Dr Ishan Jalan

This course is available on the MSc in Behavioural Science, MSc in Human Resources and Organisations (Organisational Behaviour), MSc in Organisational and Social Psychology, MSc in Psychology of Economic Life, MSc in Social and Cultural Psychology and MSc in Social and Public Communication. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

What is Organizational Development? Organizational Development (OD) is a field of study and practice that focuses on facilitating planned change efforts and interventions, with a view to improve an organisation’s effectiveness, health, and performance.  Drawing from a range of theories, OD adopts a systemic approach to improving its internal processes, structures, and culture. To accomplish this, it undertakes a deep analysis of needs and goals to help organisations understand their current state, and work towards their desired future state.

Why is Organizational Development important? Organisations are now operating in an increasingly complex, dynamic, and ever-changing environment, and to confront these changes, organisations need to be nimble, innovative, and effective if they are to survive and thrive. Considering the overall goal of OD is to help create healthier, more adaptive, and resilient organizations capable of thriving in today's dynamic operational landscape, OD can help organizations navigate this difficult terrain, adapt, learn about new ways of leading and managing, and stay competitive.

This course explores organisational development from a theoretical and practical perspective. While the course is strongly informed by key theoretical frameworks such as organisational behaviour, critical theory, system psychodynamics, psychological and management theories, to name a few, , OD comes into its own in application. Students will be actively encouraged to relate key OD theoretical perspectives to current organisational challenges using interactive case studies and in-class activities. The aim of the course is, therefore, twofold: first to explore theories and concepts that underpin OD and second, to learn how to apply OD through practical hands-on experience. In seminars and workshops students will gain experience on drafting organizational change interventions, thinking about their implementation, and evaluating their potential impact in organised contexts.

10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of seminars in the WT.

Students will be expected to produce 1 essay in the WT.

Detailed references and class topics are distributed in the first lecture of the series. The following represents key readings covering some of the topics discussed in the course:



 Alvesson, M., & Sveningsson, S. (2015). Changing organizational culture: Cultural change work in progress. Routledge.

 Antonacopoulou, E.P. and Gabriel, Y., (2001). Emotion, learning and organizational change: Towards an integration of psychoanalytic and other perspectives. Journal of Organizational Change Management. Vol. 14 No. 5, pp. 435-451.

 Beckhard, R. (1969). Organization development: Strategies and models.

 Burke, W.W. (1994) Organization development: a process of learning and changing. 2nd ed. Reading, Mass, Addison-Wesley Pub. Co.

 Carr, A., & Gabriel, Y. (2001). The psychodynamics of organizational change management an overview. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 14(5), 415-421.

 Deszca, G., Ingols, C., & Cawsey, T. F. (2019). Organizational change: An action-oriented toolkit. Sage Publications.

 Gabriel, Y. (2011). Psychoanalytic approaches to leadership. In A. Bryman, D. Collinson, K. Grint, B. Jackson, & M. Uhl-Bien (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Leadership: 393-405. London: Sage.

 Gallos, J. V. (2006). Organization development: A Jossey-Bass reader. Jossey-Bass.

 McKendall, M. (1993). The tyranny of change: Organizational development revisited. Journal of Business Ethics, 12(2), 93-104.

 Porras, J. I., & Robertson, P. J. (1992). Organizational development: Theory, practice, and research. In M. D. Dunnette & L. M. Hough (Eds.), Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (pp. 719–822). Consulting Psychologists Press.

 Sanzgiri, J., & Gottlieb, J. Z. (1992). Philosophic and pragmatic influences on the practice of organization development, 1950–2000. Organizational Dynamics, 21(2), 57-69.

 Schein, E. H. (2015). Organizational psychology then and now: Some observations. Annu. Rev. Organ. Psychol. Organ. Behav., 2(1), 1-19.

 Schein, E.H. (1999) Process consultation revisited: building the helping relationship. Reading, Mass, Addison-Wesley.

 Schön, D. A. (2016). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. Routledge.

 Weick, K. E. (1995). Sensemaking in organizations (Vol. 3). Sage.

Essay (100%, 3000 words) in the period between WT and ST.