Organizational development using action research SLP

It goes without saying that the majority of organizations experience some issues that are exclusive to them and that require a full understanding of organizational growth to resolve. Different strategies are required for various situations. I’ve become aware of various issues in the organizations I’ve worked for and how to address them thanks to this information.

I had the honor of working with the US army. When I first got into the military, there were a lot of debates about the specific roles of different teams and debates were going on that some arms of the military had outlived their usefulness, especially in this day and age when warfare is not as common as in the past. Such factors were also a reason for many to complain that the US army was taking a too huge financial budget. Therefore this forces the military to reconsider its structure and organization. Previously before joining the military, I worked with a catering services company. In this company, there was a great problem of financial cash flow, and the issue escalated after workers had not received their pay for several months. Therefore, most workers were unmotivated and unwilling to work. Some even started looking for other places with better pay, and this was threatening the stability of the company.

Considering the problems that both organizations that I have worked for faced and continue to face, the best course of action would be to hire a consultant of organizational development. It is my strong belief that that consultant would indeed come in and make a significant contribution to both organizations that I worked for and where I also currently work.

The consultant would be able to resolve the crisis in both my former catering company and the military by applying the following procedure or phases. First, the Entry Phase – initial phase where the organizational needs and its structure are identified. Also, the decision maker is identified here, and the trust relationship is built (McArdle and Reason, 2008). Then the Startup and contracting Phase – Organization success factors and real issues are identified here and linked to the cultures and process within the organization so as to clarify the roles of the consultant and the employees. Next would come to the Assessment and Diagnosis Phase – this phase involves the actual data collection process from the employees and other staffs of the organization. The consultant makes a recommendation based on the collected data and assessments. Finally, the consultant would use the Feedback Phase – this step involves reporting the findings starting with the clients and is cascaded down the organizational hierarchy to reach all participants. It enhances new changes to the processes of the organization (Coghlan, 2012).

From the two case scenarios, it is obvious that every organization or corporation is different from another and each has its own unique set of problems. This, therefore, demands a deep understanding of action research and organizational development to identify the critical elements that need to be addressed and to be able to recommend the most appropriate solutions for those problems. This project of identifying the various problems that organizations face is an indication that action research and organizational development is an important part of the success of corporations. Hopefully, the military will engage consultants and have the issues resolved.

References

Coghlan, D. (2012). Organization development and action research. The Routledge Companion to Organizational Change, 46.

McArdle, K. L., & Reason, P. (2008). Action research and organization development. Handbook of organization development, 123-136.