Ben and Jerry’s Case Study: Organizational Development Intervention Analysis
Introduction
Warrick 2014, defines Organization Development (OD) as "the act or process of organizing, state or manner of being organized, which increases an organization’s effectiveness through planned interventions”. In essence, OD is a planned system of change that takes a long range approach to improving organizational performance and efficiency.
This case analysis focuses on the factors that are important in determining whether an organization or team is over or under organized the implications for planning an Organization’s development, and whether team building is a good way to launch an OD effort for the Ben & Jerry Ice cream company. A look at other
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For team building to be effective, employees and the company must keep pace with growth, have clear roles with great teamwork, and have a common mission and direction for the organization. In the case of Ben & Jerry’s organization, some of these were missing which is why OD is recommended.
Implications Of Planning An OD Intervention
There are concerns however with planning an intervention. The success of the intervention depends upon the organization’s readiness for change, their capability to change, the cultural context of the organization, and the capabilities of the change agent or consultant (Cummings, 2013). In the Ben & Jerry’s case, planning an intervention was necessary as there seems to be a disconnect between, the board, management, and the employees as to what the mission of the company is. Ben and Jerry aimed at creating a fun family work environment and as a result, they had no guidelines or structure to follow. Intervention offers an effective environment to view collective shortcomings and not meant to tear them apart, and in this case, Intervention will succeed as they are committed and honest and are very accepting of change.
Is Teambuilding A Good Way To Launch OD?
As stated by Cumming 2013, the OD consultant in this case, is convinced that team building was the way to commence the OD effort for three reasons. His first reason was that it was crucial for managers to begin to think of themselves as managers and as members of the
Implementing change in an organization is complicated. It is important that a manager understands their role and responsibilities for which could very well be the success or failure of an organization. A manager should know how to handle staff resistance, and the areas that require change. There are processes that help management with assisting their staff members with adjusting to change and concentrate on the areas of importance. This process includes planning, assessment, implementation, and evaluation. The difference between a failed organization and a successful manager is when the manager has the ability to implement change with little disruption to
Teams are an integral component of organizational success. They take on many forms and functions and can have various structures. Teams also conduct a wide variety of projects with goals of innovation or mitigation. An example, from my experience, of a project that required the execution from a team was the establishment of a finished goods inventory program within a paper manufacturing company. A project of this magnitude required that a diverse and multifaceted team be assembled.
In the workplace, teams play a very important role in goal achievement. With the help and support of a team leader, the organization can become very successful as long as the team is effective and cooperative. There are many different leadership styles/theories that make each leader unique and effective in their own way. It is not just the leader though that has to be effective. The team as a whole needs to come together and being efficient. Team building strategies are very helpful and effective to bring everyone together. Although working in a team is very effective in most cases, conflicts can still arise. In order to bring everyone back together again conflict resolutions need to be put into place such as the problem solving technique.
Executives refer to business as a team sport for a variety of reasons. First, many business organizational structures arrange departments either in cross specialty teams or task oriented teams based on operational design and expected outcomes. These teams are designed with members who are assigned roles that increase overall team productivity. The team members bring talents, knowledge and a skill set that uniquely contributes to collective intelligence and resourcefulness. Through collaboration and team work, Successful teams achieve synergy, or “exceeds the sum of each individual’s contribution”.
The first step in driving the necessary change within the organization is to secure an outside consultant to serve as a change agent. The change agent will facilitate and guide the organizational development (OD) through process consultation intervention. In this process, it will be necessary to identify sources of resistance through Force field analysis. Once the sources are identified, one-on-one meetings and group meetings will be conducted to educate the employees on the changes and the reasons why change is necessary. This step will find the management team working to re-define the vision of the organization. As part of motivating the
An effective and productive team doesn't just happen. It requires structures, support and processes that encourage development. Team building happens over time. When building and developing a cohesive, effective and productive team you need to determine how your team fits and the roles they play in the organisation. Does anything need to be changed? How and when can these changes be put into action? Organisational, strategic and operational plans need to contain suitable mechanisms for supporting team development.
“If we understand change better, we will be able to influence (but not control) it for the better” (Fullan, 2014). When change in a culture is in effect, the organizational culture tends to be unsettled. This may seem like an inopportune time for our staff to be unsettled, but this is the best opportunity to identify and create breakthroughs (Fullan, 2014). When analyzing the structure for a change initiative, strategic planning must first take place. What problems are foreseen or obvious? Are there
On the other hand, organizational performances can be enhanced in the following manner; by creating success requires respect for everyone’s needs, talents, and aspirations, as well as an understanding of the dynamics of human behavior in organizational systems. Organizations do well when the people in them work hard to achieve high performance, as individuals and as members of teams. The ultimate goal of OB is to improve the performance of people, groups, and organizations, and to improve the quality of work life overall (Schermerhorn, 2011).
The first step in driving the necessary change within the organization is to secure an outside consultant to serve as a change agent. The change agent will facilitate and guide the organizational development (OD) through process consultation intervention. In this process, it will be necessary to identify sources of resistance through Force field analysis. Once the sources are identified, one-on-one meetings and group meetings will be conducted to educate the employees on the changes and the reasons why change is necessary. This step will find the management team working to re-define the vision of the organization. As part of
Ivancevich, Konopaske and Matteson (2008) mirror these views by holding on to the concept that the use of team work in the organization forcefully follows the structured schema of identifying true leaders within the organizational structure, facilitating the emotional commitment of such leaders and evaluating the progress of the teams by using a mix of people from different levels and departments in the organization. The efficiency of the coalition leads to improved performance for both short term and long-term goals.
lead change initiatives which could lead to the change process to become challenging as there may be a
In the government-sponsored organization of Skills for Tomorrow it is important that employees and management realize that effective team management is the key to successful operations. Having a more effective team in place will create a more successful organization by
Ben and Jerry’s, founded in 1978, is a market leading distributor of super-premium ice creams, frozen yogurts, and sorbets, and has built a reputation on being a socially minded company. They were pioneers in the policy of “caring capitalism” and place heavy importance on the concept of social responsibility, a practice which many companies have since adopted. They have enjoyed long-term success as a result of their progressive methods of doing business and novel ideology regarding how a company should be ran. However, due to increased competitive pressure and declining financial performance, they have now been confronted by the threat of a takeover. Recently four
Organization Development (OD) is a deliberately planned, organization-wide effort to increase an organization's effectiveness and/or efficiency, and/or to enable the organization to achieve its strategic goals (2015, Wikipedia).
In observing the Franklin Company, it is evident that there is a need for change to help the company with its present problems. The managers’ perception is that the organization is in a state of volatility. Which has resulted from a lack of growth in sales and a competitive advantage. There is a felt need to ascertain new ways of doing things. In the Franklin Company situation, it was revealed that every department has its own ideas and feel they have the right answers to overcome their problems. They all want to play an important role in the company growth, however they have different perspectives on how to fix things. No matter what level of professionalism is involved, conflict is inevitable. For example, there are several issues that hinders the departments communication, collaboration and trust. In order to implement change, all three key element need to be present but they are often hidden. After the meeting with the management team, a OD practitioner decision was made to plan and implement structural, technological and behavioral strategies to improve the condition and functioning of the Franklin Co.