The age
of technological revolution, communication and transportation
is helping to redefine the meaning of geography, distance, regions
and culture. Formerly separate societies are now rapidly evolving
into a multi-cultural, complex. The challenges to the study and
practice of Organizational Development are manifold.
The tools of OD were formerly associated with Western philosophy
and were employed in Western societies. Today this is no longer
true as new social situations give rise to revolutionary theories,
contexts and forms of intervention. Professionals in OD need to
track, describe, synthesize and respond. The theories and instruments
in our profession will be profoundly altered by these changes
as we witness cultural trans-migration and as societies merge
into a more homogeneous global culture. So, what’s next!
The challenge for organizations is to be sustainable and successful
in adapting to a dynamic environment. Organizations need to focus
not only economic performance, but also social responsibility
and ecological concerns of environment. This is the Triple-Bottom-Line
approach of its strategy.
Finding OD instruments to identify current Asian values, beliefs,
and norms is a daunting task. These must be transformed into a
useful and acceptable for examining societies with very different
histories and trajectories from their western counterparts. The
change agents in OD can then compare and contrast them with appropriate
Western OD theories to improve the effectiveness of organizations
in Asia. It is definitely a moving target as Asian managers themselves
are changing as they assimilate Western management knowledge and
merge it local culture to fit their current context. It is our
hope that when Western OD engages Eastern culture, a new synergy
will occur that will inspire and support the most useful and societal
uplifting practices from the other, and converts weaknesses to
strengths.
Such are the reasons you should attend Asia Global OD Summit so
that you can participate in developing the “sustainable
change to enhance the Triple-Bottom-Line.” Be a member of
Asia OD Network so that you can help to define the new meaning
of “Think Global and act locally”.
Lee Lu
