A631.7.4.RB - Future of OD

The future of OD is promising and bright. The claim that OD is simply a fad and will fade away after a short period of time is ridiculous, in my opinion. The development of organizations is as dynamic as every organization in existence. Organizations have so many different attributes, cultures, employees, motivators, goals, etc., that it’s hard to say that every developmental tool established will solve the problems of every organization out there, especially those yet to come. OD is dynamic in the sense that as these organizations change, so will the tools, programs, techniques, and objectives of the OD field for organizations.

For example, our organization established a middle management structure in our building that helped deal with the number of employees each manager was leading, and also to help with the culture and to help with relationship-building among leadership and their teams. This worked for the past five years, but as the competition in the retail industry became more fierce, we had to devise a way in which we met our objectives and remained relevant in the industry by saving money and delivering products to the stores that everyone would like. We recently changed our middle management structure again to meet these new objectives, and it’s a program that has a similar layout as those introduced to me throughout the two courses with ERAU. Why did we change? Because we had to, because the retail industry is dynamic and ever changing and the techniques and tools used five years ago would not have worked now, with every factor taken into account.

So, if you ask me, the field of OD is just warming up. As new technology emerges and industries become more competitive and organizations are looked upon to satisfy more employees and on a larger scale, the new techniques and programs of organizational development will be present. Organizations will never stop developing themselves to be better than they were the day before. We see it in current organizations and we will continue to see it, whether it be saving money, building a better culture, improving morale, improving performance, or developing a better product. This is a dynamic and promising field with a very positive future.