Convenience

References:
Michelle Conlin, “Call Centers in the Rec Room,”
Businessweek
,
www.businessweek.com,
accessed
on
November 15, 2013; Pete Engardio, “The Future of Outsour-
cing,”
Businessweek
, www.businessweek.com, accessed
on November 15, 2013; and Manjeet Kripalani with Brian
Grow, “Offshoring: Spreading the Gospel,”
Businessweek
,
www.businessweek.com, accessed on November 15, 2013.
TOUGH TIMES, TOUGH CHOICES (Continued)
206
Part 3:
Organizing
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Organization Development
We noted in several places the importance of people and change. Beyond those change
interests discussed earlier, a special area of interest that focuses almost exclusively on
people is OD.
OD Assumptions
OD is concerned with changing attitudes, perceptions, behaviors,
and expectations. More precisely,
organization development
is a planned effort that is
organization-wide, managed from the top, and intended to increase organizational effec-
tiveness and health through planned interventions in the organization’s process, using
behavioral science knowledge.
25
The theory and practice of OD are based on several
very important assumptions. The first is that employees have a desire to grow and
develop. Another is that employees have a strong need to be accepted by others within
the organization. Still another critical assumption of OD is that the total organization
and the way it is designed will influence the way individuals and groups within the orga-
nization behave. Thus, some form of collaboration between managers and their employ-
ees is necessary to (1) take advantage of the skills and abilities of the employees and
(2) eliminate aspects of the organization that retard employee growth, development,
and group acceptance. Because of the intense personal nature of many OD activities,
many large organizations rely on one or more OD consultants (either full-time employ-
ees assigned to this function or outside experts hired specifically for OD purposes) to
implement and manage their OD program.
26
OD Techniques
Several kinds of interventions or activities are generally considered