Organizational Development[1]

Organizational Development Q1. Define OD and enlist its important characteristics. Ans. The literature contains several definitions of OD, to quote a few: OD is a response to change, a complex educational strategy intended to change the beliefs, attitudes, values and structure of organization so they can better adopt new technologies, markets and challenges, and the dizzying rate of change itself ( Bennis, 1969). • OD is planned process of change in an organization’s culture through the utilization of behavioral science, technology, research and theory. ( Burke 1982) • Organizational Development is an effort (1)planned,(2) organizational wide, (3) managed from the top, (4) to increase organization effectiveness and health through (5) planned interventions in the organization’s processes, using behavioral science knowledge. (Beckhard,1969) •

Let us examine this definition: 1. It is a planned change effort. An OD program involves a systematic diagnosis of the organization, the development of strategic plan for improvement, and the mobilization of resources to carry out the effort. 2. It involves the total system. An organization development effort is related to a total organization change in the culture and the reward system or the total managerial strategy. 3. It is managed from the top. In an OD effort the top management of the system has personal investment in the program and it’s outcomes. They actively participates in the management of the effort. This does not mean that they must participate in the same activities as others, but it does that they must have both knowledge and commitment to the goals of the programs and must actively support the methods used to achieve goals. 4. It is designed to increase organization effectiveness and health. Another Classic definition Offered by French And BELL: Organizational development is a long range effort to improve an organization’s problem solving and renewal processes, particularly through a more effective and collaborative management of organization’s culture-with special emphasis on the culture of formal work teams – with the assistance of a change agent, or catalyst, and the use of the theory and technology of applied behavioral science, including action research. Porras and Robertson state: OD is a practical application of the science of organization. Drawing from several discipline for its models, strategies and techniques, OD focuses on the planned change of human systems and contributes to organization science through the knowledge gained from its studies of complex change dynamics.

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To summarize, here are primary the distinguishing characteristics of OD: 1. OD focuses on culture and processes. 2. Specifically, OC encourages collaboration between organization leaders and members managing culture and processes. 3. Teams of all kind is particularly important for task accomplishment and is targets for OD activities. 4. OD focuses on the human and social side of the organization primarily, and in so doing also intervenes in the technological and structural sides. 5. OD focuses on total system change and views organization as complex social system. 6. OD relies on an action research model with extensive participation by client system members. 7. OD takes a developmental view that seeks the betterment both individuals and organizational attempting to create WIN WIN solutions. 8. OD practitioners are facilitators, collaborators, and co learners with the client system.

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Q2. Write brief note on the following: a. Change Management models. Ans. Models and theories of planned change- OC is planned change in an organizational context. The development models of planned change facilitated the development of OD. The work of the pioneering social psychologist Kurt Lewin was instrumental in this approach. Kurt Lewin introduced the idea about changed process. Stage 1: Unfreezing : creating motivation and readiness to change through a. Disconfirmation or lack of confirmation. b. Creation of guilt or anxiety c. Provision of psychological safety. Stage 2: Changing through Cognitive restructuring: Helping the Client to see things, judge things, feel things and react to things differently based on a new point of view obtained through a. Identifying with a new role model, mentor etc. b. Scanning the environment for new relevant information. Stage 3: Refreezing: Helping the client to integrate the new point of view into a. The total personality and self concept b. Significant Relationship Lewin’s three stage model is a powerful cognitive tool for understanding change situations. 1. Unfreezing – The first task is to make the people aware of the need for change. A climate of openness and trust is developed so that the group is ready for change. 2. Moving- using the survey feedback method, the group makes a diagnosis of where it is and develops action plans where it wants to go. 3. Refreezing- Once the plans have been carried out and an evaluation has been made, the group starts to stabilize into more effective performance. 2b. Empowerment: Ans. One of the most important foundations of OD is its use of a participation and empowerment model. The participation in OD programs is not restricted to the top people; it is extended broadly through out the organization. Increased participation and empowerment have always been central goals and core values of the field. To empower is to give some one power. This is done by giving individuals the authority to participate, to make decisions, to contribute their ideas, to exert influence, and to be responsible. That is why participation is such an effective form of empowerment. Participation enhances empowerment, and empowerment in turn enhances performance and individual well-being. OD interventions are deliberately designed to increase involvement and participation by organization leaders and members. For example, autonomous work groups, quality circles, team building, survey feedback, quality of work life programs and opportunities. OD interventions are basically methods for increasing participation. The entire field of OD is about empowerment. Page 3 of 35

2c. Internal and External Change Agents: Ans.

External Agent

Internal Agent

Advantages Disadvantages • Credibility as an • Perceived as an Expert outsider • No negative history • Lacks knowledge of with the organization and it’s organization. way of life • Objective outsider • Often has limited availability of time. • Wide experience and diverse knowledge. • Credibility as an • Often not perceived insider as an OD expert. • Knows the • May have negative organization, people organizational culture etc. history. • Personal • May have limited relationship OD experience. • Availability is • May lack ensured all the time. objectivity.

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2d. System theory. Ans. System theory is the second foundation of OD, this theory views organization as open system in active exchange with their surrounding environments. Every system has a boundary that separates it from its environment. The boundary draws the line between system and environment. What is inside the boundary is the system and what is outside the boundary is the environment. Open systems have purposes and goals, the reason for their existence. It is important to note that these purposes must align with purpose or needs in the environment for example the organization’s purpose will be reflected in its outputs and if the environment does not want the outputs, the organization will cease to exist. A System in Interaction with its environment. Open system thinking is the most required aspect for creating learning organization. According to Peter Senge, learning organization is able to cope effectively with rapidly changing environmental demands. Senge believes five discipline must be mastered in order to create a learning organization: personal mastery, mental model, building shared vision, team learning, and system thinking, of all these discipline, the fifth discipline, system thinking is the most important. System theory has contributed in many ways in the theory and practice of OD: • • • •

•

Issues, events, forces and incidents are not viewed as isolated phenomenon but are seen in relation to other issues, events and forces. A system approach encourages analysis of events in terms of multiple causation rather than single causation. One cannot change one part of a system without influencing other parts in some ways. According to field theory ( Kurt Lewin), the forces in the field at the time of the event re the relevant forces for analysis. This idea helps the OD practioner to analyze the events in the light of the similar kind of historical events. Anyone wants to change a system, the system has to be changed not just its component parts.

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Q3. What are effective teams? Explain in details the OD interventions that help clarify the roles in the teams. Ans. Effective Teams: For individual to function effectively, frequently, aprerequisite is that the team must be effective. Characteristics of effective Teams 1. There is a clear unity of purpose. There was free discussion of the objectives until members could commit themselves to them, the objectives are meaningful to each group member. 2. The group is elf-conscious about its own operations. The group has taken time to explicitly discuss group process- how the group will function to achieve its objectives, the group has a clear, explicit and mutually agreed upon approach: mechanics, norms, expectations, rules etc. frequently, it will stop to examine how well it is doing or what may be interfering with its operation. Whatever the problem may be, it gets open discussion and a solution found. 3. The group had set clear and demanding performance goals for itself and has translates thee performances goals into well-defined concrete milestones against which it measures itself. The group defines and achieves a continuous series of “small wins” along the way to larger goals. 4. The atmosphere tends to be informal, comfortable, relaxed. There are no obvious tensions, a working atmosphere in which people are involving and interested. 5. there is a lot of discussion in which virtually everyone participates, but it remains pertinent to the purpose of the group. If discussion gets off track, someone will bring it back in short order. The members listen to each other. Every idea is given a hearing. People are not afraid of being foolish by outing forth a creative thought even if it seems extreme. 6. People are free in expressing their feeling as well as their ideas. This is critical if the team members have to work in a congenial and fearless environment. 7. There is disagreement and this is viewed as good. Disagreements are not suppressed or overridden by premature group action. The reasons are carefully examined, and the group seeks to resolve thm rather than dominate the dissenter. Dissenters are not trying to dominate the group they have a genuine differences of opinion. If there are basic disagreements that cannot be resolved, the group figures out a way to live with them without letting them block its efforts.

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8. Most decisions are made at a point where there is general agreement. However, those who disagree with the general agreement of the group do not keep their opposition private and let an apparent consensus mask their disagreement. The group does not accept a simple by each group member. 9. Each individual carries his or her own weight, meeting or exceeding the expectations of other group members. Each individual is respectful of the mechanics of the group: arriving on time, coming to meetings prepared, completing agreed upon tasks on time, etc. When action is taken , clear assignments are made (who-what-when) and willingly accepted and completes by each group member. 10. Criticism is frequent, frank and relatively comfortable. The criticism has a constructive flavour-oriented towards removing an obstacle that faces the group. 11. The leadership of the group shifts from time to time. The issue is not who controls, but how to get the job done.

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Q4. “ Operating in Political environment is a difficult proposition for a successful OD program” Suggest various strategies to be adopted by the OD Consultant for maximizing chances of success of an OD program in a political active organization. Ans. Diagnosing Political Power in Organizations When an internal or external consultant enters an organizational setting, knowing who has power and source of that power increase the probability of a successful intervention. At the same, time the probability of success is increased by the consultant’s accurate assessment of his or her own power. The following points provides some guidelines to the consultants for evaluating their own levels of influence: Although OD practitioners can use a variety of tactics to increase their power with the organizational settings, the process of personal power enhancement will be more effective if the consultant understand the existing power relationships with the organization. One way to understand the power dynamics is to perform a political diagnosis, just as conducting an issues diagnosis to identify problem areas. At the levels of the individual, there are at least three diagnostic approaches for assessing power. Position Analysis focuses on jobs and responsibilities of an individual with the organization . starting with organizational chart, the OD practitioner makes an estimate of the personal power of key individuals. In addition, he or she attempts to determine the linkages of the individuals in question with people outside the organization. A person who represents the company to a regulatory body, for example, and has access to powerful people outside the company, is likely to have considerable power within the organization. Reputational Analysis is based on the idea that powerful people are known to others, and one way to guage power is to ask about an individual’s reputation. Although this could be subjective method, view of people who hold power, this provides more information than studying an organizational chart. More than one person can be asked to improve the reliability of reputional analysis. Decision Analysis attempts to identify people who have directly influenced decisions on organizational issues. Although members of complex organizations make hundreds of decisions daily, only a few decisions are really important in terms of power and politics. Typical important decisions revolve around issues like budgets, reorganization and key personnel decisions. In studying the decision process, informal decision makers-like those who provide information to decision making process also need to be considered.

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Power Tactics Many researches have studied the tactics individuals use to become powerful in organizations. Some of the most common tactics include the following. 1. Forming coalitions and alliances: As suggested above, this is probably the most common way to gain influence among the organizational members. 2. Controlling access to individuals: Members who are able to control contact with higher executives typically become very influential with the organization. For this reason, secretaries and administrative assistants to senior managers often have power far beyond their position power. 3. Controlling access to information and other resources: When people are dependent on others for access for information and nay other resource necessary to do their jobs, they are in a weak position. Again, people who hold positions of low status can gain considerable power by controlling access to critical information and resources. In general, people who control budgets are more powerful. 4. Setting the Agenda: One of the easiest ways to be powerful is to make certain that issues that diminish personal influence never arise in the organization. Powerful people maintain their power by seeing that only certain issues are discussed. A powerful person may also determine the criteria by which his or her performance will be evaluated, what issues are raises in meetings, and who is invited to organizational events. 5. Attacking others: Another way to become powerful is to find someone else to blame mistakes on. In highly political environments, depreciating the achievement of others is a common strategy for making oneself more powerful. 6. Managing the impression one makes: This may involve becoming associated with organizational success and distanced from failures, associating with the “right” people, or managing the way one dresses, behaves and speaks. One tactics of impression management is to give appearance of being indispensable by becoming highly visible with the organization. Successful use of power tactics alone will not, ofcourse, create a successful intervention. OD practitioners must have an excellent command of intervention techniques as well as the interpersonal skills and influence to have these techniques accepted by organizational members. In most situations, however, acceptance is, atleast in part, apolitical process.

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Q5. Write detailed notes on: a. Force Fields Analysis Ans. Force Field analysis is a device for understanding a problematic situation and planning corrective actions. This technique rests on several assumptions: a. the present state of things ( the current condition) is a quasi-stationary equilibrium representing a resultant in a field of opposing forces. b. A desired future state of affairs (the desired condition) can only be achieved by making an effort to move the current point of equilibrium to a desired point and stabilizing the equilibrium to that point. c. There are two types of forces, which act on this point at any time- The Enabling or Driving forces and Disabling or Restraining forces. Therefore, effort needs to be made to identify and then minimize the impact of restraining forces and maximize the impact of driving forces. The Force Field Analysis involves the following steps: Step 1: Decide upon a problem situation you are interested in improving, and carefully and completely describe the current condition. What is the staus quo? What is the current condition? Why do you want it to be changed? Step2: Carefully and completely describe the desired condition. Where do you want to be? What is the desired state of things? Step 3: Identify the forces and factors operating in the current force field. Identity the driving forces, which are pushing towards the desired state. Similarly, identify the restraining forces, which are pushing away from the desired condition. This identification of forces should be thorough and exhaustive so that the picture of why are things the way they are becomes clear for future action. Step 4: Examine the forces in detail in terms of their strengthen and weaknesses. Also identify which ones are within control and which are beyond control and influences. Step 5: Strategies for strengthening the driving forces and weakening the restraining forces could include any or more of the following: a. Add more driving forces, remove the restraining forces or do both . b. Select several important adaptable restraining forces and develop action plans to remove them instead of just adding driving forces. c. Work towards gaining participants and co-operation from all the concerned. Remember that resistance is maximum from people who fear change for some reason or the other. Step 6: Implement the action plans that should cause the desired condition to be achieved. Step 7: Describe what action plans must be taken to stabilize the desired condition and implement those action plans. This is to reinforce the desired condition so that things do not go back to the previous state. Page 10 of 35

5b. Quality of Work Life as an OD Intervention. Ans. The term “quality of work life” (QWL) was first introduced in 1972 during an international labour relations conference. QWL received more attention after United Auto Workers and General Motors initiated a QWL program for work reforms. Robbins (1989) defined QWL as “a process by which an organization responds to employees needs by developing mechanisms to allow them to share fully in making the decisions their design their lives at work” QWL has been well recognized as a multi-dimensional construct and it may not be universal or eternal. The key concepts captured and discussed in the existing literature include job security, better reward system, higher pay and opportunity for growth, participative groups, and increased organizational productivity among others. For the purpose of this study , QWL is defined as the favourable conditions and environments of a workplace that support and promote employees satisfaction by providing them with rewards, job security and growth opportunities. Positive Effects of QWL : The basic objectives of an effective QWL program are improved working conditions and greater organizational effectiveness. A win-win situation may result if QWL is positively linked to business performance. Positive results of QWL have been supported by a number of previous studies, including reduced absentiseem, lower turnover, and improved job satisfaction. Not only does QWL contributes to a company’s ability to recruit quality people, but also it enhances a company’s competitiveness. Common beliefs support the contention that QWL will positively nurture a more flexible, loyal and motivated work force which are essential in determining the company’s competitiveness. Job Security and QWL: Out of many essential elements of QWL, job security has become the most discussed issue in recent years. Firing workers, characterized as downsizing reengineering, restructuring and other euphemisms, can counter the positive results of QWL by creating fear of job insecurity. Although the rate of job losses has slowed in recent years, many senior mangers still hold the belief that downsizing is necessary in today’s competitive market. Employees job satisfaction is at its slowest level in years, with only one in four employees “ extremely satisfied” with their job. Fear of JOB Insecurity: What may worry people the most is not the fact of joblessness so much as the threat of it. For example, an analysis of workers surveys in the 1980s and 1990s, found only a slight decline in the proportion of this holding jobs for at least four years. (Koretz,1996) The new paradigm attempts to align the interests of the investor, manager and employee stakeholders into win-win situation. The paradigm raises questions as to its feasibility and as to whether a company can be profitable and satisfy the needs of the employee stakeholders. The idea that corporate management could reconcile the social demands for increased job security with with capitalism demands for profits and efficiencies has been Page 11 of 35

around for may years . Current trends between unions and management with the goal of protecting jobs and pay by making their employers more profitable and competitive. The term QWL has been applied to a wide variety of organization improvement efforts. The common elements seem to be, as Goodman indicates, an ‘attempt to restructure multiple dimensions of the organization’ and to institute a mechanism which introduces and sustain changes overtime. Aspects of change mechanism are usually an increase in participation by employees in shop floor decisions and an increase in problem solving between the union and management. At some General Motors plants, QWL projects have included some of the following features. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Voluntary involvement on the part of employees Union agreement with the process and participation in it. Assurance of no loss of jobs as a result of the program Training of employees in team problem solving The use of quality circles where employees discuss problems affecting the performance of the plant and the work environment. 6. Work team participation in forecasting, work planning and team leader and team member selection. 7. Regular planned team meetings to discuss such matters as quality, safety, customer orders and schedules. 8. Encouragement of skill development and job rotation within work teams. 9. Skill training 10. Responsiveness to employee concerns. While the specifics vary from one QWL project to the other, both within a given organization and between organizations, several features tend to be common. Theses features include union involvement; a focus on work teams; problem solving sessions by work teams in which the agenda may include productivity, quality, and safety problems; autonomy in planning wok, the availability of skill training; and increased responsiveness to employees by supervisors.

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Q6. What is Grid OD? Explain in detail with the Leadership Grid diagram. Ans. Grid Organization Development One of the most structured and popular organization wise interventions programs in OD is Grid OD, developed by psychologist Robert Blake and Jane Mouton (1964,1969) This approach to OD emphasizes the importance of both helping managers become more effective and systematically creating and ideal strategic model to guide organizational planning and actions. This OD intervention uses a variety of specially designed diagnostic instruments that enable individuals and groups to study their own behaviour and identify areas that need improvement. Grid and management Styles Grid OD proposes those two fundamental dimensions of leader behaviour are essential for understanding managerial effectiveness. a. Concern for people b. Concern for results Concern for people refers to the consideration of social and interpersonal concern of others, concern for results involves issues of quality, quantity and overall effectiveness of work outputs. The graphical presentation of the model illustrates the concept further.

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The Leadership Grid above identifies five basic managerial styles. •

•

•

•

•

1.1 Impoverished Management: managers falling under this category are just going through their jobs without any real contributions. They are primarily concerned with keeping their jobs and are of little or no value in OD. 9.1 Authority Compliance task Management : Emphasis is on results and hence creativity and initiative of the subordinates is likely to be stifled. Low concern for interpersonal relationships is also likely to result in low cohesion amongst the group members. 1.9 Country Cub Management: the focus of the 1,9 managers is on creating work environments with pleasant social environment positive interpersonal relationships. They are primarily concerned with people and their feelings, attitudes and needs rather than results. 5.5 Middle of the Road Management : these mangers have a moderate concern for people and results. They use this managerial style to balance employee morale with acceptable levels of work outputs. They try to resolve conflicts through accommodation and compromise. 9.9 Team Management : The 9,9 manager demonstrate high concern for people and results and views these two dimensions of leadership as complementary rather than antagonistic. There is an attempt to integrate personal goals of the employees with the organizational goals through participative decision making. By developing work teams that utilize team members’ contributions in an interdependent way, 9,9 managers simultaneously promote high morale and productivity.

One of the most important assumptions of Grid OD is that 9,9 management style is the most effective approach for all managers in all the organization. From an OD perspective, helping managers move to a 9,9 managerial style represent critical component of organizational change process. However, for this to happen , it must be preceded by a change in organization’s culture.

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7. Diagnosis is critical for success of any OD program. Explain using an appropriate model. Ans. 8. OD Consultant must be competent in more than one discipline for implementing a successful OD program. What are the different competencies expected of the OD Consultant. Ans. Competencies of an OD Consultant to lead a change effort is more complex than hiring a lawyer for legal consultation or an economist for financial forecasting. Unlike other consultants, professional who will serve as OD Consultants need to have a broad range of competencies that, unfortunately, do not come with prestigious academic or business credentials alone. Hiring an unsuccessful OD Consultant is usually the result of faulty selection and evaluation procedures. Organizations are much more likely to hire the wrong kind of OD consultant if they fail to develop selection criteria unique to its organization needs. When the wrong consultant is hired, OD programs often fail to get started or stall midway through the process. The following is a comprehensive list of competencies for a successful OD Consultant. To guide an OD intervention all the way to successful completion requires a special set of knowledge, skills and abilities. The categorization of these competencies actually depicts the stages in the Client Consultant relationship throughout the OD effort. Marketing An effective organization development (OD) practitioner can… 1. Be aware of systems wanting to change 2. Be known to those needing you 3. Match skills with potential client profile 4. Convey qualification in credible manner 5. Quickly grasp the nature of the system 6. Determine appropriate decision makers 7. Determine appropriate processes Enrolling An effective organization development (OD) practitioner can… 8. Build trusting relationships 9. Present the theoretical foundation of change 10. Deal effectively with resistance 11. Help the client mange emotionally charged feelings Page 15 of 35

12. Collaboratively design the change process 13. Help the client trust the process

Contracting 14. Contract psychological for collaboration 15. Help the client reflect on motivation 16. Clarify outcomes 17. Build realistic expectations 18. conduct a mini-assessment 19. Identify the boundary of system to be changed 20. Articulate an initial change process to use 21. Explicate ethical boundaries 22. confirm commitment of resources 23. Identify critical success factors for the intervention. 24. clarify the role of consultant 25. Clarify the role of client 26. Begin to lay out an evaluation model Mini assessment: An effective organization development (OD) practitioner can… 27. Further clarify real issues 28. Be aware of how one’s biases influence interaction 29. Link change effort into ongoing organizational processes 30. Identify formal power 31. Identify informal power

Data gathering: An effective organization development (OD) practitioner can… 32. Determine an appropriate data collection process 33. Determine the type of data needed 34. Determine the amount of data needed 35. Utilize appropriate mix of methods to ensure efficiency 36. Utilize appropriate mix of methods to ensure validity 37. Utilize appropriate mix of methods to ensure objectivity 38. Utilize appropriate mix of data collection technology 39. Clarify boundaries for confidentiality 40. Select a process that will facilitate openness 41. Gather data to identify future states. Diagnosis An effective organization development (OD) practitioner can… 42. Gather data to identify first steps of transition 43. Watch for deeper issues as data is gathered 44. Suspend judgment while gather data 45. Know when enough data has been gathered Page 16 of 35

46. Suppress judgment while gathering data. 47. Use statistical methods when appropriate 48. Recognize what is relevant 49. Know how data from different parts of the system impact each other 50. Communicate implications of system theory 51. Continuously assess the issues as they surface. 52. Stay focused on the purpose of the consultancy 53. Utilize a solid conceptual framework based on research Feedback An effective organization development (OD) practitioner can… 54. Prepare leadership for the truth 55. Involve participants so they begin to own the process 56. Synthesize the data gathers into them 57. Create a non-threatening atmosphere 58. Facilitate complex emotional patterns Planning An effective organization development (OD) practitioner can… 59. Distill recommendations from the data 60. Focus action that generates high impact at lowest cost 61. Consider creative alternative 62. Mentally rehearse adverse consequences 63. Mentally rehearse potential gains Participation An effective organization development (OD) practitioner can… 64. Facilitate a participative decision making process 65. Obtain direction from leadership 66. Obtain commitment from leadership 67. Co-create an implementation plan that is rooted in the data. 68. Co-create an implementation plan that is concrete 69. Co-create an implementation plan that is simple 70. Co-create an implementation plan that is clear 71. Co-create an implementation plan that logically sequences activities 72. Co-create an implementation plan that is result oriented 73. Co-create an implementation plan that is measurable 74. Co-create an implementation plan that is rewarded Intervention An effective organization development (OD) practitioner can… 75. Reduce dependency upon consultant 76. Instill responsibility for follow through 77. Intervene at the right depth 78. Pay attention to the timing of activities 79. Facilitate concurrent interventions Page 17 of 35

80. Help mange impact to related systems 81. Re-design intervention or mindfully respond to new dynamics. Evaluation An effective organization development (OD) practitioner can… 82. Integrate research with theory and practice 83. Initiate ongoing feedback in client consultant relationship 84. Choose appropriate evaluation methods – that is, interviews, instruments, financial sheets—to collect evaluation information. 85. 36. Determine level of evaluation such as reaction, learning, behavioral change, organizational impact, social impact. 86. ensure evaluation method is valid 87. Ensure evaluation is reliable 88. Ensure evaluation method is practical Follow- up An effective organization development (OD) practitioner can… 89. Establish method to monitor change during the intervention 90. Establish method to monitor change after the intervention 91. Use information to reinforce positive change 92. Use information to correct negative change 93. Use information to take next steps 94. Link evaluation with expected outcomes. Adoption An effective organization development (OD) practitioner can… 95. Transfer change skills to internal consultant so learning is continuous 96. Maintain/increase change momentum 97. Link change process to daily life of system 98. Mobilize additional internal resources to support continued change 99. Determine the parts of the organizational that warrant a special focus of attention 100. Pay attention to movement back to old behaviours 101. Move more away from project driven change to strategydriven change 102. Be sure customers and stakeholders are satisfied with intervention’s results 103. Plan renewal/reunion events Separation An effective organization development (OD) practitioner can… 104. recognize when separation is desirable 105. Process any left over relationship issues consultants and client 106. Ensure that learning will continue Page 18 of 35

107. 108.

Leave the client satisfied Plan for the post consultation contact.

Self-Awareness An effective organization development (OD) practitioner can… 109. Clarify personal values 110. Clarify personal boundaries 111. Manage personal biases 112. Manage personal defensiveness 113. Recognize when personal feelings have been aroused 114. Remain physically healthy while under stress 115. Resolve ethical issues with integrity 116. Avoid getting personal needs met at the expenses of the client ( i.e financial ,emotional, sexual etc.) 117. work within the limits of your capabilities 118. Perform effectively in an atmosphere of ambiguity 119. Perform effectively in the midst of chaos Interpersonal An effective organization development (OD) practitioner can… 120. Develop mutually trusting relationship with others 121. Solicit feedback from others about your impact on them 122. Energize others 123. Collaborate with internal/external OD professional 124. balance the needs of multiple relationships 125. Listens to others 126. Pay attention to the spontaneous and informal 127. Consistently maintain confidentiality 128. Interpersonally relate to others 129. Use humor effectively Other An effective organization development (OD) practitioner can… 130. Interpret cross-culture influences in a helpful manner 131. Handle diversity and diverse situations skillfully 132. Communicate directions clearly to large groups 133. Use the latest technology effectively 134. Use the internet effectively 135. Facilitate small group interventions (up to 70) 136. Facilitate large group interventions (70-2,000) 137. Apply the skills if international consultant 138. Demonstrate ability to conduct community development 139. Demonstrate ability to conduct community development 140. Function effectively as an internal consultant 141. Be aware of the influences of cultural dynamics on interactions with others.

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Q9. Write short notes on: a. Strategies to build trust between the OD consultant and the organizational members? Ans. Building Trust in Working Relationships- The key to success A satisfactory relationship between the change agent and the organizational members is critical to success of nay OD effort. A trusting relationship helps the consultant deal with the challenges bought by those who are uncomfortable or in disagreement with the change effort, and the consutants’ style and values are the key factors in establishing trust and making relationships successful. 1. Communication is the central element in building a trusting relationship between the OD consultant and organizational members. The goal of both, the consultant and client should be to develop a positive climate for trust and verbal communication provides a major influence on that development. 2. Defensiveness is another barrier to a climate of trust. This attitude results from a person’s perception that he or she is being unfairly evaluated or criticized. As a result, the person perception that he or she is being unfairly evaluated or criticized. As a result , the person defends his or her behaviour or position. Defensiveness behavoiur diminish the likelihood for open and frank communication, and they impair the development of trust. Supportive behaviours, on the other hand, communicate positive intent, and encourage the development of trust, OD consultants who focus on supportive behaviours are likely to experience less defensiveness from organizational members. The ideal OD Consultant From the perspective of a professional internal consultant, the ideal external consultant has the following qualities: • • • • • • • • •

Listen, but does not sell Fits into the organization and embraces it’s mission and culture. Teaches the internal professional staff and helps them achieve independence. Provides good customers service Protects confidentiality Challenges assumptions Is a recognized expert Provides perspectives and objectivity Celebrate with internal staff.

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9b. Ethical guidelines for OD professionals Whenever professionals offer advice or intervene in the affairs of individuals, groups, organizations or government agencies, questions arise concerning honesty, fairness and conflict of interests. Ethics refer to issues or practices that should influence the decision making process in terms of “doing the right thing”. In other words, ethics reflect the morals- what is considered right or wrong of a society or a culture. As an OD professional, it is critical that some ethical guidelines are committed to and followed religiously. The following are some of them: ( Source The OD Institute, 1994) I. Responsibility to Self. A. Act with integrity; be authentic and true to self. B. Strive continually for self-knowledge and personal growth. C. Recognize personal needs and desires and, when they conflict with other responsibilities, seek all –win resolutions of those conflicts. D. Assert own economic and financial interest in ways that are fair and equitable to self as well as to clients and their stakeholders. II. Responsibility for Professional Development and Competence A. Accept responsibility for the consequences of acts and make reasonable efforts to ensure that services are properly used; terminate services if they are not properly used and do what he/she can to see that any abuses are corrected. B.

Strive to achieve and maintain a professional level of competence for both self and profession by developing the full range of own competence and by establishing collegial and cooperative relations with other OD professionals.

C.

Recognize own personal needs and desires and deal with them responsibly in the performance of professional roles.

D.

Practice within the limits of my competences, culture and experience in providing services and using techniques.

E.

Practice in cultures different from own only with consultation from people native to or knowledge about those specific cultures

III. Responsibility to Clients and significant Others

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A.

B. C. D. E. F.

Serve the long term well-being, interest and development of the client system and all its stake holders, even when the work being done has a short term focus. Conduct any professional activity, program or relationship in ways that re honest, responsible, and appropriately open. Establish mutual agreement on a contract covering services and remuneration. Deal with conflicts constructively and avoid conflicts of interest as much as possible. Define and protect the confidentiality of client-professional relationship. Make public statements of all kinds accurately, including promotion and advertising, and give services as advertised.

IV. Responsibility to the Profession A. B. C. D.

E.

Contribute to continuing professional development for self, other practitioners and the profession. Promote the sharing of OD knowledge and skill. Work with other OD professionals in ways that extremely what our profession says we stand for. Work actively for ethical practice by individuals and organizations engaged in OD activities and in, case of questionable practice, use appropriate channels fro dealing with it. Act in ways that bring credit to the OD profession and with due regards for colleagues in other professions.

V. Social Responsibility A.

Act with sensitivity to the fact that my recommendation and actions may alter the lives and well-being of people within client systems and the larger systems of which they are subsystem. B. Act with awareness of the cultural filters which affect my view of the world, respect cultures different from my own and be sensitive to crosscultural and multicultural differences and their implications. C. Promote justice and serve the well being of all life on Earth. D. Recognize that accepting this Statement as a guide foe my behaviour involves holding myself to a standard that may be more exacting than the laws of any countries in which I practice, the guidelines of any professional associations to which I belong, or the expectations of any clients.

9c. Foundations of OD Ans. Values, Assumptions and Beliefs in OD The field of OD rests on a foundation of values and assumptions about people and organizations. These beliefs help to define what OD is and guide its implementation.

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Values have always been an integral part of OD package. OD values an assumption developed from research and theory by behavioural scientist and from the experiences and observations of practicing managers. OD values tend to be humanistic, optimistic and democratic. Humanistic values proclaimed the importance of the individual, respect the whole person, treat people with respect and dignity, assume that everyone has intrinsic worth, view all people as having the potential for growth and development. Optimistic values posit that people are basically good, the progress is possible and desirable in human affairs, and the rationality, reason and goodwill are the tools for making progress. Democratic value asserts the sanctity of the individual, the right of people to be free from arbitrary misuse of power, fair and equitable treatment for all and justice through the rule of law and due process. In a recent survey study, the top five values considered most important were: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Increasing effectiveness and efficiency Creating openness in communication Empowering employees to act Enhancing productivity and Promoting organizational participation.

The knowledge base of OD is extensive and is constantly being upgraded. The most important concept on which OD is constructed is as follows: • • • • • • • •

Model & theories of planned change System theory Participation and empowerment Teams and team work Parallel learning structures A normative value for culture and changed Applied behavioural science Action research

Q10. Describe in detail the MBO approach to OD. Ans. The MBO approach to OD For an MBO program to be effective organization wide OD intervention, senior management must support and actively participate in its implementation. It begins with the top management providing clear statement of organizational purpose or mission so that individual member can align their goals with critical organizational objectives. This statement can then serve as a guide fro developing long range goals and strategic planning. Departmental and individual goals can then be derived from organizational goals. Based on extensive reviews of MBO programs, two researches have identified the following factors for the success of MBO programs: a. Organizational commitment Page 23 of 35

b. Mutual goals setting c. Frequent performance reviews d. Some degree of freedom in means for achieving individual goals.

Step1: Formulating Long Range Goals: Guided by the organization’s mission statement, senior management defines critical long term objectives and determine how available resources will be used to accomplish these goals. This process then leads to strategic planning activities which describe how the organization will cope with its changing environment. Step 2: developing Specific Objectives: In this step, broad organizational objectives are translated into specific measurable outcomes with clearly stated timeframes. Although organizational objectives may include areas such as profitability, market share, and quality, all objectives must be stated in clear terms. Step 3: Developing departmental objectives: Once organizational objectives are clearly specified, each division or department must develop a set of specific goals that will enable the organization to achieve its objectives. Again, these departmental goals must be clearly stated in terms of measurable outcomes.

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Step 4: Setting Group and Individual Goals: This step is focused on developing and implementing group and individual level goals in a coordinated manner. This process encourages vertical and horizontal communication in the organization since individual’s must clarify their roles and take responsibility for specific results. Individuals goal setting is done in a collaborative manner and will include both, personal and professional development objectives. Research indicates that individual goals produce the most positive results when they are challenging and specific. Step 5: Formulating and Implementing Action Plans: Although clearly stated goals provide a precise description of desired outcome, action plans are needed to provide a way of attaining goals. Action plans systematically identify the methods, activities and resources required to accomplish objectives. Step 6: Reviewing Goal Progress : Finally, mangers must review progress towards achieving the goal by meeting with subordinates in a group or individually. During these meetings, managers and subordinates discuss problems and difficulties involved in completing the goals and evaluated individual performance based on degree to which targeted goals were actually achieved. These meetings may also provide an opportunity to review and modify goals that have become outdated or unobtainable. Once this assessment is complete, the focus shifts from past performance to planning future goals and action plans. Together, mangers and subordinates develop mutually agreed upon goals and formulated a strategy to achieve them. Although MBO is a widely used approach for enhancing organizational effectiveness, the ways organizations use this intervention vary considerable. Companies such a as IBM and Hewlett-Packard, for example, have made MBO an integral part of their cultures. In general research on the effectiveness of MBO has produced mixed results. To some degree, the success of an MBO intervention depends on the culture of the organization. In keeping with the principles of OD, implementing and MBO program can be seen as an opportunity for employee development-mangers can assist employees in setting professional work, designing their work and participating in decision making. MBO seems to work better in organizations having a consultative environment.

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Q11. What are the different tactics adopted to gain power in organizations? Ans. Power Tactics Many researches have studied the tactics individuals use to become powerful in organizations. Some of the most common tactics include the following. 7. Forming coalitions and alliances: As suggested above, this is probably the most common way to gain influence among the organizational members. 8. Controlling access to individuals: Members who are able to control contact with higher executives typically become very influential with the organization. For this reason, secretaries and administrative assistants to senior managers often have power far beyond their position power. 9. Controlling access to information and other resources: When people are dependent on others for access for information and nay other resource necessary to do their jobs, they are in a weak position. Again, people who hold positions of low status can gain considerable power by controlling access to critical information and resources. In general, people who control budgets are more powerful. 10. Setting the Agenda: One of the easiest ways to be powerful is to make certain that issues that diminish personal influence never arise in the organization. Powerful people maintain their power by seeing that only certain issues are discussed. A powerful person may also determine the criteria by which his or her performance will be evaluated, what issues are raises in meetings, and who is invited to organizational events. 11. Attacking others: Another way to become powerful is to find someone else to blame mistakes on. In highly political environments, depreciating the achievement of others is a common strategy for making oneself more powerful. 12. Managing the impression one makes: This may involve becoming associated with organizational success and distanced from failures, associating with the “right” people, or managing the way one dresses, behaves and speaks. One tactics of impression management is to give appearance of being indispensable by becoming highly visible with the organization. Successful use of power tactics alone will not, ofcourse, create a successful intervention. OD practitioners must have an excellent command of intervention techniques as well as the interpersonal skills and influence to have these techniques accepted by organizational members. In most situations, however, acceptance is, atleast in part, apolitical process.

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Q12. Write short notes on : a. Appreciation Concerns Exercise Ans. The Appreciation and concern Exercise This intervention may be appropriate if interview data suggests that one of the deficiencies in the interactions of members of a group is lack of expression of appreciation, and that another deficiency is the avoidance of confronting concerns and irritations. This intervention can be carried out in many different ways. On a broad scale, the following are the important aspects. 1. The facilitator asks each member of the group to write down one to three appreciation for each member of the group. 2. Each member is also asked to write down one or two minor irritations or concerns related to each person that may be interfering with communications, getting the work done effectively, and so on. 3. Along with the assignment, the facilitator may make some suggestions, such as; a. You be the judge of which concerns to raise? b. Will be helpful to the relationship? c. Will it be helpful to the group? d. Can the person do anything about it? e. Would it be better to talk privately with the person? On the positive side, sometimes raising concerns in a team setting can provide an opportunity for others to validate what is being perceived or to provide another perspective. b. Responsibility Charting Ans. In work teams, decisions are made, tasks are assigned, and individuals and small groups accomplish the tasks. This process is easily described on paper, but in reality, a decision to have someone do something is somewhat more complex than it appears because multiple factors are in fact involved in even the simplest task assignment. The person who does the work, one or more people who may approve or veto the work, and persons who may “contribute” in some way to the work while not being responsible for it all play a part in given task. The issue is, who is to do what, with what kind of involvement by others? A technique called Responsibility Charting helps to clarify who is responsible for what on various decisions and actions. It is simple, relevant, and effective technique for improving team functioning.

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The technique is defined as follows: First is to construct a grid; the type of decision and classes of actions that need to be taken in the total areas of work under discussion are listed along left-hand side of the grid. The actors who might play some part in decision making on those issues are also identified and listed across the top of the grid. The process, then, is one of assigning a behavoiur to each of the actors opposite each of the issues. There are four classes of behavours: 1. Responsibility (R) – the responsibility to initiate action to ensure that the decision is carried out. 2. Approval required, or the right to veto (A-V)- the particular item must be reviewed by the particular role incubement, and this person has the option of either vetoing or approving it. 3. Support (S) – providing logistical support and resources for the particular item. 4. Inform (I)- must be informed and, by inference, cannot influence. A fifth behaviour ( or non- behaviour) is non involvement of a person with the decision; this is indicated on the chart with a ‘-‘ (dash). One type of responsibility chart is in the following figure. Responsibility Charting is usually done in a work team context. Each decision or action is discussed and responsibility is assigned. Some guidelines to conduct this intervention more effectively are: 1. Assign responsibility to only one person. That person initiates and then is responsible and accountable for the action. 2. Avoid having too many people with an approval-veto function on an item. This will slow down task accomplishment or will negate it altogether. 3. If one person has approval-veto involvement on most decisions, that person could become a bottleneck for getting things done. 4. The assignment functions to persons at times becomes difficult. For example, a person may want A-V on an item, but not really need it; a person may not want S responsibility on an item but should have it; or two persons each want R on a particular item but only one can have it. 5. The support function is critical. A person with a support role has to expend resources or produce something that is then used by the person responsible for the action. This support role and its specific demands must be clarified and clearly assigned.

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Responsibility Charting is an effective tool to clear up responsibility diffusion- the actual lack of responsibility or supervision when too many people are given responsibility for the same thing. For example, at one organization, many decisions had to be approved by every manager up to the CEO. Each assumed that errors would be caught at the next or previous level, and the CEO himself admitted that he didn’t read the form, he just signed them. Thus the organization wasted great deal of time, sent an impropriate message to it employees, and ended. Up with less accountability than if people were given responsibility for their own approvals. A responsibility Charting session can quickly identify who is to do what on new decisions as well as help top pinpoint reasons why old decisions are not being accomplished as desired. Responsibility Charting is a good intervention to use to improve the task performance or a work team. Responsibility Charting Actors Decisions

R: Responsibility, A-V: Approval, S: Support, I : Inform

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Q12c. Levels of Organizational Analysis. Ansc. There are atleast three diagnostic approaches for assessing power. Position Analysis focuses on jobs and responsibilities of an individual with the organization . starting with organizational chart, the OD practitioner makes an estimate of the personal power of key individuals. In addition, he or she attempts to determine the linkages of the individuals in question with people outside the organization. A person who represents the company to a regulatory body, for example, and has access to powerful people outside the company, is likely to have considerable power within the organization. Reputational Analysis is based on the idea that powerful people are known to others, and one way to guage power is to ask about an individual’s reputation. Although this could be subjective method, view of people who hold power, this provides more information than studying an organizational chart. More than one person can be asked to improve the reliability of reputional analysis. Decision Analysis attempts to identify people who have directly influenced decisions on organizational issues. Although members of complex organizations make hundreds of decisions daily, only a few decisions are really important in terms of power and politics. Typical important decisions revolve around issues like budgets, reorganization and key personnel decisions. In studying the decision process, informal decision makers-like those who provide information to decision making process also need to be considered.

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Q13. Describe in detail the Principled Negotiation technique. What is the application of this intervention. Ans13. Principled Negotiations Fisher, Ury and Patton described this intervention in the book “ Getting to Yes”. The following are the stages in this intervention. 1. People: separate the people from the problem. People have different perceptions, feelings and data. These differences need to be clarified. 2. Interests: Focus on interests, not positions. Positions lock the parties into an adversarial stance and obscure what their underlying interest really are. 3. Options: Generate a variety of possibilities before deciding what to do. A number of options can provide flexibility in reaching an agreement, and options can be invented so that both parties gain. 4. Criteria: Insist that the results be based on some objective standard. Discussions based on objective criteria tend to reduce the pressure and manipulating for dominance, and increase the likelihood that a resulting agreement will be percievd as fair. They also recommend four basic steps a facilitator can use in helping a group invent options: 1. A description of the problem in terms of what’s wrong and what the current symptoms appear to be. 2. Analysis of the problem including sorting symptoms into categories and identifying barriers to resolving the problem. 3. Approaches to solving the problem in terms of possible strategies and “theoretical models”. 4. Action ideas; what might be done and what specific steps might be taken to deal with the problem.

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Q14. Write short notes:a. Inter group third party interventions. Ans. Intergroup Team building Interventions The goal of these activities is : 1. To increase communication and interaction between groups. 2. To reduce the amount of dysfunctional competition 3. To replace a parochial independent point of view with an awareness of a necessity for interdependence of action, calling on the best efforts of both groups. Generally, a significant amount of time and energy is spent in competition, misunderstanding. Miscommunication and misperception cause the work groups to become dysfunctional and counter productive in an organization. OD methods provide ways to increase intergroup co-operation and communication as described in the following interventions. Blake, Shepard and Mouton designed the following intervention for situations where relations between groups are strained or overtly hostile. Step 1: The leaders of the two groups meet the consultant and agree to resolve the difference, if any. They commit their time and energy towards the same. Step 2: the intergroup interventions per se begin now. The two groups meet in separate rooms and build two lists. In one list, they give their thoughts, attitudes, feelings and perceptions of the other group- what the other group is like, what it does that gets in their way and so on. In the second list, the group tries to predict what the other group is saying about them in it’s list- that is, they try to anticipate what the other group dislikes about them, how the other group sees them and so on. Both groups build these two lists. Step 3: Without discussion, both groups share these lists with one another in presence of the consultant. Step 4: The two groups return to their meeting places and discussion on what they have learnt about themselves take place. Very often, they discover that many points are based on misperceptions and miscommunications. “ the difference are not so huge as we had imagined” is what come out of each group. After this, the next task is to prioritize issues that still are unresolved. Step 5: each group shares the list of resolved and unresolved issues and set priorities of item that need immediate attention and which are important. “ Who will do what when” is agreed upon for most important items. Step 6: As a follow up, a meeting is held between the leaders of these two groups to ensure the act in items are being completed. This ensures that the intervention is taken seriously and made useful.

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b. Cross functional teams. Ans. Cross Functional Teams These are important forms of teams in OD context. OD approaches have great utility in formation and functioning of these teams. Cross functional teams comprise of individuals from varied functional backgroundMarketing,HR,Finance,Operations,Systems etc. but who meet regularly to solve problems or work on projects which require diverse expertise. Large companies in India as well as other countries- Tata Motors, Reliance, Wipro, Motorola, Ford, #M, GE use cross Functional teams to deliver high quality product and services to their customers. Teams can be very effective. It is almost impossible to open a business magazine today without some guru exhorting the benefits of working in teams. In many situations teams can achieve more than individuals working on their own. In short, teams can be good, but they can also be bad. In the new organization teams have a critical role to play. Work teams are used as the basic unit of organization. Problem solving teams are used to improve the way the organization performs, and management teams are used to develop strategy and to drive the changes. If the role of team is to be positive, people must learn how to make them work effectively. What do we mean by team effectiveness? A team can be considered to be effective if their output is judged to meet or exceed the expectations of the people who receive the output. This is a question of the customer being right. If the team has been given some task to perform, the people who have given them the task are the people who will judge whether the result is satisfactory. Producing a quality output is not enough to judge the effectiveness of the team. The second criteria is that the team should still be able function effectively after they have completed their task. It should not be torn apart by dissension. This is not just a question of the members of the team still being on speaking terms. It means that after the team has been disbanded, the people should have an enhanced working relationship that benefits the organization. Finally, effectiveness is judged by whether the team feels satisfied with its efforts. If the team members are pleased with their efforts, if the experience has been a good one, if time spent away from their normal work has been worth the effort, the team has likely been effective.

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Q15. What is Quality Circle? Explain the motivational Aspects of Quality Circle. Ans. Quality Circles are largely a Japanese synthesis of American ideas pertaining to statistical quality control and group dynamics. The outcome of quality circle is currently popular nationally and internationally. Many of these circles have failed because of negligence and lack of efforts. To be successful, the quality circle requires management support and involvement. What is Quality Circle? This is a voluntary association of a group of persons working in same or similar type of job at the same work area who meet regularly one hour a week during their normal working time o discuss about their work related problems and arrive at a solution which can be implemented by them without additional cost or at a marginal cost. This group will ideally consists of 8 to 10 members but it should never be less than 5 or more than 15 in number because with less number of sufficient ideas may not come up and more number in depth discussion will not be possible. There is a strict discipline in both formation and working of the group. Let us study the process of formation of the Quality Circle and the method of their working. Process of Group Formation: the total quality circle system has 4 stages of formation starting from the group. 1. Steering Committee: This is an apex multidisciplinary group consisting of senior executives of production, maintenance and personal. Finance, HRD, Quality control etc. areas along with one or two senior level Trade Union Leaders. The total number of member should not exceed 15. The Chief Executive would normally be the chairman of the committee. This committee will decide the areas where Quality Circle programs should be stared. They will give broad guidelines to the circles and monitor the activities regularly. This is essential for two reasons. a. Once the workers know that the top management is really serious about the circles, then will tend to take more interest, otherwise they may feel that it is yet another fad of the management. b. Since company’s time will be spent for Quality Circle, which in other words means some cost to the organization; the committee would like to ensure adequate return on investment. If the return will be favourable than it will be a great motivator to go for more quality circles.

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2. Facilitators: He is a person who is elected by the steering Committee to coordinate and direct the activities of different quality circles in his area of responsibility. He has to be specially trained in QC methodology. An external Consultancy may be engaged to start without it would be desirable to have one in house person facilitator. 3. Leader : Initially to start the QC program the leader of the group will be selected b y the Facilitator with the approval of the steering committee. But once the QC get going there is no bar for the members to select their own leaders of the group in their day to day working should be the leader of the QC group also so that implementation part of the job will be easier. 4. Members: Voluntary membership of the circle would be called for after the facilitator has explained the philosophy of QC and the need to start such circles in that area of work. As mentioned earlier the members should be working in the same or similar type of job in the same area. If the members of the volunteers become too many, then more than one QC can be formed keeping in view of the ideal number as 8 to 10. this member will be specially trained in problem analysis and problem solving . thus the QC members will be carefully trained persons and not just a group of voluntary workers. The facilitator and the leaders will naturally see to it that the right type of volunteer is associated in the right type of QC.

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