Organizational Development

Theory

There is no all-encompassing, singular theory of OD. Although not a theory of OD or organizational change as such, most OD practitioners think nevertheless in terms of open system theory, that is, an organization has input from its external environment and translates that input into throughput within the [Page 543]organization; thus, throughput is producing a service and/or product, which in turn becomes output to the consumer, and the output—performance, sales, profit, consumer satisfaction, and so on—becomes feedback for the organization in the form of input and the cycle continues. For most OD practitioners, the metaphor of choice is an organism. An organization can be considered as a living, breathing organism that for survival is dependent on its external environment. Thus, astute practitioners start with external forces in the organization’s environment— for example, the marketplace, competitors, changing technology, or workforce talent. This metaphor, organism, goes hand-in-hand with open systems theory, which comes from cell biology. Comparisons between a living cell and an organization help to explain and understand certain concepts associated with change—chaos, disequilibrium, self-organizing, and the like.

Although there is no all-encompassing theory of OD, there are a number of minitheories that underlie the field. Mini in this case means that the theory relates to some aspect of OD but not to its entirety. Together and across three organizational levels, these minitheories provide a foundation. From an individual perspective, theories of motivation are relevant as is research on job satisfaction and reward systems. From a group perspective, Kurt Lewin’s work on norms and values, the work of Chris Argyris on interpersonal competence and organizational learning, and Wilfrid Bion’s theory on the collective unconscious undergird OD practice. And from a total system perspective, Rensis Likert’s focus on consensus and participative management, the work of Paul Lawrence and Jay Lorsch on contingency theory regarding organizational structure, and Edgar Schein’s contribution on organizational culture provide additional theoretical foundation for the field of OD.

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