Organizational Change and Development

Author(s):  
Robert G. Hamlin

This chapter first discusses the complexities of change in organizations and why so many OCD programs fail and makes the case for change agents to become evidence-based in their change agency practice. The author then offers a definition of evidence-based organizational change and development (EBOCD) and outlines the types of “best evidence” that can be used to inform and shape the formulation and implementation of OCD strategies and to critically evaluate the associated processes and change agency practices. Various distinctive evidence-based initiatives for OCD are discussed and several case examples from the United Kingdom are presented. The chapter closes with a discussion of the specific merits of “design science,” “professional partnership” research, and “replication” research.

Author(s):  
Robert G. Hamlin

This chapter first discusses the complexities of change in organizations and why so many OCD programs fail and makes the case for change agents to become evidence-based in their change agency practice. The author then offers a definition of evidence-based organizational change and development (EBOCD) and outlines the types of “best evidence” that can be used to inform and shape the formulation and implementation of OCD strategies and to critically evaluate the associated processes and change agency practices. Various distinctive evidence-based initiatives for OCD are discussed and several case examples from the United Kingdom are presented. The chapter closes with a discussion of the specific merits of “design science,” “professional partnership” research, and “replication” research.


Author(s):  
Robert G Hamlin

This chapter is targeted mainly toward HRD practitioners and line managers who are actively involved in bringing about effective and beneficial organizational change and development (OCD) within their own respective organizations and/or within host organizations. Its purpose is to help them to appreciate more fully the complexities of the process issues of managing change, and the value of using theory and results of rigorous internal research in a very conscious and focused way to inform, shape, and evaluate their own change agency practice. After discussing why so many OCD programs fail, the author argues that ‘evidence-based management' and ‘evidence-based HRD', coupled with HRD's understanding of and alignment with the strategic thrust of the business, will likely lead to more effective OCD initiatives and programs. Several case examples of evidence-based OCD from the United Kingdom are presented, and the merits of ‘design science', ‘professional partnership research' and ‘replication research' are discussed.


Author(s):  
Thomas Packard

This book presents an evidence-based conceptual framework for planning and implementing organizational change processes specifically focused on human service organizations (HSOs). After a brief discussion of relevant theory and a review of key challenges facing HSOs that create opportunities for organizational change, a detailed conceptual framework outlines an organizational change process. Two chapters are devoted to the essential role of an organization’s executive or other manager as a change leader. Five chapters cover the steps of the change process, beginning with identifying a problem or change opportunity; then defining a change goal; assessing the present state of the organization (the change problem and organizational readiness and capacity to engage in change); and determining an overall change strategy. Twenty-one evidence-based organizational change tactics are presented to guide implementation of the process. Tactics include communicating the urgency for change and the change vision; developing an action system that includes a change sponsor, a change champion, a change leadership team and action teams; providing support to staff; facilitating the development and approval of ideas to achieve the change goal; institutionalizing the changes within organizational systems; and evaluating the change process and outcomes. Four case examples from public and nonprofit HSOs are used to illustrate change tactics. Individual chapters cover change technologies and methods, including action research; team building; conflict management; quality improvement methods; organization redesign; organizational culture change; using consultants; advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice; capacity building; implementation science methods; specific models, including the ARC model; and staff-initiated organizational change.


Author(s):  
Filippo Ferrari

This chapter aims to present the obstacles both scholars and practitioners must overcome in facing organizational change. Indeed, too often practitioners lack any rigorous evidence-based background and rely on their previous experience and common sense. At the same time, scholars too often work in a very separated academic world, thus ignoring the actual problems that professionals face in actual firms. Being both a scholar and a practitioner, the author highlights the common challenges likely to be faced by change agents when facilitating organizational change: recognizing the readiness of the involved people to change, their skill mismatch, their previous change history, and the level of cynicism. A fully reflective change agent must consider these factors in designing and implementing an evidence-based organizational change and development (EBOCD) initiative and change agency process if he or she wishes to achieve positive outcomes both from the organizational and the involved people's point of view.


Author(s):  
Austin Michael ◽  
Sarah Carnochan

Chapter 11 of Practice Research in the Human Services: A University-Agency Partnership Model discusses issues and strategies related to providing organizational supports for practitioners in order to facilitate their engagement in practice research. The chapter describes: (1) the emerging organizational context for evidence-informed practice and practice research; (2) an evolving definition of the elements of a research-minded practitioner, which include curiosity, critical reflection, and critical thinking; (3) a beginning framework for conceptualizing relevant organizational supports; and (4) case examples of organizational supports provided by national organizations in the United Kingdom. The chapter concludes with an emerging set of lessons learned and questions to guide future practice research efforts.


Author(s):  
Robert G. Hamlin ◽  
Darlene F. Russ-Eft

The chapter first provides an overview of “best practice” and conventional “received wisdom” relating to OCD and emphasizes the importance of adopting more evidence-based approaches to develop in-depth understanding of the organization prior to planning and instigating an OCD initiative. The authors then discuss a range of historical and contemporary theoretical perspectives for analyzing and making sense of the interacting relationships between an organization's structure, function, and culture, and of the complexities, contradictions, and paradoxes of organizational life. Additionally, they identify various approaches, tools, techniques, and desirable attributes, competencies, and political skills for developing and evaluating the effectiveness of EBOCD strategies and change agency practice.


Author(s):  
Filippo Ferrari

This chapter aims to present the obstacles both scholars and practitioners must overcome in facing organizational change. Indeed, too often practitioners lack any rigorous evidence-based background and rely on their previous experience and common sense. At the same time, scholars too often work in a very separated academic world, thus ignoring the actual problems that professionals face in actual firms. Being both a scholar and a practitioner, the author highlights the common challenges likely to be faced by change agents when facilitating organizational change: recognizing the readiness of the involved people to change, their skill mismatch, their previous change history, and the level of cynicism. A fully reflective change agent must consider these factors in designing and implementing an evidence-based organizational change and development (EBOCD) initiative and change agency process if he or she wishes to achieve positive outcomes both from the organizational and the involved people's point of view.


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