Organisational development as a concept mainly started in the field of education.
Early 1950s – Stephen M. Corey and Kurt Luwin’s Action Research * Had all elements of OD but in the field of education * Concepts of starting with the top and using the entire school * Process interventions such as advanced coaching etc. * Use of research with experts in the field (like consultants for a specific job) * Dealing with change by focusing on development of the people within the system * Systems model of Action Research Process:
1954 – Matthew Miles’ book on a series of interventions & Miles’ and Schmuck’s book on OD in schools and education * Various group interventions and individual interventions, on all levels, to inculcate development of the organisation as a whole * Application of OD to entire field of education
This propagated organisational development as a concept in schools and education, and continued there.
1947 – “Applied behavioural science” came into existence through establishment of “National Training Laboratories (NTL)” in USA * ABS: * must deal with social or group issues or individual issues as a part of the group issues * uses human process interventions like socialisation, conflict, teamwork, value and norm changes, communication, decision-making, and conflict-resolution * uses scientific problem solving approach in its interventions (therefore must also be productive in its outputs) * Action Research is a part of ABS
This made OD important in the corporate sector and led to implementation of various processes in the corporate segment companies, especially all through the 1980s onwards. Team building activities in L-groups (learning groups) or T-groups (training groups) were conducted. The traditional