Design Science and Organization Development Interventions

Abstract

This article discusses a design science approach to organizational development (OD) resulting in some new perspectives about how OD interventions might support more effective organizational change. These relate to the way in which the formal organization is redesigned, the way this design is translated by the members of the organization into their own roles and routines, and the way in which subsequent organizational learning produces the intended performance improvement. The background, nature, and characteristics of design science and design science research are discussed, and using a design science perspective, a process model of planned change projects is presented. Drawing on a case in planned change, it is argued that a design science perspective can provide a powerful combination of the original strengths of OD in human behavior and planned change based on humanistic values on one hand and design competencies involving both humanistic and business values on the other.