Organization Development and Change in a Police Department

Download or read book Organization Development and Change in a Police Department written by Karel A. Swanson and published by . This book was released on 1977 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The problem discussed in this project is: How can the organizational structure and behavior of a police organization be changed to increase its effectiveness, to fully utilize its resources, to satisfy and motivate its members, and to provide a humanistically oriented service to the community? The premise is: Organization development is an effective tool to design and implement change in order to improve the organizational effectiveness of a municipal police agency. The objective of the study is to develop a better understanding of the effects of an organization development process in order to assist in the development of role models which will be meaningful and useful to managers who are seeking ways to improve the effectiveness of their organizations. It is an experiential analysis based primarily upon observation, utilizing a, " ... process oriented, qualitative, and historical approach ..." It is an attempt to respond to the call for, " ... improved paradigms and models of the change process ..." The study discusses theoretical considerations on organization change and organization development as a change process. It analyses the application of an OD process in the Walnut Creek Police Department over a period of fifteen months. It concludes that the premise is correct in this instance, that organization development is an effective tool to improve organizational effectiveness in a municipal police agency, that its emphasis on involvement is the key to its effectiveness, and that it provides the basis for developing system competence and group effectiveness necessary to maintain organizational relevance.