Organisational Development (OD) is a general term for a planned, systematic and goal-driven shift in the organisational structures and processes as well as the behaviour of the employees of a company. On the one hand, it is supposed to improve the company’s performance while, on the other hand, it supports the development of every single organisation member.

For OD in that sense the St. Galler Management Concept proposes five navigational phases for the practical implementation of a holistic approach: checkup, configuration as-is, configuration to-be, implementation and optimization.

For this, multiple parameters are necessary:

  • In the process of the clarification of terms, the culture of learning that has existed up until now has to be understood and the existing willingness to change as well as the determination of leadership must be determined.
  • Concerning the formulation of the goal of the OD, the nine so-called room modules of the St. Galler Management House, sorted into three storeys, are important dimensions:
    • normative: constitution, policy, culture
    • strategic: organisation, direction of impact, understanding of leadership
    • operational: processes, tasks, action
  • The previous and the new learning culture have to be combined. Arising tensions can be relieved by a coordination group.
  • Process analyses are central to OD and are usually executed on three levels: process type, main process and subprocess.

There are different frameworks for OD. Those focusing on phases (like the 3-phases-model by Lewin) are generally to be viewed sceptically because in practice the phases less and less frequently occur sequentially. Instead of phases one should look at modules (e. g. 6 Steps of the Problem Solving Process and the STRIM Management Field System).

A different approach focuses on active principles for the promotion of self-organisation processes. While I consider self-organisation very sensible and support a qualification-based approach according to which qualifications stand for abilities that enable oneself to act in a self-organised manner (as self-organisation dispositions), it has to be insured in the practical execution that the employees can and want to take over that responsibility.

C. Schiersmann and H.-U. Thiel therefore propose an integrative consulting model that combines both approaches. As a logical regulatory framework this may have some merit but I would caution against too much methodical complexity and therefore personally prefer the “St. Galler Denk- und Wissensnavigator” as the most important tool for Organisational Development.