External Assessment: Analyzing the Performance of an Organization Report (Assessment)

Introduction

Organisational development is a science-based, complex and extremely essential process that assists companies and firms in enhancing their capacity to achieve higher efficiency by reinforcing, developing or improving their specific processes, strategies and structures. When an organisation requires an in-depth assessment of its potential and effectiveness, various management models, namely, McKinsey 7S Framework, Galbraith Star Model and Weisbord Six Box Model may be of great help. Moreover, almost in every business, there are specific situations when an opinion and help from a neutral third party is required to gather necessary information regarding the company’s performance. In these cases, organisations may use the services of an external consultant (McCardell, 2018).

Such a non-biased company or person may evaluate all needed factors without allowing prior knowledge or personal feelings get involved and interfere with the assessment task, which ensures a more exact result. The purpose of this paper is to explore the existing evaluation methods and techniques that may be used by an external specialist to analyse the performance of an organisation, as well as discuss different organisational tools.

External Evaluation Methods

Almost every company may face difficulty in achieving its goals and high performance. Thus, sometimes it is necessary to analyse the situation and working environment in order to find weaknesses and areas to improve. Instead of doing it themselves, organisations may choose to hire an external consultant – a person or a company helping businesses improve their current outputs (McCardell, 2018). As mentioned above, such an assessment’s core advantage is that it is more bias-free, and a consultant manages to see the problems and weaknesses without being distracted by personal knowledge or interests.

Therefore, McCardell notes that external evaluation is a common choice for organisations when they seek to improve their performance and reach a new level (2018). An organisational structure is especially important to the process of external assessment. According to Kenton (2020, para. 1), “an organisational structure is a system that outlines how certain activities are directed to achieve the goals of an organisation”. This system allows the company to remain focused and successful. There are several ways or methods an external consultant may use to get a better idea of a company’s inner system and those disadvantages that get in the way of its high performance. Namely, they are interviews, focus groups, observations, surveys, audit, the five whys technique, force field analysis and brainstorming.

Interviews

The first and probably most common method is conducting interviews with managers and employees. According to McQuerrey, an external consultant may assess staff members on service or product information by using questionnaires or organising either group or one-on-one interviews (no date). This method provides the consultant with an opportunity of evaluating specific criteria outlined by the organisation. For instance, if the problem of decreased business performance lies in low employee productivity, an external assessor may ask the workers about those factors that may have affected their own reduced performance. Since it is an external specialist, they have better chances to hear the real reasons and evaluate the situation properly. If employee satisfaction is improved, it will be possible to increase the current output of the whole organisation.

Focus Groups

This is another efficient method used by external consultants to help businesses become more successful. According to McQuerrey, “external evaluations can be conducted via focus groups in which a select group of people are brought into a controlled environment and asked specific questions about their individual perceptions or experiences with a business” (no date, para. 3). For example, suppose the decreased performance of an organisation is connected with existing customer service issues or former clients ceasing business relations (McQuerrey, no date). In that case, an external focus group may be useful in assessing public and employee perception.

Surveys

Another useful way to help a business improve its current output is to conduct an external survey. Such a method may be used to collect necessary data from a number of various sources and targeted at prospective, past or current clients, as well as the general society (McQuerrey, no date). An external consultant using this technique typically requests certain feedback or asks pointed questions, which allows evaluating the effectiveness of a company’s service or program. What is more, McQuerrey states that “a survey can help identify target demographics, determine market penetration or assess competition” (no date, para. 5). Since all these factors may affect organisational performance, it is necessary for an external specialist to consider them.

Audit

External performance audits may be used to define whether or not an organisation is meeting its goals and objectives, as well as if the way of achieving those purposes is the most proper and efficient. An external assessor can perform an audit on various systems and functions of a company and measure the output within the particular parameters established by the business (McQuerrey, no date). Typically, an audit demonstrates if the business achieves effectiveness, efficiency and economy in the employment of available resources and defines the possible solutions in case the situation is not perfect.

The 5 Whys Analysis

If there is a particular issue that interferes with a company’s successful performance, an external assessor may decide to use the five whys technique. It is an effective tool that allows to determine the root cause of the problem, which, in turn, leads to a better comprehension of the possible appropriate solutions to it. According to researchers, it is necessary for an external specialist to gather a team and define the issue so that there is a possibility of asking specific questions (Understanding and the process of implementing consulting methodologies, no date). Then, the external assessor asks “Why” as many times as necessary so that the team can finally identify the root cause of the organisation’s decreased performance.

Force Field Analysis

In case there is a defined problem and a possible solution to it, but not all managers or staff members agree to its efficiency, the assistance of an external assessor may also be required. To determine whether this solution is appropriate, they can use force field analysis (Understanding and the process of implementing consulting methodologies, no date). It is a unique tool that allows to see the negative and positive aspects of an issue and way to eliminate it. First, by defining a vision for a change and then identifying forces for and against it, a team together with an external specialist may decide whether this particular change is likely to be beneficial and improve the company’s performance.

Brainstorming

Finally, brainstorming is another simple but effective technique that becomes even more efficient when applied by an external assessor. According to researchers, it is “the process of creative idea generation by having individuals provide lists of problems, factors, and solutions” (Understanding and the process of implementing consulting methodologies, no date, para. 23). The external specialist utilising this technique can make it more beneficial because they see the situation from another perspective and can suggest those ideas that cannot come to employees’ minds. Moreover, the external consultant may also evaluate whether those solutions proposed by the staff are appropriate.

Organisation Development Frameworks

McKinsey 7S Framework

McKinsey 7S Framework is a certain organisational tool that helps evaluate a company’s health, productivity, and well-being based on seven components. They are divided into hard and soft ones according to the area they may be affected by. Thus, hard elements involve strategy, structure and systems and may be relatively easily influenced and identified directly by management (Channon and Caldart, 2015).

On the contrary, soft components, namely, shared values, skills, style and staff, are fuzzier, vaguer, less tangible and more intangible. They are mostly affected by corporate culture and are just as essential as the hard ones (Channon and Caldart, 2015). McKinsey 7S Framework proves that companies’ aspects that may seem disparate are actually reliant upon each other, and precisely the harmony and strength of their interrelatedness allows firms to achieve overall success and increased performance.

Galbraith Star Model

Jay Galbraith’s Star Model is a unique framework that rather effectively helps develop organisations and acts as a strong basis for their design decisions. According to this development theory, a company’s design may be divided into five areas or stars, namely, strategy, structure, processes, rewards and people (Eirich, Schäfer and Ringlstetter, 2019). Precisely these categories are taken into account when analysing an organisation’s design and its efficiency. If properly outlined, balanced and connected, these areas may provide a strong and solid basis for a firm. It is also an effective framework that allows to increase the health and positivity of corporate culture and achieve better overall performance and productivity (Eirich, Schäfer and Ringlstetter, 2019). Organisations themselves function in the middle of the five stars and acts as gravity centre to hold these categories together.

Weisbord Six Box Model

Finally, Weisbord’s six-box model is another useful framework that allows managers to accurately evaluate an organisation’s functioning and productivity. It may be easily adapted to any field, company or needs; that is why this organisation development theory is one of the most preferred among specialists (Weisbord’s six-box model no date). The elements or boxes of this model involve a firm’s purposes, structure, relationships, rewards, leadership and helpful mechanisms.

By carefully assessing every component of this framework, it becomes possible to develop various interesting decisions or discover surprising information. Compared to the models discussed above, this organisation development theory has a distinct leadership element and does not integrate the evaluation of power and authority into the structure box (Weisbord’s six-box model no date). This allows to draw more concrete conclusions regarding each of these two components.

Conclusion

To draw a conclusion, one may say that organisation development is an extremely crucial process that requires specific knowledge, professionalism, application of different techniques and a multilateral approach. In order for a company to have more chances to succeed and win the competition, it should have a robust basis. A number of organisation development theories are precisely aimed at strengthening firms’ structures and allowing them to enhance their productivity and performance.

As mentioned above, the McKinsey 7S Framework, Galbraith Star Model and Weisbord Six Box Model are especially effective in evaluating the organisational design and helping companies achieve their objectives. What is more, external evaluation is indeed a proper and beneficial decision in case a company faces difficulty, including reduced performance. Various external assessment tools may be applied by a specialist depending on the situation’s specifics. Overall, all of the existing methods are aimed at helping a business improve its current output.

Reference List

Channon, D. F. and Caldart, A. A. (2015) ‘McKinsey 7S model’, in Cooper, C. L., McGee, J. and Sammut‐Bonnici, T. (eds.) Wiley Encyclopaedia of Management. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.

Eirich, R., Schäfer, B. and Ringlstetter, M. (2019) ‘An organization design framework for digital innovation: critical review of Galbraith’s STAR model’, Proceedings of the international society for professional innovation management conference, Florence, Italy.

Kenton, W. (2020) Organisational structure. Web.

McCardell, S. (2018) ‘External assessment’, in Energy Effectiveness. Berlin: Springer, pp. 153-159.

McQuerrey, L. (no date) External evaluation methods. Web.

Understanding and the process of implementing consulting methodologies (no date). Web.

Weisbord’s six-box model (no date). Web.