Chapter 9 discusses Organization Development (OD) and Sense-Making Approaches. OD is the practice of planned, systemic change in the beliefs, attitudes and values of employees for individual and company growth. The purpose of OD is to enable an organization to better respond and adapt to industry/market changes and technological advances. In todays post we will focus on five benefits of OD from continuous improvement to increased profits.

*Continuous improvement: Companies that engage in organizational development commit to continually improving their business and offerings.

*Increased communication:One of the key advantages to OD is increased communication, feedback and interaction within the organization. The goal of improving communication is to align all employees to shared company goals and values.

*Employee development:Organizational development focuses on increased communication to influence employees to bring about desired changes. The need for employee development stems from constant industry and market changes.

*Product & service enhancement:A major benefit of OD is innovation, which leads to product and service enhancement. Innovation is achieved through employee development, which focuses on rewarding successes and boosting motivation and morale.

*Increased profit:Organizational development affects the bottom line in a variety of ways. Through raised innovation and productivity, efficiency and profits are increased. Costs are also reduced by minimizing employee turnover and absenteeism. Instructions:

---Pick one of the above listed benefits and give your thoughts as to why this would be a benefit to the improved OD for a company. Be sure your response is thorough and complete, includes two paragraphs of at least 3 sentences.