Organizational Development
Organizational Development - Organizational Development involves planned organizational change aimed at producing organizations with strong humanistic and democratic values. Most OD practitioners believe that organizations become more effective and efficient if they are based upon these principles:
- Trust in relationships
- Openness in all aspects of the organization, wide sharing of information
- Support for people, new and different ideas, and personal integrity
- An equalization of power throughout the organization, de-emphasizing traditional hierarchies
- Respect for people
- Broad participation in decision-making, in fact, the broadest possible, based upon a belief that people work hardest to achieve success when they are involved in the decision (a basic principle of a democratic society)
- Continuous improvement based upon an open, honest, and trusting approach to solving organizational challenges and problems
OD practitioners use open, collaborative processes to promote an openness to change, a spirit of inquiry, and a commitment to personal and organizational growth throughout an organization, department, or division.