CHAPTER
3
The Organization
Development Practitioner
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 Discuss the roles and characteristics of OD practitioners.
 Describe the competencies required of effective OD
practitioners.
 Compare the internal versus external OD practitioner.
 Understand the values and ethics guiding the practice of OD.
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Who is the organization DeveLopment
practitioner?

OD practitioners are those people specializing in OD as a
profession
 OD professionals traditionally have shared a common set of
humanistic values promoting open communications, employee
involvement and personal growth and development.
 They tend to have common training, skills and experience in
the social processes of organizations
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The Organization Development Practitioner

Internal and External Consultants
 Professionals from other disciplines who apply OD
practices (e.g., TQM managers, IT/IS managers,
compensation and benefits managers)
 Managers and Administrators who apply OD from their
line or staff positions
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Competencies of an OD Practitioner

Intrapersonal Skills
 Self-awareness
 Interpersonal Skills
 Ability to work with others and groups
 General Consultation Skills
 Ability to manage consulting process
 Organization Development Theory
 Knowledge of change processes
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The professional organization Development
practitioner
Role of OD Professional Positions
 Position
 Internal vs. external
 Marginality
 Ability to straddle boundaries
 Emotional Demands
 Emotional intelligence
 Use of Knowledge and Experience
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Client Versus Consultant Knowledge
Use of Consultant’s
Knowledge and
Experience
Plans Implementation
Recommends/prescribes
Proposes criteria
Feeds back data
Probes and gathers data
Clarifies and interprets
Use of Client’s
Knowledge and
Experience
Listens and reflects
Refuses to become involved
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Professional Ethics

Ethical Guidelines
 Ethical Dilemmas
 Misrepresentation
 Misuse of data
 Coercion
 Value and goal conflicts
 Technical ineptness
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Model of Ethical Dilemmas
Antecedents
Values
Goals
Needs
Abilities
Role of
the
Change
Agent
Role of
the
Client
System
Process
Consequences
Role Episode
Ethical Dilemmas
• Role conflict
• Role ambiguity
• Misrepresentation
• Misuse of data
• Coercion
• Value and goal
conflict
• Technical
ineptness
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


The term OD practitioner applies to three sets of people: individuals
specializing in OD as a profession, people from related fields who have gained
some competence in OD, and managers having the OD skills necessary to
change and develop their organizations or departments. Although OD is still an
emerging field, most practitioners have specific training that ranges from short
courses and workshops to graduate and doctoral education.
Interventions is a structured set of activities, actions, or programs designed to
help an organization improve its effectiveness, solve problems, or manage
change.
Ethical issues in OD involve how practitioners perform their helping role with
clients. As a profession, OD always has shown a concern for ethical conduct
and several ethical codes for OD practice have been developed by various
professional associations. Ethical dilemmas in OD arise around
misrepresentation, misuse of data, coercion, value and goal conflict and
technical ineptness
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