Development and organizational balance

Development and organizational balance
See also
Development of the organization Personnel strategy Structure follows strategy Innovation and change Change management model Goals of organization Cluster development Network structure Knowledge management system

Development and organizational balance are interconnected factors influencing success of every major project undertaken by the company and achieving long term (strategic) goals of management. The development of the organization can be understood as a long series of changes, which runs in a particular direction to diversify and enrich the components of the organization, as well as the relationships between its elements. The development means the occurrence of qualitative changes, evaluated positively from the point of view of the goal. Quantitative changes lead to a growth of the system.

The development of the organization includes a set of changes or intervention techniques, ranging from structural and systemic changes at the level of the entire organization and individual psychotherapy counselling session, introduced in response to environmental changes in order to improve the efficiency of the organization and well-being of workers.

Areas of organizational development

Fig.1. Areas of organizational development (extended version)

Development can be seen in different areas such as: economic, organizational, personnel, information, technical and production.

• The economic dimension is determined by the efficiency of the management of the company productive factors and the management of investment projects and market activities.
• The organizational dimension refers to the structure of the company management system, processes and administrative work, teams, human behaviour and adaptation processes, information resources, material and other production factors.
• Social (personal) aspect covers a vast area of ​​management in the company: employment and work organization, motivation and development of employee, changing human behaviour in the company.
• Information aspect is determined by the function of the preparation, processing, transfer of information and communication.
• Technical dimension is determined primarily by research and development, quality of products, services, and operations (this is an area of scientific and technical progress and the development of quality products, which run the innovation process leading to diversification of products and their modernization).

Role of change in development of the organization

Everything changes: people, machines, organizations, environment

Change is mostly caused by: the development of science, engineering and technology new developments and inventions, new organizational solutions, new ways of working, new systems

Reasons for change: external: technical progress, shrinking resource base, rising commodity prices, changes in the political and cultural area, demographic change, the development of information systems, competitive actions, Internal: retraining of employees, rising wage demands, new products, new production processes, change in strategy

Responses to change: the introduction of continuous small improvements (e.g. TQM), the planned reorganization (e.g. engineering), ignoring of changes

Organization Development: a long-term process of growth and change of organization as well as the people working in it. The plan for such a process should be developed by the crew of the organizational unit, e.g. a branch, department, company and should aim to improve the efficiency of the organization

Organizational balance role in organization development

Since the second half of the nineteenth century, the notion of balance in the social sciences is well established. In economy this concept was developed by L. Walras and marginal school (Lausanne). On the basis of the sociology of the social system, equilibrium concept was introduced by V. Pareto. It is a constant "point X", around which revolve all the changes driven by conflict and struggle of conflicting interests.

Another ideas of equilibrium were developed by HI Bernard and H. Simon. According to H. Simon organizational sustainability highlights the need for subjective perception of participants (employees) organizations balance, their services to the organization contributions (effort, commitment, loyalty and other) incentives that the organization has to offer. The result of the balancing process is agreement on the objectives of the organization and its participants.

The process of developing a balance in organizations is continuous and difficult to predict, subject to a multiple fluctuations. Organizations are open systems that exchange material and information with the environment, and it is made up of two types of components: physical (technical) and social. The overall balance of the organization consist of partial equilibrium in four areas:

• Material - external
• Material - internal
• Social - external
• Social - internal.

Balance is a state of prolonged indecision between stability and change. The organization is forced to continually restore the ever-new forms in order to maintain a balance within their temporary perfection. Introducing some changes tends to stabilize (homeostasis), order set around the equilibrium point, control of the fluctuations. It introduces proportional progress in all sectors, learning through practice in typical situations, give continuous control, prevent accident and chaos. The system is subject to comprehensive regulation, innovate gradually, and creates a permanent standard, extended and repetitive structures.

Balance in organization is responsible for its survival, interference in balance often lead to its development. The development of the organization is the result of imbalances. Managers have to restore it on a higher level of material and human potential. The basic management instruments of dealing with imbalances are: strategy, structure, process and organizational culture.

References

• Denison, D. R., & Spreitzer, G. M. (1991). Organizational culture and organizational development: A competing values approach. Research in organizational change and development, 5(1), 1-21.
• Weick, K. E., & Quinn, R. E. (1999). Organizational change and development. Annual review of psychology, 50(1), 361-386.

Author: Krzysztof Wozniak