Organizational Development Theories

The cardinal rule in the OD profession is this: Opinions don’t matter. This is because opinions can often be subjective, biased, or based on erroneous information. Theories and scholarly, peer-reviewed literature are much more objective and reliable; therefore, they should be incorporated into every OD assessment, diagnosis, intervention, and overall change strategy. In this week’s Discussion, you will have the opportunity to apply theories in your analysis of a real-world organization.

To prepare:

Select two of the theories presented this week and apply each to a contemporary organization. The organization that you choose should not be your current or former employer.

OD Theories

• Action Research
• Campbell’s theory of performance
• Complexity Theory
• Family systems theory (needed for the Week 6 application)
• Groupthink
• Individual differences
• Kotter’s 8 Step Process of Change
• Lewin’s change theory
• McKinsey 7-S Model
• Organizational development theory
• Social identity theory
• Social learning theory
• Stage Theory of Change
• Systems theory
• Theory of planned behavior
• Theory of reasoned action
• Theory X, Theory Y

By Day 3

• Identify the two OD theories you selected.
• Explain how the two theories you selected reflect an issue the organization is currently facing.
• Explain how you could use these two theories to help the organization better understand and resolve the issue.
• Describe some methods and processes that you would use to explain these two theories, and their relevance, to your client.

Required Readings

Asumeng, M. A., & Osae-Larbi, J. A. (2015). Organization Development Models: A critical review and implications for creating learning organizations. European Journal of Training and Development Studies, 2(3), 29–43. Retrieved from http://www.eajournals.org/wp-content/uploads/Organ…

Austin, J. R., & Bartunek, J. M. Organizational Change and Development: In Practice and in Theory. In I. B. Weiner, W. C. Borman, D. R. Ilgen, & S. Highhouse. (2013). Handbook of psychology: Volume 12 industrial and organizational psychology. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Jex, S. M., & Britt, T. W. (2014). Organizational psychology: A scientist-practitioner approach (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

• Chapter 13, “Organizational Theory and Design” (pp. 453–486)

Lynham, S. A., Chermack, T. J., & Noggle, M. A. (2004). Selecting organization development theory from an HRD perspective. Human Resource Development Review, 3(2), 151–172. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534484304265484

Rothwell, W. J. (2015). Organization development fundamentals: Managing strategic change. Alexandria, VA: ATD Press.

• Chapter 2, “Organization Development and Change Models”
• Chapter 3, “The Organization Development Process”
• Chapter 7, “Special Issues in Organization Development”

Swann, A. (2018). The Human Workplace. London, England: Kogan Page.

• Chapter 1, “Getting to Grips With the Basics” (pp. 12–41)
• Chapter 2, “Building Your Structure” (pp. 42–71)