Organizational Development: New London Cafe Project Report

This report examines the application of organizational development (OD) principles and practices to New London Cafe, a UK-based restaurant. The report is divided into two parts, Part B explores the origins of OD, key theories (including Lewin's and system theory), and their application to the cafe's context of introducing online delivery services. The report analyzes the importance of OD in improving productivity and efficiency. Part C focuses on the project management aspects of implementing this change, including project objectives, change management approaches (specifically Lewin's change model), the identification of stakeholders, and the use of tools like interviews, focus groups, and surveys. The report also discusses project design, stakeholder competencies, project evaluation, and how the knowledge gained can be applied in a work setting. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of OD for organizational development and success.

ORGANIZATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT

Table of Contents
PART B............................................................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Explore the origin of organizational development and mention theories or principle associated
with organizational development...........................................................................................1
Analysis of main principles and theories for organizational developing...............................3
Reflect how knowledge and skills achieved during this project can be implemented into work
practice...................................................................................................................................4
PART C............................................................................................................................................5
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................5
MAIN BODY ..................................................................................................................................5
Discuss project summary and purpose including project objectives and change context .....5
Mention main aspects for organizational change and explain link between change
management and OD activity ................................................................................................5
Summary of chosen approach for change management and describe three tools along with
their use and appropriation.....................................................................................................6
Identification of stakeholders along with their roles in project context ................................6
Description for project design................................................................................................7
Discuss competencies for stakeholder involvement associated with concerned project.......8
Project evaluation and monitoring .........................................................................................8
Reflect upon the way through which skills and knowledge gained in this project is used in
working practice ....................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

PART B
INTRODUCTION
Organizational development is basically an approach for system change based on specific
objectives. In order to assure organizational development on regular basis, a change procedure is
required (Arumugam, 2017). This assignment is based on New London Cafe, a Britain based
food and beverages restaurant which operates in global manner. Assignment is going to mention
about origin of organizational development including main principles and theories. Also, detailed
analysis of organizational theories is carried out. At last, reflection is performed to use gained
knowledge in work practice.
MAIN BODY
Explore the origin of organizational development and mention theories or principle associated
with organizational development
Organisational development is an approach which has emerged within last 50 years.
Organizational development allows a company to sustain and formulate a desired working
condition so that their overall productivity can enhance. Kurt Lewin is considered as father of
OD and he came forward with the idea of action research and group dynamics (Bolden, 2016).
As per Lewin, organisational development is based on proper planning, taking actions and
measurement of results. Here, organisational development will be considered in context to New
London Cafe. As concerned restaurant operates in local manner, it is essential for them to
develop their organisation on regular basis so that tough competition can be given to the rivals.
Humanistic value of organisational development
There are some humanistic values associated with OD. In context with New London Cafe
these core values are mentioned below:
 Offering opportunities to persons to function as a human rather than a resource or
material within productive process.
 OD benefits in enhancing effectiveness of a business in terms of objectives and goals.
Theoretical origin of organisational development
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Ideas of learning theory
Learning theory mentions the manner in which an individual can process, absorb and
retain knowledge while learning. Basically, there are four learning theories i.e. behavioural
analysis, cognitivism, constructivism and transformative learning theory. All of these theories
have different features and conditions but their end goal is to provide sufficient knowledge to an
individual to assure their and organisational developing (Bystrom, 2017).
Organisational learning
Organisational learning is a procedure to retain, create and transfer knowledge in a
company. A business firm gains improvement in time as they gain experiences. This
improvement leads to development of a company. Main models associated with organisational
learning are Muth Model, Huberman model and Fang model.
Theories of organisational development
From past some time, there are multiple theories of organisational development which are
given by different researcher. Some of these theories are Equilibrium theory which is given by
Kurt Lewin, Transformational and Transactional leadership model established by Litwin and
Burke, system theory given by Ludwig Von Bertalanffy.
Models associated with organisational development
There are various kind of models which are associated with organisational development.
These models allows a company to initiate and incorporate right change in their company so that
organisational development can take place appropriately (Chowdhury, 2019). In case of small
level business firms, main model of organisational development are mentioned below:
 Kurt Lewin's unfreezing, refreezing and changing model
 Leavitt's system model
 Greiner's Equential model
All of the above mentioned model and theories are associated with organisational
development and allows an organisation to achieve high profits and productivity by carrying
some changes in organisational working.
Analysis of main principles and theories for organizational developing
As mentioned above there are different kind of theories and models for organisational
development. These models and theories are very different from each other and infers different
results. In context with New London Cafe which is a Local cafe in London, UK, it is essential for
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manager to analyse some of these theories and principles so that organisational development can
take place properly. To develop their company, cafe is initiating home deliveries by online
ordering. In this context, some models and theories of OD are analysed below:
Lewin's change model of organisational development
This model depicts that in order to attain organisational development, manager of
company is needed to formulate some change. Lewin mentioned some steps so that change can
take place systematically. This model will help New London Cafe in implementing required
change properly so that organisational development can take place appropriately.
 Unfreezing: This is the first stage in which manager of New London Cafe will teach
their employees that initiated change is important to achieve high development.
 Change: At this stage, change will be implemented and online services of New London
Cafe for their customers will be started. In this phase, employees of cafe will face issue as
their workload will increase and some employees will resist the change (Dealtry, 2017).
 Refreezing: This is the last stage in which change will be implemented properly within
New London Cafe and employees have accepted the change. Now, the organisation will
refreeze and all the activities of company will be performed again without any delay.
Also, new services of online deliverer will also came into practice in this stage. This will
benefits the firm in earning more sales and revenues due to which development of
organisation will take place considerably.
System theory of organisational development
This theory is given by Bertalanffy and initiated by organisational firms in late 1960's.
This is basically an approach which allows in systematic study of systems. In case of
organisations, system is cohesive conglomeration of interdependent and interrelated parts which
are either human made or natural. In this theory, New London Cafe organisation will be
considered as a system which can be either open or close. System is set of distinct elements
which interact to develop an organisation as per expectations. If a company has close system,
then that company is resistant towards change and organisational development. If system of an
organisation is open then this means they appreciated organisational changes and development.
In case of New London Cafe, system of company is open which shows their support towards
organisational development. Due to this, employees will easily accept the change of providing
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home deliveries. Due to this, organisational development will be positive for company
(Edmonstone, 2018).
Reflect how knowledge and skills achieved during this project can be implemented into work
practice
By working on this project, I have learned different kind of information, knowledge and
skills. I have learnt that to increase the productivity of a company, organisational change and
development is important. In this context, there are different kind of models, theories and
principles which can be used by manager of a company. I acknowledged that values of OD It
provides opportunities for organisation member and workplace so that full working potential can
be gained. These learning concepts and knowledge can be incorporated in workplace practice by
providing training to the workforce. By this, employees will be able to learn new concepts and
needs for change. This will helps them in acknowledging benefits due to adopting change. By
this, they will feel motivated and knowledge gained by me while working on this project will be
implemented into organisational work practice.
CONCLUSION
As per this assignment, it can be concluded that organisational learning is an essential
part for organisational development. Main characteristics of OD are that it has a planned
structure and it is managed via top management. This helps a business firm in enhancing
organisational efficiency and interventions in process of company through behavioural science
knowledge. By this, achieving high growth and success became easier for a business firm.
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PART C
INTRODUCTION
Organisational development is basically a systematic application associated with
behaviour science & knowledge for planned developing and reinforcing of organisational
processes, structure and strategies so that overall effectiveness of a company can be improved
(Gerhard and Simon, 2018). This project is based on New London Cafe, a UK based local cafe.
This assignment report will mention about project approaches, purpose, summary and objectives.
Relation in OD activity and change management will be discussed. Also, information and data
about stakeholders, project design and techniques of project evaluation or monitoring will be
discussed.
MAIN BODY
Discuss project summary and purpose including project objectives and change context
This project is based on New London Cafe. This cafe is going to start online deliveries at
home. To implement this change properly, a project is initiated by manager of concerned
restaurant. Purpose of this project is to initiate change in New London Cafe so that organisational
development can take place appropriately. Main objectives of this project are stated below:
 To create a mobile application so that customers can order food and beverages
comfortably.
 To hire seven new employees for delivery purpose.
Mention main aspects for organizational change and explain link between change management
and OD activity
Main aspects of organisational change is meeting and exceeding expectations for change
so that needed modifications in an organisation can be implemented properly. From this
organisational development programme, manager of New London Cafe has expectations that
their sales and revenues will exceptionally increase due to which profitability will also rise.
Relationship between organisational development and change is quite complex. Both, OD and
change management focus on human dynamics in organisations and recognise nature of
individual workforce (Gray and Jones, 2016). This will help New London Cafe in improving
their ROI, organisational effectiveness and strategic imperatives.
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Summary of chosen approach for change management and describe three tools along with their
use and appropriation
There are various approaches for change management like Kottler's approach, Lewin's
approach to change etc. All of these approaches helps in implementing desired change in an
appropriate manner. In this project, selected approach for change management is Lewin's change
model. This model define that there are three levels to implement a change. In this level,
organisational setting is unfreeze and employees are told the benefits of change. In second stage
change is implemented and in third stage it is adopted properly so that a New London Cafe can
work smoothly. Three tools which are used by manager of New London Cafe for change
management are discussed below:
 Interviews: It is a good way to gather reliable and accurate information. This tool will
help manager in New London Cafe collecting proper information about their project
(Hale, Norgate and Traeger, 2018).
 Focus group: It brings small section of individuals together. These people will share
their expectation, experience, opinion and preference with project manager about the
project so that activities can be performed appropriately.
 Survey: This is a research method which helps in analysing and collecting information.
Here, manager of cafe will ask questions to their customers about the idea of new online
service to collect their opinion and response.
All of these tools and approach are appropriate as it helps the manager of cafe to collect
important information related with their project. This will helps in bringing right kind of change
so that high advantage can be achieved.
Identification of stakeholders along with their roles in project context
Stakeholders are those person which have some interest in the working of an
organisation. Different stakeholders for the project of New London Cafe are mentioned below:
 Owner: Role of this stakeholder is to manage cost and finances of project and motivating
employees in proper manner so that overall budget of concerned cafe do not get disrupted
(Heystek, 2016).
 Employees: Their main role is to help the project manager in accomplishing the project
in timely manner by helping them in project activities like recruiting employees for
delivery purpose.
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 Customers: These stakeholders have the role to decide if the project activities are
satisfactory or not. For example, customers can use mobile application of cafe and tell
their opinion about application to the manager.
 Manager: This stakeholder for the project have the responsibility to implement project
activities according to the requirements so that organisational development can take place
properly.
Description for project design
Project design is considered as one of the main responsibility for a project manager. In
this project stage, right way to govern a project are decided (Leiber, 2019). In case of project
related to New London cafe, there are different stages for project design which are mentioned
below:
 Vision of project: Main vision of the project is to develop organisational working of
New London cafe so that they can earn high sales and profits.
 Problem of project: Major problem with this project is resistance of employees as they
fear that introducing online service will increase their work considerably.
 Resources: Basic resources available to work on this project are capital, technology,
workers, transportation vehicles etc.
 Goals of project: Goal of project is to develop an appropriate mobile application and
hire employees for order delivery to develop their organisational business (Nathan,
2018).
 Project strategy: Project manager in New London cafe can adopt strategies like setting
clear expectations, defining milestones, formulating clear communication etc. By this,
work of project will be proceed productively.
 Project budget: Estimated budget for this project is 3000 pounds. It is important for
manager to accomplish all the work within this amount so that no contingency can be
faced by organisation in terms of finances and capital.
Discuss competencies for stakeholder involvement associated with concerned project
There exist different competencies which must be possessed by the stakeholders of the
project so that all the project related work can be performed systematically and efficiently. In
case of New London cafe, competencies of stakeholders are stated below:
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 Owner: Main competencies which must be included by owner are interpersonal skills,
resilience, problem solving capability, decisiveness, guiding and motivating workforce
(O'Donnell, 2016).
 Employees: Competencies for workers are creative, honest, continuous learner, technical
credible, influencer etc.
 Customer: Negotiating, opinion sharing, verbal communication, strategic thinking are
the main competencies which must be possessed by these stakeholders.
 Manager: These stakeholders must include competencies like leading project, financial
management, leveraging diversity, Human capital management, customer service etc.
Project evaluation and monitoring
It is important to evaluate the project and its activities on timely basis so that required
modifications in project can be achieved properly. In case of New London Cafe, manager can
use benchmarking technique to evaluate and monitor their performance. In this context, they can
compare their project activities and effectiveness with the projects initiated by other companies
of same field (Roblek and Meško, 2018). This will help them in adopting those choices which
are highly beneficial for their business. By tracking activities on continuous basis, strategies for
project can be changed by acknowledging the opinion of market leaders and their ways to
accomplish project. In order to monitor and evaluate each activity, whether completed in defined
manner or not, managers of New London Cafe will use Gantt Chart technique, that will help in
determining the time required to complete each task, including duration taken after completion.
Through this process, where time has taken more by project makers can be evaluated, with
exploration of reasons that arise barriers in completion of same in set period. This would help in
developing strategies to complete future projects in more effective way. Therefore, for evaluating
and monitoring project deliverables, following Gantt Chart has been made –
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Reflect upon the way through which skills and knowledge gained in this project is used in
working practice
While working on this project I have learned different knowledge and skills linked with
project design, project management, competencies of stakeholders, change management and
organisational change. I have observed that project design include different aspects that benefits
in performing project activities systematically. Also, competencies of stakeholders helps in
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defining their working potential and contribution in project. If change will not be implemented
desirably, it is not possible for an organisation to get developed and earned expected results. I
have applied tools like focus group, interviews and surveys to collect information about project.
This helps me in getting reliable information. I have learned and designed project design
framework due to which project is accomplished in efficient manner.
CONCLUSION
As per this business report, it can be said that organisational development is possible
when changes will be frequent in a company. By this, varying needs of consumers can be
fulfilled in appropriate manner and high revenues can be earned. Main tools to work on a project
are surveys, interviews and questionnaires. With the help of Lewin change model, appropriate
change can be introduced in company so that expected outcomes can be gained advantageously.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Arumugam, S., 2017. Cosmogenesis and organisational development. HR Future. 2017(Oct
2017). pp.26-27.
Bolden, R., 2016. Leadership, management and organisational development. In Gower handbook
of leadership and management development (pp. 143-158). Routledge.
Bystrom, J., 2017. Thinking queerly about narrative-informed organisational
development. International Journal of Narrative Therapy & Community Work. (3).
p.60.
Chowdhury, R., 2019. Organisational Development. In Systems Thinking for Management
Consultants (pp. 457-484). Springer, Singapore.
Dealtry, R., 2017. The Future of Corporate Universities: How Your Company Can Benefit from
Value and Performance-Driven Organisational Development. Emerald Publishing
Limited.
Edmonstone, J. D., 2018. Organisational learning. Leadership in Health Services. 31(4). pp.434-
440.
Gerhard, W. and Simon, F., 2018. A group analytic view of organisational development. In How
to be a Good Enough GP(pp. 165-178). CRC Press.
Gray, D. and Jones, K. F., 2016. Using organisational development and learning methods to
develop resilience for sustainable futures with SMEs and micro businesses: The case of
the “business alliance”. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development. 23(2).
pp.474-494.
Hale, R., Norgate, C. and Traeger, J., 2018. From nurturing the H in HR to developing the D in
OD–systemic benefits where action learning and organisational development combine.
Action Learning: Research and Practice. 15(2). pp.154-167.
Heystek, J., 2016. Educational leadership and organisational development and change in a
developing country. South African Journal of Education. 36(4). pp.1-2.
Leiber, T., 2019. Organisational Development Related to Performance Data Management in
Learning and Teaching.
Nathan, M. L., 2018. 'Keeper of the fire': human resource management's role in the
organisational development of an employee sustainability mindset. International
Journal of Sustainable Strategic Management. 6(1). pp.38-55.
O'Donnell, V. L., 2016. Organisational change and development towards inclusive higher
education. Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education. 8(1). pp.101-118.
Roblek, V. and Meško, M., 2018. The importance of vision and mission for organisational
development and growth.
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