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Organizational Development
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What is Organizational Development?

Organizational development (OD) is a field of study and practice concerned with how organizations plan, manage, and sustain change over time. It appears most frequently in business and management courses, particularly at the MBA level, where students examine how companies align their structures, processes, and people to meet evolving goals. What makes OD academically interesting is its interdisciplinary character — it draws on management theory, behavioral science, and systems thinking. Concepts such as open systems theory, human performance technology, and process consultation give students rigorous frameworks for analyzing why organizations succeed or struggle when navigating change.

Student papers on this topic take several distinct approaches. Some are straightforwardly conceptual, defining and discussing core OD principles in relation to management practice. Others are applied and case-based, using real organizational situations — such as workplace dynamics under micromanagement or sexual harassment policy failures illustrated through the Mitsubishi case — to ground abstract ideas in concrete outcomes. Planning-oriented papers focus on designing change initiatives, addressing how to support employees and ensure operational continuity. Broader macro-level angles also appear, connecting organizational change to shifts in supply, demand, and pricing environments.

A strong essay on organizational development begins with a focused thesis that specifies what kind of change is being examined and what outcome is at stake. Evidence drawn from specific organizational practices, established OD frameworks, or documented case studies carries the most weight. A common pitfall is treating organizational development as synonymous with any business improvement effort — a precise essay distinguishes OD as a deliberate, systemic process rather than routine management activity.

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Essay Undergraduate

Emotional intelligence as the foundation for military leadership

EI – far more than intellectual intelligence – is the perquisite qualities for a soldier – any soldier - in this generation. The events of September 2001 have arguably had the greatest impact on homeland security and transformed it from the far more relaxed traditional style that it had practiced beforehand and to a more vigilant, alert style of leadership. This places a great deal of stress on anyone, particularly on those guarding the Country. Given the fact that onerous traditional duties have not only remained unchanged but have been supplemented by demanding and pressurizing other duties, security workers are open to qi great deal of stress that can easily - and does – impact their performance. Leadership, therefore, of both oneself and of others – correct and wise leadership – has consequently rarely been as important and needed as now. The point is that this leadership must be structured in a correct manner, and the way to structure it runs – it seems to me – according to the guidelines of EI.

Paper Undergraduate

Human resource management practices and organizational competitive advantage

Human Resource Management involves all those activities which are related to the management of workforce or employees of an organization. It is also one of the core functions which managers perform at the workplace. Human Resource Management entails activities like recruitment and selection, training and development, performance assessment, compensation, leadership, and motivation at large (Chadwick & Dabu 2009). Basically, Human Resource Management focuses on recruitment, management, guidance, and motivation of employees in an organization. In the past, HRM was just restricted to two core functions: employee management and motivation. Now, it has emerged as one of the biggest strategic issues in the business world (Kandula 2007).

Essay Undergraduate

Organizational learning: perspectives, definitions, and General Motors case study

Provide a chorally definition of organizational learners.

Paper Doctorate

The relationship between leadership practices and classroom learning outcomes

¶ … learning environment requires a consistent and fair approrach to those learning. However, the exact relationship between learning and classroom leadership has not yet been defined.

Paper Undergraduate

Video-observations and reflection for instructional change in early childhood

This research highlights four teachers who work in early childhood classrooms who have chosen to implement the use of video-observations of their teaching in conjunction with the reflective process. Each teacher profile will include discussions and interviews about their teaching and change implementation. The ideas for change will be based upon their own knowledge, skills, and dispositions along with evidence from the recorded and observed videotapes. After viewing their own instruction, practitioners began the process of implementing change for individual students as well as for their class overall. Teachers shared this experience with others in their school and provided information regarding their results based on the following three areas: 1) Analysis: individuals and or groups in the process of reflection (grade level teams); 2) Strategies: offers other teachers and or programs ways to introduce concepts to a group of teachers and or school; and, 3) Images & Ideas in Practice: offers ways that this can be replicated to help other programs to begin using videos and reflection as a way to guide instructional change.

Paper Doctorate

Restructuring Computer Innovations from hierarchy to matrix organization

Computer Innovations (CI) manufactures electronic products such as printer, computer hardware and periphery equipment. There is one structural issue that will be examined. Use of a Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis to review the most pressing structural issue facing CI's future. The contingency factors most important to the CI organization include, Strategy, Sales cycle, and culture (Cengage, 2010). Daly has the job of assessing internal and external weaknesses and threats due to strategic direction. The analysis reveals two internal threats to the organization that stem from the organizational structure and communicating strategic goals and objectives (Oshagbemi, and Gill, 2004). Without knowing what the goals for the company are, sales production

Paper Undergraduate

Structural contingency theory and organizational creativity in managing change

Structural contingency theory depends on the development and implementation of creativity and innovation. Based on systems design, structural contingency theory takes into account the nature of the organizational…

Research Paper Doctorate

Evaluating and managing corporate intellectual capital strategically

¶ … Value of a Corporation's Intellectual Capital: Its Impact on the Bottom Line and How it Should Be Managed

Research Paper Doctorate

Online distance education barriers in developing countries

Man has always thirsted for education and improvement of self. The ability to cognate and reason distinguishes man as superior to other species. From the Greeks to the Romans in Europe, to the Chinese and the Indians in…

Essay Doctorate

Rationalism, empiricism, and andragogy in learning theory development

The process through which humans learn has been an issue of significant concern since the emergence of formal education thousands of years ago. In attempts to understand the process of human learning, there have been…

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