanied by a guide document especially prepared for this programme.
Feedback / Closure
This session was planned for taking the feedback of participants on various aspects of the programme and closing in appropriate manner. Alternative inputs were also planned to be given depending upon the emerging needs and direction of movement. The Programme Deleiberations The programme deliberations were documented thouroughly and available in the book Planning and Auditing Human Resources. Here deliberations on the Action planning interaction with top management and Closing sessions are being briefly outlined to give a better appreciation.
Action Planning
The participants were divided into the same two groups as in the Image sharing exercise. Each participant was asked to prepare an action plan for (i) becoming more effective individually and (ii) making the work group more effective. a) Individual Action Plan for Being More Effective The participants prepared their individual action plans in the background of the experiences in the previous sessions, especially the session on open house and image sharing. The format was as below:
Sl. No. Activity (to be initiated/ to be continued/ to be stopped) What specific support is needed from others to expedite the activity Name of the person / post from which support is needed
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b) Action Plan for Making the Group More Effective The participants initially worked in the same group. They were asked to first respond individually in the format similar to the individual Action Plan and then try to arrive at a consensus action plan. Then 2-3 representatives of both groups sat together and brought out a common Action Plan. Although discussions were held at length but the Action Plan gave only an outline. It was clarified that the group will further refine their action plan to make it in more detail, explicit and workable. The senior most manager (Mr. Prabhakar) volunteered to coordinate this activity. c) Individual Growth Goals and Support Keeping in view the time constraint, this action plan could not be made and discussed. However, the exercise to identify the most important Training and Development needs by the individual participants was carried out and they were advised to discuss with their superiors. The superiors were requested to objectively assess the subordinates needs and do the needful to satisfy these needs. They were advised to do it thoroughly at the time of detailing out the Action Plan. d) Other Actions The participants were given another document called for reference in course of preparation of action plans. Salient features of the outline are enclosed. On the whole, the Action Planning session was quite useful, as it provided them an opportunity to quickly scan through the 3 days experiences, introspect within themselves and also take each others help. The process was quite satisfying which gave a clear indication of the movement of the group on the dimensions of cohesiveness, giving and receiving feedback, tolerance to ambiguity, recognising others resources, arriving at consensus, resolving conflicts and sensitivity to each other. All these reflected a significant improvement in their problem solving approach. Interaction with Top Management It had been planned that the CPE will be invited at the end of the programme at about 3.30 P.M. to meet the participants and get the feedback. The interaction was started with a brief welcome. The CPE wanted to have a brief account of the deliberations. One of the participants nicely explained in a chronological order, the content as well as the process aspect, which was supplemented by the facilitator and a few other participants. The CPE was some times asking brief questions, otherwise he was making the notes. This presentation brought to the notice of the CPE many sensitive and controversial issues like i) ii) iii) iv) v) vi) Not inviting Ashok, a one senior executive (who had submitted his resignation). By passing the seniors and talking to juniors directly. Tolerating one of the heads (Mr. Prabhakar) carrying out manual production work instead of supervising the managers. At times being harsh on managers Too much monitoring Meetings - a ritual.
The CPE first commended the participants for the hard and sincere work put in by them and also the facilitators. Then he started responding to each of the issues. Initially, he was quite humble and polite. Gradually, he became assertive and for quite some time, when he was deeply in touch with his feelings, especially while describing his own and the superiors expectations and the tough situation the company was facing. He had become aggressive also
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for some time which made the facilitator quite worried for some time, as it was likely to result in an inappropriate reinforcing at the end of the programme. But gradually the pent up feelings were vented out and his communication became normal, friendly but assertive. The open and frank acceptance, owning up of a few lapses on his part and the authentic explanations of the CPE brought a number of significant issues to light and induced a spirit of authenticity in the participants. The common perception of managers about the Head (Mr. Prabhakar) about the issue of his spending time on manual work; proved to be wrong. The CPE told that he was recruited by him, but has consistently failed to satisfy his expectations, has remained ineffective inspite of periodic feedback, therefore, there were only two options: i) ii) to sack him or to put him on a job where he could contribute and hence asked to function in that area where production is a bottleneck. Thus, Mr. Prabhakar was working in the shopfloor like a skilled worker in order to preserve his job and utilize his specific skills.
This statement, probably in such clear words was not desired, because it would have been definitely embarrassing and having a demoralising effect on the concerned person. (The CPE after a few days was given a feedback on this by the consultant). The consultant and facilitator met Mr. Prabhakar alone after the programme and made an effort to make him comfortable. Many of the deeply seated beliefs or value issues surfaced when he (the CPE) was speaking of the discipline and commitment issues. These were also received by the participants in the right perspective. This could happen because of the fact that the CPE was open, frank, data based, had a high degree of commitment and was showing an exemplary patience in listening. This resulted in a truthful acceptance, owning up and realisation on the part of the participants, and many openly come out to confess their lapses and casual approach. The CPE assured his full cooperation in further developing and implementing the Action Plan. End of the Programme The programme ended with a closing intervention symbolising experiencing of synergy. All participants, facilitators and administrative support personnel alongwith the CPE assembled in the centre of the Hall, formed a circular chain joining hands with each other, moved in the circle for a few rounds and stopped holding the hands of each other. Facilitator made a few statements regarding feeling of closeness, flow of energy from one person to another, and told the group members to experience this feeling. After a few minutes, he coined a resolution let our energy, feelings, competencies, learnings to be channelised to develop an ideal work team in organization and contribute towards progress and prosperity of the organization and the country. Then all dispersed. The joy of achievement and pain of separation could be experienced by all while telling good bye to each other. Conclusion This programme, satisfied the objectives to a very great extent. The approach of experiential learning proved to be quite effective, and it was a thrilling experience to use a number of structured experiences and instruments. The theoretical input by way of lecturing was minimal. The participation and involvement gradually rose to the optimum level. Although no specific interventions were planned on interpersonal relationship and self awareness, these aspects were indirectly touched upon. The group had earlier been exposed to FIRO-B Johari Window concepts, perhaps, this helped in using the resources on other factors contributing to Team Work.
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Appendix 3 FORMATS FOR ROLE ANALYSIS

Format No. 01
ROLE EXPECTATION FORM

1. Name of the Executive (Role Occupant or the person being studied) Designation Deptt./Function Present responsibility/ brief job description Name of the Role Sender Expectations of Role Sender (to be filled-up in the table given below)
S.No. Functions/Activities suggested for the role (i.e. expectations of the role sender)
2. 3. 4.
: : :
5. 6.
: :
Relative importance ranking (start from 1 the highest rank)
% time (to be spent)
Remarks
Item No. 1 to 3 to be filled up by the HRD Heads representative Item No. 4 to be filled up by the concerned executive (role occupant) Item No. 5 should be filled up by the concerned executive after consulting his superior/tasks force members or coordinator. Item No. 6 to be filled up by the role sender. 49
Format No. 02
ROLE EXPECTATIONS FORM SUMMARY

1. Name of the Executive (Role Occupant) Designation Deptt./function Present responsibility/ brief job description Summary of Expectations (to be filled-up in the table given below)
S.No. Functions/Activities for the role...
2. 3. 4.
: : :
5.
Ranking (start from 1 the Highest rank)
Degree of agreement/ Disagreement
Modified rating
50
Item No. 1 to 4 will be filled up by the concerned executive.
Format No. 03
KEY PERFORMANCE AREAS (ROLE DEFINITION)
1.
Name of the Executive (or role occupant) Designation Deptt./Function Present responsibility brief job description Main activities in order of importance : (to be filled up in the table given below)
S.No.
2. 3. 4.
: : :
5.
Functions/Activities for the Role (KPAs) in decreasing order of importance
Remarks, if any
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Format No. 04
LIST OF COMPETENCIES REQUIRED
1.
Name of the Executive (or role occupant) Designation Present responsibility / brief job description
2. 3.
: :
4.
Main activities : (to be filled up in the following table)

Sl.No. Key Performance Areas in order Competencies for the KPAs (in order of importance)
Knowledge / Skill / Abilities 1. 2. 3. 4.
Overall priority for next 2-3 years: Priority No. 1 __________________ 2 __________________ 3 __________________ 4 __________________ 52 5 __________________
Format No. 05
COMPETENCY INVENTORY FOR VARIOUS ROLES (SUMMARY)

Unit Deptt. Section/Group ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________
S.No.
Title of the role & Name of role occupant
Competencies required for various roles Knowledge Skill Abilities
53
Format No. 06
LIST OF COMPETENCIES TO BE DEVELOPED FOR EACH EXECUTIVE
Unit Deptt./Function Section/Group
____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________
Role No/ Description (Title of Role)
Name of Executive (Role Occupant)
Competencies identified for Development During 1999-2000 Within 2000-01 Within 2001-02
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UNIT 14 PROCESS OF CHANGE

Objectives After studying this Unit you should be able to understand:

what is change ? types of change alternative strategies of change process of change, a few models of change resistance to change commonly used interventions of Managing Change.
Structure 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 14.6 14.7 14.8 14.9 14.10 14.11 14.12 14.13 14.14 Introduction Drivers of Change in Business Alternative Strategies of Change at a Glance Process of Change Change Models Phases of Planned Change Resistance to Change Overcoming Resistance to Change Some Principles of Change Reducing Resistance to Change: Few Suggestions Commonly used Interventions for Managing Change Summary Self Assessment Questions Further Readings
14.1 INTRODUCTION
The dictionary meaning of change as a noun is making or becoming different, difference from previous state, substitution of one for another, variation etc. Change is also a verb meaning to undergo, show or subject to change, to make or become different. We are experiencing changes in all spheres of our lives food, drinks, clothing, relationships, ambitions, living standard, work, tools, techniques. The changes are occurring so fast that people say in this rapidly changing world change is the only constant. There are numerous visible and invisible forces , which are constantly affecting changes in organizations, a few of them may be enumerated as follows: Technology Work force Economy Tools, techniques, instruments, methods, procedures. Knowledge, skills, ambitions, expectations, needs. Liberalisation, globalisation, privatisation, breaking the barriers resource imbalance. Mergers, acquisitions, entry of new organizations, new products, lowering prices, better services. 55
Competition
Social trends
Nuclear families, working couples, late marriages, one child norm. Warning ideologies, new equations, transitory relationships, coalition Govts etc., single superpower. New types of Finances and Financial Institutions
Political
Financial
All changes are not similar in nature. Some changes keep on happening on their own and some are planned. There are three types of changes.

Evolution Revolution Planned change
When people are not willing or / and not prepared for facing the change, change comes gradually as a natural process, in small adjustments or shifts in response to emerging problems this type of change has been called Evolution. When people reach a state of readiness to resolve conflicts by applying force on others to comply through coercion or suppression, revolution takes place. When efforts are made to make others experience the need of change and determine the ideal or desired situation and striving to achieve the ideal or desired state through planned actions planned change takes place. Social and Behavioural scientists have made diverse approaches to understand explain change process. Marilyn Ferguson has described four types of change in his Aquarian conspiracy Exceptional Change A particular change is accepted as an exception; there is no change in ongoing aspects. The existing beliefs are not changed but specific change is introduced separately, as an exception. In THE R&D division of a large organization flexi time was introduced as an exception all other divisions were continuing the ongoing system. Incremental Change A gradual change, those who are affected do not experience it initially. Computerisation in offices has been introduced as an incremental change in most of the organizations. Pendulum Change Change from one extreme point of view to the opposite pendulum change. In a Company elaborate procedures of open tender was in practice for engaging Consultants; suddenly they decided to go for single tender on negotiation basis. Paradigm change The new information about an event, object, behaviour, image is integrated and the picture shifts or enlarges, emergence of a new belief such a change is called paradigm change. A paradigm, in simple words may be understood as a cognitive model of how things are or a standard for how things should be. For example, the consideration for the success of a PSU today in comparison to those in the seventies. 56
Change also has been explained as a continuum the two extremes being No Change No Change Position The no change position indicates the 0 condition of inertia sticking to traditional view, valuing the past conservative thinking that new is definitely bad. Any change or deviation from the past is perceived as a threat a threat to beliefs, habits, preferences, norms and prevailing order. An example is evolving a performance management system, constantly sticking to the previous method where boss does it alone. The major benefit from this position is stability, less efforts, comfort, less risk but it also brings no growth, boredom, dissatisfaction, conformity and stagnation. Constant Change The extreme right indicates the state of constant change and presents a dynamic approach having a constant focus on future. It considers the new as always good. Any change is seen as positive and resistance is seen as bad not moving with times and an opposition to the norms and values and progress. A restlessness for knowing what is new and adapting the same without our objective assessment of the strong and positive aspects of what is the past or the present, not even the existing capabilities. In order to convince or implement the changes not much regard to the affected people is given, and effort to convince has much jargon and force and excitement. Some times, the focus on what is important and crucial is lost. This state provides energy, excitement and a Zeal to go ahead of the traditions. Productive (pragmatic) Change Between the two extremes is another approach the Pragmatic approach of change which is focused on the existing state (what is happening) and change seen as inevitable. The emphasis is on explaining the need for change and making a conscious choice without having a fascination or inertia for the past nor a compulsion for a rapid change. Desired (Productive Change) Constant Change
Process of Change
14.2 DRIVERS OF CHANGE IN BUSINESS

There are many visible and invisible factors, which may compel a business organization, how to effect changes of various types. A few general change drivers are increased competition, Price cuts, Technology, Laws, Customer / user demand. Change Targets There could be a Variety of possible targets of change in an organization. A few are :

Vision, mission task, and goal Structure Strategy Systems, procedures, technology Organizational Values Management styles Culture Human resource : knowledge, skills, attitudes, values 57
Table 1 : Factors Effecting Change DRIVERS Manufacturing : Company Reduced cost as a result of competition. CHANGES Cost control efforts; Man-power cuts, contract, employee, automation. Buy (Import) rather manufacturing, outsourcing, manpower reduction Setting up manufacturing/ unit in other countries. Change products, materials, technology, main equipments Technology import / product substitution. Putting units in areas having lenient laws. Customer (market) research lined retailing. Advertisement Departmental stores in place of small scattered stores. Healthy products, substitutes
High manpower cost
Cheaper imported products
Obsolete product due to technology change
Pollution Control Laws
Retailing Company
Change in choice of consumers (semi-cooked food, electrical/electron kits in place of fuel based equipments) Time constraint, ease in shopping.
Health awareness -- Low cholestrol oils vs. traditional oils. Time constraint
Home delivery, internet / tele shopping, automation.
14.3 ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES OF CHANGE : AT A GLANCE

Change has been a matter of great interest to the Sociologists and Behavioural Scientists. A number of theories and models have been postulated. Olmosk has presented a comprehensive view of a number of Change strategies and called them Seven pure strategies of change. Each of these strategies have been briefly summarised and explained. The Fellowship Strategy The assumption underlying this strategy seems to be, If we have good, warm inter-personal relations, all other problems will be minor. Emphasis is placed on getting to know one another and on developing friendships. Groups that use this model often sponsor discussions, dinners, card parties, and other social events that bring people together. 58
The fellowship strategy places strong emphasis on treating everyone equally; this often is interpreted as treating everyone the same way. All people must be accepted; no one is turned away. When the group is making decisions, all members are allowed to speak, and all opinions are weighed equally. No fact, feeling, opinion, or theory is considered inherently superior to any other. Arguments are few, because conflict generally is suppressed and avoided. The Political Strategy Political Strategists tend to believe that If all the really influential people agree that something should be done, it will be done. They emphasise a power structure that usually includes not only formally recognised leaders but informal, unofficial leaders as well. Much of the work done under the political strategy is the result of the leaders informal relationships. The political strategy emphasises the identification and influence of people who seem most able to make and implement decisions. It usually focuses on those who are respected and have the largest constituency in a given area. Ones level of influence is based on ones perceived power and ability to work with other influential people to reach goals that are valued by ones constituency. The Economic Strategy Economic strategists believe that Money can buy anything or any change we want. They emphasise the acquisition of or at the very least, influence over all forms of material goods, such as money, land, stocks, bonds, and any other tradable commodity. This strategy is widely used in the United States and the Western world and is used most often by large corporations and by the very rich. Inclusion in a group that espouses this approach usually is based on possession or control of marketable resources. Influence within the group is based on perceived wealth. Most decisions are heavily, if not completely, influenced by questions of profitability as measured by an increase in tangible assets. This approach is highly rational, based on the assumption that all people act more or less rationally from economic motives. As a result, such groups often have high needs for control and for rationality. The Academic Strategy The academic strategy assumes that People are rational. If one presents enough facts to people, they will change. To this end, academic strategists undertake an unending series of studies and produce thousands of pages of reports each year. Inclusion in a group that plans to use the academic strategy to solve problems or to make changes is based primarily on ones expertise in a given area or on ones desire to acquire such knowledge. Leadership and influence within the group generally depends on the degree to which the person is perceived as an expert. Newcomers to the field are considered to have little to contribute, while those with advanced degrees or many years of specialized study receive a great deal of attention. The Engineering Strategy Users of this strategy try to bring about behavioural change without dealing directly with the people involved. The underlying assumption is, If the environment or the surroundings change enough, people will be forced to change. Therefore, engineering strategists may spend a great deal of time studying physical layouts, patterns of interaction, and role descriptions in work places and classrooms without ever speaking to the employees or students. Groups that approach change in this way often recruit members based on their
Process of Change
59
technical skills. Group needs often are defined in terms of technical skills, which are considered more important than interpersonal styles. The Military Strategy The military-style approach to change is based on the use of physical force. The name military has been given to this approach because it conveys the appropriate connotation to most people, not because the military is the sole user of this approach. Police Departments, revolutionary student groups, and some teachers, for example, employ the military strategy. The basic assumption behind this approach is, People react to genuine threats. With enough physical force, people can be made to do anything. Therefore, considerable time is spent in learning to use weapons and to fight. Physical conditioning, strength, and agility are valued. Membership in military-strategy groups often is determined by ones physical power and by ones willingness to submit to discipline. Both within the group and in its dealings with the external environment, influence is exerted primarily through the fear of authority and through the threat of punishment. Members of military-style groups need control, status, and security. They often tend to view most problems and relationships in terms of power, authority, threat and exploitation. The Confrontational Strategy The confrontational approach to change is based on the assumption that if one can mobilise enough anger in enough people and force them to look at a problem, the required changes will follow. Although conflict is stressed, this strategy emphasises nonviolent conflict rather than physical force. Membership in such a group is based on ones ability to deal with and to use conflict in ways that benefit the group. The Applied Behavioural Science Model Most problems are extremely complex; a cut-and-dried approach to problem solving is not always the most effective or thorough. This is the basic assumption of the applied behavioural science (ABS) model. Groups that use the ABS model tend to believe that as many people who will be affected by the decision as possible should be included in the decisionmaking process. Within the group, ones level of influence is based on ones own knowledge and the degree to which one will be affected by the decision. Ideally, the person with the most knowledge about the problem and/or the person most affected by the decision should have the most influence. The ABS model considers any information or theory that will shed light on the situation and help the group to reach a decision to be valuable. Group members emotional needs are regarded as existing primarily for emotional and intellectual integration.
14.4 PROCESS OF CHANGE

Change is process of moving from the current state to the desired state (vision) of future. Making a change involves, moving the organizations people and culture in line with the strategies, structure, processes and systems to achieve desired state (vision). 60
Process of Change
Existing Situation
Change (Transition)
Vision Desired Situation
The existing situation is the status, which is prevailing at the moment, what the organizations looks like now. The desired situation is the status which one desires to prevail; it is also called vision. A vision helps in clarifying

What do we want to become? How much needs to change? What the Organization should look like when the change is completed?
The transition state may be defined by ascertaining the activities and processes necessary to transform the organizations from its current state to the desired state a road map for specifying the activities, crucial interventions and events during the transition period. For making an organization move from the existing state to desired state some force is to be applied. Some forces applied by the individual(s) undergoing the change oppose the force applied for moving to the desired state this is called resistance. This also supports Newtons third law of motion- Every action / force creates an opposition (resistance). Successful change the three stage model According to Lewins three step model, successful change in organizations should follow three steps : Unfreezing Intervening (moving) Refreezing
i) Unfreezing Newtons first law of motion states Every object remains in state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line unless and until an external force is applied to it. In the organizations also similar situations exist. When a product, service or profit is at a deteriorating stage but with the rapid changes there maintaining a steady state is not possible as the situations are bringing many types of forces, usually inhibiting forces which block the pace. For example, for a stagnant product, every product will remain stagnant and non-competitive leading to decay vertically down unless and until an external, innovative and relevant technology is proposed to cause its growth vertically upwards. Thus for making any change some thing has to be done in a planned way to disturb the status quo: this is called de freezing (unfreezing). This stage aims at disturbing the existing equilibrium and creates motivation to change using mechanisms like (a) lack of confirmation or disconfirmation (b) sharing ones concerns and perceptions openly, looking in to feelings, removal of barriers of communications, induction of guilt and anxiety and creations of threats by reduction of psychological safety, presentation of alternative scenarios etc. In case of any change, the effort is going to face individual resistance and group conformity. These change efforts for overcoming the pressures of both individual resistance and group conformity. 61
Two types of forces emerge and at the status quo, both are in balance a) Forces prompting the change forces that direct the behaviour away from the status quo Driving forces b) Forces hindering the movement away from the status quo Restraining forces.
Restraining forces
Driving forces
FORCE FIELD
Figure 1 : Forus and Change
For affecting the change :

The Driving forces should be identified, assessed and intensified / added. The Restraining forces should be identified, assessed and weakened / removed. Both strategies are followed simultaneously.
The technique described is called Force field analysis. The method includes the following steps: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Identify the problem, which you want to work and describe it. Define the problem clearly indicating the present situation. Define the situation desired after the problem is solved. Identify the forces working for the change i.e. driving force by way of individual listing, brainstorming or any other means. Identify and list forces likely to work against the desired change (restraining forces). These forces can be related to human resource, time, money, technology, customer requirements or any other internal, external factors. From the list of driving forces and restraining forces, prioritise the forces and identify 3-4 most significant forces under each of the both categories. Make a force field diagram showing both types of forces after prioritization. The arrows should be proportional to their priority / strength. Discuss and list possible action steps for reducing or eliminating the effect of the restraining forces and add or increase the effect of the driving forces. Determine the most effective steps under both the categories of forces and outside which once to implement. Examine the resources available for carrying out each action steps. Develop a comprehensive action plan, sequence of activities and assign responsibilities for implementation.
6) 7) 8)
9) 10) 11) 62
12) 13)
Implement the plan. Evaluate.
Process of Change
ii) Moving / Intervening The steps to be taken for making the desired change should be planned considering all aspects Tasks, Technology, Structure and Human Resource. Since any organization is composed of these four inter-related and interdependent components, the impact of the changes should be anticipated and examined. Since the organizational environment is a resultant of three or four components and any organization exist in environment analysis of internal and external environment is essential. This step aims at developing new responses by providing new information. Cognitive redefinition is a mechanism, which is achieved by identification (information) through a single source and scanning (information through multiple sources). Refreezing The change interventions start making the desired status in due course. These are to be stabilised. Refreezing stabilises a change intervention by balancing the forces which have created the desired (driving forces) and those, which are inhibiting the changes to occur (restraining forces). Here also, Newtons Second Law is quite helpful in understanding The rate of change of momentum is proportional to force applied and change takes place in the direction in which the force acts. Hence, for rapid and deep change, forces applied should be strong, direction should be clear and force applied in the right direction. This stage helps stabilising and integrating the changes. This is gained by integrating new responses into persons and into significant ongoing relationships through reconfirmation.
14.5 CHANGE MODELS

1) C.D.S. Model This is a very simple 3 stage model developed using the work of Bechhard and Horns (1987). The three stages are: i) Assessment of current state (scenario) ii) Developing the desired State (scenario) iii) Formulating the strategy / plan to move the organization (or system) from current state to the desired state. Assessment of Current State At this stage, efforts are made to explore, analyse and identify the problems and unused opportunities, understanding the causes visualizing the effects. For this, a climate is to be created where people share their views, opinions experiences openly and the management is willing to admit the gaps, slippages, wastages and other problems. Normally, a long list is generated and it is essential to prioritize and identify points of leverages problems, which have high priority.
63
Developing the Desired State (Preferred Scenario) At this stage, efforts are made to determine how the organization or organizational unit, project or the programme would look like after making the changes. For preparing the scenario, alternative possibilities or preferred scenario are developed by using techniques like brainstorming, fantasy or a variety of structured exercises. Efforts are made to stimulate both right brain type thinking and left-brain type of thinking so that both conventional and nonconventional ideas are captured. A few indicators or criteria are also developed to indicate the achievement of desired state. These criteria would help in future to determine to what extent the desired scenario has been arrived at. Evaluate each of the scenarios by using different evaluation methods and select the most visible one. At this stage, left-brain type of thinking will be quite useful. Anticipate the difficulties likely to be experienced while making action steps to reach the desired scenario. Examine if appropriate steps can be taken and resources will be adequately available. Otherwise, examine the feasibility of implementation of the next preference. Re-work on the selected preferred scenario to make it more explicit and inspiring. Getting the commitment for the change initiatives and resources, the commitment of the key persons in the organization and outside should be assured. Formulating the strategy action plan to move the organization from the current state to the desired state These states deal with how the movement from the existing to the desired state would be accomplished. Thus, this stage would indicate how the results would be accomplished. For this, a wide range of strategies to reach the new stage or preferred scenario would be identified. Using the right brain type thinking, the alternative strategies are identified, then evaluation of each of the alternative strategies would be made and that appropriate strategy would be selected which would help in achieving the desired outcome. These strategies would next be translated in the form of workable plans. 2. ADPI Model This Model is based on the work of NR Jones. It consists of the following stages.
Organizational analysis
Implementation
Designing Change Intervention
Planning the Change
64
Figure 2 : ADPI Model
Organizational Analysis This phase aims at developing an understanding about the organization, its culture and readiness for change. Efforts are made to understand the tasks, structure, strategies, systems, procedures and management practices, morale, motivation and internal and external environment. Different research techniques, interviews, brainstorming and workshops are used. Designing Change Intervention At this stage, vision or the desired state of the organization is prepared. Active involvement of Top management and a wide agreement on the interventions are essential. The key resource persons and other team members must be identified and some team building initiatives are taken to ensure shared vision and commitment to change. Role of each member should be clarified. A number of workshops, training sessions, meeting and presentations are usually held at this stage. Planning for the Change The objective of this stage is to plan for effecting the desired changes for achieving the vision. An action plan is prepared indicating the activities, responsibilities, time frame, counting huge measures and required resources. Implementation This is the most crucial stage. The action plan has to be implemented. The involved persons are to be educated and convinced about the gains. Extensive communication is required and high orders of leadership skills especially persuading skills are required. A number of presentations, meetings, workshops are to be held. The success depends on the internal resource persons or facilitates who would work in tandem with the change agent / consultant. It is difficult to get successful implementation without Project Management skills. 3) Action Research A change process based on systematic collection and analysis of data is called action research. In this approach, data is collected to diagnose the problem and action steps are identified on the basis of the analysis of the data. It is a fivestep process. These steps have been enumerated as follows. Diagnosis Under the guidance of a change agent / consultant, data is gathered about the problems, perceptions, concerns and the expected changes from the employees of the organization. Questions, interviews, secondary records and a variety of techniques are used for collection of data. Analysis At this stage, analysis of the data collected in the previous step is carried out to identify the problems, patterns of behaviours etc. The change agent or consultant draws inferences and identify the primary concerns, problem areas and expectations. Feedback Action research is a collaborative process and therefore emphasises deep involvement of the employees likely to be involved. Therefore, the highlights of the analysis in terms of concerns and problem areas are shared with the employees specially those cross sections from where data had been collected.
Process of Change
65
With the help of representatives of employees, action plan for bringing about needed change in the specific areas is carried out. Action Actions planned in the action plan mentioned above are set to motion in line with an explicitly prepared implementation plan. Evaluation At the planned intervals, an evaluation is carried out to know to what extent implementation has taken place and desired changes have been arrived at. Necessary steps may be taken for collection, modification or further work. 4) OD models As discussed in Unit 13, OD efforts are comprehensive change efforts comprising a variety of focus. The model mentioned in Unit 13 with examples of different OD interventions may be referred.
14.6 PHASES OF PLANNED CHANGE

For getting the enduring results, change cannot be left to choice; rather planned efforts will have to be made. Consolidating various models, a general approach of making planned change may be evolved Creating awareness and disturbance. Feeling the need of change Exploring the readiness Diagnosis Designing and planning interventions Intervening managing the transition Evaluation and Follow-up
Creating and Communicating Awareness It is a well-known fact to many that frogs are amphibious creatures having tremendous adaptability. They have survived all ages because of this they can survive in all climates, in all situations, all temperatures. Some experiments carried on frogs in laboratories are highly shocking. In a few shallow pans, frogs were kept in water at normal temperature. The pans were kept on Bunsen burners which were heating the water in pans very slowly. Even if the water became very hot the frogs did not jump out of the pans quite surprising. The water started boiling the frogs got boiled! Pans with room temperature water once again put on the bunsen burners. When the water became quite hot (but not boiling) around 60 - 70 Degree C temperatures frogs were dropped in the pans. Within flash of moment frogs jumped out and save themselves. Many of us are like the frogs we develop tolerance and adaptability and ignore the temperature and end up boiling. Awareness therefore is the first stage. A process of enhancing the awareness of self by considering the aims, goals, vision, mission and the state of their achievement, future environmental scenarios, extrapolations and forecast is useful for enhancing awareness. Bench marking and competitor intelligence are two other triggers of enhancing awareness.
66
The awareness creates anxiety to create future scenarios, likely gains and problems and therefore generates energy in those who become aware. For example, in BHEL in 1983, the HR Manager was trying to project the role of Personnel function in achieving the Corporate objectives (1985-90) and could realise that if the manpower strength and turnover/sales keeps on increasing at the previous rate, then in 1990 the company will be in red only because of Manpower strength. He got alarmed and made a series of presentations in different fora. After initial reaction, the top Management also became aware and alarmed of the impeding situation. This created planned efforts of Manpower Planning in the leadership of the HR Manager. After 2 years, the Manpower strength started decreasing today the strength is 43,000 against the strength of 78,000 in 1983-84. The turnover during the period has increased from Rs. 800 crores to 8000 crores. A variety of strategies, such as presentation, publications in Newsletters, workshops, Quiz, sessions and presentations in Management Development programmes may be used for enhancing awareness. This awareness creates an imbalance and disturbs the status quo. People become uncomfortable and respond in different ways. Usually energy level increases for denial and opposition of the issues. Feeling the Need Once the awareness spreads and increases, the involved people start feeling the need of the change of elimination of the unhealthy situations. They start thinking about ways and means to avoid this undesired situation. People start thinking about the consequences if no change is made. When the actual / projected results are not in line with expectations, needs are intensely felt. Any person at any level can feel the need, but sharing will help enhance the clarity. Exploring Readiness for Change In spite of the strongly felt need, it is essential to explore the readiness of the organization to change. A process facilitator may call a meeting / workshop of senior people and on the basis of observations on the interaction, he can get an idea of the readiness to change. When too much fascination for the status quo is sensed, fear and apprehensions are strongly expressed, case of failure are cited more than success stories, resource scarcity is repeatedly presented resistance to change efforts is likely to be high. OD should not be initiated in a hurry. Some consultants conduct a few workshops for assessing the readiness. Instruments / questionnaires are also used by some consultant. An approach developed by J William Pfeiffer and John E Jones may be suggested. This approach is based on 15 indicators, which they have developed in the form of a check list (instrument). The indicators are being enumerated below under three broad classes. General Considerations

Process of Change
Size of the organization Growth rate Crisis (situation) Macro economics 67

OD history Culture
Resources

Time commitment Money Access to people Labour Contract limitations Structural flexibility
People Variables

Interpersonal skills Management development Flexibility at the top Internal change agents
This instrument / check list can be served to a number of people in the organization, including the top management and the findings should be discussed. This will not only give an idea about the readiness, but also raise the awareness towards some of the crucial pre-requisites. For details OD readiness by J.W. Pfeifer and John E Jones in The 1978 Annual Handbook for Group Facilitators may be referred. A few questions may be considered for examining various aspects

Commitment / support of the Top Management for desired changes. Sense of urgency advisable in the top management. The perceived Power of Top management. Clarity of vision in Top management. Shared vision to what extent the vision is shared by stakeholders. Congruence of targeted change efforts with ongoing change efforts in the organization. Decision making style and quickness. Hierarchy in organization flat and flexible more conducive to change. Super ordination Willingness of Line Managers to sacrifice their personal interest for the good of organization. Customer focus of the organization. Monitoring of competitors by the management. Risk taking the extent to which managers / employees are rewarded for taking risk. Innovativeness the extent to which innovativeness is encouraged. Communication channel both directions. History / experience of past change efforts. Trust level between employees and management Availability of Resource persons (change facilitators internal / external) Cooperation / Collaborative attitude.

Sharing the benefits of change enhances readiness of change. 68
Diagnosis This has been discussed in Unit 13. Planning Interventions This is also discussed in Unit 13. One should be able to agree on defining

Process of Change
What are the specific goals of change? Who are the involved people (stake holders)? What are the restraining and driving forces? What contingency measures to be considered for emergency situations? What interventions will be made? How the success will be measured? etc.
Intervening Managing the Transition Preparing the Team For carrying out the interventions, a team of internal resource persons is prepared. Ideally, this is a multi-disciplinary team which would make the interventions and help in its successful implementation. The internal resource persons should be skilled in Human Process facilitation and should have undergone intensive training programmes. Conducting the Activities Whatever interventions have been planned, are to be implemented. In many areas, employees would pose resistance which is to be overcome. If the approach appears to be inadequate or inappropriate amendments are to be made. The experiences are to be documented highlighting both process and content aspects. Regular interaction with the committee / task force members and Consultants is very essential. Mid Course Evaluation After interventions have been made, periodic evaluation is required for ascertaining whether the interventions are bringing desired results. If yes, then further follow up is required. If not, it must first be examined whether interventions have been made as per the plan. If interventions have been made as per the plan but are not giving the desired results, the causes must be examined and if needed, alternative interventions should be designed and introduced. Before making the interventions, the management / facilitators should be clear about. a) What is the change going to be made? b) What are the reasons for benefits of the organization? c) How will change affect the individuals who experience it? d) What supports and tools are needed to manage transition? While making interventions the involved persons force different types of problems. The processes at the transition stage are quite important. Whenever managers suspect that the change is likely to come their initial reaction is that of shock. Their performance starts receding and they give different negative comments. This shock starts spreading. In a multi unit public sector undertaking, 69
when the Top Management decided to introduce a KRA based Performance Management System, there was an initial reaction of shock. It affected their sense of well-being and perform adversely. Soon after, a strong tendency to deny that there is anything wrong in the prevailing system emerged and managers tried to show an enhanced competence (ability) to protect the existing status. They started showing that the present system was quite good. Very soon, there was a realisation that the average is imminent and they have to bear the pangs of change. This realisation was spread and managed positively for enhancing the readiness of change by introducing planned efforts by introducing mechanisms for awareness generation, training, involvement of users, interest and support of senior and top level managers. All these created strong emotions at one side fear of unknown on the other side benefits of the new system, pressure on roles, future possibilities, benefits, losses, implications etc. The pressure for unlearning the existing ways and learning the new ways created different types of fears and anxieties. The ensuring uncertainty created frustration in many leading to sliding down sense of well-being and performance level. The intensified training sessions, realization of possible losses and benefits, envisioning of future gradually led executives toward acceptance of the system. The sense of confidence, well being and performances started climbing upward. The desire and effort of experimentation started getting reinforced. They accepted the challenges and started efforts for adopting the new system. There were slippages and mistakes which got rectified. Communication enhanced and people started sharing their experiences feelings, hopes, successes, failures. The leadership helped people to get a better understanding. The evaluation of the emerging situation, feedback amendments and enhanced communication, helped integration of the efforts and the system got implemented. Evaluation / Follow up The results of the change initiatives should be measured periodically the gap between the planned and desired. For this, a befitting feedback mechanism is to be set up to gather information by survey, focus groups, interviews etc. Usually, it has been found that even if encouraging results are obtained in the beginning, with the passage of time, it starts deteriorating. Managers intervene by way of providing support, appreciation and training etc. Special meetings, celebrations, support groups and certain types of reinforcements are needed for sustaining and enhancing the results.
14.7 RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

According to Newtons third Law of Motion to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Resistance to change, is therefore, bound to be there. Real change will be effective only when Driving forces > Restraining forces
Resistance is ability to avoid what one does not want from the environment. Resistance to change is a behaviour designed to discredit, delay or prevent the implementation of a change. Resistance is of two types Individual resistance and Organizational resistance. Resistance is not always harmful.
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An individual poses resistance to all those efforts, which are against his/her Self Concept a response to protect one habits, beliefs, values. Resistance prevents from getting hurt, guards ones effectiveness, heightens ones awareness to oneself and keeps one from becoming distracted. It provides stability and predictability of ones behaviour. If there is no resistance, there will be a chaotic randomness in organizations. Resistance stimulates discussions and re-examination. In organizations resistance helps in differentiating talents, providing new information, producing energy and making the work environment safe (HB Karp). Resistance, thus, gives both benefits as well as problems. Individual Resistance Resistance in different situations has varying intensity. The idea itself generates the first level of intensity it is the initial or the first response when a person comes to know about the proposed change. This is primarily because of the natural liking for the status-quo. This is also due to lack of awareness about the desired change its importance, impact, costs and benefits, their own concept and view of the changes. Some times even if the change is derived, there is a dislike for the timing, the change agent, the cost factor or the extra efforts required. There are some issues, which are not observed or experienced initially. These are the deeper issues. The issues may not be found to cause resistance initially, but it is experienced and becomes visible while discussing or working on the issues. These appear in different ways:

Process of Change
Mistrust Punishments Rewards Need for respect, reward, recognition Fear of loss (monetary or status) Lack of resilience.
The level 3 issues are deeply imbedded entrenched. This is caused by conflicting values, visions, life goals, historical animosity etc. This may be as a result of the combination of some factors described at previous two levels. Resistance to change does not always becomes explicit or observable. Mostly these are hidden and come out indirectly, therefore, it is not easy to observe and anticipate. Some causes of individual resistance: Increased work load loss of comfort Loss of security (the unknown) Loss of belongingness (with new people) Failure (loss of esteem) Loss of interest (boredom) Change in habits (loosing ease and spontaneity) Loss of income (economic facts) Loss of change in perceptions inner disturbance and lack of communication.
The resistance of change is of different types: Logical, Attitudinal and Sociological.
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Logical resistance is based on rational gaps or disagreements with facts, reasoning and conceptual differences. Attitudinal resistance is due to emotional or psychological reasons like fears, lack of trust etc. Sociological resistance is due to group / social aspects like politics, vested interests, sharing of benefits of a particular group, presentation of groups identity, value report etc. To summarise, individuals resistance to change is due to one or more of the following reasons as enumerated by R. Likert and others:
Selective Perception
Employees perceive same events / things differently as such the change objective and outcomes are not perceived exactly in the same way. Also persons are more interested in seeing how they would be affected personally, rather than seeing the big picture.
Fear of Unknown
People prefer familiar actions and events; change brings in new patterns, which disturb the habits.
Lack of Information
Lack of knowledge or information about what is expected or why the change is important or how change will effect and whom results in resistance.
Hostility towards Change Initiator
The image / relationships with the change initiatives causes some resistance. Organizational Resistance Organizations, by nature, are conservative and resist change. A few sources of organizational resistance have been enumerated below :
Inertia Threats to Power
Group norms Organizational Resistance to change Resource allocation Threat to expertise Limited focus
Figure 3 : Organisational Resistance
Inertia Due to the Task, Structure, Strategy, Technology, Systems, Procedures and familiar people, organizations get frozen or are in a steady state. The idea of bringing in charge creates the feeling of disturbance in the equilibriam. Hence resistance. Limited Focus All organizational systems are inter-related, therefore change in one causes stress and strain on others. Therefore, if a change is carried out in one system/ sub-system, there is a natural tendency in the other components to resist the ensuing changes as these do not want to get disturbed. 72
Group Norms By way of the past interactions working, a group norm settles in. Change questions these norms and seeks establishment of other norms hence resistance. Threat to Expertise People have acquired a degree of expertise and specialisations which make them comfortable and self esteem is high due to change in organizations there is a danger of getting some of the expertise obsolete and acquisitions of new expertise /specializations. This needs a lot of personal / group effort as such resistance. Threat to Power Change may bring in new structure, new technology, new systems, procedures, new delegation of powers, new relationships that may cause a threat to some of the sources of power, hence resistance Resource Pressure All the above-mentioned changes may create pressure on various types of resources including manpower resources. This perception causes resistance. Many Scholars and Professionals have conducted research for understanding causes of resisitance in organizations. Some of the important causes of resistance to changes have been enumerated as following :
Process of Change
The proposed change has not been described through documents, written down description not available. Lack of clarity on the purpose of the change. Lack of involvement of the people affected by the change. Change efforts initiated on the basis of a personal appeal. Group norms and organizational culture have not been considered. Lack of information to employees about the change Sharp increase in workload during implementation. Non-additional and resolution of the worries and concerns and fears of the affected persons. Non-clarification / resolution of the issues and anxieties relating to job security, transfers redeployment etc.

14.8 OVERCOMING RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

As mentioned earlier, resistance is a positive force and provides opportunities for having a thorough understanding of contextual factors as well as issue directing and emerging out of the interventions. Some managers use strategies to break the resistance using coercion or emotional appeals which prove to be dysfunctional. Some managers try to avoid or bypass the resistance by ignoring the opposition views, opinions and feeble signals. They dont confront the issues or do some thing to deflect the resistance by some gimmicks and tactics ultimately fail to deliver results and create a number of dysfunctional processes in the organization. Other dysfunctional strategies used by managers for overcoming resistance are the efforts of minimising the resistance by calling on traditions, attributing the cause of change to group or Top Management and hiding the emerging issues highlighting some thing of the past or future.
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Overcoming resistance to change calls for a positive approach towards resistance. One may try to agree to the assumption Resistance is a positive force and needs to be honored rather than suppressed, avoided or minimised. Another assumption is encourage the free expression of resistance and capture the key ideas. The positive approach suggests that the Resistance should be encouraged to be brought to surface, it should be honored rather than showing reaction or defensiveness. The issues (resistance) should be explored and emotional and tangible issues should be separated. Then the issues and understandings should be reviewed and real issues identified and clarified. The cause and effect diagram will be useful.
14.9 SOME PRINCIPLES OF CHANGE

Change has been one of the most interesting and intensive issues before social and behavioural scientists. On the basis of their research and experience a number of principles / rules have been formulated. Some of these collected through various sources are:
Organization is a system comprising many inter-related / inter - dependent components. Change in one component affects others. Accepting ownership in the change process best facilitates change. Any change upsets the equilibrium of the organizational system hence it will be resisted. Change interventions should be made in a planned way, otherwise the system would return back to its past patterns People really dont resist change; they resist the pain or threat, which they anticipate for themselves or others out of it. An enlightened self-interest of stakeholders helps in changing. There is a high significance of timing in change time should be ripe while making changes. An accurate and comprehensive design diagnosis is essential for designing appropriate interventions. Through Power, one gets what one wants to get, by posing resistance one tries to avoid what he does not want to get or do. Change agents are required for affecting changes. They must know how to analyze and manage the restraining and driving forces. High adaptability helps change agents and change plans. High self-awareness is required in change agents, which helps the planning for change. Honoring it, rather than suppressing, avoiding or minimising it best manages resistance. The people affected by change should actively participate in making the change. A person can work best with others resistance by first understanding and accepting his own resistance. The acceptance of organizational change will increase if the people affected are invited to contribute to the change process, communicated honestly about all facets of change, given concrete feedback about the change and recognized appropriately for their specific contributions.

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14.10 REDUCING RESISTANCE TO CHANGE : FEW SUGGESTIONS

To reduce resistance to change in the key steps, few suggestions are discussed below: i) Initiation of Change
Process of Change
Resistance will be low if the persons involved perceive the change project as their own, rather than imposed on them by others. Resistance will be low if the whole hearted support from Top Management is available.
ii) Type of Change

Resistance will be low if the involved persons are convinced that the difficulties experienced in their job would come down after implementation. Resistance will reduce if the change is likely to bring interesting and satisfying experience, to the concerned individuals. Resistance will be less if the change is congruent and supports the values and ideals of the concerned individual. The perception that the power autonomy, and security will not be adversely affected.
iii) Process of Change

If the persons likely to be affected have taken part in diagnosis, and have agreement on the basic change problems and felt its importance resistance will be less. Resistance will become low if the change makers (or sponsors) (i) see the opponents view points empathize with them and (ii) take steps to remove their perceived fears. Resistance will be reduced if feedback is taken from the affected persons and they are apprised of the steps to be taken. If there is enough change flexibility and project is kept open to revision and amendment on the basis of evaluation and feedback.
14.11 COMMONLY USED INTERVENTIONS FOR MANAGING CHANGE

It is very difficult to enumerate and explain all interventions for managing change effectively. However, a few important techniques commonly used are enumerated below : Communication Authentic and complete communication on the objective, coverage, timing, costs, individual and organizational implications and change methods and the consequences of not going for change and post change benefits is most essential for managing change. At the Corporate office of a large organization, as prelude to making change, it was diagnosed that the executives numbering 15 were not communicating with each other. The communication climate was hostile and top management was perceived as autocratic. Enhancing Communication climate emerged as one of the major concerns. As one intervention, the executives were asked to sit
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together for 15 minutes in the conference hall around the round table. Initially executives resented it but gradually they started sharing some of the operational problems they were facing and others started responding by giving their comments and solutions. They started opening up and sharing their feelings, concerns, agreements and disagreements etc. Within a few weeks, this meeting became the most liked forum of communication and sharing. Often they had to extend the timing. This forum became the initiating and facilitating platform for the major changes the function made for next few years. There is no standard plan for communication, but pre intervention diagnosis should attempt to understand the communication climate, styles and barriers. Creation of a supportive communication climate is highly useful in making change interventions. Education and Training All involved persons may not have the desired environmental, organizational, functional, technical, financial, strategic, behavioural knowledge and skills. Education and training is very essential at all stages. In the pursuit of designing and commissioning a comprehensive Performance Management system in a large PSU, almost two years were spent in educating and training the senior management personnel and users to make them understand the concept, realize the need, express their satisfaction and dissatisfaction from the existing system, define their expectations from the proposed system. Even the design of the proposed system was prepared in training and developments programmes using Behavioural Science based interventions. After the programme was approved for implementation, a series of training programmes were conducted for the users. Background support was provided through internet and publication of literature. Over 200 Performance Management Systems trained separately or ensuring smooth implementation could multiply the efforts. Even an interactive website was installed for resolving the doubts on line. All this helped in covering a large section of widely prevalent executives in a short time and fear of change could be almost eliminated. Participation and Involvement The persons likely to be affected need to be involved right since the initial stage. Their active involvement in all stages of the processes not only will provide valuable ideas at every stage; rather it will inculcate a sense of ownership. In installing an incentive scheme in a medium size Engineering company, the line managers and worker representatives were involved right since beginning i.e. from the stage of feeling the need, identifying the benefits and problems, collecting and analysis of data and designing the system and developing the earning table. Facilitation and Support The change initiatives are to be facilitated by skilled Facilitators (change agents). This helps in surfacing the issues, proposal resolution of conflict, team building and development of a conducive change climate. Facilitation is a process in which a person, acceptable to all members of the group, substantially neutral and having no decision making authority intervenes to help a group improve the way it defines and solves problems and makes decisions in order to enhance the effectiveness of the group.
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To intervene, according to Chris Argrysis, means to enter in to an ongoing system for the purpose of helping those in the system. The main task of a Facilitator is to help the group increase its effectiveness by improving its processes. A process refers to how a group works together and includes how members talk to each other, how they identify and solve problems, how they make decisions and how they handle conflicts etc. Normally in a group, without a Facilitator, members focus on contents and ignore the processes. Content refers to what a group is working on, what is the subject matter, task, methods, procedures, cost, time, controls etc. Facilitation is of two broad types- basic facilitation and developmental facilitation. In basic facilitation, it is expected that the Facilitator would guide the group using the principles of effective group processes -observing both contents and processes. In developmental facilitation, group members expect the Facilitator to monitor and guide the groups processes and teach them how to accomplish this goal. Negotiation In dealing the resistance, negotiation is quite useful as the change agent has to exchange something of value for reducing the resistance. This also is useful when resistance comes from a powerful person. Three basic types of Negotiating Styles have been described Tough battler, the Supportive Facilitator and Cognitive Reasoner. A negotiator should understand these 3 styles and should be well versed in using all the three styles as each style is effective in a particular situation. There are a few other models also describing different styles of negotiation. Although Collaboration is the most desirable strategy, other strategies - avoidance, accommodation, Competition forcing and compromise also have their limitations and benefits. Co-opting Assigning a key individual member a desirable role is quite effective in managing change. The co-opted person becomes a Key Resource Person in charge of project and by way of his power base, is able to influence others. His involvement and contribution helps the change process. Two other interventions mentioned below are not positive interventions, however, in critical situation, these interventions are also useful. Manipulation It is a covert influencing tactics which uses twisting and distortion of facts to make them appear more attractive and potent. This also includes hiding or withholding undesirable information, and creating rumours. Cooptation also sometimes is used as manipulative tactics. Coercion Implicit and Explicit This involves application of direct threats or force on those who are resisting or are likely to resist. In situation of crisis it is often successful, otherwise not so effective.
Process of Change
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14.12 SUMMARY
In this rapidly changing world change is the only constant. In this unit we have tried to define change, understand the concept of change and types of change. Drivers for change and alternative strategies of change has also been discussed. Different models of change are described followed by the concept of resistance to change and how to overcome resistance to change.

1) Consider your present job and indicate which benefits emerging out of an effective change management is most important to you ? a) Career advancement b) Improved prospects c) Job Security d) Increased job satisfaction e) Respect and recognition 2) a) Which of the changes at your work place you experienced in the recent past new boss new work group new position (responsibility) new equipment new system / procedures new products / services new customer new location new suppliers b) Which change was most difficult for you ? c) What were your thoughts and feelings before the change? Did you have any fears ? What were those ? d) How did you cope with the change ? e) What would have helped you to cope with the changes better? 3) Complete the following sentence by writing as many adjectives / phrases as you can think of Change is --------------------------------------e.g. painful, agonising -------------------------4) Complete the following sentence by writing as many adjectives / phrases as you can think of Change is ------------------------------e.g. refreshing, energetic, profitable --------------5) Think of a change which would be beneficial to your company / organization and respond to the following four questions -------a) What is the change you have thought of ? b) What are the reasons / benefits of the change ? c) How would the change affect the involved persons ? d) What support and tools should be provided to the involved persons for managing the transition ? 6) A large scale company is to introduce a new Performance Management System. Presently, the company practices an annual confidential report type of appraisal system, which is done by the superiors annually. 78

Fergusan, M. The Acquarian conspiracy: Personal and Social Transformation in the 1980s. (Ed. J.P. Tarcher) LosAngels (1980). Olmosk, K.E, Seven. Pure Strategies of Change in The 1972 Annual Handbook of Group Facilitators (Ed. Pfeiffer & Jones), Pfeiffer & Company San Diego(1972). Kurt Lewin, Field theory in Social Science, Harper and Row, New York (1951). Beckhard, R. Harris, R.T Organizational transitions: Managing Complex Changes, Addison Wesley (1987). Jones, Neil Russel, The Managing Change, Research Press, New Delhi (1997). Eager G., Change Agent Skills: Assessing and Designing Excellence, University Associates California (1988). Fohman, Mark.A. et al. Action-research as applied to Development, in Organization Development and Research (Ed. Wendell L French et al) Business Publications Inc., Dallas (1978). The 1978 Annual Handbook of Group Facilitators, Pfeiffer and Company San Diego (1978). Lilkert, R. New Patterns of Management, McGraw Hill, New York (1961). Likent, R, The Human Organization, McGraw Hill, New York (1967). Retaining Professional Nurses: A planned process Vogt. et al. The C.V Mosby, St. Louis (1983). Ross, Kubler, Elizabeth., Transition Curve in Creating Culture Change : Successful Total Quality Management. Atkinson, E., Philip, Productivity Press (India) Pvt. Ltd., Aladran (1990). Chris Argyris, Management and Organization Development: The Path form XA to YB, McGraw Hill, New York (1971). Chris, Argyris, Intervention theory and method: A Behavioural Science View. Reading, Mass: Addison Wesley (1970). K. Thomas, Conflict and Negotiation process in Organizations in Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology (Ed. M.D Dunnette and L. M Hough), Consulting Psychologists Press Alto CA (1992). Karp, H.B., The Change Leader, Pfeiffer & Company, San Diego (1996). Lewin, Kurt. Field theory in Social Science, Harper & Row, New York (1951). Beckhard, R. Harris, R.T Organization transitions: Managing Complex Changes, Addison Wesley (1987).
Process of Change
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UNIT 15 CHANGE AGENTS: ROLES AND COMPETENCIES

Objectives After going through this unit, you should be able to deeply understand:

various roles of Change agents the competencies, especially the skills required for the effectiveness of change agents.
Structure 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 Introduction Role of Change Agent Competencies of Change Agents Summary Self Assessment Questions Further Readings
Appendix 1. Designing and Implementing Performance Management System : The BHEL Experience
15.1 INTRODUCTION
Change is enevitable in the history of any organisations. Organisation that do not change or keep pace with the changing environment suffer from entropy and soon become defunct. Organisations have an internal environment, but exist in an external environment. The internal environment is in terms of the task, structure, technology, social (people) and economic variables, while the external environment is in terms of the larger social, political, economic and cultural factors. To function effectively, organisations have to achieve an equilibrium within the internal variables in active interaction with each other and also with the external environment. However this equilibrium is not static but dynamic. Hence organisations have to modify and change to adapt to the changing internal and external environment. Thus no organisation can stand still and tread water for very long. Different people have given different definitions. A few have been reproduced below : Persons who act as catalysts and assume the responsibility for managing change activities. Anonymous People who stimulate, facilitate and co-ordinate change within a system while remaining independent of it. Newstorm and Davis Persons who act as catalysts and assume the responsibility of managing change activities in an organization. Robbins, P. Stephen. Managers, non-managers, employees and outside consultants can be change agents
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15.2 ROLE OF CHANGE AGENT

Change agents have diverse roles. They create a state conductive to change and also produce desired change. Some professionals consider three main roles of change agents, of course somewhat overlapping and with varying focus and emphasis. These three main or primary roles are:

Change Agents: Roles and Competencies
Consultant; Trainer; and Researcher.
These three roles are have been briefly described below : Consultant A Consultant is a professional (internal or external) who applies behavioural Science knowledge in an ongoing organization (or client system) with clear objectives of managing change and improving effectiveness. A consultant is a professional assisting managers and organizations in achieving organizational purposes and objectives by solving management and business problems, identifying and seizing new opportunities, enhancing learning and implementing changes. According to Curtis Mial : The Consultant may serve as the exhaust value, enabling the client to let off steam : as the ignition to spark action; as the accelerator to buildup momentum; as the break for too quick action; as the radiator absorbing some of the heat of the controversy; as the shock absorber when the going is rough; or as the fog lamp when the future is hazy. The Consultant may fulfill a variety of functions, but one thing he/she is not the driver. If we see the definition, we find that Change agents and Consultants have many roles in common, and thats why, these two words are used interchangeably. The role of a Consultant may be content role, process role or a combination of both. In other words, a Consultant may have Task orientation, Process orientation or a combination of both. In the fully Task oriented or Technical expert role, the Consultant identifies / verifies the problem as an expert or through an expert, helps in problem solving by giving his/her ideas and opinions. His/her involvement is temporary and confined to specific problem solving, relationship with client short-term and problem focused. In Process oriented consultation, the Consultant is a Process facilitator not a solution (context / content) provider. He helps problem identification and verification by sensing and facilitating expression of feelings and attitudes, helps in problem solving not by providing (solutions / contents) but by enhancing problem identification and solving capability. The involvement, in Process Consultation, is with people and groups in the organization, relationship is personal, involved, process oriented and of long term perspective. The Consultants role will merge with the role of Change agent ultimately. Trainer A Change agent needs to be a trainer and educator. He has to educate people on the need and importance of change using a variety of methodologies lectures, presentations, films, group discussions, role-plays and instruments, cases and experiential learning etc.
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The trainer role is most widely and intensively used at all stages of a change project : unfreezing, changing (intervening) and refreezing. Training is required for enhancing knowledge, skills and change in behaviour , attitudes and beliefs. Training is used both in content orientation and process orientation. The Change agent, many times has to provide instruction, information on other kinds focused learning opportunities for the client. In many helping situations, particularly when the client is expected to acquire competence in certain areas, the ability to train and educate is indispensable. A Change agent must be able to assess training needs, write learning objectives, design learning experiences and educational activities and use a variety of training / learning techniques for transfer of learning. Researcher A Change agent has to carry out some research activities for the purpose of generating valid information prior to and during the change process. Data collection, diagnosis, generation of new behavioural science knowledge, evolving best strategies for change by assessing alternatives and the important stages in a change project where the Change agent has to be a Researcher. Useful hypothesis are to be formulated and tested. A Change agent also searches and studies literature, new developments and experiences of past interventions. Change agents also generate new, useful knowledge about the process of change, about specific change methods or techniques about specific changes of a technical, structural, or process nature, or about the means of resolving certain problems. Goodstein and Pfeiffer consider managing change as a problem solving activity, and enumerate five roles of a Change Agent : Catalyst; Process Helper - Facilitator; Solution provider; Resource Linker; and Stabiliser
Catalyst Resistance is most common response to any change effort; therefore one of the tasks of the Change agent is to break the inertia by causing dissatisfaction with the status quo. Change agents sense the hidden problems and get dissatisfied with the status quo; start challenging the usual status or way of doing things and, thus, gradually intensify the need for change. They use statistics, facts, examples, projections, comparisons for drawing attention to the need of change. By sensitising people, they make them move toward systematic steps in the change process. Process Helper A process helper / Facilitator, is a person who is acceptable to members of the group, substantially neutral, with no decision-making authority, intervenes to help the group improve the way it defines and solves the problems and make decisions in order to increase the group effectiveness. To intervene means to enter within an ongoing system for the purpose of helping those in the system (Argryris). Their main task is to help the group increase its effectiveness by improving the process. Process Consultation is based on this
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role. Process in simple words means how group works together and includes how members talk to each other, how they identify and solve problems, how they make decisions, how they handle conflicts etc. Content refers to what a group is working on e.g. finding ways and means of providing the desired service to customers. Content is the subject matter or activities / efforts made for completion of a task. The status of a situation, group or problem has to be observed both in terms of content as well as process. For an in-depth understanding, an article titled What to observe in a group by Edgar Schein in NTL Reading book of Human Relations Training (1982) may be referred. A Process helper / Facilitator can help the group in all the stages of Change management i.e. Recognising and defining needs (for change) Analysing problems and getting change goals. Augmenting required resources Generating alternative solutions Evaluating alternatives and selecting the appropriate solution Installing the solutions Carrying out evaluations to ensure that the desired changes are helping.
Problem solving skills and Process Facilitation skills are highly used in this role. Solution Provider In many situations, the expectation of the group facing a problem is to get an appropriate solution. The Change agent, in such situations, by way of his being an expert (technical / functional) provides appropriate solution. But this is not enough; he has to understand the explicit and implicit need of the people (users) and have to convince them about the solution, how it will satisfy their needs. The Change agent has to motivate them for adopting the solution. If needed, the Solution provider will make them learns how to use the new solution and make it really effective. In most of the organizations, this is the main expectation from a Change agent. Resource Linker In this role, a Change agent brings out people together, helps the organization to discover and make optimum use of the resources inside and outside the organization. The resources may be money, specialized knowledge and/or skills, tools, techniques, ideas, experiences etc. Stabiliser Although the change process is initiated by creating a disturbance in the equilibrium, after successful change process the equilibrium has to be regained once again the newly learnt mechanisms and behaviours have to get stabilized and become normal. A dynamic interplay between change and stability is required continually in any organization. The successive change efforts, it is the experience, should be initiated only when the previous changes have stabilized. This does not happen on its own, the Change agents have to make this happen again by using their process and other skills. All these roles are overlapping as mentioned earlier, the role of Consultant is all inclusive and that is why many persons use Consultants and Change agents as synonyms. Each of the roles may have many sub roles; the role of Consultant has been of 83
maximum interest. There are a variety of models but two models appear to be quite necessary for a better understanding. In a change project, the clients and Consultants (Change agents) have different influence and involvement. This difference in the degree of involvement and influence of activity gives rise to different types of consultancy styles or models. One model is based on the involvement / influence of the consultant vs. Influence / involvement of the client in the change project. The different styles or models may be enumerated here by broadly dividing the influence / involvement in low and high degrees : i) Low Influence / Involvement of Client and Low Influence / Involvement of Change Agent: This model is known as the Marking Time Model or Survival Model. The change process is a formality without much seriousness. This model is based on low mutual influence between client and Change agent. When a Change agent is imposed on a disinterested client, the relationship becomes that of co-existence and there is no mutuality or meaningful inter action. The Change agent is seen as an intruder marking time with the client system and no real change may be expected. ii) Low Influence / Involvement of Client and High Influence/ Involvement of Change agent: This gives a Clinical model like a Doctor diagnosing and treating a patient. The relationship is determined by the quality of professional expertise of the Change agent, the diagnosis and the diagnostic ability of the Change agent is a distinguished characteristic in this model. The client provides data responds to questions and helps the Change agent to find the way for him. The consultant diagnoses and articulates the problem, structures the situation and suggests way for solving the problem. The expert power of the Change agent generates commitment for change in the client. Consultant is more like a Guru. iii) High Influence / Involvement of Client and Low Influence / Involvement of Change Agent: The resulting model is called Engineering Model. The Change agent gives ideas and broad direction when needed and the Clients on their own work for the solution. In this model the client determines the freedom to be given the consultant accepts the assignment as given to him .He carries out the study, collects, analyse the data and presents a report generally comprising facts, analysis and recommendations. It is up to the client to implement the recommendations. The main assumption behind this model is that the client needs information and analysis and the job of the Change agent is to satisfy it. iv) High Influence and Involvement of the Client & High Influence / Involvement of the Change Agent: The model is collaborative model popularly known as Process Consultancy. In this model, relationship between the Change agent and the client is based on mutuality; there is a mutual influence and joint identification of goals. Consulting is seen as a learning experience for both. Problem solving is conducted in a spirit of enquiry where either party can terminate voluntary relationship. This model encourages open exploration, which facilitates generation of valid data not possible in other models. The interventions are to help the client, perceive,
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understand and act upon events, which occur within the organization or in its inter-phase. The main assumption is that collaboration between client and consultant economises the time, speeds up diagnosis and commitment to action helps the client to learn how to recognise the problem when they re-appear, contributes to the transfer of consulting skill to the client and knowledge of organization to the consultant. The second model (Lippit and Lippit, 1980) also presents a variety of roles depending upon the level of consultant and client activity in problem solving. The model starts as a continuum, starting from the least level of consultant activity (corresponding to the highest level of client activity) to the highest level of consultant activity (corresponding to the minimum level of client activity). The roles on the continuum are given in Figure 1.
High Client activity Low Consultant activity

Objective observer Process Counselor Fact Finder Identifier of alternatives / Linker to Researcher Joint Problem Solver Trainer / Educator Information Specialist Advocate
Low Client activity
High Consultant activity
Figure 1: Roles of consultant and client
15.3 COMPETENCIES OF CHANGE AGENTS

Competency is an underlying characteristic of a person that results in effective and/or superior performance (Boyatzis, 1982). After going through various roles of Change agents, it would have become clear that they have to be master of many competencies. It needs to clarify here that it is not possible for a particular Change agent to be the master of all skills / competencies, that is why, Change agents also engage other Change agents / Consultants. It is very difficult to make an exclusive list of Change agent competencies the roles themselves indicate many of them. The competencies include knowledge, skills, attitudes, traits, value, motives and it is difficult to draw a line between theses. A skill is used for applications or working for performing a task / satisfying a role, which is a result of a number of visible and invisible competencies. In general, competencies for Change agents may be broadly classified into : Cognitive Competencies; Functional / Technical Competencies; Personal (Effectiveness) Competencies (Self-control, attitudes, traits, values etc.); and Inter-personal Competencies. 85
In addition, Consulting / Problem solving competency comprising of all the above mentioned competencies is also essential for Change agents. Each of these competencies have been briefly explained in the following paragraphs.
15.3.1 Cognitive Competencies

Cognitive competencies are required for perceiving and thinking and are again a combination of a number of competencies. For simple explanation, these can be divided in two types of thinking :

Analytical thinking; and Conceptual thinking.
Analytical Thinking enables a person to understand a situation by breaking it apart into smaller pieces, or tracing the implications of a situation in a step-bystep causal way. It also involves organising the parts of a problem or situation in a systematic way, making systematic comparisons of different aspects or features, setting priorities on a rational basis, identifying time sequences, causal relationships or If .......... then ........... relationships. According to Spencer and Spencer (1993), the main underlying dimension of Analytical thinking is complexity: the number of causes, reasons, consequences or action steps included in the analysis ranging from a simple list making to a complex multi layered analysis. The second dimension is breadth or the size of problem analysis. This may range from the lowest level -- concerns one or two peoples performances to the highest level - concerns long term performance relating to a major division or entered in a complex environment (economic / demographic changes and major improvements). Common behavioral indicators of Analytical thinking dimension in a person are:

Setting priorities (for tasks) in order of importance. Breaking down systematically a complex problem / task into manageable parts. Identifying / recognising likely causes of events or different consequences of actions. Anticipating obstacles and thinking ahead about future / next steps Using a mix of analytical techniques to identify several solutions and weighs the value of each.

Conceptual Thinking involves understanding a situation or problem by putting the pieces together and seeing the large picture. It includes identifying patterns or connections between situations that are not obviously related and identifying key or underlying issues in a complex situation. Conceptual thinking uses creative, conceptual or inductive reasoning for applying the existing concepts of defining novel concepts. According to Spencer and Spencer (1993), there are two main dimensions of Conceptual thinking : i) The complexity of thought processes and their originality ranging from using basic thumb rules to creating new theories explaining complex situations. ii) The breadth or the size of the problem analysed. A few behavioural indicators of conceptual thinking are :
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Using thumb rule, common sense and / or past experiences to identify problems and situations.
Comparing the crucial differences between the existing situation and previous happenings. Applying and modifying complex concepts, which have been learned, and methods in appropriate manner. Identifying useful relationships among complex data from unrelated areas. By the above mentioned narration, the importance of cognitive competencies might have been clear to a great extent.
15.3.2 Functional/Technical Competencies

These are the skills required to perform effectively in a particular discipline, functional or technical area such as Heat Treatment, Corrosion, Investment analysis, Designing a wage and salary administration system, Organization Development, Structural Design etc. The Change agent, who is working for identifying or resolving problems, must have the necessary knowledge particularly as Problem identifier or/and Solution provider. Technical / professional competencies include mastery on a body or field of Job related Knowledge and skills and also the motivation to enhance, use and disseminate work-related knowledge/skills to others. According to Spencer and Spencer, there are four main dimensions to Functional / Technical/ Professional competencies: i) Depth of Knowledge and Skills : This is described in terms of formal educational qualifications, training , expertise gained through informal study or working experience. ii) Breadth of Knowledge and Skills : It is the managerial and organizational expertise necessary to manage, coordinate or integrate diverse people, organizational functions and units for achieving common objectives. iii) Expertise Acquisition Motive : The efforts to maintain and acquire expertise ranging from simple maintenance to extensive efforts to attain mastery in new areas. iv) Distribution / Dissemination of Expertise : This ranges from no special knowledge to share the knowledge/skill to the highest level or publishing new technologies or new methods in professional/ technical journals. A few behavioural indicators are :

Striving to keep abreast with emerging knowledge and skills. Exhibiting curiosity by exploring beyond ones immediate fields. Readiness for helping others in resolving their problems. Interest for studying new subjects Volunteering to go out to share the expertise for disseminating new leanings.
Change agents / Consultants are engaged for solving problems, and all problems apparently will emerge in one or more of functions/departments/ processes of the organizations. Functional / technical knowledge provides a perspective to perceive in a holistic manner and also quite essential for interacting with and convincing the client. It adds to the confidence and credibility of the Change agent. The author, as an interval consultant was processing the manpower proposal of a large Engg company. While discussions one of the line managers was insisting for additional Manpower for the newly installed 8000 Tonnes press. Knowing the designation of Dy Manager (Personnel), he thought him to be a non-technical person and asserted quite arrogantly that only an Engineer would understand the issue. The author challenged him to come to the press and told that being an Industrial Engineer (and Metallurgical also), he had assessed manpower for a similar press 10 years ago in my previous 87
organization, hearing this, the manager became embarrassed and agreed what I was telling.
15.3.3 Personal (Effectiveness) / Self Management Competencies

These competencies help a person to be effective in achieving his goals, actions even amidst environmental difficulties and pressures. For effectiveness of Change agents / Consultants, the following personal / self management skills are quite essential. Self Control It is the ability to keep emotions under control and retain / enhance ones effectiveness even when faced with hostility and severe stress. This competency is described by the intensity, and resulting scope of the control exerted by a person on him/herself indicating a wide range of controls ranging from the individuals minimal control of self by avoiding negative actions controlling self in order to improve the situation to controlling or calming others as well as ones own reactions. A few behavioural indicators are : not being impulsive; resisting one self from aggressive involvement; remaining calm even in hostile and stressful situations; exploring and using functional way of restraining stress; and responding to problems constructively even in hostility/ and stressful situations.
Self Confidence It is an individuals belief in ones own capability to accomplish a task. It also includes the individuals expression of confidence in highly challenging situations, in making decisions, forming opinions and handling failures constructively. A positive self-concept perpetuates self-confidence. Two main dimensions of Self-confidence have been enumerated as : i) Intensity indicating how much challenge or risk the individual has confidence to face ranging from simple independent functioning in a normal work situation to taking on extremely risky tasks or challenging the boss or clients; and ii) Dealing with failure ranging from blaming others for failure to admitting own mistakes to others and acting to correct problems. A few behaviours have been observed as : Making decisions / acting in spite of disagreements from others; Presenting oneself assertively; Making statements telling confidence in ones own abilities and judgment; Stating ones own positions explicitly and confidently even while in conflict with superiors; Taking or accepting/personal responsibility in case of failures, mistakes or slippages; Using mistakes as learning opportunities; and Analysing ones own performance for knowing the causes of failure and work for improvements.
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A Consultant, very often has to face hostile clients or their employees, and very uncertain and new problems, which he would not have handled earlier,
Self confidence helps in retaining ones poise and facing the situation optimistically and permeating confidence in others. Flexibility Ability to adapt to and work effectively in a variety of situations with different individuals or groups. Understanding and appreciating opposing and alternative perspectives on an issue, trying to adapt to an approach in changing situations and readiness to change or accept changes in ones own work or organization are crucial for flexibility. Flexibility may be assessed on two dimensions (i) Breadth of change ranging from own opinions to adapting organizational strategy; and (ii) Speed of action ranging from slow to instantaneous. A few indicators are : recognising the meaning in opposing view points; adopting easily to changes at work; flexibility in applying rules / procedures depending on the situations and the super ordinate goal; and changing ones own behaviours to suit the situation.
Organizational Commitment The individuals ability and willingness to align ones own behaviour with the organizational needs, priorities and goals indicate organizational commitment. According to Spencer and Spencer, it may be assessed on the dimension intensity of commitment indicated by the amount of sacrifices made for the organizations benefits. A few behaviours indicating organizational commitment are : Willingness to help colleagues to complete their tasks. Aligning ones own activities, priorities, goals to meet organizational needs. Demonstrating cooperation to achieve larger organizational objectives. Meeting organizational needs rather than ones own professional needs.
If the clients sense organizational commitment in Change agents, their credibility shoots up and much of the resistance starts giving way. Initiative Initiative indicates a preference for taking action; doing more than is required or expected in the job, doing things that no one has ordered or requested. Improving or enhancing the results and avoiding problems or finding or creating new opportunities on ones own without anybodys orders or instructions are indicative of initiative. According to Spencer and Spencer, there are two main dimensions for understanding and assessing initiative (i) time dimension ranging from completing decisions made in the past to acting now on problems or opportunities that will be realized only in distant future; and (ii) Discretionary efforts like self motivation or the extra or unrequited effort put forth to complete a task or goal. Initiative is visible when a person refuses to give up after facing obstacles, recognises and seizes opportunities of improvement, performs far more than the job requirement and anticipates and makes efforts for seizing an opportunity which is not visible to others. 89
A few other Personal competencies may be enumerated as :

communication written / oral presentation; assertiveness; visioning; thoroughness; and persuasion
15.3.4 Inter-Personal Competencies

These competencies are essential for dealing with other people effectively. Inter-personal competencies are a bunch of different skills largely overlapping with each other. It is very difficult to clearly enumerate all such slots. However, some of the inter-personal skills may be enumerated as :

Inter-personal relations; Helping a person; and Developing and maintaining smooth, co-operative working relationships with colleagues, superiors, customers, clients etc.
In their behaviour, persons having such competencies show awareness of and consideration for the opinions and feelings of others. Such skills put people at ease. These skills can be interpreted, understood and assessed at different levels. Some of the characteristics behaviours used for assessing the IPR competencies are :

Maintaining composure in interacting even under stress; Demonstrating good judgement, poise and maturity in interactions with employees and customers; Interpersonal style serving to enhance rather than undermine relationships with others; Treating others with respect and dignity; Exhibiting empathy seeing things accurately from the emotional perspective of others, and caring about their well being; Understanding own feelings and expressing them functionally; Showing genuine respect for the wishes, preferences and confidentiality of clients, and advocating for them when appropriate; Managing conflicts constructively by searching for areas of common agreement; Recognising and acknowledges the feelings of others, and demonstrates respect; Showing empathy, sees things accurately from the emotional perspective of others, and cares about their well being; Using formal networks to accomplish tasks; Manages conflicts, dealing with others appropriately in difficult situations; Respecting confidentiality and exercising discretion when sharing information; Developing and leveraging a network of relationships / contacts with people and institutions capable of impacting business performance; Using social events to improve and strengthen professional relationships;

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Using the network to identify opportunities, gather market intelligence and seek input into problem with a view to increasing the work effectiveness; Participating actively in relevant business fora and taking steps to best represent the organization positively; Working effectively with relevant stakeholders to expand common ground and maximize buy-in into organizational priorities; Understands unique desires and preferences of significant others / external bodies and uses personal touch to strengthen key business relationships.
IPR competencies, as mentioned earlier are a cluster of different skills / competencies. A few important ones are briefly explained below. Communication There are three purposes of communication : i) Ensuring that the message conveyed has been fully understood; ii) Ensuring that the conveyed message has been accepted by the receiver; and iii) Ensuring that the receiver of the message has got motivated to act for doing what he has accepted to do. Communication includes grasping, processing and articulating thoughts and ideas to convey and use information in a meaningful manner. These skills also can be understood and interpreted at different levels. A few of the important communication skills are : Speaking; Writing; Asserting; Listening; Questioning; Paraphrasing; Giving feedback; Receiving feedback; and Empathising. Inter-Personal Understanding For having effective inter-personal relations, a desire and capability to understand other person is essential. The ability to listen accurately and understand is not only for the spoken words but also for unspoken or partly expressed thoughts, feelings and concerns of others. Inter-personal understanding is often expressed by understanding the moods and feelings of others, developing an understanding based on listening and observation to predict and prepare one self for others response. The IPU includes (i) Understanding the interests, attitudes, needs and perspectives of other people and (ii) Understanding the cause of others behaviour or patterns of behaviour, attitudes etc. There are two key dimensions for assessing the inter-personal understanding (Spencer & Spencer, 1993): a) Depth or complexity of understanding others ranging from understanding meanings of the statements and actions / feelings of the communication to understanding complex hidden reasons of the behaviours; and 91
b) Listening and responding to others. This also has a very wide range of behaviours beginning from simple listing to going out of the way to help people with personal or inter personal problems. Help / Service Orientation These competencies are oriented towards a desire to help or serve others to meet their needs. By these skills, a person is able to focus his / her efforts on discovering, understanding and meeting the other persons customers or clients needs. Some of the indicative behaviours of this skill are : a) Seeking information for understanding the explicit or underlying needs of other persons beyond those expressed superficially by the person. b) Taking personal responsibility for solving others problems promptly and undefensively. This competency also can be deeply analysed and assesses on two dimensions(i) focus on others/clients needs behaviours ranging from expressing negative expectation of clients to acting as a trusted advisor or advocate of the clients and (ii) taking initiative to help others / clients; behaviours ranging from blocking others actions to taking extraordinary efforts. Influence and Impact These skills help in expressing an intention to persuade, convince influence or impress others in order to get what one wants to get from them or getting them support ones agenda or the desire to have a specific effect on others. A few of commonly observed indicators are :

Anticipating the effect of action on others. Making efforts to give reason, data, facts and figures for convincing others. Using examples, experience, demonstrations, audio-visual aids for better understanding. Building behind the scenes support for the ideas. Using strategy in giving or withholding information for having the desired effect. Using group process skills for leading or directing the group.

This competency may also be assessed on two dimensions : (i) number (frequency) and complexity of the actions taken to influence others; (ii) breadth of the impact starting from one person to the whole organization and even outside organizations. Understanding and Using Power Dynamics For developing effective inter-personal relationships, the understanding of the prevailing power relationships in the organization or between people is essential. It means the ability to identify who are the key decision makers and centers of influence. Also predicting who will be able to influence the situation better and how. The capabilities range from an awareness and impact within the individuals own section / department to that on outside organization, customers, clients, suppliers, government etc. Common behaviours indicating the competency may be described along a scale for the lowest to the highest levels :
Misunderstanding organizational hierarchy/ structure. Concerned only with ones own work, and ignores others signals or needs.
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Understanding formal structure. Understanding informal structure. Understanding organizational policies. Understanding organizational issues. Understanding longer underlying issues.
The breadth of understanding ranges from one or two parts to the international organizations as enumerated in the previous competencies. Relationship Building With the help of this competency, a person is able to build and maintain friendly, warm and trusting relationship with people and need work within and outside ones organization for achieving work related goals. Some of the behaviours indicating this competency are :
Regularly and consciously working for building rapport and extending one self to build rapport with others. Establishing rapport with others easily. Sharing personal information to others for creating a common ground for widening the arena. Establishing friendly relationships with many people who may be useful in future.

This competency has two main dimensions : i) Closeness of relationships; and ii) Spread or the extent of relationships / network. Closeness of relationships building have a number of behavioural characteristics and levels :

Avoiding contact with others Accepting invitations Making formal contacts for expediting tasks or work activity Making informal contacts occasional Building rapport Making social contacts Making firmly level Making close personal friendships.
The spread of relationships also has different levels :

One or two persons Work Team / group Department Division Entire organization Other organizations in similar to other business Political / Governmental, organizations.
Relationship building is one of the most valuable skills as much of the formalities in selection and identification of Change agents are eliminated due to a feeling of trust and mutuality. The diagnosis also becomes easy and perfect due to openness.
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Negotiation This competency also is referred as a cluster of traits and competencies and enables an individual or groups with differing / opposing wishes or views to reach a mutually satisfactory agreement. This skill can be observed in wideranging behaviours as indicated below :
Being aware of the importance of negotiation and understanding the principles behind it. Realising that winning at all costs is not important and a win-win solution is most effective in the long run. Arguing persuasively for getting what one should get. Preparing well for every negotiation . Researching the interests of the other side and uses own understanding to make position stronger. Finding ways of gaining commercial intelligence in respect of leading competitors, and getting complete relevant information both about the organization and the individual that he will be negotiating with. Using different approaches and styles (i.e. avoidance, forcing, accommodating, collaborating and compromising) - to achieve the desired objectives. Demonstrating the need to plan for all major areas of the deal in the preparation phase, so that it is possible and plan the use of possible concessions. Using existing or new documentation to accompany the negotiations, and using an agenda as a positive aid to negotiations. Gathering as much information as possible during the negotiation process and tries to assess the other sides negotiating style and level of conviction. Using informal and formal networks to accomplish tasks or objectives. Understanding what is meant by carefully analysing what is said, and the importance of identifying the other sides non-negotiable items. Communicating the potential loss to both parties due to failure of negotiation process and ensures that the discussion does not end in a deadlock. Creating a win-win situation and influencing others to make sincere efforts for this.

15.3.5 Consulting Competency

Although Change agents are also considered to be Consultants, however, in this section, this is being taken as a specific competency of Change agents. These are needed to complete the various phases of a change project and adapting the consulting role as needed for a variety of situations. General Skills These skills are necessary for selecting and expediting different roles as a consultant. These include : 94 Self awareness about critical traits / competencies possessed, Understanding ones own motivations in assessing need for change and the drive to bring out the change. Understanding philosophy and ethics and process of change. Anticipating and predicting the relation of one possible change to other possible changes. Understanding the desired (coverage, character, structure of changes / group of changes. Determining the barriers, resistance and readiness to change.

Determining the resources a valuable for change. Ability to determine his own role in changing situations. Understanding group processes. Distinguishing work and personal issues. Active Listening Handling Emotions, Emotional Intelligence Conflict Resolution Building a conducive climate trust and openness.
Contracting Skills It is the skill needed for building a verbal agreement with a client and includes :
Communicating the understanding of problem what problem has been perceived by the consultant. Clarifying the clients needs Expressing ones own needs Documenting main decisions and commitments Obtaining clear agreement on the tasks (problems), scope, objectives, time frame and financial implications

A few other contracting skills may be enumerated as :

Promising only what can be delivered. Saying no without guilt and fear. Setting realistic goals for self and client Working comfortably with authority figures. Letting some one else take the glory. Working with people one does not like Assessing personal needs that affect acceptance of the contractor.
Sensing and Diagnosing Skills These skills may be split up into :

Helping the client to discover and clearly understand the problem. Questioning putting appropriate questions for explicit understanding. Helping in finding answers to questions. Inspiring trust of the client in the abilities of consultant Helping client generate solutions Skills to diagnose problems Determining the methods, which the clients believe, should be used for the change. Creating awareness of the need for diagnosis and change in clients. Creating a perception of the potentialities for change expectations. Understand the values and cultures of the organization. Assessing readiness for change. Obtaining multiple perspectives on the problem / situation. Ability to gather and summarize huge volumes of complex data and to involve the client in understanding and interpretation.

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Problem Solving and Decision-Making Skills

Involving others in problem solving and goal setting. Understanding the business environment and operative and the effect of problems thereon. Stating the problems and objectives explicitly. Setting ones ideas effectively. Enclosing clients to generate alternative solutions summing discussions. Evaluating alternatives considering effects of various alternatives on the derived outcome and effect on other organizational components. Making sound timely decisions using appropriate styles even amidst uncertainty and risk. Challenging ineffective solutions Seeking help from others Using a variety of techniques for creative problem solving.

Implementing Skills These skills are essential for successfully carrying out a project of planned change.
Conceptualisation and articulation of the activities required for implementing the plan. Defining objectives in such a way that it needs to easy definition of methods. Attending to details Taking responsibility Helping clients use their strengths and resources optimally. Changing plans in case of emergency Controlling ones anxiety while performing Intervening at appropriate time Admitting mistakes and working for rectification Building and maintaining morale and motivation of clients and users and project team. Prioritisation of activities / use of resources. Time management Project management Team working / Team building Understanding the impact of change activities Deciding upon the amount of action to be made before making an assessment of the progress.

Evaluating Skills For determining the success or failure of a change initiative / project, evaluating skills are necessary.
Diagnosis of cases when group action becomes inefficient using different techniques instrument, interiors, focus groups etc. Assessing ones own contributions. Project Evaluation. Soliciting formal / informal feedback from appropriate persons. Measure the success / status in comparison to the stated objectives.

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Evaluate content (what was done) and process (how the work was done). Acknowledging / accepting failures in a decent manner. Feeling comfortable in receiving the feedback / evaluation of the client. Ability to deal with unprecedented changes. Devising / using evaluation tools. Use of score cards, rating scales and other means. Rapport preparation. Leave the project gracefully after the task is finished. Attributing reasons of failures. Motivating the client / Team for rectifications / improvements.
Maintenance Skills
Creating a sense of responsibility, passion for the new system, procedures etc., after change. Motivating for active participation. A sense of collective responsibility for ensuring continuity and spread of the change initiative. Developing a strong support for the change initiatives. Acknowledgements, recognition, rewards, reinforcements.

Menzel has interacted with a large number of consultants and Change agents and has summarised the following list of Change agent skills. Educating Researcher Writer Designer Teacher Instructor Trainer Advocate Conference Leader Life / Career Planner Diagnosing Action Researcher Diagnoser Survey Designer Data Analyst Evaluator Consulting Role Model Relater Expert in Processes Confronter System Analyst 97
Inventor Designer / Planner Adaptor Linking Resource Linker Internal Linker External Linker Theorist - Experts for action research Referrer
15.4 SUMMARY
This section provides a good exposure to the roles of Change agents and various competencies. Most of the competencies are not very unique to the Change agents, rather they are required for any manager because today the managers are expected to be Change agents. Many organizations have made planned efforts for developing internal Change agents, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. is one of them who have as, a part of their OD efforts succeeded in developing a few Change agents of national and international repute. These Change agents have not confined themselves to only specific OD activities, rather they have contributed in identification of change opportunities and facilitation in many organizational, technical, functional and personal and interpersonal areas. They are also contributing in HRD policy formulation, introduction of new mechanisms and of course, as valuable trainers. There are mutual benefits and limitations of internal and external Change agents, but the roles and competencies are mostly identical. The internal Change agents have to face additional problems for getting recognition and working within the hierarchy of power sector of the organization making their task more difficult. In order to get an outline of a real life change initiative highlighting the change process as well as various role Change agents are to play, paper entitled Designing and Implementing Performance Management system : The BHEL Experience is enclosed in the Appendix 1.

1) 2) Write an essay on role of change agent citing suitable examples. What are the skills required for becoming a successful cahnge agent.

The author gratefully acknowledge the following authors and sources : Spencer, Lyle M.Jr., Spencer Signe M, Competence at Work, John Wiley & Son, Inc. (1993). Sarathi, Parth, Planning, Auditing and Developing Human Resource, Manak Book, New Delhi. Sinha, Dharni, P, Consultants and Consulting Styles (Unpublished paper), COSMODE, Hyderabad. 98 Robbhins Stephen P, Organizational Behaviour, Prentice Hall of India, New Delhi.
Shein, E, H, Process Consultation: Its Role in Organization Development, Addison Wesley. Schein, E, H, What to observe in a group (paper) in NTL Reading book of Human Relations Training, NTL, Bethel. Lippit, G, Lippit R, The Consulting Process in Action, University Associates, Dan Diago. Boyatzis, R.E, Competence at Work, in Motivation and Society, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco. Rees, Fran, Consultant Effectiveness Pyramid, in The 1998 Annual: Volume 1, Training, Jossey-Bass. Garavaglia, Paul L, Change Agent Gap Analysis in The 2000 Annual, Vol. 1, Training; Jossey Bass. Saskein, Marshall, Models and Roles of Change Agents in The 1974, Annual Handbook for Group Facilitators, University Associates, San Diego. Block, Peter, Flawless Consulting, Pfeiffer & Company, San Francisco. Sarathi, Parth Designing and Implementing Performance Management Systems - The BHEL experience (unpublished paper). Timothy, M. Nolan, Consulting - Style Inventory : A Tool for Consultants and others in Helping Roles, in The 1003 Annual: Developing Human Resources, Pfeiffer & Company. Newstrom, J.W, Davis, Keith, Organisational Behaviour - Human Behaviour at Work, Tata McGraw Hill - publication. Chartier, M.R. Functional roles for facilitating organizational change, The 1985 annual : Developing Human Resources, Pfeiffer & Company, San Diego. Sarathi, Parth. Preparing Job description in Annual Handbook of Human Resource Initiatives 2003, Initiatives and Interventions, Manak (Pub), New Delhi.
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Appendix I
DESIGNING AND IMPLEMENTING PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM : THE BHEL EXPERIENCE
1.0 BACKGROUND BHEL is the largest Engineering Company of India having over 47000 employees in 14 manufacturing and a dozen services divisions catering to the needs of Power, Industry, Defense and Transportation sectors. It is one of the leading Navaratna PSUs of Govt. of India and has been giving profits continuously since over 30 years. In 2001-2002, the company registered a net profit of Rs 4679 Million ( equivalent to 98 Million US $s) on a Turnover of Rs 72866 Million(equivalent to 1518 Million US$s). BHEL to day has its export presence in over 50 countries. BHEL was the first organization to start Corporate Planning in a systematic manner in 1973 and has been pioneer in formulation and implementation of HRM / HRD policies. Developing Human Resource has been the key concern right since inception. Performance Appraisal System has been in use for all categories of employees. For Corporate Cadre executives (E5 to E7 level i.e. for Sr. Managers, DGMs, Sr. DGMs and AGMs), there was a uniform Performance Appraisal System throughout the Company, managed centrally by Corporate Personnel. For General Managers, EDs and Board Members, Appraisal System issued for Govt. of India was in vogue. The author has played a key role in developing new Appraisal systems for Board level positions in Navaratna PSUs which have already been implemented since 2000. For Executive levels (E1-E4) also, the Appraisal systems in most of the units / divisions was uniform. A new comprehensive Performance Management System has been developed and implemented for all levels of executives w.e.f. 2000-2001. This paper discusses some of the experiences of designing and implementing this System. 2.0 MAJOR AREAS OF SATISFACTION AND DISSATISFACTION WITH THE PREVIOUS SYSTEM The previous system continued for many years in spite of a mixed feeling of satisfaction and dissatisfaction. The salient features of the positive and negative aspects of the previous System (Performance Appraisal System) are enumerated below : 2.1 Satisfaction, Positive Aspects

Very simple, takes very less time to fill up. Non-threatening to both Appraiser and Appraisee. Able to fulfil the administrative requirements. Does not lead to confrontation between Appraiser and Appraisee. Could sustain for a long time. Personnel Deptt. was the sole custodian of formats. Able to maintain a high degree of confidentiality about appraisal ratings. Provides opportunity to Appraisee to indicate his achievements and Training needs, help required.
2.2 Dissatisfaction, Negative Aspects

A Performance appraisal system only. A passive system having no involvement of subordinates.
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No feedback either on performance or on training needs, helps solicited etc. Performance goals, parameters, expectations never clarified to Appraisee. Absence of performance standards. No dimensions / parameters for assessing performance. Appraisal of attributes / behaviours - main basis of appraisal. No feedback, counseling, coaching or improvement efforts. Appraisal ratings / outcomes not known to Appraisee. High degree of perceived subjectivity and bias. No linkage between Performance and Rewards. No appraisal of potential. Since only five grades of evaluation, many persons fall in the same grade difficult to distinguish between them.
3.0 STIMULATING THE NEED FOR A NEW SYSTEM 3.1 Initial Efforts The initial efforts for stimulating the need can be traced back to the year 1986-87 when as a member of the Corporate Personnel, the author made initiatives to widen the HRD activities, which were at the time largely confined to Training in most of the divisions and OD in a few. A one / two day training module on Performance Feedback a tool for HRD was designed and conducted to encourage the involvement of Appraisee in Appraisal process and also to make executives adopt Performance Feedback & Counseling for Subordinate Development. Six such Programmes / Workshops were held at Corporate Office and other divisions. This increased the awareness and motivation for adoption of this intervention to a great extent. Since the ongoing Appraisal System did not have provision for this mechanism, it could not catch up. A booklet titled Performance Feedback - a Tool for HRD, was published in 1988 and distributed to executives to adopt some of the practices of Performance Management. Another effort made after a few years could not go much ahead. In various diagnostic exercises, Workshops, syndicate group discussions dissatisfaction with Performance Appraisal System was often emerging sharply and some of the HRD efforts also were constrained due to the existing system. 3.2 Training Programme on Performance Management In 1996 at Human Resource Development Institute (BHEL), a six-day training programme on Performance Management was designed and conducted by the author with the hope of creating a critical mass that could stimulate the need in various units. Personnel / HRD Heads from various divisions including Corporate Office and some Line managers at senior levels were invited to participate in this programme. The expectations / requirements of a good Performance Management System could strongly emerge during the programme and the limitation of existing system also surfaced. A number of structured experiences, instruments and cases were used in addition to experience sharing by a few other organizations. As an outcome of the workshop, a strongly felt need of a comprehensive Performance Management System emerged along with the main expectations and motivation to influence others to contribute in evolving the Performance Management System for BHEL. 101
3.3 A Survey on Human Resource Practices in BHEL Based on a survey in 1996-97, conducted by the author using a questionnaire developed by Dr. Udai Pareek and Dr. TV Rao, the average score for the Ideal Performance appraisal system was found to be 72.76% and that for Existing one was 37.6%, leaving a huge gap of 35.16%. Table enclosed at Annexure I may be referred for further details. This indicated dissatisfaction of respondents with the existing Appraisal system but also indicated an excellent appreciation of the requirements of a good appraisal system. The findings thus, served two valuable purposes : (i) convincing others about the need to revise the system and (ii) the hopefulness that people would be able to develop and appreciate a good Performance management system. On the basis of the findings, it also became clear that mere new Performance appraisal system would not be adequate: a comprehensive Performance management system was the need of the Organization. The Survey findings proved to be highly useful in future efforts. 3.4 One Day Training Module on Performance Management in all General Management Programmes Encouraged by the responses of this programme, a one-day session on Performance Management was introduced in all General Management Programmes to be conducted by HRDI. Normally, 10-12 such programmes were conducted every year for the BHEL executives at the level of Senior Managers (E5) and above. After conducting a few programmes, a pattern emerged and this became attain our module. Highlights of the coverage are given below : i) Where are You, Where do you want to go- defreezing. In order to stimulate the need of Performance Management efforts, agreed indicating five stages of organizational health developed by Robert Camp were projected and responses of participants were asked indicating where did they find the company. The grid was as follows : World Class : Best in Class : A company recognized as the best in its area of function, bench-marked by other organizations. A company which usually exceeds customers expectations, out performs all direct competition, provides a clear competitive edge. A company which meets all customer requirements and internal requirements in respect of cost, margins, asset utilization and cycle time. A company which is a\not able to satisfy all customer requirements or internal requirements. An ineffective, inefficient Company which is at the risk of falling. Needs major redesign.
Satisfactory
Unsatisfactory : Unhealthy :
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They were encouraged to share their perceptions and asked whether the organization should remain at the same status for achieving BHEL Mission, Vision or something else should be done. Most of them got somewhat sensitised and expressed the need of concerted efforts to enhancing performance of the organization. It would be further explained that the grid had
been prepared consisting both efficiency and effectiveness aspects and further explanation was given whenever required. ii) Expectations from an Effective Performance Management System Through brainstorming, the expectations from an effective Performance Management System were collected. Some of the commonly stated expectations are :

Beneficial to the appraisee, appraiser, company and customer Objectivity in appraisal Able to provide information on what is to be done, what is to be accomplished? Enable role and goal clarity Provide clarity on standards of performance Ensure adequate support to the performer Able to make distinction between performance of employees Provide opportunities for performance dialogue and periodic feedback Able to motivate for achievement oriented target setting Periodic monitoring and evaluation of Performance Enable the Performer and his superior to know the extent to which the tasks / targets have been completed Facilitate identification of Training and development needs Able to improve performance in future Creation and development of trust and openness between boss and subordinate Provide feed back to the Boss also Active involvement of Boss and Subordinate at all stages Provide rewards for superlative performance Provide valuable inputs for Career and Succession planning.

Apart from building an inventory of expectations, it stimulated the group process, enhanced participation and helped in creating a risk free environment. This also proved to be the foundation for identifying and designing the components of the system and convincing the participants at later stages when they experienced discomfort or difficulty in carrying out certain activities. iii) Clarifying the Understanding of Performance Management It was also found essential to arrive at a common Understanding on term Performance. Taking the help of available literature and our own perceptions, a definition was evolved after presentation of a number of definitions Performance is a definition of what is to be accomplished or carried out. It is also a process that leads to results. Performance Management, therefore, may be conceived as a continuous process of working with people to accomplish desired results. This process should aim at : a) Establishing a shared understanding about what is to be achieved, how is to be achieved and b) Encourage involved persons to work in such a way that possibility of achieving results is maximised. Some research findings indicating requisites of getting good performance were also discussed. 103
The group by this time would become able to enumerate important components of a Performance Management System. iv) Achievement Oriented Goal Setting Experiential learning has been extensively used in this module and a few games and exercises commonly used in behavioural science have been used with a wide perspective. For example, a Ring Toss exercise was used for clarifying some of the basic assumptions of achievement orientation and goal setting at individual level. The exercise of Tower Building was also used some times along with Ring Toss and sometimes independently for stimulating achievement oriented target setting, understanding the process of joint decision making (consensus) and activities to be undertaken by supervisor and boss for enabling the worker perform better. These exercises were also used for internalizing achievement imageries given by McClelland and examining the status of one-self and providing insights. The achievement syndrome model was used to independently emphasise the strong need, positive goal anticipation, strong positive feelings, urge to identify the blockages and minimizing or removing the blockages by the self initiated efforts and help of others. This proved to be very relevant at the later stages of system implementation. v) Power of Expectations The concept of Pygmalion effect (Power expectations) was very helpful in motivating the participants. On the basis of the experience gathered in the previous exercises, the concept was very effectively driven in. It is expected to vitalize the process of goal setting and subordinate development. vi) Giving and Receiving Feedback The felt need of Feed back also emerged during the exercises. This exercise along with the Job Diagnostic Survey (developed by Hackman and Oldham) helped the participants to understand the role of autonomy and feedback in enhancing the performance of subordinates. Also the need of job rotation for optimizing skill variety, task identity and task significance was also demonstrated vividly through their own scores on the above mentioned survey. This exercise, in turn, crystallized thoughts regarding the role of superiors in enabling the superlative performance of subordinates. The three cases on Performance Counseling (Gupta, Punjabi, and Welsh) developed by TV Rao also helped the participants to understand some of the factors, which facilitated the effects of Performance Feedback and Counseling. The group work and presentation were highly effective and internalizing some of the important requirements of Feedback and Counseling. Input on Giving and Receiving Feedback was given adding some other features on the basis of experiential learning. vii) Inter-personal Factors Affecting Performance In order to experience some of the very simple but fundamental factors affecting performance, an exercise was carried out in which 9 volunteers were invited and given separate head bands on which different types of designations and messages were written in such a way that others could read it but not the person concerned. They were given a small task of arriving at a consensus decision on certain controversial issues with the instructions that they have to behave with each other according to the other persons head band while interacting with each other. This exercise within a short time made very serious impact on the behaviour of the participants. For example, those who had positive headbands got energized and their performance went on increasing while others who had negative ones felt ignored in the discussions and their
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performance dropped drastically. By sharing their feelings and responses of some questions demonstrated that for positive performance, positive feed back, involvement and participation of the incumbent is essential. It also demonstrated that if they were ignored, their performance fell down. This helped in highlighting vulnerability of Appraisee / appraisers in real life work situation. Many got an insight that in order to remain effective, one has to develop the attitudes and competencies, which would help them, remain energetic and performing even at adverse situations. The explanation of Self-concept proved very effective. viii) Developing an Outline of Good Performance Management System On the basis of the entire days work, the sketch of a good performance management system emerged every time along with the cautions which are to be taken every time. In the one day module in the later programmes, formats were also given to the participants for performance planning etc. for being tested. ix) Performance Management - Key Elements In the background on the experience, insights, and expectations, the participants were able to visualise (in line with Vrooms theory) that the Performance of a person depends at least on three factors :

Ability (Knowledge and skill) of the person to do the specific job. Willingness (Motivation) of the person to do that job Support (resources, guidance, feedback) provided by the organization.
Some Indian insights were also quite helpful at this stage, especially a quotation from Chandagya Upanisada Whatever is done with Vidya, Shradha and Upanisada; that alone becomes efficient. Vidya (Science of) Knowledge and Skill. Shradha Faith (and Conviction); faith in oneself, the impulse from within. Totality of positive attitudes. Upanisada deep thinking, meditative thinking on the subject concerned. Superior efficiency will come when we combine knowledge with the energies of Shradha and Upanisada. Knowledge Doing - behaviour (outer world) Skills PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS Shradha Being - attitude, values (inner world) Upanisada 105
3.4 Testing the Formats In some of the GMPs and Strategic Management Programmes, the newly developed PMS formats got filled up by the participants and this exercise helped us in testing the formats and validating the provisions. 3.5 Other Interventions For stimulating the need of a new system of Performance Management and bringing in clarity of expectations and approaches a few Workshops had been conducted by us at Units and HRDI. In addition, this has also been a topic for Syndicate discussions in General Management Programmes and other programmes. Some Summer trainees (MBA) also conducted surveys / studies in Delhi based Divisions and Units which have been quite useful. 3.6 Corporate Personnel Exercise on Identification of Thrust areas in HRM BHEL evolved its Vision, Mission and Values in 1996 and as a part of the implementation efforts, it was decided to identify thrust areas for the HRM function in line with Vision 2001 / Perspectives 2002. A Corporate task force with the author of this paper as Leader was set up drawing 9 other members from various units / divisions of Corporate Office. Some of the task force members had earlier (1996) undergone the first six day programme (mentioned earlier) on Performance Management which was designed and conducted by the author. A weeklong intensive exercise was conducted by the task force, which brought out 17 thrust areas. Broad objectives for each were also defined. After presentation to top management, 5 thrust areas were selected for further work. Performance Management was one of them. The identification of this area as a thrust area gave a big fillip to the earlier efforts of developing a new PMS. 4.0 DEVELOPING PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 4.1 Constitution of Cross Functional Teams A cross functional team with 4 executives including one from Corporate Personnel and 2 from major units, with the author as the leader was constituted by Corporate Personnel. After a few days of discussions, consolidation of the data of surveys and experiences of all the training programmes, syndicate work etc. an outline (sketch) of a Performance Management System was created. This was presented to ED(P&A), Corporate Office who gave the green signal for further development. 4.2 Preparing an Approach Paper - Presentation to Director (Personnel), Preparing Draft System The system was developed around the seven components identified earlier. Five formats covered in 8 pages were also designed. The New System was quite different from the old one. The highlights of the system were :
Shift of focus from Performance Appraisal to Comprehensive Performance Management. Increased involvement of subordinates in Performance Management activities. Introduction of individual level goal setting. Increased objectivity in appraisal. Emphasis on development not on control. Introduction of Potential Appraisal. Introduction of Performance based Reward system. Shift from grade based to mark based appraisal.

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Introduction of appraisal discussions (twice a year) but marking to remain confidential. Introduction of Performance Improvement plans for individuals.
The System was presented to ED(P&A), Corporate Office and Director (Personnel) and a few changes were made thereafter. 4.3 Presentation to Personnel Heads The system was presented to Personnel Heads who reacted sharply on some aspects. A copy of the document was later on sent to them for presentation at units and getting comments of other executives in Personnel Department and Line Managers. Presentation was also made to the Members of Executive Association. Comments were received and studied by the CFT Members. 4.4 Examination of Issues Raised and Testing of Assumptions In training programmes of HRDI, the issues emerging out of the various presentations and comments received were specifically raised directly and indirectly and assumptions were tested. This helped in retention and change of some of the provisions. 4.5 Presentation in Management Committee Meeting The author at the Management Committee Meeting made a presentation. This evoked a mixed reaction welcome, appreciation, criticism etc. A committee of EDs was set up for in-depth examination of the system. The committee after detailed examination asked for simplification. 4.6 Simplification of System and Formats Simplification of the system was not an easy task for the CFT as it was at the cost of some compromise on the expectations. It was a question of a very tight ropewalk - at one side quality of the system on the other acceptance - striking the balance was a really difficult task. There were sharp and hot discussions amongst the CFT members on specific issue a number of times. Some amount of Quality had to be sacrificed for Acceptance. After simplification - again a series of presentations were made - to HRDI participants and top management including Director (Personnel) and others for knowing their responses. 5.0 SELLING THE SYSTEM TO USERS 5.1 Presentation of the Draft System at Units / Divisions As advised by the Director (Personnel), full presentations at all major units / divisions were made by two of the CFT members. Around 100-120 senior level managers at a time attended presentation sessions of 4 hours duration at every unit. Two such sessions were held at every unit. These sessions were really stormy as strong emotions emerged everywhere. All the pent up dissatisfaction, anger and hostility to power erupted severely and a very high degree of process facilitation skills were required for facilitating such interactions. Snap surveys, to get their perception on a few critical and controversial issues were conducted through a semi-structured questionnaire in a few of the units. 5.2 Amendment of the System and Simplification A few major changes into the draft system were made subsequently. One such example is making the appraisal completely open; even the final points would be allotted in presence of the Appraisee. The simplification also had created some problems. 107
5.3 Presentation to Full Time Directors The system was presented to full time Directors including CMD and comments were very valuable. 5.4 Presentation to Management Committee Finally presentation was made to the Management Committee, which is the apex decision making body (having CMD, Directors, Executive Director and Unit / Division Head as Members. Discussions were very lively, analytical and probing. One senior member of the committee wanted to introduce 360 degree feedback system. It was clarified that ultimately 360 degree feedback would be introduced but after running the system for 1-2 years. In the meantime, planned efforts would be made to enhance the readiness of the users. The system was issued by Director (Personnel) for implementation giving an implementation plan. 6.0 HIGHLIGHT OF THE NEW PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM On the basis of extensive work of developing Performance Management System in the above-mentioned Company, the following seven components have been found to be essential in any Performance Management System. a) Performance Planning b) Performance Appraisal c) Performance Feedback and Counseling d) Performance Enabling e) Rewards f) Performance Improvement g) Potential Appraisal Highlights of each of the systems have been given below : 6.1 Performance Planning Performance plans will be made by every executive at the beginning of the year identifying the activities to be performed during the year and the competencies required for accomplishing these activities. The activities to be performed will be identified primarily on the basis of the Performance budget of the unit / division but other activities to be accomplished during the year will also be included. Performance plan will form the basis of appraisal and shall be prepared jointly by the Appraiser and Appraisee. 6.2 Performance Appraisal The Appraisee and Appraiser will do appraisals twice a year - once in October and again in April both. The financial year starts on 1st April and ends on 30th March. Appraisal will be done on a 100 point scale, a maximum of 70 points will be available for Appraisal of Performance (i.e. activities and tasks expedited during the year) and 30 points for appraisal of the competencies. Every time, appraisal will be initiated by the Appraisee, and would be carried out by the Appraiser subsequently after discussions with Appraisee. The Appraiser in the presence of the Appraisee will award marks. 6.3 Performance Feedback and Counseling In order to provide an opportunity to know the areas of performance up to the desired level, areas of further development and to motivate the Appraisee for improvement, Feedback and Counseling will be carried out along with every appraisal. Training and development needs for the year will be identified jointly by the Appraiser and Appraisee.
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6.4 Performance Enabling The appraiser will take necessary steps to ensure that the Appraisee is able to carry out the desired activities to the best of his ability. A few guidelines including using appropriate Leadership style, Feedback and Power of Expectations have been given in the system. 6.5 Reward and Reinforcement A reward scheme linked to Performance has also been proposed in two slabs for those getting Appraisal points of 85 and above and those who obtain performance appraisal rating of 91 and above. This is initially equivalent to one increment and two increment for an year Relative weightage of different factors in promotion decisions has also been indicated. 6.6 Performance Improvement Planned efforts will be made to identify the gaps in expected and actual performance, and Appraiser and Appraisee would jointly involve a plan for improving Performance. 6.7 Potential Appraisal Potential appraisal will be conducted once a year for lateral as well as vertical movements of executives. For vertical movement, Potential will be apprised on two parameters : (i) knowledge and skills (on 10 points) and (ii) critical attributes (40 points). The Potential appraisal System is supposed to now provide valuable inputs for the newly developed Career and Succession Planning and Job Rotation System, therefore is being modified. (Considering the importance of Potential Appraisal in the forthcoming system on Career and Succession Planning, this system was not implemented. It was decided to introduce Competency mapping and assessment techniques and then bring out a more effective Potential Appraisal System. 7.0 IMPLEMENTATION EFFORTS The implementation of this system has been the prime concern at all levels of the activities and one of the reasons of depending totally on Internal resource persons was to ensure elimination of gaps , if any, in this direction. Salient features of the implementation efforts are briefly described below : 7.1 Corporate Level Steering Committee Much of the work had been done before the formal issue of the system. A steering committee at Corporate level was set up with GM (Personnel), Corporate Office as its leader. The author was also a team member but his main responsibility thereafter was to provide professional guidance and support to ensure effective implementation. Units were asked to constitute such committees for monitoring the efforts at Unit level. 7.2 Developing Facilitators It was proposed to train adequate number of Facilitators who would conduct training programmes at all Units / Divisions for in depth exposure of users of the system. Nomination of specified nos. of Facilitators for being trained was invited by HRDI - 50% from Personnel / HRD and 50% from Line Managers. Over 80 such facilitators were trained in 4 nos. of 2 day intensive training programme designed and conducted by the author supported by Shri KK Seth, DGM(Personnel), Corporate Office and Shri MP Jayakjumar, DGM(HRDC), BHEL Trichy.
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7.3 Training of Users There are around 10,000 users. The Facilitators did a commendable job by training all users in the Units. The facilitators would ensure smooth implementation of the system and would now training the remaining executives. Their motivation is at a very high level and they have accepted this mammoth task voluntarily in addition to their normal work. 7.4 Pilot run of System A real life pilot run of the system was conducted in one of the medium size units (Jhansi) where the system was really operated for trial. Only a few minor modifications in format and procedure were made subsequently. 7.5 Implementation Directives, Distribution of the Manual of Performance Management The system document was printed and a copy with the formats was sent to all users along with the Implementation Order. Additional copies of formats in sufficient nos. were sent to all Units / Divisions. 7.6 Training in Giving and Receiving Feedback While conducting the Training programme for facilitators, it was strongly felt that every user will have to undergo an intensive training programme of in Giving and Receiving Feedback. A few such programmes (2 days duration) have already been held at a few small divisions by HRDI. There are very few trainers who can conduct in depth programme in Performance Feedback and Counseling and over 9,000 users are to be trained by October, 2001. Therefore, again 100 Trainers, in four batches, were being developed internally by making them undergo a 4 day intensive training module designed and conducted by author. A model design of one day programme on Giving and Receiving Feedback has been designed and given to all trainers along with a training kit comprising Floppy, CDs having three small films, cases and instruments etc. This kit also has been prepared by the author. This is going to be a very powerful intervention and these internal resource persons are going to contribute tremendously on various dimensions. 7.7 Constitution of Performance Planning and Review Committee PPRCs at all Divisions have been constituted at all units in 2 tiers for smaller / medium size units and in 3 tiers for major units and guidelines have been prepared. 8.0 BEHAVIOURAL IMPLICATIONS Designing and implementing Performance Management Systems has very wide and intensive Behavioural implications. Some of the issues which the Leader of the Project (the author) experienced may be enumerated as :

Pains, dilemmas while initiating proposal. Coping with ambiguity Risk taking in new proposals. Creativity, pressure for bringing something new and innovative. Envy of others Listening, make others listen Influencing others, getting influenced by others. Frustration - of not being able to convince.
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Hostility of Superiors, colleagues, users. Team working - with his own team and other temporary teams. Asserting - to Superiors and Peers. Encouragement, appreciation, receiving and giving. Achieving involvement and co-operation of others. Conflicts - coping and resolving. Outburst of feelings
During various interactions with Top / Senior level Executives also a few critical behavioural issues surfaced. A few are enumerated below:

Fear of getting exposed - lack of work load, tasks, excess manpower etc. Fear of getting questioned by subordinates regarding assignment of task, allocation and award of points Fear of committing help, guidance and resources to subordinates Fear of loosing autonomy Pressure for making more comprehensive annual plans Discomfort due to the requirement of giving Performance feedback and Counseling Discomfort due to perceived need of changing management style from control to facilitation Fear of transparency, even disclosing the points awarded. Rigidity - old dog syndrome. Jealousy, envy with other Top management Personnel Fear of ambiguity Locus of Control (external) Poor motivation for excellence Self concept (poor) related issues.

All this resulted in resistance to change. However during discussions in many Top/ Senior level Executives very positive behavioural characteristics were observed which at times helped in raising the motivation of CFT members. A few may be enumerated as:

Encouraging creativity and risk taking Internal locus of control Willingness to change Balance between quality of the system and acceptance of users Consensus building Use of appropriate Power bases for influencing users Belief in Human capabilities and convincing others for the same Setting higher expectation on the CFT leader (the author) and the team (Pygmalion effect) Collaborative approach in conflict resolution, some times Power strategy also, it generally proved to be functional. Eliciting support of opposing / neutral Top management personnel Encouraging Confrontation Tremendous confidence in internal resource persons. 111

Some of the behavioural issues / dimensions characteristic of each system are also enumerated below : 8.1 Performance Planning

Trust and openness between Appraiser and Appraisee. Achievement motivation of both Motivation of Appraisee to set higher goals. Expectancy of getting help, guidance, socio emotional support. Assertiveness of both Trust and openness between group members, Hope success vs fear of failure Locus of control.
8.2 Performance Appraisal

Trust and openness Objectivity Distinguishing content and Process Willingness to know others opinions, perceptions to be evaluated. Clear, supportive communication. Self-concept - match between self and others perceptions - significance, competence and lovability. Coping with fear, anger Interpersonal needs - Inclusion, Control, Affection (Openness) Power perception (Self & others) of Appraiser and Appraisee. Listening.

8.3 Performance Feedback and Counseling

Perceptual process Perception of Care and Concern Openness, trust Power perception (Self and others) Coping with feelings Inter-personal needs (Self and others) Credibility (of source and recipient) Perceived intentions Supportive Vs. Defensive communication. Assertiveness Empathy Willingness to improve.
8.4 Performance Enabling

Sense of responsibility (ownership) Locus of control (internal vs. external) Manager vs. Leadership, Leadership style effectiveness Persuasion, influencing Giving and receiving feedback
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Understanding the maturity level of Subordinate. Use of appropriate leadership styles and Power bases. Supportive vs Defensive communication. Result vs. Process emphasis. Interpersonal relations Resourcefulness Helping behaviour (attitude) Need to own success / failure Self vs Subordinate
8.5 Rewards and Reinforcements

Motivational Style and process Care, Concern, Sensitivity Self esteem Achievement orientation Recognition Coping with failures Affection/ Openness needs
8.6 Performance Improvement

Desire to achieve, error correction Trust, openness Cause - effect analysis Reward, recognition Motivation style.
8.7 Potential Appraisal

Objectivity, overcoming biases Confidence in Human capabilities Understanding competencies Visualisation, Imaginativeness Tolerance to ambiguity,
9.0 PROBLEMS BEING FACED IN IMPLEMENTATION

Fear of getting exposed Subordinates demand more work load from Superiors hence they feel threatened, as they would get exposed if not able to provide enough job. Uncertainty of orders creates problem in planning. Quantum of Job What could be the optimum workload - in spite of the Standard workload concept, there is confusion. Aversion to giving time frame and Performance Indicators Perceived difficulty in identifying tasks and estimating the work content At senior levels (Sr. DGMs and above), lukewarm response due to stagnation (low prospect) of promotion to higher levels. Potential appraisal included in PMS is inadequate hence need of new Potential Appraisal System. 113

Initial fears and apprehensions in giving and receiving feedback (especially negative). Target population is very large and scattered - difficulty in monitoring implementation. In spite of all efforts taken fear of subjectivity. Lack of support to PMS Coordinators / Facilitators. Monitoring efforts not up to the mark. Time pressure (compulsion) for both sides for meeting the requirement.

10.0 BENEFITS PERCEIVED BY USERS

Message that everybody would have to work has gone deeper and deeper. Ineffective Managers are getting exposed. Demand of more workload by Superiors. Role clarity will increase , people will learn goalsetting. Beginning of a culture of individual level planning, evaluation and monitoring leading to Performance oriented climate. Availability of an objective base for rewards. Very distinct identification of Performance (levels and targets). Linkage with Top managements goals, perceptions and orientations. Enhancement Credibility of Appraisers and Appraisal system. Efforts to understand and enhance competencies. Creation of openness and trust. Enhancement of Achievement Orientation. Opportunity for development. Identification of appropriate training programmes. Pressure for understanding i) Work content estimation ii) Identification of value addition activities iii) Competencies of subordinate and iv) Learning strategies of subordinate development

Training efforts linked to competency Initiation of competency based HRD efforts Appreciation of joint responsibility for Performing Projecting lack of work load or excessive work load at the beginning of the year, hence proactive efforts Encouragement of healthy competition Some linkage between Performance and Rewards Facilitating reduction of cycle time Excess / surplus manpower getting exposed Providing objective data for career/ succession plans etc.

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11.0 FUTURE STEPS After having an years experience and feedback efforts will be made to review the system where ever essential. The following new initiatives would also be made for strengthening the system further : Performance Plans for the Head of units would be made using the Balanced score card approach. This would encompass Long-range plans, MOUs and Revenue budget. Scorecards for other senior executives would be prepared on the basis of the above and Performance plans will be prepared accordingly. At least 6 Training programmes will be conducted followed by a number of workshops at the unit level. Identification and development of competencies for each role / position is very essential for PMS. Planned efforts will be initiated for Competency mapping and assessment. Training will be made competency based. Efforts would also be made to computerize the system to the extent possible once the system stabilizes. Rewards based on Performance would be further strengthened. Utmost effort would be made to use the System for developing the managers , interventions like Coaching and Mentoring would be encouraged.
12.0 CONCLUDING REMARKS This project, right since the beginning, has been exciting to many persons. This is a major change effort and large system intervention. How the Top Managements support, learning attitude, clarity, conviction and confidence in internal resources can help in introducing such major change this system is a living example. Although many leading consultants of international level were considered but ultimately the top management reposed confidence in internal resources. The inspiration, openness, future orientation and spirit of confrontation of the Director (Personnel) of BHEL not only stimulated the thinking process but also provided a big challenge before the team. The blending of Behavioural Process skills, Quantitative techniques, Work study and Business Systems processes - proved to be very effective. Right since beginning an induction process (learning then doing) was used and this is the best example of using Training interventions for design and implementation of PMS. The cohesion of the task force members, their openness and mutual trust and their dedication to bring out something new and effective not only paid dividends but also provided a memorable experience. The patience and perseverance are a few other factors responsible for success. It is a true example of collaboration. The amount of interactions generated in development of the system is an example in itself. This system is going to streamline many of the business processes and contribute very significantly in achieving the organizational goals. One year of experience of running this system has established a strong need for Performance Management System. It is now widely recognized as an effective HR intervention in which the line managers and top management has to play the pivotal role. These experiences and realizations have resulted in engaging an International consultancy organization to further enrich the system and make it e-enabled. Subsequent to the implementation of the System an evaluation exercise was conducted and suitable modifications made., The system has been further modified and implemented with the title MAPMoving ahead with Performance and at this stage external Consultants were used. The activities have been e-enabled for fastness and transparency with the help of. The activities and ratings have been made fully transparent. Continuous efforts are being made to get the feedback of users and update the system whenever essential.
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Annexure 1
PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL OBJECTIVES

S.No. 1. Objectives Role clarity Ideal Score % 80.0 Existing Score % 45.5 Diff.% 34.5 Rank Diff. 8
2.
Work Planning/Task Planning
75.5
43.0
32.5
10
3.
Gain insight into Strength & Weakness of self of subordinates.
72.5 66.5
40.5 33.0
32.0 33.5
11 9
4.
Identify developmental needs, of self of subordinates
73.5 64.5
45.5 38.1
28.0 26.5
12 14
5.
Increase Mutuality between self and subordinates.
66.5
38.5
28.0
12
6.
Increase communication.
79.5
38.5
41.0
7.
Preparation for higher level of job by recognition of qualities needed for them.
81.0
41.5
39.5
8.
Promoting reflection and motivation through self appraisal.
76.5
40.0
36.5
9.
Internalize organizational norms, values, culture.
66.0
30.5
35.5
10.
Creating a positive, collaborative, and problem solving and healthy culture.
73.5
33.0
40.5
11.
Ensure optimal performance and accountability through rewards and punishments.
76.5
28.5
48.0
12.
Control employees behaviour and output through ratings. Any others.
66.5
31.0
35.5
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UNIT 16 INSTITUTION BUILDING

Objectives After studying this unit, you should be able to understand :
the concept of organization, institution, institution building and the characteristics of institution the factors which influence institution building the process aspects of institution building significant dimensions of institute building: self-renewal and innovation the role of the chief executive in institutional building.

Structure 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 16.6 16.7 16.8 16.9 Organization Vs. Institution What is an Institution Factors Influencing Institution Building Institution Building : The Process Significant Dimensions of Institution Building: Self-Renewal and Innovation Institutional Building: The Role of Chief Executive Summary Self-Assessment Questions Further Readings
Appendix 1. Organisation Crises and Outcomes Appendix 2. Checks to Measure the Extent of Institutionality
16.1 ORGANIZATION Vs. INSTITUTION

An organization comes into existence in order to achieve a goal or a set of goals. Since no one individual can achieve the goal or set of goals by himself, a number of individuals come together. Hence there tends to be a division of work where in the overall goal or objective is broken down into sub-goals and they in turn into activities to be performed by each of the individuals thus, giving rise to differentiation in power, authority, role and responsibilities. These differentiated functions are coordinated, in terms of rationally conceived role relationships, and a normative order. This rationally conceived hierarchisation has to be maintained over time to achieve the overall objective. Hence maintenance of the normative order is an important sub-goal of the organization. While organizations aim at maintenance of internal order and efficiency in goal realisation, institutions extend beyond these goals. Institutions have relatively more permanance than organisations. Organizations are organic, they have a birth, growth and finally, decay. Institutions are more enduring, have capacity of continuous growth, ability to cope and adopt under diverse pressures and pulls to make thrust into the future, in addition to having an impact on the society or community in which they exist. They perform services and functions which are valued in the community or society and also play the roles of a change inducing, a change-protecting agent within the community. While all institutions basically start as organisations, it is only a few organizations that can survive, grow and adopt to achieve finally an institution status. 117
16.2 WHAT IS AN INSTITUTION ?

Institution may be defined as a responsive, adaptive organisation which is a product of social needs and pressures. It is a part of the larger system i.e. the community or the soceity and is a forward looking, adaptive and proactive part of the community. Esman and Blaise (1966) idefine institutions as organisations which incorporate, foster and protect normative relationships and action patterns and perform functions and services which are valued in the environment. What Characterises an Institution? 1) An institution is an organisation which is relatively more enduring and is perceived as an indispensable part of the community. 2) Its functions and services are related to societys commonly agreed requirements. 3) It has the ability to adopt overtime to changing needs and values in the society and contribute to the community needs. 4) Its internal structures embody and protect commonly held norms and values of the society. 5) Its achievements overtime include influencing the environment in positive ways through the values it creates, (where such necessity arises). 6) Its influence extends to other similar institutions which are linked to it. 7) It is a change protecting and change inducing format organisation. It tends to protect positive values within the community or create new beliefs and values that are necessary for the sustenance of the community or to bring social order at times where negative forces are likely to affect the community. 8) It has permanence that extends beyond the role incumbents who may come and go. Activity A Define the concepts organisation, institution. ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... Activity B What are the characteristics of an institution? Can we differentiate between the terms organisation and institution? ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ...........................................................................................................................
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...........................................................................................................................
What is Institution Building? Institution building referts to transforming an organisation into an integrated organic part of the community, so that the organisation can effectively play the role of projecting new values and become an agent of change in the community. Hence institution building refers to the process aspects of: a) establishing or transforming an organization; b) making an organisation an integrated or organic part of the community; c) the maintenance role of adopting or adjusting to the existing values; d) projecting new values through its own efforts of self growth and organisational renewal, and thus; and e) the proactive role of bringing change contributing to change in the existing values of needs of the society. Activity C What is Institution Building? Explain. ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ...........................................................................................................................
Institution Building
16.3 FACTORS INFLUENCING INSTITUTION BUILDING

There are several factors that influence institutional building: 1) Goals or Objectives: Clarity or specificity of the goals is basic to institution building. The goals should also be perceived as important and justify the need for the organization both with respect to expectations of the members within and society outside the organization. When the goals are seen as challenging and interesting and widely accepted among members of the organization and the activities of the members are focused around these goals, institution building is possible. Superordinate goals like commitment, loyalty and patriotic fervour among employees generally tend to facilitate institution building. 2) A Second Variable that Contributes to Institutional Building is the People: Selection of the people for positions in the organization should be in terms of a right fit between the individual and the job. Two aspects are important in this context: task maturity and psychological maturity. Task maturity refers to the extent to which the role incumbent has the necessary job knowledge and skills required on the job. Psychological maturity refers to zeal and enthusiasm to work, commitment to the job and the organization, confidence in ones own abilities to accomplish tasks and responsibility for ones job. It is the people, who finally make an institution. Developing trust among one another, generating team spirit and positive interaction among the
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role set members and providing sufficient autonomy which is commensurate with responsibilities on the job, are essential for institution building. Trust is an important dimension for effective interpersonal relationship and it is often said that trust begets more trust. Organizations should provide opportunities for upward growth and development for those who are competent and have potentialities for growth and development. Otherwise, institutional development is jeopardised. 3) A Third Variable of Importance is Organisational Structure and Design: Organisation is basically a system of input process and output subsystems. Men, money, raw-material and machinery form the inputs. The process aspect is concerned with the optimum utilisation of these inputs to produce certain outputs. The output can be the goods produced or services rendered that serve the needs and interests of the society. The organization design and structure is the basic frame work around with formal interactions take place within and in between the different sub-systems (departments). The structure influences

the extent to which the different resources may be optimally utilised. the work culture that is created and sustained within the institution the relations with systems outside the institution the ability to adopt to changing demands and requirements arising from the external environment.
Too rigid structure stifles individual autonomy, creativity and ability of the organization to meet changing demands. At the same time, too loose a structure results in sub-optimisation of resources, lack of appropriate direction and work culture. In such an environment organizations may soon become defunct. The structure should not be static but dynamic and have the necessary mechanisms to foster and stabilise appropriate traditions and work culture and also establish linkages with its customers and major client systems. It should be able to provide a leadership role to similar organizations. Such a structure forms the basis for institution building. 4) A Fourth Aspect that Fosters Institution Building is the Organisational Culture: Organizations should strive at developing greater cooperation among the members. This can be achieved by better integration of departmental functions and developing homogeneity of thinking among the members. Commonality in the goals of the organization and those of the employees, and recognition and understanding of the symbiotic relationship that exist between one employee and the other, or one department and another result in better accommodation and cooperation. Conflicts are to be viewed positively as providing opportunities for innovativeness and understanding others position in addition to ones own. Mechanisms of establishing a balance between the autonomy of individual members and coordination for common goals help in institution building. In its relationship with outside organisation, the institution should seek collaborative relationships at the same time maintaining its own identity. 5) A Fifth Factor Contributing to Institutional Building is Leadership at the Top Management Level. The leadership style should be an amalgamation of the roles of a developers and an executive. A developer places trust in his subordinates, provides them opportunities to take up responsibilities, motivates them to the peak of their performance and provides a creative work atmosphere. He is supportive in his relationships with others and provides opportunities for growth, self-direction and self-control for his subordinates. An executive as a team-builder, inspires participation among
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the members and thereby ensures their commitment to organisational goals, builds loyalty among his subordinates and also a keen sense of self-respect, and resolves conflicts strategically and creatively. The leader ought to devote his full attention and time for institution building and take pride in the development of his people. He has to establish effective linkage with outside organizations and project the image of the institution as a competent entity to serve the needs of the society. He needs to gear up the organization to meet changing needs and demands effectively. At the same time he is not enamoured of his position, but is willing to develop others to step into his whenever required. 6) Ability to Establish Effective, Operative Linkages with External Environment is Necessary for Institution Building: Such a liaison helps in understanding the needs and expectations of the external sub-system such as clients, customers, suppliers, other organizations etc., to which the institution has to finally cater to carve a niche for itself in the environment. The linkages are:
enabling linkages with other organizations or social groups which are likely to control the allocation of resources and authority (e.g. for government) needed the organisation to function. functional linkage with those external sub-systems that provide the inputs for the organization and utilise the product or service outputs of the oganisation (e.g. suppliers, customers or client group). associative linkages with other institutions of a similar nature for possible collaborative relationships (eg. sister institutions). contingent linkages, depending upon the situational necessities with certain other sub-systems that may become relevant or important at a given time (for e.g. a legal system, a consultancy unit).
Activity D How the following factors influence institution building:

organizational goals. organizational structure and design. organization culture. relationship with external environment.
........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... 121
16.4 INSTITUTION BUILDING : THE PROCESS

Institution building refers to two aspects : 1) Development of an institution by an outside expert (which may be an individual or an organization) including development of relevant norms and values, and 2) Internal development of an institute to be able to play its role effectively (i.e. the self-renewal process). In terms of either of these definitions, institution building refers to the process of birth, development, renewal and institutionalisation. All organizations are organic i.e. they have birth, development, growth and finally, decay if the organization does not invigorate and renew itself. Invigoration and renewal extend the longevity and performance of the organization where it stabilises as an institution. While many organizations die aborning, it is only a few that seem to live forever. Warren Schmidt (1967) has suggested that organizations have stages of potential growth in their life cycels. At each of the stages, the organization is subject to certain crises that make demands on the managerial or organizational activities. If the organisation is able to cope effectively with the crisis it will enter the next stage of growth. The crisis is generated either because of internal factors or external factors in the environment or both. The stage of development at which an organization is, is more in terms of the crisis factors rather than its financial status or number of employees or its share in the market etc. The first stage is birth of an organization. Organizations originate at first, in the minds of individuals, as an idea. An operative model with necessary resources and support mobilisation characterises the earliest stage. The second stage is survival and sacrifice. An organization is born in a climate of a new idea, hope and excitement, but has to struggle to survive in the world of competition and challenge. The need to survive, makes heavy demands on the entrepreneurs money, confidence, commitment, effort, personal time and even family life. If this crisis is adequately resolved the organization gains a firm foot-hold, accepts realities and learns from experience. If unable to meet the challenges, demands and competition, the organization may become defunct or exist marginally with still heavier demands made on the entreprenuer. If the organization survives, then it should seek for stability which is the third stage. Organization should strive for an efficient work culture based on discipline, reorganization or role relationships, adequate employee compensation structure, team-spirit and appropriate balance between short-term and long-term perspectives. It should also strive to stabilise its resources, customers, clientele etc. Resolving the crisis of achieving stability makes the organization efficient, strong and flexible; while inability to do so results in the organization returning back to the survival stage and stagnation. The fourth stage is self-examination regarding where the organization stands in the eyes of the public, customers, competitors and others. The organization should be prepared to look critically at its products and services and its internal and external operations. Thus it should be open to criticism and strive to monitor, review, evaluate and improve its performance from time to time. Resolving crisis at this stage successfully enhances the reputation of the organization and results in the improvement of its quality of goods and services.
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Failure to resolve the crisis leads to living on past laurels and image-creation or image-boosting which may be at variance with its actual performance the greater the variance the greater is the likelihood of returning to instability. The next issue that concerns the organization is to actualise its potentialities and to achieve uniqueness (characteristic of its activities). Such a goal can not be realised until the organisation is willing to bring the necessary changes that involve certain amount of risk. Successfully overcoming a crisis provides opportunities for growth and development to its personnel. Unsuccessful resolution leads to specialisation in a narrow field, conservatism and resistance that inhabits further development. The organization may not be able to realise its uniqueness. The sixth issue of concern involves the organizations responsibility to society, a desire to gain soceitys respect and appreciation and to improve the quality of life of its own employees. The crisis generated by efforts to be respected and appreciated depends upon the felt-needs for such an endeavour, organizations financial status, investment opportunities elsewhere and the present self-image. By resolving this crisis correctly the organisation gains public respect and appreciation for itself as an institution contributing to society. Incorrect resolution leads to castigation by the public as heedless barons or heedless tycoons. The different crisis discussed so far need not operate in the same consecutive order. Depending upon the environmental forces acting on the organization, a mature organization may revert back to crisis of the earlier stages. When the nature of the crisis is not correctly understood, organisations are unable to resolve it adequately resulting in confusion and intolerance. However, by resolving the crisis at each of the stages successfully, an organiation grows from strength to strength. Resolution of crisis makes demands on the managements knowledge, skills, experience and attitudes and it is quite possible that at different stages of growth, the managerial and leadership skills required are different. Activity E What are the different stages of growth of institutions? ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ...........................................................................................................................
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16.5 SIGNIFICANT DIMENSIONS OF INSTITUTION BUILDING: SELF-RENEWAL AND INNOVATION

Earlier we have described the growth stages and crises experienced in institution building. Two of the significant dimensions of institution building are self-renewal and innovation. Self-renewal refers to concentrated and continuing efforts on the part of the organization to relate its technology, structure and people to problems confronting it from political, economic and social changes. The act of selfexamination from time to time forms the basis of organization renewal. The different stage in self-renewal process are : 1) Sensing of change: Organizations should be ware of changes in their internal and external environment. Unable to perceive these changes, the organization fails to cope adequately with its environment. 2) Identification of the implication of these changes. The question is how these changing forces are going to affect the ongoing system. 3) Deciding an appropriate plan of action. A suitable course of action is conceived on the basis of :
obtaining necessary information with regard to 1 and 2 based on surveys, reports, statistical data and such other fact finding methods. accurate evaluation of the obtained information. deciding at what sub-system level (i.e. organisational structure or task or technology or individual/group) the neessary changes are to be brought about. implications of change in a sub-system for the other sub-systems. weighing the different alternatives for their probabilities for effectively coping with external forces.

4) Introducing the change. The intended changes are implemented. Timely action is important. 5) Stabilising the change, enough system support is to be given to freeze the change i.e. consolidate the new equilibrium. 6) Obtaining feedback on the outcome of change for further sensing of the state of the external environment and the degree of integration of the internal environment. Failure at any of these stages results in unsuccessful resolution. Successful resolution also depends upon certain conditions within the organisation such as:

effective information processing and communication. flexibility within the sub-system for introducing relevant changes or remedial measures. willingness to change among the people and commitment to organizational goals. supportive climate at the top management level. Involvement of top-policy making group gives legitimacy to the change process.
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The present day organizations are at a nexus of various external and internal forces. Organizational renewal, hence, is of high priority so that organizations can do a self-analysis of their growth and their problems. The organizational leadership should look for new paths, new methods and innovative approaches so that the organization can cope with changing demands and forces. Innovation Innovation may be defined as a new idea or practice or approach that helps the system or the individual to deal effectively with a problem or change. Innovation is possible if the organization has a conducive environment for it to occur such as openness flexibility, decentralisation etc. Some characteristic features of innovation are :
It does not function in isolation or vacuum. Innovative changes should be thought of in a system perspective i.e. the likely changes in the internal sub-systems. It thrives in a collaborative rather than a competitive environment. Acceptablity of innovative change depends upon: 1. Its relative advantage over the existing ideas or approahces or other suggested ideas or approaches. 2. Compatibility with existing norms, values and work behaviours. 3. Simplicity both in concept and practice. 4. Utilitarian value for either coping with external demands or obtaining the desired results and the stakes involved. 5. Compatibility with existing skills. If innovative changes require new skills, people should be trained sufficiently in advance. Otherwise, resistance may be built inspite of the functional value. Innovative planning is an organizational necessity for self-renewal and institutional building.

16.6 INSTITUTIONAL BUILDING: THE ROLE OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Certainly the chief executive is a crucial figure in institutional building. Probably, it may be in your experience that a sinking organization not only comes out of the red but also stabilises and makes considerable amount of profit because of change at the top management level. There are certain chief executive who have been very successful despite the nature of the organization they were asked to manage. The role of chief executive involves:
optimum utilisation of resources which is a basic ingredient of organizational success. creation of team spirit and work commitment, thus providing a synergic effect for optimum utilisation of human resources (where the contribution of the group is much more than a summation of the efforts of each of the individuals, it refers to synergy). achieving a positive balance between individual expectations and organizational goals and demands. For example, there is absolute necessity for formalisation (i.e. rules, regulations and procedures determining work behaviour) but at the same time the individual should have autonomy and flexibility in work behaviour. Centralisation in decision-making is important but at the same time people at lower levels should be involved in decision making. 125
An institutional image is in terms of not only how it perceives its own status but also how it is perceived by similar organizations in the environment. A chief executive is not only a spokesman for his organization but also a liaison builder. It is in terms of his efforts that the institution can play the role of a leader, trend-setter and a collaborator. The chief executive should have the basic discipline, devotion and commitment to work, a sense of vision, a futuristic perspective and above all a determination to build the organisation to reach its maximum potentiality. He should allow others to grow and should not be threatened by the achievements of his colleagues. When the time comes he should give way for his successor without being highly possessive about the organization.
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INSTITUTION BUILDING: LESSONS FROM VIKRAM SARABHAIS LEADERSHIP

Institutions are social areas where unique strategies are pursued for inducing and maintaining values which satisfy societal needs. Organizations are formal, social mechanisms which facilitate constant transmission of values, for example, a business enterprise or the church. Leaders are key actors in these arenas embodying the values. The process of institution building is the energizing of people so that not only they internalize values that transcent narrow self-interests but they also become infused with a sense of mission in their total life. What distinguishes an economic organization from an institutional organization is the intensity and the depth with which individual members of an institutional organization hold the core values which seem to suffuse their total being. Leaders and Institution Building Peters and Waterman (14) in their recent research on excellent organizations focus on the role of leadership in institution building. They emphasise the role of leadership in shaping the values of organizational members as well as in developing distinctive organizational cultures. Sarabhai was a prolific institution builder. He set up an institution every year beginning from 1947 till his death in 1971. List of Institutions with which Vikram Sarabhai was Associated Scientific Research : Communications Atomic Energy : : Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad Vikram Earth Station, Arvi, Poona Fast Breeder Reactor, Kalpakkam Nuclear Centre for Agriculture, New Delhi Variable Energy Cyclotron Project, Calcutta Electronics Corporation of India Ltd. Hyderabad Electronics Prototype Engineering Laboratory, Bombay Thuma Equatorial Rocket Launching Station, Trivandrum Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Trivandrum Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad Sriharikota Range, Sriharikota ISRO Satellite Instructional Television Experiment Ahmedabad Textile Industries Research Association, Ahmedabad Nehru Foundation for Development, Ahmedabad Vikram A. Sarabhai Community Science Centre, Ahmedabad Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad Operations Research Group, Baroda Darpana Academy for performing Arts, Ahmedabad
Electronics
Space Research
Textile Research
Development and Educational Research :
Management and Operations Research : Performing Arts :
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He was also associated with
Indian National Committee for Space Research Indian Space Research, Organisation, Atomic Energy, Commission, Electronics Committee. Department of Atomic Energy, International Atomic Energy Agency, and Committee for Space Research of the United Nations
One of the ways of understanding the impact of leadership actions on institution building is by presenting the three guiding strategies he had intuitively used. These three strategies rest on a single pivotal value which is the primacy and centrality of an individual. The three guiding strategies he used to build institutions are: Networking strategy or creating interacting and overlapping clusters internally as well as externally both to produce a vision for the institution and to translate the vision into actions in terms of research programmes and projects. Trusting strategy or creating a climate of trust providing freedom of action to the individuals, ensuring autonomy, and emphasising horizontal control; and caring strategy or creating a climate of caring by the leader remaining approachable through open channels of communication and emphasising the role of administration as a support system to the core tasks of the insitution. The lessons that emerge from the study of Sarabhai as an Institution builder can be summed up as follows :
In order to develop institutions it is important to place an individual at the centre of institution building efforts. The task of a transforming and transactional leadership is to present a vision which will inspire many and to provide meaningful exchange relationships. Leadership actions have to nurture trust constantly, creating inter-acting and overlapping clusters both within and outside the organization. Failure to do so is likely to lead to the breakdown of the institutional aspects of the organization resulting in its decline and decay. It is important for an institution builder to identify and play multiple (formal and Psycho-Social roles within and without the institution. Decline in the performance of institutions could be traced to inadequate roles (both formal and Psycho-Social) to translate externally oriented, interface, and internally oriented leadership strategies for institution building. While the criticality of organisational culture to the development of institutions has always been emphasised, the importance of building in trust and caring has not been adequately emphasised in the literature.
Adapted from Institution building : Lessons from Vikram Sarabhais Leadership, S.R. Ganesh & Padmanath Joshi, Vikalpa Vol. 10. No. 4, Oct-Dec. 1985. p. 399-414.
Source:
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Activity F What is the role of the Chief Executive in institution building? Describe. ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ...........................................................................................................................
16.7 SUMMARY
In this unit, we have seen that an organization, over a period of time, depending on its stability becomes an institution. The factors which influence institution building, process and dimensions of institution building have been discussed. The role of the Chief Executive in institution building has also been dealt with.

1) Keeping in view, a number of organizations that you know, can you identify at what stages of development they are? 2) Identify an organization that is regarded as an institution. Collect information about various aspects such as: its objectives, internal culture and leadership style at the top management. 3) Interview any of the chief executive who is regarded to have built up an organization. Based on his experiences prepare a case study on institution building. 4) Analyse in terms of your own experiences whether organisational demands are effecting your need satisfaction, suggest what changes you expect to make in your work situation so that both organisational and your personal goals can be satisfied. 5) To what extent you think there is team spirit in your work-group? What steps would you suggest to enhance the team spirit? 6) In your environment there might be an organisation which is labelled as sinking or losing. Interview some of the managers and describe its internal environment. Make a list of the reasons that have caused the failure.

Lawrence, P.R. & J.W. Lorsch 1967. Organisation and Environment: Managing differentiation and integration, Harvard Business Review 1967. Lippit, G.L. 1969. Appleton. Organisation Renewal. Achieving Viability in a Changing World Century Crafts Educational Division Meredith Corporation: New York. Pareek, Udai, 1981. Beyond Management. Essays on the Process of Institution Building. Oxford & IBH Publishing Co.: New Delhi.
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Appendix-1
ORGANISATION CRISES AND OUTCOMES

Stage Birth Development : : Critical Issue Creation Survival Stability Pride and Reputation Uniqueness and adaptability Contribution
Renewal : Institutionalisation
ORGANIZATIONAL CRISIS AND OUTCOMES Outcome if issue is correctly resolved: New Organization comes into being and starts functioning Organization becomes viable. Learns from experiences. Understands reality. Organization is strong, efficient and flexible enough to respond to changes Reputation motivates to improve quality of goods and services. Takes advantage of its unique capability and provides growth opportunities to its people Gains appreciation as an institution contributing to society. Outcome if issue is incorrectly resolved : Idea remains abstract. Organization cannot adequately develop. Organization fails or exists marginally as it fails to adjust to realities of the situation Organization is likely to retun back to survival stage or becomes inflexible for changes. Organizations more bothered about building its image than improve performance. Greater discrepancy likely to arise between projected image and actual performance. Fails to develop its uniqueness, concentrates on narrow areas for better security. Develops a paternalistic stance which inhabits growth. Organization may be accused of lack of any social responsibility and bothered about its profits and nothing else. Source: Lippit, G.L. and Schnidt, W.H. Crisis in a developing organisation, Harvard Business Review, 45 (6), 1967, p. 109.
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Appendix 2
CHECKS TO MEASURE THE EXTENT OF INSTITUTIONALITY 1. Has the institution grown beyond the needs of survival and stability ?
2. To what extent it can be considered replete with regard to goals, tasks, missions, resources etc ?
3. How effectively does it relate to the external environment? Has it linkages with relevant external sub-systems to an adequate degree ?
4. Does it stand by its intrinsic value? In other words, how is it rated for its functional value in the soceity: excellent, average or poor ?
5. How pervasive is its influence on other systems? Is it a trend setter or just one among the rest? Can it Generate a new need or positive values in the community or suggest novel methods for the resolution of current problems ?
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Indira Gandhi National Open University School of Management Studies

Course Design and Preparation Team (2004)

Printed at: Prabhat Offset Press, Darya Ganj, New Delhi

MS-10: ORGANISATIONAL DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE Course Components

UNDERSTANDING ORGANISATIONS Approaches to Understanding Organisation Factors Affecting Organisation Design

5. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.

UNIT 1 APPROACHES TO UNDERSTANDING ORGANIZATION

1.2 MEANING AND CHARACTERISTICS OF ORGANIZATION

1.3 ORGANIZATION AS SYSTEM

A system is desired to have certain qualities like:

Approaches to Understanding Organization

Inputs : Material Capital Human

Outputs : Product Services

People Organizational boundary

Source : Levitt, Harold (1965). Figure 1 : The Components of Organization System

The Organization As An Open System

Approaches to Understanding Organization

Transforming Transforming Mechanism Mechanism

External Interface External Interface Feedback Mechanisms Feedback Mechanisms

1.4 APPROACHES TO ORGANIZATION

Approaches to Understanding Organization

e) Organizations as Political Systems

Source: Burrell and Morgan, 1979.

f) Organizations as Psychic Prisons

Approaches to Understanding Organization

g) Organisations as Flux and Transformation

h) Organisations as Instruments of Domination

A synoptic view of all the metaphors is given in the following Table 3.

Approaches to Understanding Organization

1.5 7Ss MODEL

STRATEGY SUPERORDINATE GOALS SKILLS

Figure 3: The 7Ss Model

Source: www. McKinseys 7-S and Pascales Adaptation Thereof.html

Approaches to Understanding Organization

Approaches to Understanding Organization

1.7 SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS

1.8 FURTHER READINGS

UNIT 2 FACTORS AFFECTING ORGANIZATION DESIGN

2.2 MEANING OF ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN

Factors Affecting Organization Design

2.3 PURPOSES OF THE ORGANIZATION DESIGN

2.4 PRINCIPLES OF GOOD ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN

2.5 THEORIES OF ORGANIZATION DESIGN

2.6 KEY FACTORS AFFECTING ORGANIZATION DESIGN

Factors Affecting Organization Design

I. Size and Organization Design

II. Environment and Organizational Design

c) Uncertainty and Volatility

Using Alliances Where Environmental Factors Dominate

Factors Affecting Organization Design

Differentiation and Integration: The Lawrence and Lorsch Study

Source: Burns and Stalker (1961)

Factors Affecting Organization Design

Cost Leadership Strategy

Narrow Uniqueness Low Cost

Figure 2: Porters Strategic Model

III. Strategy and Organization Design

Factors Affecting Organization Design

Strategic decisions made by dominant coalition

Decision makers personal beliefs, attitudes, values, and ethics

IV. Technology and Organization Design

Thompsons view on the Impact of Technology