The Role of Organization Development

Importance of Organization Development Organizational Development (OD) comprises the long-range effort to improve an organization’s ability to cope with change and its problem-solving and renewal processes through effective and collaborative management of organization culture. Organizational change develops the potential of individual members and achieves corporate excellence by integrating the desires of individuals with organizational goals. (Brown ; Harvey, 2006)Furthermore, organizational change stresses learning as a characteristic of an adaptive organization – the ability to sense changes in signals from both internal and external environment and adapt accordingly. Organizations incorporate continuous learning into its renewal process to keep pace with changing industry conditions. Albert (2006, 17) and Karp (2004, 350) state that organizations can create a key source of competitive advantage by developing its capability to learn and change faster than its competitors.

The scarcest resource in many organizations today is not financial capital but innovation from human talent. Thus, the ability to compete and excel in the global economy goes beyond commercial trading and flows of capital and investment. Given the accelerating rate of global-scale change, learning and adaptation have become increasingly critical to organization success and ultimate survival.How OD and HR personnel should be integrated as one Within the last decade Human Resource’s administrative and record keeper roles have begun to evolve into a more strategic one, which requires HR practitioners to use their knowledge of workforce trends coupled with knowledge of the business of the organization to work closely with senior management to develop long-term plans that link HR goals to organizational goals (Meisinger, 2003).When the goals of the HR department purposefully support overall organizational goals, the integration of human resources management (HRM) and organizational development (OD) has occurred. Integrating OD concepts and techniques into HRM activities through such strategies as job analysis, work redesign, team building, and change management serve the purpose of enhancing the performance and capacity of the organization and its workforce and ensure that HR practitioners are proactively meeting the needs of the organization (Meisinger, 2003).