Organisational Development

Organisational development (OD) is a planned, organisation-wide effort to increase an organisation's effectiveness and viability. Warren Bennis has referred to OD as, "a response to change, a complex educational strategy intended to change the beliefs, attitudes, values, and structure of an organization so that it can better adapt to new technologies, markets, challenges, and the dizzying rate of change itself". OD is neither "anything done to better an organization" nor is it "the training function of the organization"; it is a particular kind of change process designed to bring about a specific end result. (Wikipedia).

At the University of Waikato organisational development might better be described as a planned, complex, organisation-wide educational strategy to ensure coherence around the beliefs, values, attitudes, purpose and structure of the University to enable it to maintain the strong identity which has developed over five decades so that it can better adapt to a rapidly changing environment.

The University's core underlying values have always been a concern for people and partnership with Māori as embodied in its motto Ko te tangata. We are a university for the people of New Zealand, operating in a unique New Zealand way within an international context. Our academic accomplishments receive international recognition and we enable our students to function as global citizens. We strive to provide staff and students a unique Waikato Experience where holistic teaching and learning, underpinned by rigorous, high-quality research is our core business.