Search results

Organisation development consultants in their work in organisations can find that managers, teams, groups and organisations frequently act out of what is, in effect, a distortion of reality. Distortions seriously impair an organisation′s functioning and affect the ability to manage change effectively. Some common distortions are identified on each of the four organisational levels. Process consultants intervene to confront distortions and to facilitate reflection on how the distortions arise.

Training and developing managers in skills that enable them to deal effectively with the multiple issues within an organisation is a perennial task for management, trainers and consultants. There are many approaches to the issues of behaviour in organisations and organisation development on which such training could be based. One approach, developed by Rashford and Coghlan, articulates and links the different levels of behaviour through the concept of organisational levels. Their use of the construct differs from the common use of organisational levels in organisational behaviour and organisation development texts. This article describes how this paradigm was used in management development courses in the United States.

Organisational levels are viewed as important analytic frameworks in organisational behaviour. In organisational behaviour and organisation development texts, they are frequently presented as static notions, providing convenient headings under which particular organisational behaviour elements can be located. How an integrative framework of four organisational levels – individual, face‐to‐face team, group/divisional and strategy/policy – which emphasises cross‐level links was used as a core construct in an executive MBA programme is described.

Kubler‐Ross′ stages of death and dying – denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance‐have formed the basis of much of the therapeutic work with the terminally ill. As death and dying are the ultimate instances of change in a person′s life, it is hypothesised that Kubler‐Ross′ work has an application to the theory and process of change. A four‐stage model of organisational change‐denying, dodging, doing and sustaining – based on Kubler‐Ross is presented. These four stages are linked to the four organisational levels, generating a seven‐phase framework that integrates the complex interplay of denying, dodging, doing and sustaining in the individual, the team, the group and the organisation.

Levels of complexity are constituent elements in living systems. The organization as a complex living system comprises four levels – individual, face‐to‐face team, group‐divisional, and policy‐strategy. Applies one framework of organizational levels to the university context and shows how a focus on the successful completion of the tasks on each level provides a paradigm for effective administration.

Leadership and management gain success from understanding that organisational participation comes through the commitment and involvement of individuals working with one another. The question facing managers is how to encourage and develop organisational participation. The key to unlocking participation is the types of individual behaviour necessary for an effective organisation. These behaviours are classified into four operating modes, referred to as levels — each sequential and interlocking. They are Level I — the individual, Level II — face‐to‐face teams, Level III — the group or divisional level, and Level IV — the organisational policy and strategy level. Each of these is divided into tasks for its members.