Page 166 - DMGT520_ORGANIZATION_CHANGE_AND_DEVELOPMENT

Unit 11: Implementation and Assessment of OD

Notes
manager (which cost him $50 under the table to the catering manager), getting the party
cost down to within $100 of the estimated tab, and by the time the party was over (2:30 in
the morning), Gene was really beat. It will be good to get home, he thought.
The Aftermath

Gene came in about 11 o’clock the next day, and after finishing up the paperwork from the
morning’s mail, went to lunch. Something has to give around here, he thought. His secretary,
Doris Mills, could see the consternation on his face as they sat down at the table.
“Are those two going at it again?” she asked when he finally came back to earth.
“If you mean Dick and Donna, yes,” he replied, “I’ve just got to do something with them.
I’ve never had two more capable people running those branches, and I don’t think they’ve
ever had a more capable staff but this constant fighting between them just has to stop or
I’m going to have to get rid of somebody, and I really wouldn’t like to do that. Especially
with that kind of talent. Even Mr. Gamble has kind of joked around the fact that the
competition must be fierce in the PR business!” Gene looked thoughtfully at Doris. “Have
you heard anything from Joann Stone?”
“Not about the bickering between Dick and Donna,” replied Doris. “And if anything was
wrong at the party, it never got passed down through the grapevine.”
“Well, that’s something,” sighed Gene. “The fifty bucks I slipped to that jerk at the hotel to
fix up the bill can at least be taken care of on the expense account. I’ll call it incidental
expenses or something.” How lucky I am to have an efficient, competent secretary, who
keeps her eyes and ears open and her mouth shut. I think she’s about due for a raise,
thought Gene as they ordered.
The Problem

Later that afternoon, in the privacy of his office, Gene reviewed the problems with his
staff: Dick, Ginny, Judy and Sharon in Chemical PR, and Donna, Cheryl, Norm, Ev, and Joe
in Mechanical. ‘We have the business and the budget to need that many people; the boss
seems pleased with what we do; good, sharp people, every one of them, and yet a hell lot
of a fighting between the two branches. So far the staff under Dick and Donna haven’t
taken up the battle flags, but if I don’t do something pretty soon, even that could happen,’
thought Gene. ‘And the chemical-mechanical split suggested by Mr. Gamble, even though
it’s not working, as it should, is out of my hands. Isn’t it?’ worried Gene, as he reviewed the
backgrounds of the respective branch leaders. ‘Something’s wrong here, but what?’ he
wondered. ‘Maybe it’s the technical breakdown, maybe we’re not definite enough about
which branch should work with which companies. And that fiasco last night – why did
Dick come roaring in and try to take over when I thought I had made it pretty clear that
Donna and her staff were to run that show? My orders were pretty clear,’ thought Gene, as
he tried to assure his nagging conscience that he was doing a good job directing the PR
efforts in the western region.
‘Good grief, I need a referee!’ thought Gene as he reviewed seven cases in the last 6 months
in which he had to intervene between Dick and Donna. ‘Maybe I should try to trade one of
them for Bob Lyons at the central region office at St. Louis’, he mused, still feeling that he
was, somehow, responsible for the situation.

11.10 Summary

The unit has discussed in details the implementation and assessment of the OD interventions.
OD interventions are institutionalized when the change program persist and become part of the

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