Organizational Development Essay

1. What are the significant differences between action research, appreciative inquiry, future search and whole systems intervention? Under which conditions are each MOST appropriate? According to the definition, action research is a procedure which is connected with carrying out practical knowledge. Action research has a goal of combining such components as action and reflection, theory and practice, in order to obtain certain results in the situation of change. This approach is the most appropriate when companies face changes which do not require major actions. Appreciative inquiry primarily deals with explaining people the benefits of the process, discussing its main positive features, focusing on positive experience. It includes looking for answers to the questions regarding the potential of the organization can be realized to the fullest. Generally, it is a method which deals with affirmative action and visions of the possible solutions of various problems. This approach is the most appropriate for organizations which face change in major areas of their activity. Future search is a planned type of visioning process which has a goal of creating a vision of the future. To some extent, it consists of a new way of involving groups of shareholders in strategic planning for companies in which they own stock. Future search applies different methods to make shareholders explore past and future, as well as identify the goals for the future. It’s the most appropriate for situations when the company has to change strategic objects. Whole system intervention stands for actions taken in order to achieve the changes not in the certain divisions of organizations but in the whole system. This approach is the most efficient in situations when organizations face changes in their general strategy, and want to expand into new markets. 2. Compare and contrast the differences between traditional action research methodologies and appreciative inquiry. Under which circumstances are each MORE appropriate. The main difference between traditional action research and appreciative inquiry is that they have different methodic. In traditional action research, the approach includes isolating the problem from the system, investigating it, and offering a solution. This approach works for smaller organizations and situations when change which organizations are facing does not touch upon strategic problems. Appreciative inquiry approach is more complicated. According to it, it’s necessary to identify the main benefits of the process, all of its advantages, and focus on them. All of the negative sides of the problem have to be neglected for a while. There has to be research made on all the success stories, and actions carried out according to that positive experience. A software developer is experiencing an increasing number of customer complaints and a general trend toward lower sales. Describe three reasons executives in this organization might be slow to realize that a problem exists or to identify the main cause(s) of these symptoms. Give one example from your past experience when something like this occurred and how it was handled. In your opinion, was this handled correctly? How should it have been handled? The main reasons of customer complaints which the managers of the company do not notice are the following: –Â  The need to improve the quality of software because it is not up to date anymore. The company has to make sure all of the requirements which customers have are satisfied by the quality of the products which are being produced. – The need to improve the skills of the employees. The employees have not been trained according to the requirements of the modern software field, therefore they do not offer the high level of service which customers need. Therefore, employees have to go through training programs. – The need to enter new markets, for example networking design where there are fewer competitors. The company needs to expand its activity to different markets because computer software market is too narrow for it. One of the situations which I was witnessing was the restructure of the bank. As more money was invested into it, it could expand its activity to a larger number of operations, and new departments had to be formed in order to make the most efficient structure. However, the new structure turned out inefficient, and management started considering the problem of lower revenues. In order to achieve the best results, the management had to apply appreciative inquiry approach according to which all the leaders of teams had to remember all of the mot successful situations in their teams’ activities. The vision of new departments’ objectives had to be carried out according to the previous successful experience which teams had before. According to the future vision of the departments, all the tasks had to be chosen for employees. In my opinion, the approach of appreciative inquiry would be the most efficient in such a case.