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ences create stress and anxiety for employees, and these negative emotions affect future performance. Cultural dif-
ferences should be evaluated during the acquisition process, and OD experts can be used to smooth the integration of
two firms.
2. Organizational decline/revitalization. Organizations undergoing a period of decline and revitalization
experience a variety of problems, including a low level of trust, lack of innovation, high turnover, and high lev-
els of conflict and stress. The period of transition requires opposite behaviors, including confronting stress, cre-
ating open communication, and fostering creative innovation to emerge with high levels of productivity. OD
techniques can contribute greatly to cultural revitalization by managing conflicts, fostering commitment, and
facilitating communication.
3. Conflict management. Conflict can occur at any time and place within healthy organization. For exam-
ple, a product team for the introduction of a new software package was formed at a computer company. Made
up of strong-willed individuals, the team made little progress because members would not agree on project
goals. At a manufacturing firm salespeople promised delivery dates to customers that were in conflict with shop
supervisor priorities for assembling customer orders. In a publishing company, two managers disliked each
other intensely. They argued at meetings, lobbied politically against each other, and hurt the achievement of
both departments. Organizational development efforts can help solve these kinds of conflicts.
Organizational development can be used to solve the types of problems just described and many others.
Specialized OD techniques have been developed for these applications.
OD ACTIVITIES. A number of OD activities have emerged in recent years. Some of the most popular
and effective are as follows.
1. Team-building activities. Team building
15
enhances the cohesiveness and success of organizational
groups and teams. For example, a series of OD exercises can be used with members of cross-departmental
teams to help them learn to act and function as a team. An OD expert can work with team members to increase
their communication skills, facilitate their ability to confront one another, and accept common goals.
2. Survey-feedback activities. Survey feedback
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begins with a questionnaire distributed to employees on
values, climate, participation, leadership, and group cohesion within their organization. After the survey is com-
pleted, an OD consultant meets with groups of employees to provide feedback about their responses and the
problems identified. Employees are engaged in problem solving based on the data.
3. Intergroup activities. These activities include retreats and workshops to improve the effectiveness of
groups or departments that must work together. The focus is on helping employees develop the skills to resolve
conflicts, increase coordination, and develop better ways of working together.
4. Process-consultation activities. Organizational development consultants help managers understand the
human processes within their organization and how to manage them. Managers learn to think in terms of cul-
tural values, leadership, communication, and intergroup cooperation.
5. Symbolic leadership activities. This approach helps managers learn to use the techniques for cultural
change, including public statements, symbols, ceremonies, and slogans. For example, public statements that de-
fine a path finding vision and cultural values account for the success of such companies as Disney, Dana, and
Wal-Mart. Managers can signal appropriate behavior through symbols and ceremonies, such as when Roy Ash
had several of AM International's copying machines removed to signal the need for less paperwork.
Harold Geneen, president of ITT, captured the new value for his corporation with the slogan: "Search for
the Unshakeable Facts," which helped do away with smoke screens and political games.
OD STEPS. Consider the cultural change at Westinghouse Canada's manufacturing facility at Airdrie, Al-
berta. Cycle time for made-to-order motor-controlled devices was reduced from 17 weeks to 1 week. One major
requirement for reducing the time was to change the mind-set of both managers and workers to give workers
more discretion. Instead of waiting for approval from superiors, production employees now talk directly with
customers and suppliers to solve their problems.
Organizational development experts acknowledge that corporate culture and human behavior are relatively
stable and that company-wide changes, such as those at Westinghouse Canada, require major effort. The theory
underlying organizational development proposes three distinct steps for achieving behavioral and attitudinal
change: (1) unfreezing, (2) changing, and (3) refreezing.
15
Team building A type of OD intervention that enhances the cohesiveness of departments by helping members learn to function as a team.
16
Survey feedback A type of OD intervention in which questionnaires on organizational climate and other factors are distributed among em-
ployees and the results reported back to them by a change agent.
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