Organizational development

The field of organizational development (OD) is concerned with the performance, development, and effectiveness of human organizations. An organization is defined as two or more people brought together by one or more shared goals.

Important figures

• Edgar Schein
• Fred Emery & Eric Trist
• Richard Beckhard
• Roger Harrison
• Rensis Likert
• Robert R. Blake & Jane Mouton
• William Bridges
• Kathie Dannemiller
• David Cooperrider
• Elliott Jaques
• Peter Senge
• Marv Weisbord
• Don Cole
• Olusegun Samuel
  

  OD topics

  
  Topics in OD include:

• strategic planning
• organizational performance
• systems
• team building
• action research
• leadership development
• managing change
• organizational culture
• performance improvement
• employee research
• quality
• process improvement
• meetings
• organizational learning
• group process
• knowledge management
• innovation and creativity
• succession planning

  Milestones

• Hawthorne studies
• Human Relations Movement
• Appreciative Inquiry

  OD in context

  
  OD is related to:

• Human resources
• Training & Development
• Facilitation
• Coaching
• Industrial and organizational psychology

  Also see

• organizational behavior
• organizational commitment
• list of human resource management topics
• group dynamics

  External links

  
  There are several professional associations for OD practitioners including:

• The Organizational Development Network: http://www.odnetwork.org
• The Organization Development Institute: http://members.aol.com/odinst/
• The American Society for Training & Development: http://www.astd.org

• http://www.odinstitute.org