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9 Organization-Level Interventions

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Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

• Discuss the role of vision, mission, and values in driving organization-level change.

• Describe key activities that facilitate strategic planning, such as environmental scanning, SWOT analysis, SMART goals, and scenario planning.

• Of the various organization designs, identify those that best facilitate the organization’s mission and those that need to be reorganized or restructured.

• Explain how learning can be used strategically, such as by capturing organization learning and developing a strategic learning organization.

• Explore how culture influences organizations and can be changed through interventions, including diver- sity and inclusion initiatives.

• Describe key talent management interventions, such as talent management strategy and succession planning.

• Examine the role of large-scale interactive events for organization change.

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A nonprofit health care organization had been struggling to keep its doors open. When the region’s largest employer went out of business, the size and needs of the population served by the organization rose significantly; it was becoming increasingly difficult to provide services to clients. The executive director, Jane, was relatively new and decided the organization needed to improve its ability to raise funds. Jane contracted with an OD consultant, Jeff, to address the issue.

Jeff took Jane and the organization through the action research process to discover the root cause of the problem. He began by collecting data. He reviewed the organization’s website and brochures and interviewed employees, donors, and clients. After analyzing the data, he concluded that the organization was not clearly communicating its mission and services well enough and that it lacked a strategic plan. Jeff also suspected that the organization design was not conducive to carrying out its work.

Jeff and Jane began to address this problem by holding a retreat. During the retreat, board members and staff engaged in numerous exercises to express, clarify, and revise their mission, vision, and values statements. For example, they spent time identifying the organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats over the short, mid-, and long term. They imagined various scenarios that would create very different outcomes for the organization, such as changes in health care coverage, escalating expenses, a new employer moving into town, future company closures, and an electronic medical record.

Immediately following the retreat, the organization updated its website, letterhead, and brochures to reflect its more concise mission, vision, and values. Jeff and Jane also worked with the board on developing a 5-year strategic plan that included more aggressive communication to potential donors, increased fund-raising efforts, and enhanced diversity of both its board members and donor base.

Part of the strategic plan included reorganizing the nonprofit around its programs to more readily respond to its distinct stakeholder groups, such as patients and insurance companies. The reorganization was preceded by a large-scale event that brought together employees, patients, other health care providers, board members, and other local nonprofits that worked closely with the organization to plan for the future and how best to meet its needs. Each of these steps will be illuminated in the following sections.

Organization-level OD interventions tend to be more comprehensive and long term than individual and group interventions. Their goal is to help the organization set direction, determine strategy, solicit feedback, facilitate learning, manage knowledge, change the culture, value diversity, develop the workforce, and manage day-to-day activities. Although the list of potential interventions is endless, this chapter introduces the range and variety of interventions that are typically used in OD. These can be categorized into seven areas, including mission, vision, or values development; strategic planning; organization design; learning infrastructure; culture; talent management; and large-scale interactive events (see Table 9.1). The first of these is the development of mission, vision, and values statements.

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Section 9.1Mission, Vision, and Values Development

Table 9.1: Categories of individual OD intervention

Mission, vision, and values develop- ment

Strategic planning

Organiza- tion design

Learning infrastruc- ture Culture

Talent manage- ment

Large-scale interactive events

Mission Environ- mental scanning

Organi- zation structure

Organi- zation learning

Culture change

Talent man- agement strategy

Interactive strategic planning

Vision SWOT analysis

Reorgani- zation

Learning organiza- tion

Diver- sity and inclusion

Succession planning

Future search

Values SMART goals

Scenario planning

Confer- ence model redesign

Open space technology

9.1 Mission, Vision, and Values Development If an organization is to communicate its core beliefs to the world, it must have a clear and concise statement of its mission, vision, and values. Start- up, merged, or significantly reorgan- ized organizations need to develop or revise these statements, and even established organizations should revisit them periodically. OD consultants often get involved in these efforts. Take a moment to jot down the vision, mission, and values of your organization. Can you do it from memory? If not, you are in good company, since most employees and other organization stakeholders cannot; this signals that these statements are probably in need of some revision.

Mission

A mission statement explains why an organization exists. It identifies the organization’s target audience and the product or service it provides in a way that expresses the organiza- tion’s core values. Good mission statements are easy to remember and describe.

Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty Images

An organization’s mission is its reason for being. It is usually based on a central product or service. Shown here is eBay’s mission statement.

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Section 9.1Mission, Vision, and Values Development

Why Do OD Consultants Advocate Mission Statements? Mission statements create boundaries of service, motivate staff, and help evaluate whether the organization has met its goals. They succinctly communicate the organization’s purpose to both the internal and external world. They can also help focus strategic planning, product development, and innovation.

How Do OD Consultants Help Organizations Create Mission Statements? There are three parts of a good mission statement: the audience, the product or service, and the evaluative measures. Consider a social media company’s mission statement to evaluate these elements:

TechConnect’s mission is to give people the power to communicate and connect worldwide.

• Audience: The audience defines whom the organization serves. TechConnect is bound- aryless to people who have access to a device and an Internet connection. TechCon- nect’s audience is “people . . . worldwide,” as noted in the statement.

• Product or service: The product or service identifies what the organization pro- vides. TechConnect’s service is social networking, with the aim of openly connecting the world.

• Evaluative measures: Evaluative measures are the standards by which the organi- zation can be judged in terms of whether it is achieving its mission. TechConnect’s mission is to connect people throughout the world. How well it is doing that might be measured by the number of users, ad revenue, or site traffic.

Mission statements should be short, succinct, and easy to remember, like the ones listed ear- lier in this section. Management guru Peter Drucker was known to have advocated mission statements that were no longer than eight words and could easily fit on a T-shirt. In his opin- ion, anything larger was simply too long (Wartzman, 2012). Chances are, if you cannot state an organization’s mission, it may not be a good statement.

You can use Figure 9.1 to write your own mission statement or evaluate your organization’s mis- sion according to how well it articulates audience, product or service, and evaluative measures.

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Mission Statement Worksheet

The Audience (the boundary)

The Product or Service

Evaluative Measures

Now, put the three functions together in a succinct statement:

Section 9.1Mission, Vision, and Values Development

Jeff and Jane, from the opening vignette, planned a retreat with staff and the board, who used their time away to craft a mission statement that could be communicated more suc- cinctly. A list of exemplary mission statements can be found at http://topnonprofits.com /mission-statements.

Vision

A vision statement articulates an organization’s desired end state. When the organization is able to articulate its image of a desired future—that is, where it wants to go and what it will be like once it gets there—it has clear vision (Senge, Kleiner, Roberts, Ross, & Smith, 1994). Although leaders are responsible for formulating vision, Senge and colleagues (1994) argue that fostering and fulfilling the vision is everyone’s responsibility. Examples of good vision statements include:

Figure 9.1: Mission statement assessment worksheet

Use this worksheet to write or evaluate your organization’s mission statement.

Mission Statement Worksheet

The Audience (the boundary)

The Product or Service

Evaluative Measures

Now, put the three functions together in a succinct statement:

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http://topnonprofits.com/mission-statements

Section 9.1Mission, Vision, and Values Development

Motorcycle Company: “To awaken adventure through motorcycling”

Wine Maker: “To be the world’s most distinguished producer of fine wines”

Chain Restaurant: “To create a first-rate, accessible dining company”

Why Do OD Consultants Advocate Vision Statements? Noting that “not all visions are equal,” (p. 299) Senge and colleagues (1994) identify several attributes that make a vision powerful. Powerful visions “tap into an organization’s deeper sense of purpose and articulate specific goals that represent making that purpose real, [and] have unique power to engender aspirations and commitment” (Senge et al., 1994, p. 299).

Creating a shared vision requires stakeholders to reflect on the organization’s purpose and future. Senge and colleagues (1994) equate building shared vision with building shared meaning that yields a collective sense of what is important.

How Do OD Consultants Help Organizations Development Vision Statements? The consultant helps the client determine how it hopes its products or services might change the world. The statement should capture the organization’s dream; it is a picture of the orga- nization’s ultimate success.

There are multiple methods for creating vision statements. These include simple word- smithery and generative activities in which multiple participants identify key vision ideas that are collated and ranked. Other companies may use exercises involving pictures and visual aids to create images of the desired future. Table 9.2 compares the characteristics of vision and mission statements.

A list of exemplary vision statements can be found at http://topnonprofits.com/vision -statements.

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http://topnonprofits.com/vision-statements

Section 9.1Mission, Vision, and Values Development

Table 9.2: Comparing mission and vision statements

Mission statements: Why the organization exists

Vision statements: The organization’s desired end state

• Succinct one-sentence statement explaining why the organization exists. It should 1. be simple and clear, 2. avoid jargon, 3. be easily memorable, 4. be distinctive, and 5. not be confused with vision statement.

• Succinct one-sentence statement describing the organization’s long-term desired end state. It should 1. be simple and clear, 2. avoid jargon, 3. be easily memorable, and 4. not be confused with a mission statement.

Examples of mission and vision statements

Automobile Company Mission Go the Distance: We Go the Distance to exceed the expectations of our customers in quality and performance.

Automobile Company Vision To be the world’s leading provider of automotive products and services.

Children’s Hospital Mission Committed to Making them All Better: We make chil- dren better today, and healthier in the future.

Children’s Hospital Vision To transform the landscape of pediatric healthcare and improve the health of all children.

Values

An organization’s values are principles that govern how the organization expects to function in pursuit of its vision. OD consultants are often hired to help the organization clarify and articulate its values, along with its mission and vision.

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Section 9.1Mission, Vision, and Values Development

Why Do OD Consultants Help Clients Develop Values Statements? A values statement brings the mission and vision statements to life by describing what the organization believes in and how it will behave. These statements signal the organization’s beliefs and culture. Values statements can serve as a moral compass for the organization by defining leadership expectations, establishing standards, and guiding decisions.

How Do OD Consultants Help Clients Develop Values Statements? Values are usually derived in conjunction with mission and vision statements. They are gen- erally based on consensus and ideally involve input from top management and stakeholders across the organization.

What are the values of an organization of which you are part?

OD interventions often center on helping organizations articulate their mission, vision, and values in a collective process that is developmental. It may involve other visioning interven- tions introduced later in this chapter, such as a Future Search Conference, SWOT analysis, or environmental scanning. Creating the mission, vision, and values statements are often an integral part of strategic planning.

Take Away 9.1: Mission, Vision, and Values Development

• Mission statements explain why organizations exist and are often created or revised during strategic planning.

• Vision statements articulate the organization’s desired future or end state. They are often created or revised during strategic planning.

• Values statements explain how the organization aspires to behave in pursuit of its mission and vision. These statements are generally created or revised during strategic planning.

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Section 9.2Strategic Planning

9.2 Strategic Planning Strategic planning is “a disciplined effort to produce fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization (or other entity) is, what it does, and why it does it” (Bryson, 2004, p. 6). Strategic planning seeks to accomplish several goals, including establishing or revisiting long-term vision, values, and mission statements that span several years. Strategic planning scans the environment to assess the competitors, products, and services that char- acterize the industry context. The plan generates strategies to be implemented over a 5-year period that delineate specific activities, champions to advocate for the plan, and deadlines for accomplishing tasks. For example, Jeff and Jane led the nonprofit health organization’s staff and board through a strategic planning process that helped accomplish these goals.

The strategic planning process has several steps, including

• engaging in comprehensive, effective information gathering; • clarifying the organization’s mission, vision, and values; • identifying issues to be addressed in pursuit of the mission; • developing and exploring strategic alternatives; • emphasizing the future impact of present decisions; and • creating specific, measurable actions and time lines, usually in 5-year increments.

Strategic planning helps organizations communicate their mission and goals to employees and other stakeholders. The process is often collective and seeks input from across the organization and its constituents. It represents multiple agendas, interests, and values. It also creates a delib- erative assessment of the past, present, and future and establishes accountability measures. An organization typically makes a public commitment to its strategic plan and uses the plan to guide its decisions and actions. Figure 9.2 outlines a simple approach to strategic planning.

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Determine Where You Are

Plan How to Get There

Decide Where You Want to Be

• Mission and Vision

• Organization Structure

• Communications • Programs and

Services • People and Skills • Budget Support

• Mission and Vision

• Organization Structure

• Communications • Programs and

Services • People and Skills • Budget Support

• Strategic Plan • IT and HR Plans • Communications • Hiring and

Training • Restructuring and

Reengineering • Budget Allocations • Metrics

Section 9.2Strategic Planning

An effective strategic plan will communicate the organization’s mission, vision, and values to the organization’s constituents. The plan will also help the organization prioritize and allo- cate resources and provide a basis for measuring progress and change. Consultants who facil- itate a strategic planning process must educate themselves on the necessary steps, usually by undergoing continuing education or graduate study. They should also use products such as MyStrategicPlan (http://mystrategicplan.com) to track progress and make the plan and accomplishments visible on the organization website.

Several interventions support the strategic planning process. These include environmental scanning, SWOT analysis, scenario planning, and creating SMART goals. Each will be profiled in the following sections.

Environmental Scanning

When the organization scrutinizes external and internal factors that provide critical informa- tion about its future, the organization is engaged in environmental scanning. Environmental scanning involves both external and internal scans:

• External scans examine industry and government reports, relevant journals, confer- ences, and any other sources that can be used to evaluate the industry. This informa- tion might include competitors, market conditions, government regulations, demo- graphics, technology, economic development, global trends, or anything else that might affect the organization’s livelihood.

• Internal scans draw on stakeholder interviews, annual reports, planning documents, analysis reports, customer surveys, employee surveys, marketing reports, board meeting minutes, human resource databases, and other sources that provide relevant information.

Figure 9.2: Strategic planning steps

Strategic planning is a 3-step process to determine where you are, where you want to be, and how to get there.

Determine Where You Are

Plan How to Get There

Decide Where You Want to Be

• Mission and Vision

• Organization Structure

• Communications • Programs and

Services • People and Skills • Budget Support

• Mission and Vision

• Organization Structure

• Communications • Programs and

Services • People and Skills • Budget Support

• Strategic Plan • IT and HR Plans • Communications • Hiring and

Training • Restructuring and

Reengineering • Budget Allocations • Metrics

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http://mystrategicplan.com

Section 9.2Strategic Planning

Why Do OD Consultants Recommend Environmental Scanning? Environmental scanning systematically scrutinizes the organizational context (economic, com- petitive, social, political, and so forth) and collects data to develop a picture of current and future conditions that could positively or negatively impact the organization. Environmental scanning is important for organizations to maintain or improve their competitive position. The data generated by an environmental scan is used to develop or change strategies and plans. Environmental scanning can be done on any scale. Individuals may engage in it on a personal level when they try to understand the job market or select the best product to buy. Organiza- tions use it regularly to anticipate the future and be more internally and externally strategic.

How Do OD Consultants Facilitate Environmental Scanning? Environmental scanning involves the following steps:

1. Collect data about the context in which the organization operates, including a. economic, b. government, c. legal, d. demographic, e. social, f. political, and g. environmental.

2. Use data sources such as a. publications, b. focus groups, c. industry leaders, d. internal leaders, e. media, and f. civic associations.

3. Critically examine competitors to discover trends, opportunities, and threats that have implications for the organization.

4. Conduct an internal scan to examine the organization’s strengths and weaknesses. This should include reviewing short- and long-term goals.

5. Assess where the organization is now and where it should be in 10 years. Conduct a gap analysis as discussed in Chapter 4.

6. Collect relevant data from the community in which the organization operates. Out- comes might be joint projects or strategies. Relevant stakeholders might include a. nonprofit organizations, b. governmental or social agencies, c. higher education institutions, and d. religious organizations.

7. Analyze the data and use it to develop or modify strategy.

Have you ever participated in environmental scanning? See the activity at the end of the chap- ter to practice.

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Strengths • What are our advantages? • What do we do well? • What are our: unique capabilities? natural advantages? superior resources?

Weaknesses • What could we improve? • What are we doing badly? • What should we avoid? • What are our: key vulnerabilities? disadvantages? resource and capability shortfalls?

Opportunities • Where are the good chances facing us? • What are the interesting trends? • What are the: changes in the social, economic and

political environment? changes in technology? changes in government policy? changes in markets? weaknesses of our competitors? unmet customer needs? staff and supplier capabilities? size, location and strategic positioning? changes in social patterns, population

profiles, lifestyle changes, etc.? local events that have potential?

Threats (Challenges) • What obstacles do we face? • What is our competition doing? • Are the required specifications of our work,

products or services changing? • Is changing technology threatening our position? • Do we have bad debt or cash flow problems? • Are we at risk of: resistance to change? lack of interest or motivation? lack of commitment? lack of flexibility or focus? mismatch of skills and resources with the

strategic direction? high risks or impossible odds?

Section 9.2Strategic Planning

SWOT Analysis

During a SWOT analysis, employees and other stakeholders come together to identify an organization’s strengths and weaknesses and to examine environmental opportunities and threats. It is often done as part of strategic planning and is very effective if performed correctly.

Why Do OD Consultants Do SWOT Analysis? The act of simply carrying out an analysis using the SWOT framework can be enough to reveal what needs to change and to stimulate new ideas. SWOT analyses are often undertaken fol- lowing environmental scanning to establish strategies to maximize opportunities and mini- mize threats.

How Do OD Consultants Do SWOT Analysis? To carry out a SWOT analysis, reflect on the questions listed in Figure 9.3.

Figure 9.3: SWOT analysis questions

When answering the questions, participants should avoid being overly modest. Instead, they should be realistic and consider both internal and external variables.

Strengths • What are our advantages? • What do we do well? • What are our: unique capabilities? natural advantages? superior resources?

Weaknesses • What could we improve? • What are we doing badly? • What should we avoid? • What are our: key vulnerabilities? disadvantages? resource and capability shortfalls?

Opportunities • Where are the good chances facing us? • What are the interesting trends? • What are the: changes in the social, economic and

profiles, lifestyle changes, etc.? local events that have potential?

Threats (Challenges) • What obstacles do we face? • What is our competition doing? • Are the required specifications of our work,

strategic direction? high risks or impossible odds?

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Section 9.2Strategic Planning

Facilitating a SWOT analysis for a client involves following these steps:

1. Ask participants to individually brainstorm on each of the SWOT categories (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats). Have them write down their ideas on Post-it notes.

2. Invite participants to place their Post-it notes on flip charts stationed around the room. Each flip chart should be devoted to one SWOT category. Individuals will work around the room in carousel fashion, adding one issue to each flip chart until all ideas are exhausted.

3. Tally the issues. Seek consensus on prioritization of the key issues in each SWOT category.

4. Review and discuss the issues. 5. Invite the group to raise questions and answers. 6. Help the group plan action around key issue(s). 7. Summarize the process and outcomes.

Keep in mind that groups have a tendency to get stuck in the process of identifying issues and have difficulty moving toward commitment to action. Plan for transition out of the SWOT analysis to bridge the gap between idea generation and meaningful action.

Returning to the vignette, the nonprofit organization underwent a SWOT analysis as part of its planning to adjust priorities and goals. The process helped clarify the nonprofit’s chal- lenges around fund-raising in particular.

SMART Goals

Strategic plans should incorporate SMART goals; that is, goals that are:

• Specific • Measurable • Attainable • Realistic or Relevant • Time bound

Table 9.3 offers descriptions and examples of SMART goals.

Who Invented That? SMART Goals

The SMART mnemonic was introduced by George Doran, Arthur Miller, and James Cunningham in 1981. Since that time it has served as the standard tool for creating effective goals. The words have been modified over the years, as reflected in Table 9.3. You can read more about the development of SMART goals in the following article:

Source: Doran, G. T., Miller, A. F., & Cunningham, J. (1981). There’s a SMART way to write management’s goals and objectives: How to avoid costly job mismatches. Management Review, 70(11), 35–36.

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Section 9.2Strategic Planning

How Do OD Consultants Help Clients Set SMART Goals?

Table 9.3: Setting SMART goals

SMART component Description Example

Specific A specific goal can be clearly visualized. Specifics help us focus and clearly define actions. Specifics are the what, why, how, and who of the SMART model.

WHAT are you going to do? Use action words such as increase, organize, col- laborate, lead, develop, plan, establish, build, etc.

WHY is the goal important at this time? What do you want to ultimately accomplish?

HOW are you going to do it?

WHO is going to do it?

Instead of setting a goal to lose weight, set a specific goal, such as losing 2 inches off your waistline, losing 5 pounds in 5 weeks, or walk- ing 5 miles at an aerobically challenging pace.

Measurable An old management adage is “If you cannot measure it, it does not matter.” Furthermore, you cannot manage it. A goal provides a measuring stick. If the goal is accomplished, success has been achieved. An organization may also build several short-term or small measure- ments into the goal to measure incre- mental progress along the way.

A goal that is difficult to measure would be “Become a leading college of education.” A better goal with measureable steps would be “The college will maintain or improve its national rankings each year from the year before” or “The college’s programs will attain national top 5 rankings in programs A, B, and C within the next five years.”

Attainable Goals should be attainable and possible to reach. The goal should create some challenge in that it is neither too easy nor too difficult to reach and will require push to attain. The goal should be within the employee’s or organization’s ability and resources to achieve and should align with the work unit goals.

Aiming to lose 10 pounds in one week is not attainable (nor healthy). A more attainable goal is to lose 1 to 2 pounds per week for a sustained period of time.

Realistic or relevant

Realistic does not mean “effortless.” A realistic SMART goal is within the employee’s or team’s capability. Although the goal may challenge employees to develop new skills and knowledge, it will not throw them into the panic zone or break their motivation to continue because it seems possible to reach.

This part of the SMART goal framework is called “relevant” by some models. Relevant means that the goal is linked to roles and responsibilities and to the overall organization mission. Either way, the stated goal should be tied to the mis- sion and should challenge the organiza- tion to attain it.

“To reduce medical errors by 10% within 18 months.” This type of goal requires us to further develop capacity to eliminate errors from our procedures, but it is not unrealistic in what it is asking. An unrealistic goal might be one with a much higher percentage or one that requires everyone to adopt a new skill or technology.

(continued)

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Section 9.2Strategic Planning

SMART component Description Example

Time bound Creating a timetable or Gantt chart for a goal is imperative. Specific time frames by week, month, semester, or year offer manageable targets to work toward. Without deadlines it may be difficult to secure commitment to achieving the goal. A timetable creates a sense of urgency to achieve the goal. Make sure the timing is measurable, attainable, and realistic!

“To lose 10 pounds in time for a class reunion in 6 months.”

Why Do OD Consultants Help Clients Set SMART Goals? SMART goals help clients develop goals that hold them accountable for implementing their strategic plan. Addressing each aspect of the SMART goals helps clients develop good goals.

Scenario Planning

Scenario planning is a strategic planning approach that assesses all possible environmental changes that could affect the organization and creates a story about the outcomes. Strate- gic responses to the stories are developed so that all imaginable contingencies have been considered.

Why Do OD Consultants Do Scenario Planning? Organizations use scenario planning to plan long-term strategy in a shifting environment. For example, the process was used by Royal Dutch Shell to predict future shifts in the oil industry. The creation of scenarios can give organizations a context and situation that mimic reality and more readily allow problem solving and innovation.

How Do OD Consultants Do Scenario Planning? Scenario planning was introduced in the 1960s as a military tool to design weapons technol- ogy. It was then adopted for business planning and community building (Haeffner, Leone, Coons, & Chermack, 2012). Chermack (2011) suggests that scenario planning involves

1. emphasizing changed thinking, 2. creating informed narratives or stories of plausible futures, 3. making better decisions about the future, and 4. enhancing human and organization learning.

For example, during the nonprofit retreat profiled in the vignette, Jeff and Jane developed potential stories of what might happen in the future if fund-raising further diminished or increased dramatically.

Table 9.3: Setting SMART goals (continued)

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Section 9.3Organization Design

9.3 Organization Design How an organization is set up in terms of its reporting relationships is known as organization design. Organization design “describes how the overall work of the organization is divided into subunits and how these subunits are coordinated for task completion” (Cummings & Worley, 2009, p. 315.). The design is influenced by the environment, the organization’s size and strat- egy, and technology (Cummings & Worley, 2009). Organization design can take several forms in terms of its structure. When an organization’s structure does not work well or prevents the organization from achieving its goals, it will redesign or restructure.

Organization design may change following a shift in strategy, a merger or acquisition, or out- sourcing and downsizing. Such a shift allows the organization to more effectively meet the changing demands and market conditions.

Organization Structure

The order of reporting relationships and their general design is known as organization structure. There are several varieties, including functional, divisional, matrix, process, and network (Cummings & Worley, 2009). We will define each type shortly. Having an appropriate structure facilitates the organization’s work and productivity.

Why Do OD Consultants Address Organization Structure? An organization’s structure determines reporting relationships, level of formality, and how work gets accomplished. Consultants examine organization structure to assess how well it fits with the organization’s overall mission, vision, and values.

Take Away 9.2: Strategic Planning

• Environmental scanning is often used to provide a baseline for strategic planning. It is a process of scrutinizing internal and external factors that have implications for the economic, competitive, social, and political context of the organization.

• SWOT analyses examine the organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats and use them in strategic planning.

• SMART goals are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic or relevant, and time bound.

• Scenario planning develops stories that represent possible outcomes for the organization, which can use them to problem solve and innovate.

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VP Marketing VP ManufacturingVP Finance VP Human Resources

VP Research

CEO

Section 9.3Organization Design

How Do OD Consultants Address Organization Structure? Consultants first assess the organization’s type of structure and then examine the mission and vision, key processes, and functions to see if the structure makes sense. For example, most automotive companies have hierarchy, assembly lines, and clear productivity targets. How- ever, that type of structure would not befit a company focused on high-tech, quick response, and innovation.

Types of Organization Structure This section profiles common organization structures. See if you can identify the structure of an organization you belong to as one of these types.

Functional Structure Functional organizations are organized according to functional activities such as finance, human resources, operations, and so forth (Cummings & Worley, 2009). The functional struc- ture values skill specialization, in that certain subdivisions carry out all tasks associated with that function for the organization. This structure promotes career development within the function, sometimes at the expense of exposure to other functions. The functional structure is sometimes accused of being “siloed” in that the functions become isolated from each other and lack understanding and communication across the organization. See Figure 9.4 for an example of a functional structure.

Divisional Structure In a divisional structure, also called a self-contained unit, activities are organized according to products, services, customers, or geography (Cummings & Worley, 2009). Because mem- bers identify with the product or service rather than their own function and are oriented to the customer, departments tend to be more cohesive across the organization as compared to the functional structure. Cross-training is also more easily facilitated. However, the divisional structure may not be as efficient as the functional structure because of duplication of services, and career advancement within a specialty is more difficult. Divisional structure is depicted in Figure 9.5.

Figure 9.4: Functional structure

This structure is the classic hierarchy most of us think of when we envision organization structure.

VP Marketing VP ManufacturingVP Finance VP Human Resources

VP Research

CEO

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Manager Manufacturing

Manager Sales

VP Product BVP Product A

CEO

VP Manufacturing

Manufacturing Employees Product A

Manufacturing Employees Product B

Manufacturing Employees Product C

VP Marketing

Marketing Employees Product A

Marketing Employees Product B

Marketing Employees Product C

Coordinator Product A

Coordinator Product B

Coordinator Product C

VP Coordinators

Section 9.3Organization Design

Matrix Structure The matrix structure attempts to blend the functional and divisional structures by “superimpos[ing] a lateral structure that focuses on product or project coordination on a ver- tical functional structure” (Cummings & Worley, 2009, p. 319). This structure promotes the sharing of functional and product knowledge across functions. It requires a flexible and sup- portive management, since employees often report to both functional and product managers, making this structure more politically contested and difficult to implement than other struc- tures. See Figure 9.6 for an example of a matrix structure.

Figure 9.6: Matrix structure

The matrix structure allows for sharing of information across functions, but because employees may report to more than one person (i.e. functional and product managers), this structure often creates tension and is more difficult to implement.

VP Manufacturing

Manufacturing Employees Product A

Manufacturing Employees Product B

Manufacturing Employees Product C

VP Marketing

Marketing Employees Product A

Marketing Employees Product B

Marketing Employees Product C

Coordinator Product A

Coordinator Product B

Coordinator Product C

VP Coordinators

Figure 9.5: Divisional structure

The advantage of a divisional structure is the cohesiveness it tends to create.

Manager Manufacturing

Manager Sales

VP Product BVP Product A

CEO

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Senior Management

New Product Development

Customer Service

Etc.

Processes

Section 9.3Organization Design

Process-Based Structure Cummings and Worley (2009) describe the process-based structure as “a radically new logic for structuring organizations [by forming] multidisciplinary teams around core processes such as product development, order fulfillment, sales generation, and customer support” (p. 322). This is a relatively flat structure with a small senior management team. Each major process has an owner who oversees its management. This structure is highly customer oriented and able to quickly adapt to the environment. There is generally strong teamwork based on the need to work across process groups to serve the customer. Successfully organizing according to process requires a shift in thinking about management’s role. Moreover, it may take longer to make deci- sions and accomplish tasks in the process-based structure. See Figure 9.7 for an example.

Network Structure This structure “manages the diverse, complex, and dynamic relationships among multiple organizations or units, each specializing in a particular business function or task” (Cummings & Worley, 2009, p. 328). Network structures have been described as spider webs, clusters, or starbursts. They are characterized by vertical disaggregation, or the splitting of business functions into separate organizations that perform specialized work. Network organizations do not have hierarchies but are often managed by brokers who orchestrate processes, much as a general contractor draws on a network of specialties to construct a building (Cummings & Worley, 2009). Brokers coordinate a variety of informal relationships, contracts, and mar- ket mechanisms.

Network structures are flexible and adaptable to the environment and are usually good at meeting customer and market demands. However, this structure is complex and unstable, making recruitment and retention challenging. See an example in Figure 9.8.

Figure 9.7: Process-based structure

The process-based structure has teams focusing around core processes instead of around products.

Senior Management

New Product Development

Customer Service

Etc.

Processes

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Engineering Organization

Broker Organization

Supplier Organization

Manufacturing Organization

Distributor Organization

Section 9.3Organization Design

Organization design is driven by the organization’s mission, vision, values, and strategic plan. When there is a mismatch, reorganization is usually necessary.

Reorganization and Restructuring

Organizations must make changes that allow them to more nimbly respond to environmental factors such as increased competition, globalization, and new technologies. Often these fac- tors require organizations to rethink their structures through reorganizing or restructuring their operations to allow them to more effectively meet market conditions.

Why Do OD Consultants Help Clients Reorganize and Restructure? Organizations often decide to reorganize to improve communication, quality, or customer satisfaction or to improve productivity and performance. These activities can also be part of strategic plan implementation, particularly when the goals relate to improved performance and efficiency.

How Do OD Consultants Help Clients Reorganize and Restructure? Restructuring is the process by which an organization design is changed. Organizations will usually shift from a more traditional structure (such as a functional, divisional, or matrix) to a more integrative and flexible structure (such as a process based or network). Also known as

Figure 9.8: Network structure

The most adaptable of the organization structures, the network structure allows for a flexible environment to meet customer and market demands.

Engineering Organization

Broker Organization

Supplier Organization

Manufacturing Organization

Distributor Organization

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Section 9.3Organization Design

flattening, restructuring involves shifting the organization to become more agile, responsive, productive, and effective. Restructuring is influenced by the environment, the geographic span of operations, organization size, technology, and strategic plan. Here we discuss three com- mon approaches to restructuring: reengineering, mergers and acquisitions, and downsizing.

Reengineering Reengineering (Hammer & Champy, 1993) is the radical redesign of the organization’s core work processes to provide greater linkage and coordination among tasks. The goal is to achieve higher, faster performance and better customer service. Reengineering is primarily concerned with streamlining business processes and pays little attention to the human social system (French & Bell, 1999; McLean, 2006). The reengineering process is often associated with technological advances that the organization must adopt. Reengineering questions tasks and processes and attempts to unearth the assumptions that govern them. The result is usu- ally radical changes in thinking and practice and improved customer service.

Reengineering is accomplished by preparing the organization, usually through data and edu- cation, about the need for the change. Preparatory work also involves clarifying the organiza- tion’s strategy and objectives so that the reengineering effort supports the long-term vision and mission. The reengineering process begins with a fundamental rethinking of how work gets accomplished by identifying and analyzing core business processes, defining perfor- mance objectives, and designing new processes. Next the organization restructures around the new business processes. Typical process changes include shifting from functional depart- ments to process teams; changing jobs from simple tasks to multidimensional work; empow- ering workers to have more authority in their roles; shifting compensation and performance measures from activities to results; flattening the organization’s structure; and shifting mana- gerial behavior from supervisory to coaching (Cummings & Worley, 2009).

Mergers and Acquisitions Restructuring is usually necessary when companies merge or acquire new businesses. McLean (2006) identifies four methods of restructuring after a merger or acquisition:

1. Limited integration: Operations continue as they were premerger; alternatively, the acquisition is managed by a holding company, which houses several other organiza- tions. For example, Walt Disney is the world’s largest mass media holding company, with theme parks, studios, television channels (Disney, ESPN, A&E, and ABC Family), as well as familiar figures like Mickey Mouse.

2. Dominant company: The acquiring company absorbs the acquired company into its operations.

3. Mutual best of both: Melds the best of each organization into a new organization. 4. Transformation to new company: Although similar to mutual best of both, this struc-

ture adopts entirely new organization practices to create a new organization.

Have you ever been part of an organization that experienced one of these changes? If so, which structure did you experience?

Mergers and acquisitions often stimulate multiple OD efforts at the individual, team, and organization levels. Sometimes mergers and acquisitions stimulate downsizing.

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Section 9.3Organization Design

Downsizing When an organization decreases its size to reduce cost and bureaucracy, it is downsizing. Downsizing is usually prompted by mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, lost revenue and market share from industrial and technological change, or social pressure to create a small, lean organization (Cummings & Worley, 2009). Additionally, McLean (2006) identifies eco- nomic downturn, change in product or service demand, technological shifts, improved pro- cesses, and flattening as reasons organizations downsize.

Downsizing is usually accomplished through workforce reduction, organi- zation redesign, or systemic redesign (Cameron, Freeman, & Mishra, 1991; Cummings & Worley, 2009):

• Workforce reduction seeks to reduce the organization’s head count and is usually a short- term downsizing tactic accom- plished through layoffs, attri- tion, retirement incentives, and buyout packages.

• Organization redesign seeks more fundamental organiza- tion change than workforce reduction and is a longer term strategy accomplished by merging units, redesigning tasks, and eliminating func- tions, layers, and products.

• Systemic redesign seeks transformational culture change. A long-term strategy, it involves changing responsibilities, adopting continuous improvement programs, sim- plifying processes, and accepting downsizing as a way of life.

Incidentally, the rise of the contingent workforce is a consequence of downsizing. Research on downsizing indicates that it does not achieve intended results in cost reduction or productiv- ity gains (Cummings & Worley, 2009).

moodboard/Thinkstock

Organizations downsize to save money, although there is little evidence that it effectively accom- plishes cost savings.

Take Away 9.3: Organization Design

• Organization structure determines how work gets accomplished, how employees relate, and an organization’s level of formality. Organization structure takes several forms, including functional, divisional, matrix, process based, and network.

• Organization design can be changed through reorganization or restructuring, often in the form of reengineering, mergers and acquisitions, or downsizing.

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Section 9.4Learning Infrastructure

9.4 Learning Infrastructure When an organization embraces learning as a process and strategy and creates systems to capture and share learning, it is concerned with learning infrastructure. We have shifted from the industrial age to the knowledge age, and with that change we need to facilitate learning and thinking that begins at the individual level and ideally spreads throughout the organization. “Organizations will no longer remain competitive with informal approaches to knowledge and learning” (Gilley & Maycunich, 2000, p. 16). Organization-level interven- tions aimed at learning seek to raise awareness of how knowledge can give organizations a competitive edge. Two learning infrastructure interventions—organization learning and the learning organization—gained popularity in the 1990s, particularly with the publication of Peter Senge’s (1990) The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. These are discussed here.

Organization Learning

An organization concerned with des-cribing the nature and process of internal learning is focused on organization learning (Callahan, 2003). When an organization focuses on learn- ing, it pays attention to how knowledge is developed and shared.

Why Do OD Consultants Facilitate Organization Learning? Developing organizational capability for learning builds adaptive capacity that is important in continually shifting markets that are highly competitive and driven by knowledge. The quality of individual learning impacts organizations, yet learning is often riddled with errors that prevent change and progress.

In his classic Harvard Business Review article, “Teaching Smart People to Learn,” Argyris (1991) argued that most people do not know how to learn. Even people who are regarded as the smartest are rarely effective learners. He suggested that professionals’ greatest fears are to

make mistakes and fail; they therefore create elaborate mechanisms to defend themselves against either outcome, at the expense of the system. For instance, when most people are confronted with a question they cannot answer, they make up one instead of admitting they do not know (or pledging to find out). People will go to great lengths to avoid appearing ignorant or inexperienced. Yet such behavior can ultimately hurt both individuals and organizations, especially when it results in poor deci- sions or unshared learning. Argyris also found that otherwise smart people go to great lengths to cover up mistakes. Argyris called this unwillingness to admit ignorance or mistakes learned

alvarez/Vetta/Getty Images

Interventions that support learning value the pro- cess and strategy for creating a learning culture.

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Section 9.4Learning Infrastructure

incompetence. Interestingly, most individuals and organizations are not even aware that they have learning deficiencies.

How Do Consultants Facilitate Organization Learning? Argyris and Schön (1974) developed the original models of organization learning. The orga- nization uses learning to change behavior; the new knowledge helps the organization trans- form information, which improves its long-term capacity (Callahan, 2003). Organizations committed to organization learning will undergo interventions such as reflective practice, action learning, team learning, learning and development programs, and problem solving.

Learning Organization

Senge (1990) defines a learning organization as “an organization that is continually expand- ing its capacity to create its future” (p. 14). Watkins and Marsick (1993) view it as learning that transforms or changes the organization and observed that it occurs at four interdepen- dent levels: individual, team, organization, and society.

In effective learning organizations, the workforce is accustomed to participatory manage- ment, supportive culture, ongoing learning opportunities, and rewards for learning. Such organizations

• encourage managers to be coaches, mentors, and facilitators of learning; • build a culture of feedback and disclosure; • take a systemic, holistic view of the organization; • create shared vision with all stakeholders; • establish systems for sharing learning and using it in the business; • provide regular opportunities to learn from experience; • foster trust throughout the organization; and • embrace the unexpected as opportunities to learn (Marquardt & Reynolds, 1994;

Mclean, 2006).

Embracing organization learning usually requires a significant shift in the organization’s cul- ture. This is the subject of the following section.

Take Away 9.4: Learning Infrastructure

• Organization learning represents a learning infrastructure intervention that is concerned with the nature and process of learning and how it can be captured and shared for future advantage.

• The learning organization makes a strategic commitment to harnessing learning for the organization’s benefit.

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Section 9.5Culture

9.5 Culture Every human being belongs to multiple social groups that have rules, rites, and rituals that shape members’ beliefs, values, and behaviors. These variables mesh together to create culture. Nations, cities, organizations, churches, sports teams, universities, and so forth all have distinct cultures. The meaning of culture has been debated and studied for decades. In fact, during the 1950s Kroeber and Kluckhohn (1952) found more than 150 definitions of culture in academic literature.

Edgar H. Schein’s (1991) groundbreaking work suggested that by understanding culture, we gain a deeper appreciation for the way it affects members’ thoughts, feelings, and actions. Schein defined culture as a pattern of basic assumptions that are invented, discovered, or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with problems adapting to the external envi- ronment. Culture is thus a learned value system or structure for solving problems that is passed down from old members to new ones. It is a significant influence on how members perceive, think, and feel about their environment, as well as how they behave.

Culture is often described as encompassing three levels: (a) basic underlying assumptions, (b) espoused beliefs and values, and (c) artifacts (see Table 9.4).

Table 9.4: Levels of culture

Level of culture Description

Artifacts • Visible structures and processes • Observable behaviors

a. Symbols b. Slogans c. Published list of values

Espoused beliefs and values • Ideologies, goals, aspirations • May not be consistent with “published values” • Validated by shared experience

Basic underlying assumptions • Unconscious, takes for granted beliefs and values • Determines perceptions and behaviors

As you study this table, think of a culture to which you belong. How would you describe each of these levels? Consider fans of a sports team as an example:

1. Basic underlying assumptions a. Team superiority b. Support the team whether it wins or loses c. Part of U.S. culture

2. Espoused beliefs and values a. “We are number one” b. “We are the Bulldawg Nation” (as said at the University of Georgia) c. Sportsmanship

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Section 9.5Culture

3. Artifacts a. Mascot b. Cheers c. Attire d. Stadium

We will examine two different culture interventions: culture change and diversity and inclusion.

Culture Change

Most people are unaware of the extent to which culture dictates their thoughts and actions, including in organizations. All members of an organization participate in and shape its cul- ture. For example, working long hours may be a part of one organization’s culture. Although this rule is not written anywhere or explicitly discussed, it is understood by everyone who is part of the organization, and newcomers quickly adopt it. When members fail to comply with cultural rules, the culture finds ways to correct, reprimand, or remove them.

Why Do OD Consultants Facilitate Culture Change? There are good and bad cultures. OD interventions targeted at culture aspire to make the cul- ture more positive, productive, inclusive, or innovative.

How Do OD Consultants Facilitate Culture Change? Culture change is challenging because it attempts to change “business as usual.” “Changing an organization’s culture is one of the most difficult leadership challenges. That’s because an organization’s culture comprises an interlocking set of goals, roles, processes, values, com- munications practices, attitudes and assumptions” (Denning, 2011).

A good way to approach culture change is to use survey research. Conducting a survey about how people regard the organization’s culture, practices, policies, products, and management provides a baseline (or comparative data, if a survey has been conducted before). This type of data offers management rich feedback on what is working well and less well. The results can provide an agenda for change that the organization can prioritize and implement.

Next the leadership needs to offer a vision for the future once the organization changes. This might be product innovation, market dominance, customer satisfaction, or efficiency. The vision needs to be communicated clearly and broadly so that the organization both under- stands and supports it.

If the changes require new roles, then management needs to articulate what these are. It also needs to establish new reward systems that recognize contributions to the new culture, along with metrics that measure progress. For example, if the leadership culture is being changed from autocratic to participative, managers would be rewarded for exhibiting participative behavior, such as including employees in decision making. There also need to be clear conse- quences for supporting (or not supporting) the desired culture changes. Finally, infrastruc- ture to support the new culture needs to be created. This might include resources, new posi- tions, new policies, or new procedures.

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Section 9.5Culture

Diversity and Inclusion

Organizations and their members are inimitable. Each has distinctive values, cultures, identi- ties, and social norms that blend into the complex sociocultural system of work. Diversity and inclusion interventions aim to make organizations more welcoming and affirming of an increasingly varied workforce; as such, they address changing demographics, the dearth of ongoing diversity and inclusion interventions, their spotty success rates, and their pitfalls and strategies.

Why Do OD Consultants Promote Diversity and Inclusion? The U.S. Census Bureau (https://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/population /cb12-243.html) predicts dramatic demographic shifts over the next 50 years, the ramifica- tions of which are already being felt in many organizations. By 2043 the United States is pro- jected to become a majority–minority nation, meaning that although the non-Hispanic White population will continue to be the largest single group, no group will constitute a majority. The population is predicted to grow slowly and age rapidly, and more older adults are remaining in the workforce: In 1990 just 21.8% of adults aged 65 to 69 were working full time, whereas in 2010, 30.8% were.

Assessment: Equity and Diversity

Take the Equity and Diversity Quiz to assess your level of awareness related to issues of diversity and inclusion:

http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/quiz/quiz1.htm

Tips and Wisdom

Culture change at the World Bank has proved difficult over the years, particularly because it presents a unique culture change challenge. The organization’s formal purpose is ambiguous, and the institution is a combined philanthropic foundation, a university, and a bank. Governments around the world own this international organization, with a resident board of directors and staffs who operate the World Bank on a day-to-day basis and regularly question the management. Read a case study of culture change at the World Bank:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2011/07/23/how-do-you-change -an-organizational-culture.

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https://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/population/cb12-243.html

http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/quiz/quiz1.htm

http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2011/07/23/how-do-you-change-an-organizational-culture

Section 9.5Culture

“The worldwide phenomenon of eco- nomic globalization not only has pro- vided different logistics and consump- tion habits, but also has generated a new workplace environment much more diverse than ever” (Castro, 2013, p. 37). Today’s organization is charac- terized by people of different genders, generations, ethnicities, sexual orien- tations, physical abilities, countries of origin, and religious beliefs working side by side. Each of these groups has its own culture, needs, and expectations from work.

Historically, U.S. organizations have been designed and run by White males. People outside of that cultural group have been offered fewer training and development opportunities, received fewer promotions, suppressed their identity in order to assimilate to patriarchal culture, and experienced harass- ment or other mistreatment (Bierema, 2002). Obviously, diversity and inclusion interventions are needed throughout U.S. organizations, yet according to Castro (2013), only 40% of 300 mul- tinational organizations surveyed intend to deliver multicultural programs to develop leaders; only 9% already do. This indicates that a majority of organizations are not taking steps to pre- pare for an increasingly diverse workforce. Moreover, 36% of organizations surveyed were not even aware of the meaning of a “multicultural program.” Nacherla (2008) reports a study that found 68% of companies do not hold senior executives accountable for diversity and inclusion oversight; 65% lack a global diversity strategy; and 53% do not sponsor any training in this area. Given these statistics, diversity and inclusion interventions are likely to continue to be important for years to come, until organizations become much more accommodating of diverse perspectives and needs.

Even when organizations engage in diversity and inclusion interventions, they may not find them effective. Numerous researchers have observed that these interventions lack a track record of success (Cavaleros, Van Vuuren, & Visser, 2002; Kochan et al., 2003). For example, a comprehensive review of 31 years of data from 830 mid- to large-sized U.S. workplaces found that diversity training at most firms precipitated a 7.5% drop in the number of women in management. The number of Black female managers fell by 10%, and the number of Black males in top positions fell by 12%. Similar trends were seen for Latinos and Asians (Kalev, Kelly, & Dobbin, 2006; Vedantam, 2008). This discouraging research highlights the need for OD consultants to have training and expertise in this area.

How Do OD Consultants Promote Diversity and Inclusion? Organizations face several obstacles in promoting diversity and inclusion. This section identi- fies some of these and offers strategies for overcoming them. These have been adapted from Lankau (2013) and Nacherla (2008).

monkeybusinessimages/iStock/Thinkstock

The U.S. workforce is becoming increasingly diverse.

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Section 9.5Culture

Diversity and Inclusion Intervention Pitfalls Obstacles to promoting diversity and inclusion commonly include the following:

• Managers and leaders assume diversity and inclusion is not their job, but rather the responsibility of human resources. In reality, it is everyone’s job, with zero tolerance for disrespect of diversity.

• The organization focuses on recruiting a diverse workforce but not retaining one, because the organization values diversity but lacks inclusivity. Not surprisingly, people leave.

• There is little or no assessment of organization culture to evaluate how inclusive and diverse it is or to intervene as necessary.

• Training sessions are nonsubstantive; that is, they focus on nonthreatening top- ics such as appreciating different customs or foods but fail to help employees build capacity to manage intercultural conflict and differences.

• Training sessions have flawed content and delivery and do not help the organization build needed capacity to manage and celebrate difference.

• Diversity and inclusion programs are conducted to comply with compulsory legal requirements but have little organizational or leadership commitment.

• There is little or no buy-in from senior management and no role modeling. • Diversity and inclusion programs lack a strategic connection to the organization’s

long-term plans. • Expectations to embrace diversity and inclusion are not strategically embedded in

the rewards system or culture. • The organization does not productively deal with conflict—particularly conflict

related to diversity and inclusion issues. • Participation in diversity and inclusion training is mandatory, which makes employ-

ees resent it. • There are no goals or strategies for diversity and inclusion and it is not a part of the

rewards or recognition system. • Diversity “fatigue” sets in—that is, people get tired of hearing about it and ignore it,

or they think “we do this well already” and shift their attention away from it. • The organization’s management lacks accountability for improving diversity and

inclusion.

Diversity and Inclusion Intervention Strategies The following are some common strategies organizations can adopt to promote diversity and inclusion:

• Initiate diversity actions with top management support and examples. • Maintain a clear and consistent emphasis on diversity and inclusion in the organiza-

tion’s vision, mission, values, and strategy. • Identify business drivers for diversity and how addressing it can improve organiza-

tion results (such as innovation, creativity, market growth, customer satisfaction, and supplier base).

• Appoint a diverse board of directors. • Support formal and informal mentoring programs that target diverse employees. • Engage employees in the process of creating a diverse and inclusive organization

through planning, participation in training, soliciting feedback, and evaluating the process.

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Section 9.5Culture

• Set expectations for and reward diversity and inclusion. • Promote a culture of communication and productive conflict resolution around mis-

understandings and problems. • Reflect diversity in the organization’s hiring practices and leadership. • Tie diversity and inclusion to the bottom line. • Articulate organization values around diversity and inclusion. • Integrate diversity and inclusion into the organization’s strategy. • Engage in a long-term multifaceted change strategy to make the organization more

diverse and inclusive. • Engage in community and philanthropy for multicultural nonprofits. • Partner with educational institutions to increase minority student enrollment. • Measure progress and create accountability mechanisms.

Ensuring management accountability will increase the likelihood of a successful diversity and inclusion intervention. Under CEO Jack Welch’s leadership, for example, General Electric implemented an aggressive diversity and inclusion strategy that appointed a chief diversity officer and used employee networks, regular planning forums, formal mentoring programs, and college recruitment of diverse populations to increase the diversity of its workforce. From 2000 to 2005, the company’s female, minority, and non-U.S. citizen employees increased 12% among top leadership and 11% among senior executives (Nacherla, 2008). The vignette at the beginning of the chapter featured a nonprofit that lacked diversity. Through its strategic plan- ning process, it was able to create specific goals and measures for pursuing more diverse board members and donors.

Case Study: Culture Change in the More Company

The More Company is in trouble. Sales are flat, and a recent survey of employees shows that more than half are dissatisfied with management, 25% are considering leaving in the next year, and an overwhelming 90% say culture change is needed. These results are the focus of an executive meeting.

“We obviously have problems and need to change,” notes CEO Lauren Gerald. “What do we need to do to create a culture where people are proud and happy to work here?” Discussion ensues among her team, which decides to call in an OD consultant who can help the company engage in some serious assessment and perhaps undertake cultural interventions. Lauren makes it clear that she expects improvement and change over the next year.

Joelle Herbert, the OD consultant, attends the next executive meeting. She asks a lot of questions, such as:

• How would you describe your current culture? • What is your strategy? • Who are your current leaders? Future leaders? • How do you perform in comparison to your competition? • What is the demography of your organization? • Why do you think people leave? Stay? • What supports are in place to help employees navigate the organization and

develop in their careers? (continued)

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Section 9.5Culture

Joelle carefully records and analyzes data from her visit with the leadership team. She also reviews the survey data and interviews frontline supervisors and a cross-section of employees. The problems are clear. Employees do not trust management and have no idea where the organization is headed. They feel excluded from any decisions that affect the business’s strategy and consequently have no buy-in to the current strategy. A culture of mistrust has developed.

Joelle gives this feedback to the leadership team. The team members realize something has to change. They work together to draft a new vision for the organization that focuses on creating product excellence and service and building an organization that breeds employee loyalty and performance. They create SMART goals, communicate these to their respective teams, and invite input. The team decides to make four changes:

1. Increase the quality and quantity of management communication via multiple outlets, including face-to-face, written, online, and customer.

2. Strategically recruit top talent to contribute to the mission, and retain, train, and mentor the current workforce to meet the new strategy.

3. Broadly solicit input into the strategic plan and modify as needed. 4. Change reward systems that are tied more directly to the strategic plan to reward

managers who advance the new, more open and collaborative culture.

The plan is implemented fairly quickly, but progress is slow. Culture change is difficult, and employees are usually suspicious of it. Some managers resist the change.

Subtle shifts begin once employees who work toward the change are repeatedly recognized. Managers begin consulting with their employees and allowing more time to discuss issues prior to making decisions. Communication improves. The changes are not total, but progress is made in the right direction.

The CEO, Lauren, did several things to position the organization for culture change:

1. Stage setting: The CEO put forth her expectations as a result of the negative survey and took action on it by hiring a consultant.

2. A vision for the culture change was shared broadly, and the strategic plan was modified with employee input.

3. SMART goals were created across the organization. 4. Progress was measured and tracked. 5. Expected behaviors were clarified and rewarded.

Critical Thinking Questions

1. What other interventions might you make if you were CEO? 2. What steps might you take if you were the consultant? 3. What resistance to this change can be expected?

Case Study: Culture Change in the More Company (continued)

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Section 9.6Talent Management

9.6 Talent Management Interventions aimed at developing and optimizing the organization’s workforce productivity revolve around a process called talent management (Nagra, 2011). Talent management is con- cerned with recruiting, onboarding, retaining, managing, and developing a high-performing

workforce. In a survey of 850 American, British, Ital- ian, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, and Chinese executives, 67% ranked talent management as sec- ond only to competition in importance for their orga- nization (Altman, 2008).

One reason for this is that talent management improves organization performance: According to a McKinsey & Company study (as cited in Axelrod, Handfield-Jones, & Welsh, 2001), organizations with top talent management practices outperformed their competition by a 22% return on shareholder value. These companies also reported higher productiv- ity, profit, and sales. An example is Samsung, which transformed itself into a leader in the electronics industry under chair Kunh-Hee Lee, who empha- sized quality-based management and talent devel- opment. Under his 25-year leadership, the company market capitalization went from approximately $1.1 billion in 1987 to $375.5 billion in 2012 (Chung, 2013). “The key to Samsung’s talent management is to prepare a pool of next-generation leaders as part of a succession plan” (Chung, 2013, p. 58).

Talent management employs multiple strategies, such as the previously discussed individual inter- ventions of training, assessment, career develop- ment, leadership development, and work design. Talent management can also be addressed at the organization level by creating a talent management strategy and succession planning. Each of these will be discussed in this section.

Seong Joon Cho/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Talent management involves identi- fying high-potential employees and developing them to take key leader- ship roles. Samsung is one company that has applied talent management with much success. Here, CEO Oh-Hyun Kwon speaks during the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting.

Take Away 9.5: Culture

• Culture is difficult to change. Culture change interventions attempt to change the beliefs, values, and behaviors of the organization culture in ways that make the organization more positive, productive, inclusive, or innovative.

• Interventions to improve diversity and inclusion help the organization maximize innovation because of the variety of ideas a diverse workforce offers.

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Section 9.6Talent Management

Talent Management Strategy

Managing talent is not accidental. It requires a talent management strategy; that is, a plan, commitment, and collaboration across the organization. Much like a strategic plan, a talent management strategy seeks to make personnel decisions and placements that shape and guide the organization according to its vision and mission.

Why Do OD Consultants Promote Talent Management Strategy? The largest investment an organization will ever make is the one it makes in its workforce. Thus, it is prudent for organizations to take a long-term strategic approach to developing it (Morgan & Jardin, 2010). Although most organizations understand the importance of culti- vating potential leaders, many fail to do so. This means that, when current leaders leave or retire, the organization is unable to replace them quickly and appropriately and is forced to work under capacity, a situation that is damaging over time (Nada, 2008). Determining suc- cessors to current leaders takes time, expertise, and knowledge of the workforce.

How Do OD Consultants Promote Talent Management Strategy? There are some key strategic steps to developing a talent management strategy. The first is to make talent management everyone’s job. This means the task does not fall just to human resources or OD. Ideally, the responsibility crosses the organization’s functions of sales, oper- ations, engineering, and so forth. All managerial personnel need to think about developing talent within their units and about who could replace them in the future.

The second step is to develop what a McKinsey & Company report called the “talent mindset” (as cited in Michaels, Handfield-Jones, & Axelrod, 2001, p. 11). Having a talent mindset means that the organization keeps the development of high-performing employees a priority at all times and constantly considers its ability to develop talent by posing questions such as “What is our capacity do our jobs well?” or “Where do we need to improve to be more competitive?” (McCauley & Wakefield, 2006).

Creating a culture of feedback and assessment also helps build a talent management system. McCauley and Wakefield (2006) recommend that consultants integrate needs assessment of leadership (much like the steps in the discovery stage of the action research model) to deter- mine key strengths and weaknesses of employees they wish to develop.

Individual leadership development is another strategy that prepares employees to move to the next level. This intervention was discussed at length in Chapter 7.

Having a reputable performance evaluation process is also helpful. The best such processes are ongoing; that is, managers should not wait for an annual review to intervene when they see a developmental opportunity. They seize the moment for feedback and coach and moni- tor progress.

Finally, organizations that have successful talent management programs are committed to learning, as discussed in the previous sections on organization learning and the learning organization. The ability to learn from experience and share it with the next generation is imperative for talent management.

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Section 9.6Talent Management

Developing top talent is a strategic business imperative. Morgan and Jardin (2010) recom- mend that companies take the same approach to employee talent development that they do to market development. Companies typically divide markets into segments based on certain niches, such as potential for greater revenue or improved margins. The same can be done for employees around key learning and development needs, stretch assignments (projects that significantly challenge the employee), or mentoring.

Tips and Wisdom

Top talent is defined as workers who continually exceed expectations and demonstrate productive behaviors and agility in their learning and approach (Morgan & Jardin, 2010). Talent management programs identify top talent and use several interventions to manage it, such as workforce planning, analyzing gaps between needs and existing talent, recruiting, staffing, training, retention, talent reviews, succession planning, and evaluation (McCauley & Wakefield, 2006). A key question to encourage your managerial clients to ask is “How can I develop talent in my organization?” See the accompanying adapted list of the American Productivity and Quality Center and the Center for Creative Leadership’s best talent management practices.

1. Define “talent management” broadly. This means that organizations take a liberal approach to cultivating talent through learning and development, experiences, and assignments.

2. Integrate the various talent management interventions into a comprehensive system. Instead of just offering a leadership development course to targeted employees, organizations might launch mentoring, networking, assessments, and other comprehensive learning activities that develop talent.

3. Focus talent management programs on the most highly valued talent. 4. Get commitment from CEOs and senior-level executives. 5. Build competency models to develop a shared understanding of the skills and

behaviors the organization needs and most values in employees. 6. Monitor talent across the organization to identify potential talent gaps. 7. Excel at recruiting, identifying, and developing talent. 8. Develop effective performance management and retention processes. 9. Evaluate the results of the talent management process on an ongoing basis.

(McCauley & Wakefield, 2006).

Succession Planning

Succession planning is the process of identifying employees with high potential to assume leadership roles in the organization. Targeted positions would include top executives and the management levels immediately below that level that will eventually feed the executive pipeline.

Why Do OD Consultants Promote Succession Planning? Most workers stay with a particular organization for an average of 4.4 years, and the young- est workers log about half that (Meister, 2012). Organizations that lack a contingency plan for the unexpected departure of key leaders and other personnel are at risk. Succession planning

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Section 9.7Large-Scale Interactive Events

identifies potential replacements of current leaders and managers and determines what key experiences, training, and mentoring they need to take on the next role.

How Do OD Consultants Promote Succession Planning? A succession plan is a document that highlights key leadership and management roles. It also identifies potential successors according to their experience and what development they would need in order to take on a particular role. Steps to succession planning include:

1. Identifying positions where succession planning is necessary. 2. Specifying the key knowledge, skills, and abilities for the positions. 3. Assessing potential successors’ applicable knowledge, skills, and abilities. 4. Developing potential successors for future positions, especially where deficiencies

are noted (McLean, 2006).

Miles (2009) suggests that effective succession planning programs engage stakeholders in determining the succession pool and process. Stakeholders typically include current top leaders, human resources managers, and consultants. In terms of losing executives, orga- nizations should assume the worst; that is, they should be prepared to replace all key posi- tions as soon as vacancies occur. If a successor is not readily identified in the organization, there should be a contingency plan to deal with the potential vacancy, such as targeted industries or external candidates.

It is also important to assess the talent pool to determine how potential successors can be developed through training, work assignments, and experiences to prepare them for new roles and to strengthen any noted weaknesses.

Take Away 9.6: Talent Management

• Developing a talent management strategy positions an organization to meet competitive, innovation, and long-term personnel demands.

• Succession planning is a strategic plan for talent. It identifies potential leaders and managers so that the organization is not left without the key skills and talents needed to run the business.

9.7 Large-Scale Interactive Events Large-scale or organization-wide OD is concerned with system-wide interventions usu- ally targeted at improving problem solving, leadership, visioning, and task accomplishment between groups. These activities are known as large-scale interactive events (LSIEs). LSIEs can be traced to Kurt Lewin’s (1951) original change model, discussed in Chapter 2. That is,

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Section 9.7Large-Scale Interactive Events

their basic steps are first to “unfreeze” the current situation so change can occur, then to make changes, and finally to “refreeze” the new situation in place.

Why Do OD Consultants Do LSIEs?

LSIEs are conducted when the organization wants to seek broad input from a range of stake- holders, generate innovative ideas, and/or plan for the future. Because of the highly participa- tive nature of the LSIE, the results tend to promote acceptance of and enthusiasm toward the ideas generated during the event.

The major features of large-scale, real-time change management processes include the following:

• They take a systems approach to the problem and consider all angles and options.

• They use environmental scan- ning to consider the organi- zation system in the wider system.

• They share information across the organization.

• They are quick processes that result in immediate action.

• They are characterized by shifts in perspective: Learn- ing shifts from the individual level to the organization level as individuals, groups, and the organization gain new insights and ideas.

• Accountability shifts from senior management to the whole organization system, since the process gets “the whole system in the room” to engage in planning and thinking.

• The change process itself shifts from incremental to fundamental, organization-wide change.

LSIEs are challenging to accomplish and require careful planning and skilled facilitation. They are usually offered only by OD consultants experienced in facilitating large events.

How Do OD Consultants Do LSIEs?

When planning LSIEs, the OD team must confront a variety of special considerations for large group interventions. First, a compelling meeting theme is essential. Is the meeting for stra- tegic planning, innovation, culture change, or some other objective? Second, attendance must include all appropriate stakeholders, depending on the theme. Stakeholders might include all

aerogondo/iStock/Thinkstock

Large-scale interactive events attempt to capture the collective thinking of key stakeholders in decid- ing the organization’s future.

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Section 9.7Large-Scale Interactive Events

employees or a large cross-section of them, particularly of employee groups such as managers, members of an organization, residents of a community, customers, suppliers, and so forth. The agenda must include relevant tasks to address the conference theme, including the following:

• mapping the current organization context; • assessing the organization’s responses to environmental dynamics; • identifying the organization’s core mission, vision, and values; • creating a realistic future scenario of environmental expectations and organization

responses; • creating an ideal future scenario of environmental expectations and organization

responses; and • comparing the present with the ideal future and preparing an action plan for reducing

the discrepancy (Cummings & Worley, 2009).

Methods of LSIEs

This section provides a summary of the best-known methods for managing organizational change with large groups. These include Dannemiller Tyson’s Interactive Strategic Planning, Marvin Weisbord’s Future Search Conference, Dick Axelrod’s Conference Model Redesign, and Harrison Owen’s Open Space. Each will be briefly profiled. Much of the information on these methods is from Smith and Smith (1994) and Bunker and Alban (1992).

Interactive Strategic Planning Dannemiller and her coworkers (1994) developed a 2- to 3-day interactive strategic planning event that can accommodate up to 2,300 people. The event helps organizations identify a new strategic direction and provides feedback to top people in the organization.

The Dannemiller Tyson approach is based on a formula that Beckhard and Harris (1987) attribute to David Gleicher:

Dissatisfaction × Vision × First Steps . Resistance to Change

According to this formula, dissatisfaction, vision, and first steps must exceed zero, otherwise, resistance to change will overwhelm any efforts to make lasting change. This intervention aims to identify dissatisfaction and enable articulating vision and taking first steps so that change can begin.

The approach is task focused and structured, and it involves interaction in small groups as part of the full-group proceedings. First, a database of the current reality is developed. This is accomplished by collecting views from customers, leaders, workers, and their industry. Next, the problems that impede change and progress are diagnosed. Small groups (which may be functional) next send valentines to each other—these messages convey what people appreci- ate as well as what they need from each other to do their jobs more productively. The rest of the approach involves setting strategy and gathering and processing feedback on it. A method of “preferred futuring” is followed (similar to Weisbord’s, below), with action planning to secure commitments for developing the proposed strategy into reality.

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Section 9.7Large-Scale Interactive Events

The Future Search Conference The Future Search Conference (Weisbord, 1992; Weisbord & Janoff, 1995) is a planned 2½-day event. Ideally, it involves 64 people, with a maximum of 72. The Future Search Con- ference is based on Asch’s (1952) conditions for effective dialogue, with an emphasis on finding common ground. The process involves looking at the past—examining the previous state of the people, the business, the industry, and the global environment—and looking at the present—examining events that shape their reality. Weisbord (1992) uses an exercise that involves “prouds and sorries,” which helps participants reflect on successes and fail- ures, or things in the organization they are proud of and sorry for. They are also encouraged to devise scenarios of their ideal future (keeping some of the past, changing where needed for the future). The process has a heavy emphasis on action planning to define the steps that will be taken so that the process does not end with the conference itself but is trans- lated into future action steps.

Conference Model Redesign This method (Axelrod, 1992, 1993, 1995) uses a series of four 3-day conferences, held a month apart. It is a process of reengineering intended to produce permanent, radical orga- nization redesign that occurs quickly. Axelrod (1992, 1993, 1995) recommends thoroughly planning and establishing a steering committee, a data assist team, and a walk-through stag- ing in advance of the meeting. His approach is customer focused, concentrates on the techni- cal work flow, and develops a preferred design for the organization. The process involves four fast and highly participative conferences:

1. vision conference: similar to Weisbord’s Future Search Conference; 2. customer conference: to define the requirements, business relationships, roles, and

customers; 3. technology conference: to identify redundancy and variance and clarify participants’

assumptions about their business; and 4. design conference: to develop a preferred design; uses “treasure hunt” features.

The conferences are followed by a succession of implementation steps for putting the plans into action.

Open Space Open Space was devised by Owen (1992). The purpose of Open Space is to surface informa- tion and promote dialogue. The approach is based on the notion of an “idea marketplace” that stresses learning, networking, and community building. It can be characterized as rel- evant, emerging, creative, and self-shaping, and it encourages personal responsibility for self-learning.

The Open Space model features open facilities, an open agenda, breakout rooms, and blank walls. Its ground rules include focusing on the “here and now” and allowing order to emerge from an apparent lack of planning and structure. The conferences, which last from 1 to 3 days and involve from 20 to 100 participants, have no structured agenda. Team members post issues in the “open space” and assume ownership of their personal issue. Other members

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Summary and Resources

choose to work on the issues and are free to move from issue to issue. The outcome is unpre- dictable, but usually results in deeper understanding and action related to an issue. Owen summarizes his method as:

• “whoever comes” • “whatever happens” • “whenever it starts” • “when it is over, it’s over.” (as cited in Rouda, 1996)

Take Away 9.7: Large-Scale Interactive Events

• Large-scale interactive events (LSIEs) are system-wide interventions that seek to improve organizational problem solving, leadership, vision, or task accomplishment.

• Types of LSIEs include Interactive Strategic Planning, Future Search Conference, Conference Model Redesign, and Open Space.

Summary and Resources

Chapter Summary • Mission statements, which explain why organizations exist, are often created or

revised during strategic planning. • Vision statements articulate the organization’s desired future or end state. They are

often created or revised during strategic planning. • Values statements explain how the organization aspires to behave in pursuit of its

mission and vision. These statements are generally created or revised during strate- gic planning.

• SWOT analyses examine the organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats and use them in strategic planning.

• SMART goals are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic or relevant, and time bound.

• Scenario planning develops stories that represent possible outcomes for the organi- zation, which it can use to problem solve and innovate.

• Organization design can be changed through reorganization or restructuring, often in the form of reengineering, mergers and acquisitions, or downsizing.

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Summary and Resources

• Organization learning represents a learning infrastructure intervention that is concerned with the nature and process of learning and how it can be captured and shared for future advantage.

• The learning organization makes a strategic commitment to harnessing learning for the organization’s benefit.

• Culture is difficult to change. Culture change interventions attempt to change the beliefs, values, and behaviors of the organization culture.

• Interventions to improve diversity and inclusion help the organization maximize innovation because of the variety of ideas a diverse workforce offers.

• Developing a talent management strategy positions an organization to meet com- petitive, innovation, and long-term personnel demands.

• Large-scale interactive events (LSIEs) are system-wide interventions that seek to improve organizational problem solving, leadership, vision, or task accomplishment.

• Types of LSIEs include Interactive Strategic Planning, Future Search Conference, Conference Model Redesign, and Open Space.

Think About It! Reflective Exercises to Enhance Your Learning 1. Find the mission, vision, and values statement of an organization you belong to or

want to explore. Assess the statements. How compelling and memorable are they? How well do they convey what the organization does?

2. Find the strategic plan of an organization of your choice and review it. What are its strengths and weaknesses? How would you change it?

3. Take time to reflect and write your own personal mission statement. You can find many resources by Googling “personal mission statement.” Or start by reading this informative blog on the topic: http://www.personalbrandingblog.com/strong -personal-mission-statement-works-like-a-career-gps.

4. Return to the “Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire” by Wat- kins and Marsick (http://www.partnersforlearning.com/instructions.html) to assess whether your organization would qualify as a learning organization. What new insights do you have now that you have learned about organization-level interventions?

Apply Your Learning: Activities and Experiences to Bring OD to Life 1. The chapter began with a vignette about a nonprofit organization that needed help

articulating its mission, vision, and values, as well as developing a strategic plan. What is your experience with such interventions?

2. Conduct an environmental scan on the topic of your choice, such as a career change, place to live, or social issue that interests you. How might you apply a similar approach to an organization you work for or are involved with? For more informa- tion on environmental scanning, read this article: http://horizon.unc.edu/courses /papers/enviroscan.

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http://www.personalbrandingblog.com/strong-personal-mission-statement-works-like-a-career-gps

http://www.partnersforlearning.com/instructions.html

http://horizon.unc.edu/courses/papers/enviroscan

Summary and Resources

3. Conduct a SWOT analysis of an organization to which you belong. Ideally, assemble a team to join you in the process. If that is not possible, you can conduct one on your- self or a social group to which you belong.

4. Identify the type of organization structure that exists in your current workplace, based on the information provided in the organization design section.

5. Take an inventory of the type of learning activities promoted by your organization. Does it fit the definition of a learning organization or organization learning? Why or why not?

6. Take the Equity and Diversity Quiz found at http://www.edchange.org/multicultural /quiz/quiz1.htm and reflect on your results. What do you need to work on in the future to become more inclusive in your own life and work?

7. Pick a culture to which you belong and identify examples of the three levels of culture:

a. Basic underlying assumptions b. Espoused beliefs and values c. Artifacts

Additional Resources

Media

Hilton Hotels Mission, Vision and Values (How does your stay there stack up to this statement?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKgGdnz0658

Strategic Planning Explanation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU3FLxnDv_A

Organizational Design Concepts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvyXVTb3f1Y

Corporate Culture: A Conversation with Edgar Schein

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZB3jJlGWuk

Talent Management

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5jlNi03m7s

LSIE: Future Search Interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPgGv48r_D8

Web Links

Vision, Mission, and Values Development

Mission Statements.com, which offers instructions for how to write effective mission state- ments from the Fortune 500. https://www.missionstatements.com/fortune_500_mission_statements.html

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http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/quiz/quiz1.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKgGdnz0658

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU3FLxnDv_A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvyXVTb3f1Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZB3jJlGWuk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5jlNi03m7s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPgGv48r_D8

https://www.missionstatements.com/fortune_500_mission_statements.html

Summary and Resources

Strategic Planning

Nonprofit Answer Guide’s Purpose of the Environmental Scan page, which offers instruc- tions on how to conduct an environmental scan that profiles current and anticipated envi- ronmental factors that may impact your organization. http://nonprofitanswerguide.org/faq/strategic-planning/whats-the-purpose-of-the -environmental-scan-for-your-nonprofit-organization

MyStrategicPlan, a website that automates an organization’s strategic plans and makes them available via the web, based on what the organization wishes to share. http://mystrategicplan.com

Organization Design

Journal of Organization Design, a research journal focusing in organization design. http://www.jorgdesign.net

Microsoft Office’s page on how to create an organization chart. http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/create-an-organization-chart-HA010354860 .aspx

Learning Infrastructure

Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire by Watkins and Marsick. Take it and see how ready your organization is for strategic learning. http://www.partnersforlearning.com/instructions.html

Society for Organizational Learning, a nonprofit member organization for those interested in organization learning. http://www.solonline.org/?home

Culture

Enhancing Cultural Competence Toolkit, which offers tips for enhancing culture. http://ctb.ku.edu/en/enhancing-cultural-competence

2014 Top Companies for Diversity. Find out if your company is a top diversity company or where you might want to work of yours is not. http://www.diversityinc.com/the-diversityinc-top-50-companies-for-diversity-2013

U.S. Census on Diversity Projections, which contains U.S. Census data predicting future demographics. https://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/population/cb12-243.html

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http://nonprofitanswerguide.org/faq/strategic-planning/whats-the-purpose-of-the-environmental-scan-for-your-nonprofit-organization

http://mystrategicplan.com

http://www.jorgdesign.net

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/create-an-organization-chart-HA010354860.aspx

http://www.partnersforlearning.com/instructions.html

http://www.solonline.org/?home

http://ctb.ku.edu/en/enhancing-cultural-competence

http://www.diversityinc.com/the-diversityinc-top-50-companies-for-diversity-2013

https://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/population/cb12-243.html

Summary and Resources

Multicultural Resources from the University of Georgia College of Education, a wide range of resources focused on diversity that have been organized by faculty. http://www.coe.uga.edu/diversity/resource/multicultural-web-sites

Labor Force Participation Rate Age 65 and Older. See how the demographics are shifting. http://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/acsbr11-09.pdf

Talent Management

Succession Planning: How to Do It Wrong (Forbes) http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/30/succession-planning-failures-leadership-governance -ceos.html

Succession Planning: How to Do It Right (Forbes) http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/31/succession-planning-right-leadership-governance -ceos.html

McKinsey & Company: The Use and Abuse of Scenarios. Tips to keep in mind for scenario planning. http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/strategy/the_use_and_abuse_of_scenarios

Large-Scale Interactive Events

Large Group Interventions, by Tom Cummings. http://online.sfsu.edu/rpurser/Large Group Intervention OD Handbook.htm

Dannemiller Tyson Strategic Vision http://www.dannemillertyson.com/library/vision_nightmare.html

The Conference Model https://sites.google.com/site/thechangehandbook/samples/the-conference-model

Future Search Network http://www.futuresearch.net

Marvin Weisbord (Future Search Originator) http://www.marvinweisbord.com

Open Space http://www.openspaceworld.com/index.htm

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http://www.coe.uga.edu/diversity/resource/multicultural-web-sites

http://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/acsbr11-09.pdf

http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/30/succession-planning-failures-leadership-governance-ceos.html

http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/31/succession-planning-right-leadership-governance-ceos.html

http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/strategy/the_use_and_abuse_of_scenarios

http://online.sfsu.edu/rpurser/Large Group Intervention OD Handbook.htm

http://www.dannemillertyson.com/library/vision_nightmare.html

https://sites.google.com/site/thechangehandbook/samples/the-conference-model

http://www.futuresearch.net

http://www.marvinweisbord.com

http://www.openspaceworld.com/index.htm

Summary and Resources

Key Terms

culture The rules, rites, and rituals of social groups that shape the beliefs and behaviors of their members.

diversity and inclusion Interventions aimed at making organizations more wel- coming and affirming of an increasingly multicultural workforce.

downsizing When an organization decreases its size to reduce cost and bureaucracy.

large-scale interactive events (LSIEs) System-wide interventions usually targeted at improving problem solving, leader- ship, visioning, and task accomplishment between groups.

learning infrastructure When an organi- zation embraces learning as a process and strategy and creates systems to capture and share learning.

mission statement A statement that explains why an organization exists, includ- ing its key audience, product, and evaluative measures.

organization design How an organization is set up in terms of reporting relationships; or reorganizing and restructuring to achieve the most appropriate design for the organi- zation’s needs.

organization structure The order of reporting relationships and their general design and relationship to each other, such as functional, divisional, matrix, process based, or network.

reengineering A radical redesign of the organization’s core work processes to provide greater linkage and coordination among tasks with the goal of higher, faster performance.

scenario planning A strategic planning approach that assesses all possible and improbable environmental changes that could affect the organization and creates a story about the possible outcomes.

SMART goal A goal that is specific, measur- able, attainable, realistic or relevant, and timely.

strategic planning when an organization makes a concerted effort to make decisions and embark on actions that shape and guide its entire essence.

succession planning The process of iden- tifying employees with high potential to assume leadership roles in the organization.

SWOT analysis When organization mem- bers come together to identify the organiza- tion’s strengths and weaknesses, examine environmental opportunities and threats, and create action items to address all of these issues.

talent management Interventions aimed at developing and optimizing the organiza- tion’s workforce productivity.

talent management strategy A plan, commitment, and collaboration across the organization to manage talent.

values Principles governing how the orga- nization expects to function in pursuit of the vision and mission.

vision A statement of the organization’s desired future in terms of where the organi- zation wants to go and what the future will be like once it gets there.

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