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The Banyan Tree: Volume II - Bringing Change
Health Care System Applications
Over a period of 10 years (1973-84) OD was used as a major means to bring about change in hospitals by the Health Care Administration Education (HCAE) team at the Voluntary Helth Association of India (VHAI).
OD concepts were also applied at the level of socio-religious congregations and groups who were involved in hospital based or curative health care by and large (see Table 4).
Table 1
OD Intervemntions Classified by Two Independent Dimensions :
Individual - Group and Task - Process
| Tasks
vs processes |
Individual vs Groups
Dimension |
| Focus
on Task Issues |
Focus on the Individual |
Focus on the Group |
| |
Role analysis technique Education :
technical skill also decision making, problem
solving, goal setting, and planning |
Technostructural changes Survey
feedback Confrontation meeting |
| |
Career planning
Grid phase 1 |
Team-building sessions
Intergroup activities Grid OD phases 2,3 |
| |
Some forms of job enrichment and
management by objectives (MBO) |
Some forms of socio-technical
systems |
| Focus
on Process Issues |
Life Planning |
Survey feedback |
| |
Process consultation with coaching
and counseling of individuals. |
Team-building sessions Intergroup
activities |
| |
Education : group dynamics, planned
change |
Process consultation Family T-group |
| |
Stranger T-group |
Grid OD phases 2,3 |
| |
Third party peacemaking |
Gestalt OD |
| |
Gridphase 1 Gestalt OD Transactional
analysis |
|
|
Source : Wendell L. French.
Organisation Development (new Delhi,
:Prentice - Hall, India, 1983). |
Table 2
Intervention Typology Based on Principal Emphasis of Intervention
in Relation to Different Hypothesized Change Mechanisms
|
Hypothesized Change
Mechanism |
Interventions Based
Primarily on the Change Mechanism |
|
Feedback |
Survey feedback
T-group
Process consultation
Organisation mirroring
Grid OD instruments
Gestalt OD |
|
Awareness of Changing or
Dysfunctional Sociocultural Norms |
Team-building
T-group
Inter group interface sessions
First three Phases of Grid OD |
|
Increased Interaction and
Communication |
Survey feedback
Inter group interface sessions
Third-party peacemaking
Organisational mirroring
Some forms of management by objectives
Team building
Technostructural changes
Sociotechnical systems |
|
Confrontation and Working for
Resolution of Differences |
Third-party peacemaking
Intergroup interface sessions
Coaching and counselling individuals
Confrontation meetings
Collateral orgnisations
Organisational mirroring
Gestalt OD |
Education Through
(1) New Knowledge
(2) Skill practice: |
Career and life planning
Team building
Goal setting, decision making, problem solving
planning activities
T Group
Process consultation
Transactional analysis |
| Source
: Ibid |
Table 3
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Summary of OD Interventions by the HCAE Team
- Personnel
Department is set up and functioning with
statutory policies and procedures and a
personnel manager. (None existed before.
There was little concept of statutory
obligations given given the nature of
voluntary hospitl histories).
- Billing
Department : Controls introduced.
Collections toned up.
- Accounts
Department: Financial controls, and
better, and better costing management.
- Pharmacy:
Improved by functioning pharmacy and
therapeutics committee, setting up of
hospital formulary, getting unit dose up,
controlling durg leakage, etc.
- OPD:
Reorganization for easier patient flow
and mutual communication.
- Medical
Records: Reorganisation for better and
relevant information. (No organised
patient records existed before in many
cases).
- Maintenance :
Preventive maintenance programmes,
short-term, long-term training programmes
for health equipment maintenance.
- Inventory
systems and procedures set up throughout
the institution.
- Nursing :
Training for new roles and team building.
Workload studies.
- Manpower
Requirement Studies.
- Top Team
Management : Training for new roles, team
building, role analysis negotiations.
- Goals,
Mission : Clarification of long and short
term goals, and of philosophy;
socio-political analysis.
- Conflict
resolution, process interventions, peace
making.
- Communication
systems: Organization Development Cells,
Departmental Head Meetings, Joint
Department meetings, efforts towards more
participatory management.
- Governing
Board : Value clarification, functional
meetings, organizational restructuring
and simplification.
- Personal
Growth : Growth groups, team building
exercises, etc.
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Table 3 : Phases in Health Care Systems Change
|
Supporting Processes |
Governing Board Level |
|
|
|
|
| |
Pain in the organisation
Need for change experienced
Environmental pressures
Decision to improve management |
Decision to seek external help |
Clarification of philosophy and
objectives
Active role in supporting changes
Self education in hospital and related matters
Linkage with external resources |
Support and reinforcement and
objectives
Stock taking
Review
Long range planning |
Power shared
Community represented on governing board |
| |
Top Management Level
-Decision to send key personnel for training |
Interest in problem identification
Providing accessibility of data
Openness to feedback
Good communication and support |
Readiness for change
Setting aside resources for implementation
Commitment to goal
Flexibility to try new behaviour |
Confidence in own resources
-Trust, support and openness increased
Risk taking |
Higher self esteem
Pride in accomplishment
Creativity |
|
Growth Phases : |
(1)
Personal Growth |
(2)
Personal Growth |
(3)
Interpersonal Growth |
(4)
Organizational Growth |
(5)
Community Growth |
|
OD Phase |
Entry: |
Diagnosis |
Implementation |
Termination |
Self- Reviewing |
|
Intervention |
change in individual management
style
application of management techniques at
department level
Personal change |
internal-external team problem
analysis
setting up action plans
agreement on norms of client consultant
relationship |
improvement in top management team
work
Systems changes accounting, personnel materials,
etc
change of leader style
creation of new functions |
Change in organization climate
-owning of change
Positive attitude towards innovation particularly
at the top |
OD cell continues growth and
diversification to cope relevantly with
environment
Better service at lower cost
Community participation and involvement |
|
Relevant Inputs |
Organizational diagnostic
study, TA and Psychotherapy, |
|
|
|
| |
Lab methods
.............................................................................................................. |
| |
|
Role
Analysis Technique, conflict resolution, problem
solving, budgeting control systems, performance
review,
etc.............................................
Planning, goal setting, job redesign, cost
accounting, etc..................... |
Source
: Carol Huss. An Approach to Health Care
System Change.
(VHAI, New Delhi, 1975). |
We began with an initial visit to assess readiness of the staff to be involved in such an OD effort, outlining plans and setting dates for the initial diagnostic study (which preceded such OD efforts). We would identify perssons within the organisations who would be involved in the study, and speak withthem. Then our external team would come nd work with an internal team to conduct the organizational diagnositc study. Depending on the size of the hospital, we would set the time, but usually would complete the study in a week. On the last day we would give a report to the top management, and in some hospitls, to all the staff. We had a wide range of reactions - ranging from violent rejection of us and our work, to fullscale acceptance and working through to achieve set goals. In several cases we advised closure. One hospitals did close, and after an interval of 10 years, was again reopened, with high level professionalisation, a long list of specialists,and an alarming deficit which is snowballing.
Most hospitals did improve after the study, sometimes with our help, and sometimes their own.
Examples of results of such improvements ranged from systems and procedures to decision making processes, and structural reorganisations. We ensumerate in brief in Table 3.
There are published 1-3 and unpublished studies 4 and reports 5 of these efforts (a few of the latter are accessible withthe authors).
One case study is given in Appendix 1 as an illustration.
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