The Case of OD in an NGO in India

This organizational development exercise was carried out in a prominent NGO that works in the area of rights and advocacy in the state of Jharkand in India. The OD exercise was part of the Applied Behavioral Science course of the first author’s graduate program which required the application of behavioral science theory to a live organization under the supervision of her guide, the second author. The intervention proved to be quite an educative one, both because it was in the developmental sector posing a different set of challenges than conventional organizations and also because the organization itself was in a state of flux at the time of the intervention. The entire exercise was spread over a period of four months. This paper discusses some of the issues and improvement areas that emerged through interviews with senior management and also reflections on some of the key lessons learnt during the process of intervention, with implications for OD in developmental organizations.