I'm an ABD (All But Dissertation) in organizational development and dynamics. I've spent 8 years as an internal management consultant in state government, in addition to 20 or so years managing various budgets and other operations in business, higher education and government. (OK, now the credentials are out of the way.) Having had some spectacular failures in the area of OD, I'd say that whoever is in charge of OD must report to the senior executive. I once gave a presentation to a state agency senior management group describing OD as a major organizational function. It exists at the same level as the organization's other main functions and reports to the CEO. This is true whether or not there is a formal OD structure. My failures stemmed largely from the failure of the power structure to realize this. They tried to do OD below the level of the CEO and it was successful only to the extent that the changes they were trying to make applied at the lower level. Changes attempted at the top level (i.e, at the level of the organization itself) invariably failed when the CEO was not out in front of them. Of course, this doomed other attempts because of widespread blindness to the dynamics of interdependence throughout the organization-as-system. So the short answer is, the OD manager should report to the CEO because that's where lasting change comes from. I hope this is helpful. Anyone looking for online OD consulting can reach me at Insight Consulting Services, c/o birren@execpc.com.
Replies:
|
| Behavior OnLine Home Page | Disclaimer |
Copyright © 1996-2004 Behavior OnLine, Inc. All rights reserved.