Operation KPE: Developing a New Organization

Abstract

Although behavioural science concepts and consultants are being utilized with increasing impact in many organizations, no work, to the authors' knowledge, has been done with a virtually new organization. This paper describes a programme of organizational development in a new company. As a framework for the programme, three key problem areas were initially diagnosed as important for the future growth of the organization: (a) individual problems of identity, future security, and alienation; (b) a group-level problem of developing interdependence within the top management team; and (c) organizational issues associated with policy formulation and adaptation to the environment. The behavioural science concept of organizational role was applied to the problem of interdependence in evolving a new method of group development-The Role Analysis Technique (RAT). The paper concludes with a discussion of three general issues which affect the future growth of the new organization: (a) the importance of developing concurrently at individual, group, and organizational levels; (b) the importance of evolving a norm of selfconsciousness about processes of growth; and (c) the dual relevance of differentiation and integration for effective organization development.