Case Studies
These case studies submitted by OD Network members illustrate the ways in which organization development interventions can benefit client organizations.
Case 1: A Whole System Event for real-time strategic change; use of African-influenced facilitation through lekgotla
Case 2: Transitioned high-tech company from product provider to solutions provider
Case 3: Enabled a small rural school district to raise student performance
Case 4: Facilitated growth in a healthcare management consulting firm by enhancing team effectiveness
Case 5: Helped the new CEO turn around a software company to position it for business success.
Case 6: Enabled public college IT department to improve quality and delivery of services
Case 7: Organization development in a “Good to Great” organization: Organization change at Abbott
Case 1
A Whole System Event for real-time strategic change; use of African-influenced facilitation through lekgotla
Lee Knobel, Consulting Director, WorldsView
Johannesburg, South Africa
Goals
Post-merger transformation and integration of two large, listed IT service provider organisations. Integration of two companies and cultures; aligning employees to the purpose, values, goals and new customer-centric strategy of the merged organization.
Critical Actions
Close partnership with the executive team used process consultation to create shared vision, mission and values.
A key catalyst in the transformation was a two-day whole-systems event:
- The event brought employees from both organizations together to celebrate their history and envision their future
- Employees participated in identifying and aligning key actions to support the new strategic direction.
- For full engagement of all participants, WorldsView drew on old African method of ensuring that all voices are heard, called lekgotla (creative dialogue).
The lekgotla process helps individuals to be heard in groups, groups build a common point of view and become teams, and teams to pursue common goals. Diversity is celebrated and built on, as individuals practice the art of listening and building on each others views.
Results
- Trust, understanding and commitment to the integration effort were built
- Values were examined and aligned; foundational change actions planned
- The leadership team witnessed the beginning of a profound organisational transformation and renewal
Case 2
Strategically transitioned high technology, global company from hardware to software – product to solutions provider
Christi A. Olson, Ph.D., AvidWork,
Nevada City, CA
Goals
- Increase year over year percentage growth
- Gain competitive advantage over emerging niche providers
- Integrate hardware and software product set with custom services and support
Critical Actions
- Developed integrated solutions strategy
- Accelerated product development cycle; worked on transition from development to market
- Accelerated cultural change; trained sales force/vendors/support in under 3 months
Results
- Relaunched software and services integrated solutions in under 6 months
- Increased profit margins
- Expanded client base with entry into customer loyalty/management market
Case 3
Enabled a small rural school district serving a predominantly poor and Hispanic community to raise student performance by creating a culture of high expectations and collaborative action.
Kenneth W. Jones and
Harriette Thurber Rasmussen,
Kenneth Jones Associates, Port Angeles, WA
systemic organization development in education
Goal
Increase student achievement under tightened state and federal accountability standards. In 2001, only 5% of tenth graders met performance standards in mathematics; 21% met standard in writing and reading.
Critical Actions
We used the Whole Scale™ model to lead participants through a basic change formula in which we:
- Fostered urgency by working with data to highlight dissatisfaction
- Considered a shared picture of more desirable futures for students
- Determined next steps
People were seated in diverse groups to foster new perspectives. We gave them structured time to restate information, find common ground, and weigh in on ideas through public voting.
Challenges included language barriers and a community that consistently doubted the capacity of its children to achieve academic success.
Results
Leadership learned to focus the entire district and community on essential outcomes for students.
- Increases over four years in percentage of students meeting standards of 39% in reading, 29% in writing, and 31% in mathematics
- 96% of the 2004 graduating class went to college and were still enrolled fall 2005
- 82% of the 2005 class went to college, with none requiring remediation
Case 4
Enhanced team effectiveness to facilitate growth in a leading family-owned healthcare management consulting firm
Jeremy S. Lurey, Ph.D., Plus Delta Consulting, LLC,
Los Angeles, California
Goals
- Further develop senior leadership
- Implement new management structures, HR policies, and business practices to better support local and remote staff
Critical Actions
- Designed and implemented customized leadership development program; Facilitated series of workshops on leadership skills
- Provided one-on-one coaching and additional support to president and other management team members
- Designed and facilitated customized "Consulting Skills 101" program to share strategies and techniques for managing client projects and improving team communications
- Prepared competency-based performance assessment tools for evaluating both management and professional staff
Results
- Implemented new policies and procedures to standardize business operations and better align them with best practices for remote work
- Created new strategies and established specific communication protocols for management to support and further develop local as well as remote staff
- Enabled firm to come together as a more cohesive unit; positioned them to take future actions to ensure ongoing growth and success
Case 5
Helped the new CEO turn around a software company to position it for business success.
Maya Townsend, Founder, Partnering Resources, Cambridge, MA
Goals
Pinpoint the core purpose, values, and strategies for the company. The new CEO knew that turning the company around would take more than just restructuring: “I wanted to look introspectively to determine fundamentally who we are, what is important to us, and where do we want to go.”
Critical Actions
- Work began with a plan to get the executive team to think creatively about the company and its future.
- The executive team identified the core purpose, values and strategy for the company.
- Realizing that the entire company needed to accept their work in order to implement it successfully, the leadership team engaged managers in defining actions needed to achieve the strategy.
- The leadership team presented their work to all employees in an energized, creative town hall meeting.
- The leadership team cascaded the strategies through the entire organization so all employees saw how their goals contributed to the core purpose of the company.
Results
Said the CEO, “This initiative has been an unqualified success. We have a clearly defined strategy and the management of the company is more energized than I’ve ever seen them. We have built the foundation to be a truly great company.”
Case 6
Enabled public college IT department to improve quality and delivery of services through reorganization and team development
Joseph Sclafani, President,
Change Management Associates Int'l, Inc.,
Falls Church, VA
Goals
- Align IT department with college strategic and academic goals
- Clarify department roles and responsibilities
- Set department priorities
- Improve communication with colleagues and clients.
Critical Actions
- Worked with senior IT executives to introduce a new organizational structure.
- Supported department operations through intensive results-oriented team development and coaching of IT staff.
- Assessed how staff perceived their work unit’s internal dynamics and external relationships with other work units.
- Based on this assessment, developed and delivered a series of facilitated two-hour sessions focused on improving teamwork and internal communications patterns. The timing, content, and duration of sessions were tailored to meet the needs of each team.
Results
- Tangible improvement in the quality and effectiveness of IT staff services
- An approach to organizational change that, in the words of the Chief Information Officer, could serve the college as “both as a model and a catalyst for modifications in existing decision-making processes and management operations.”
Case 7
Organization development in a “Good to Great” Organization: Organization Change at Abbott
Dr. Philip Anderson, Abbott
Dr. Peter Sorensen, Benedictine University
Dr. Therese Yaeger, Benedictine University
This project, part of an ongoing change effort at Abbott, illustrates a collaborative effort between corporate and university OD programs. It received the Silver Bowl Award from the OD Institute for Best Corporate OD Project of the Year 2006.
Goal
Culture change to realign corporate culture with strategy, mission, and changes in the external environment
Critical Actions
The project consisted of a number of interventions guided by an action research process, which involved a continuous cycle of evaluations to help us learn from, modify, and strengthen the interventions. Interventions included:
- Culture surveys and feedback
- Small group interventions
- Organization design interventions
The process was driven by a strong internal OD team headed by
Dr. Philip Anderson, with major support from the division executive.
Results
- Measurable changes toward the desired culture ranging from 10% to 50% percent positive change depending on the dimension of culture
- Measurable increases in performance, with an overall positive change of 43%