Organizational Development (OD) The field of organizational development incorporates theory, research, and practice aimed at enhancing the efficiency and knowledge of personnel to achieve more effective company performance and change. The organizational development process entails ongoing analysis, action planning, execution, and appraisal, with the objective of transmitting skills and knowledge to firms for improving their problem-solving skills and their capability to manage future change. The discipline arose from human relations works of the 1930s, through which psychologists came to understand that company processes and structures influence motivation as well as behavior of employees. The work of Lewin from 1940s to 1950s further helped in proving that one beneficial tool for dealing with social processes is feedback. Of late, studies about the area of organizational development have expanded in scope to cover, and concentrate on, aligning firms with their complex and fast-evolving environments by means of knowledge management, organizational learning, and change in organizational values and norms (med.upenn.edu, 2015).

Theory and practice of the current issues in organizational development

I recognized a major OD issue from the textbook, which is "integrating the demands and interests of stakeholders with the organization's overall interests." Organizational Development consultants prefer self-discipline to organizational control, cooperation to dispute, and participative to autocratic style of leadership. By evaluating this book, one can understand that the other challenges posed to organizational development (e.g., standardization, differentiation, and centralization) are what grant strength to OD if one is able to tackle them. High differentiation levels offer specialization, making the company more productive and organizational tasks easier. I further noted that by knowing how to attain balance with regard to centralization levels, greater input on organizational processes might be obtained, profiting the organization greatly.

Assessing planned change and organizational development's assumptions, I perceive major differences in key values concerning organization,...

The differences among change processes are rather evident. Still, one can even notice some similarities. Both approaches view companies as entities and essentially as a merger of resources and individuals; the goal is optimization of these within a structure that is employed for taking decisions and achieving distinct aims. Both differentiate environment from organization, concur with the need to adapt to changes in the environment, differentiate between organizations and individuals, place emphasis on the institution of organizational strategy and work processes, and differentiate employees from change agents (Bonstra, n.d.).
Roles within a group organization

Roles denote a series of work-connected behaviors demanded of an employee because of his/her post within a company. With increase in labor division, organizational management specializes in a few roles and recruits individuals who are to be specialized in the remaining roles. Specialization enables individuals to build up their personal knowledge and skills within the role awarded to them in the organization (Jones, 2013). The roles discussed below are, in my view, common to a majority of firms.

Executive officers

These represent an organization's highest ranked roles. They manage all departments in the organization, and they are the ultimate decision makers for a company. They form the apex decision-making body, the top rung of the organizational function ladder. Company leaders or executives are in charge of ensuring the organizational ship remains afloat. They collaborate with each team in the company for holding them accountable as well as creating synergy.

Research and development team (R&D)

A company's R&D division comprises personnel focused on carrying out research on any product an organization decides to produce (or, in general, work on). Subsequently, they go in for developing the details of the product to be produced. The R&D team members need to be innovative and remain informed about latest developments and trends of their industry. For instance, technological firms such as Apple need to…