Values and Assumptions of OD

• A set of values, assumptions and beliefs constitutes an integral part of organization development, shaping the goals and methods of the field and distinguishing Organisational Development from other improvement strategies.
• Belief: A belief is a proposition about how the world works that the individual accepts as true; it is a cognitive fact (connected with thinking or conscious mental processes) of the person.
• Values: Values are beliefs about what a desirable is or a good (honesty) and what an undesirable is or a bad (e.g., dishonesty).
• Assumptions: Assumptions are beliefs that are regarded as so valuable and obviously correct that they are taken for granted and rarely examined or questioned.

Values of Organisational Development:

• Organisation constitutes various people, professionals, technocrats, researchers, managers and a host of other employees working in the organization contributing to the accomplishment of organizational objectives. They behave differently. Authority and power, conflicts, control take a backseat during the Organisational Development process.

Respect People:

• People are the heart, limbs and brain of the organization. They are responsible for creating opportunities for growth. They are the one who can act together to achieve organizational goals. Hence they must be treated with respect and dignity.

Confidence and Support:

• Trust among people is very important for the growth of the organization. A trust can only be created among people when they have confidence in each other and also support each other. Thus the people in the organization are to be believed and supported in order to have an effective organization.
• The healthy environment prevails when people are trusted and taken into confidence and necessary support is extended to them as and when needed.

Confrontation:

• In case of any confrontation or conflict should be dealt with openness without suppressing it. Suppression leads to dampening of morale.
• To avoid conflict or to get easy, earlier and amicable solution Identify the problem and its causes, discuss it openly with concerned people and find out a feasible solution. It boosts the morale of the employees and also creates a good environment.

Employee Participation:

• People react to how they are treated. The participation of employees who will get affected by the Organisational Development should be sought in decision-making. Hence any change can be implemented easily.

Seeking Cooperation:

• Managers should seek cooperation from each of the employees working under him in his department. This shows the democracy in the organization. The employees feel that their opinion also counts and hence they take part in organizational activities with vigour.
• It creates an atmosphere of cooperation and leads to organizational effectiveness. It also increases the willingness to accept the changes due to the organisation development process.

Expression:

• The organization gains from the differences in quality, ideas, opinions, outlook, and experiences of its people.  Human beings should be allowed to express their feelings and sentiments. This will result in building up high morale and the people will be motivated towards hard work ultimately resulting in increased efficiency.

Assumptions of Organisational Development:

• There are sets of assumptions, basic to most organization development activities, which relate to people as individuals, to people as group members and as leaders, and to people as members of the total organizational systems.
• All assumptions are based on premises that “People in the organization are the most valuable source available”

The Assumption About People as Individuals:

• Most Individuals have a drive towards personal growth and development. In an environment that is supportive and challenging, most people want to become most of what they are capable of becoming. In other words, individuals want personal growth and development, which can be attained in a supportive and challenging work situation.
• Most people are capable of making a higher level of contribution to organizational goals. A tremendous amount of constructive energy can be tapped if organizations recognize this. The implication of this assumption is that people are experts. Organizations must remove obstacles and barriers and reward success.
• What the manager should do:  ask, hear, support, challenge, encourage risk-taking, allow failure, remove barriers and obstacles, delegate authority and responsibility, set higher standards and reinforce success through rewards.
• Example: Asking for and acting on suggestions to solve problems.

The Assumption About People in Groups and About Leadership:

• The most psychologically relevant reference group for most people is the workgroup. It basically implies that what goes on in the work team, especially at the informal level, has great significance for feelings of satisfaction and competence.  Therefore, individual goals should be integrated with group goals.
• Most people wish to be accepted with at least one small reference group. This helps them greatly increase their effectiveness in helping their reference group to solve problems. Therefore, the growth of individual members is facilitated by relationships, which are open, supportive and trusting.
• Group members must assist each other with effective leadership and member behaviour. For a group to optimize its effectiveness, the formal leader cannot perform all the leadership and maintenance functions in all circumstances at all times and therefore assistance in leadership is required.
• Suppressed feelings and attitudes adversely affect problem-solving, personal growth and job satisfaction. The culture in most groups and organizations tends to suppress the expression of feelings and attitudes that people have about each other and their behaviours – both positive and negative – and about where their organizations are heading. If feelings are allowed to be expressed, it tends to open up many avenues for improved goal setting, leadership, communications, and conflict resolutions, problem-solving between the group, collaboration and morale. Attitudinal and motivational problems in organizations require interactive and transactional solutions. Such problems have the greatest chance of constructive solution if all parties in the system alter their mutual relationship, co-operation is always more effective than conflict.
• Level of interpersonal trust, support, and cooperation are much lower in most groups and organisation that is either desirable or necessary. Typically a number of forces contribute to such situations, including an absence of viewing feelings as important
  data, lack of group problem-solving skills, and leadership styles that reinforce dysfunctional competition.
• Solution to most attitudinal and motivational problems in organizations is transactional. Such problems have the greatest chance of constructive solution if all the parties in the system or subsystem alter their mutual relationship.
• What manager should do:  encourage to form work teams, give an opportunity to teams to flourish, replace one-on-one style with a leadership style, encourage active participation of members in problem-solving and decision making, provide substantial training, enable members to deal with both positive and negative feelings, encourage members to find solution to their problems through mutual interactions. The manager (the leader) must invest in teams or groups.

Assumptions About People in Organisational Systems:

• Traditional hierarchical forms of organizations are obsolete. Therefore, experimenting with new organizational structures and new forms of authority is imperative (very important/ essential). Creating cooperative rather than competitive organizational dynamics is a primary task of the organization.
• Win-lose conflict strategies are not optional in the long run to the solution of most organizational problems. Most organizations’ problems can better be approached in terms of “how can we all win?’’
• People are an organization’s most important resource. They are the source of productivity and profits and should be treated with care. An organization can achieve higher productivity only when the individual goals are integrated with organizational goals.
• What manager should do: Integrate individual goals are integrated with organizational goals

Other Assumptions:

• It takes time and patience, and the key movers in Organisational Development efforts need to have a relatively long-range time perspective.
• Improved performance from Organisational Development efforts need to be sustained – It can be done by bringing appropriate changes in the appraisal, compensation, training, staffing, task, and communication subsystems.