1st Edition

Bottom-Line Organization Development

By Merrill Anderson Copyright 2003

    Organization development practitioners have, for over half a century, engaged with organizations to help them grow and thrive. The artful application of Organization Development (OD) has helped business leaders articulate vision, rethink business processes, create more fluid organization structures and better utilize people's talents. While business leaders and OD practitioners intuitively believe that OD provides valuable results, rigorous measurement of the value delivered has long eluded many OD practitioners.

    'Bottom-Line Organization Development' provides powerful tools to capture and measure the financial return on investment (ROI) of OD projects to the business. Given the increasing competition for budget and resources within organizations and the requirements of demonstrating tangible results, the need for such OD measurement tools is very high.

    But in addition to proving the value of OD projects, integrating evaluation into the change management process itself can actually increase the value of the change initiative because it opens up new ways of capturing and increasing the value of change initiatives. In other words, there is an ROI to ROI. Merrill Anderson calls this new way of approaching OD "strategic change valuation."

    The book explains the five steps in the OD value process - diagnosis, design, deployment, evaluation and reflection. In addition, three case studies take readers through the process of applying bottom-line OD to three types of popular strategic change initiatives: executive coaching, organization capability, and knowledge management. Readers will gain a holistic perspective of how to make the seemingly intangible benefits of these initiatives tangible.

    Table of Contents


    Acknowledgements

    Foreword

    Preface

    Introduction

    1 Introduction to Bottom-Line OD

    Flavor of the Month Approaches to Change
    Bottom-Line OD: Breaking the Mold
    How This Book is Organized
    Maximizing Value With Bottom-Line OD


    Section One: Strategic Change Valuation

    2 Strategic Change Valuation: The Five-Phase Process

    Phase 1: Diagnosis
    Phase 2: Design
    Phase 3: Development
    Phase 4: Deployment
    Phase 5: Reflection

    3 Diagnose Performance Gaps to Achieve Business Goals

    Building the Client - Consultant Relationship
    Linking Performance Improvement to Achieving Business Goals
    Developing a Winning Business Case

    4 Design the Solution to Achieve Strategic Change Objectives

    Organizing a Change Coalition
    Designing the Strategic Initiative
    Writing the Statement of Work

    5 Develop a Change Plan With Evaluation Objectives

    Change Management and Evaluation: Opening Doors to Understanding
    Elements of an Effective Change Plan
    Elements of an Effective Evaluation Plan
    Isolating the Effects of the Initiative
    The Focus of Evaluation: Judgment, Not Numbers

    6 Deploy the Strategic Change Initiative and Evaluate Progress

    Value-Based Deployment: Integrating Evaluation and Change
    Mastering the Mechanics of Evaluation
    Maximizing the Value of Pilots

    7 Reflect upon the Business Impact Utilizing Post-Initiative Evaluations

    Separating Hard From Soft Data
    Converting Benefits to Monetary Value
    Qualifying the Monetary Benefits
    Tabulating the Costs of the Initiative
    Calculating the Return on Investment
    Leveraging Strategic Insights


    Section Two: Special Issues

    8 Forecasting ROI

    The Business Context of Forecasting ROI for Strategic Change
    Requirements for Forecasting
    The Timing of ROI Forecasts
    Phase 1 Forecast: Should We Invest in the Change Initiative?
    Phase 3 Forecast: Should We Proceed With Full Deployment?
    Case Study: Forecasting ROI at Braxton Bulldozers
    What Happens if the ROI Forecast is Negative?
    Benefits of the ROI Forecast

    9 Tricks of the Trade: Using Surveys to Collect ROI Data

    Why is Survey Research Essential For ROI Analysis?
    What are the Limitations of Survey Research For ROI Analysis?
    What is the Fastest, Easiest Way to Use Surveys to Isolate the Effects of the Initiative?
    How Can Response Rates Be Increased?
    What are the Essential Elements of ROI Questionnaire Construction?

    10 ROI on the Fly: Evaluating an Initiative After Its Deployed

    What To Do When Your CEO Asks: What Have You Done For Me Lately?
    Case Study: Conducting a Post-Program Analysis at Power Systems, NA
    Frequently Asked Questions


    Section Three: Case Studies in the Evaluation of Strategic Change

    11 Executive Coaching: The ROI of Building Leadership One Executive at a Time

    Introduction
    Data Collection Procedures
    Profile of the Respondents and Initiation of Coaching
    Level 1: Initial Reaction of the Clients to Their Coaching
    Level 2: What Clients Learned From Coaching
    Level 3: How Clients Applied What They Learned
    Level 4: The Business Impact of Coaching
    Level 5: Return on Investment
    Summary of Intangible Benefits
    Recommendations for Leveraging Coaching
    Conclusion


    12 Organization Capability: The ROI of Aligning an Organization to Strategy

    Introduction
    Diagnosis and Design: The Change Process Begins
    Development: Aligning the Organization to Strategy
    Deployment: Transformational Change at Logistics Services
    Reflection: Evaluating the ROI of Strategic Change

    13 Knowledge Management: The ROI of Continuously Leveraging Knowledge

    Overview
    Diagnosis: Understanding the Need for Knowledge Management
    Deployment and Evaluation
    Reflection and Improvement Opportunities

    Conclusion

    14 Preparing the Partners to Dance: How Leaders and Change Practitioners Work Together to Create Strategic Value

    Earning a Seat at the Table
    The Values of Bottom-Line OD


    Further Reading

    List of Tables and Figures

    Index

    About the Author

    Biography

    Merrill C. Anderson