| Course | LDR 535 Leading Change (LDR/535) |
|---|---|
| Week | 2 |
| Paper type | Organization development diagnosis |
| Length | about 1,174 words, 4 double-spaced pages plus title page and references |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | University of Phoenix |
| Program | MBA |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for LDR 535 Week 2
Diagnosis or Dialogue? Organization Development Approaches for a Public Radio Network Rethinking Its Future
[Student Name]
University of Phoenix
LDR/535: Leading Change
Week 2 Assignment
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
High Desert Public Media, its staff and its diagnosis are composites written for a model paper.
Week 1 framed the change facing High Desert Public Media, a composite nonprofit public radio network with five stations in New Mexico. The loss of its federal grant removed about $1.37 million, roughly 14 percent of its budget, and threatened three rural stations that serve communities with few other news sources. The course's guiding question asks how the network can regain its footing without giving up what makes it valuable to the towns and people it serves. Before deciding on specific changes, president Rebecca Tso wants to understand the organization more deeply and to involve staff and communities in shaping the future. This paper applies organization development approaches to that task.
A Causal Model of Performance and Change
Burke and Litwin (1992) proposed a model linking organizational elements to performance. On the deep side sit the outside world, purpose and direction, the people at the top and the shared values of the place; shifting any of these demands that people behave differently. The everyday side of the model covers how work is arranged and supervised, the procedures people follow, the feel of their unit, what their jobs demand and what each person needs and wants. Change in transformational factors tends to affect the whole organization, while change in transactional factors affects day-to-day performance. The model helps leaders see which levers matter for which kind of change.
Diagnostic and Dialogic Organization Development
Bushe and Marshak (2009) distinguished two forms of organization development. Diagnostic OD assumes organizations are like living systems that can be assessed objectively, with data collected and fed back to guide change. Dialogic OD assumes organizations are socially constructed through conversation and meaning, so change comes from altering conversations, generating new images and enabling self-organizing. They argued that both are legitimate and that practitioners should understand which assumptions they bring.
When Appreciative Inquiry Transforms
Bushe and Kassam (2005) analyzed 20 cases of appreciative inquiry and found that transformational outcomes occurred in fewer than half. Transformation was more likely when the process focused on generating new knowledge, models or ideas and when it supported improvisation, with people acting on new ideas without waiting for approval. Cases that focused mainly on positive feelings or on planned implementation of a consensus produced less change.
The Diagnostic Work
A staff survey, completed by 52 of 64 employees, interviews with 14 staff and board members and a review of budgets, audience data and program schedules provided evidence for the causal model.
External Environment
Federal funding has ended, audiences are shifting to digital listening, local advertising is moving online and other nonprofits are competing for the same foundation dollars. In rural areas, broadband remains limited, so broadcast is still essential.
Mission and Strategy
The mission, to inform, connect and inspire New Mexico communities, is widely supported, but the strategy has remained focused on broadcast schedules. Digital work is an add-on done by two staff members.
Leadership and Culture
Staff describe leaders as committed and caring but slow to make decisions and reluctant to share bad news. The culture is collegial and proud but siloed: news, programming, development and engineering rarely plan together. Rural station staff feel distant from Albuquerque.
Transactional Factors
The structure is organized by station and function, duplicating some tasks. Systems for tracking members and donors are outdated. Climate surveys show high commitment but anxiety about the future. Job requirements have expanded without additional staff.
The diagnosis found an organization rich in commitment and poor in shared planning, which explains why its people care so much and change so slowly.
Interpreting the Diagnosis Through the Model
The causal model suggests that the network's problems are mostly transformational. Its external environment has shifted sharply, but its strategy still reflects a broadcast era, and its culture of consensus slows the response. Transactional problems, such as outdated donor systems and duplicated tasks across stations, are real but secondary. Fixing systems without renewing strategy and culture would leave the network efficient at an outdated model. Burke and Litwin (1992) predict that change in transformational factors will ripple through transactional ones, which argues for starting with strategy and leadership.
What Staff Said About Decisions
Interviews revealed frustration with how decisions are made. A producer described waiting six months for approval to launch a podcast while a competing station launched three. An engineer said rural transmitter repairs were delayed because no one owned the decision. Several staff said they would welcome faster decisions even if they disagreed with some, provided they understood the reasons.
The Dialogic Work
Four appreciative sessions were held, two with staff and two with rural community members, asking participants to describe a time High Desert served its community at its best, what made it possible and what the network could become. Stories included reporting during a 2022 wildfire that guided evacuations, a Navajo-language program that connected elders and youth and a series on water rights that led to a public hearing.
Generative Ideas
The sessions produced ideas the diagnosis had not: rural stations as community newsrooms staffed partly by trained local contributors; a shared digital desk serving all five stations; partnerships with tribal colleges and local libraries; and a sustaining circle of rural donors who give small monthly amounts. As the meta-case work by Bushe and Kassam (2005) suggests, the value lies in these new ideas and in participants' willingness to act on them, such as a community member who offered to organize volunteer reporters.
What the Two Approaches Reveal Together
The diagnostic work shows where the organization is weak: strategy, decision speed, silos and systems. The dialogic work shows what people value and what they can imagine: local service, community partnership and digital reach. Together, they point to transformational change in strategy and culture, supported by transactional changes in structure and systems.
Implications for the Change
The change should begin with transformational factors: a renewed strategy that integrates digital and broadcast and a culture of shared planning and faster decisions. Transactional changes, such as a shared digital desk and updated donor systems, should follow. Staff and community members should continue to participate in designing the change.
Feeding Results Back
In keeping with the action research roots of organization development, results from both parts of the work will be shared with all staff and the community participants at a meeting where people can challenge, correct and add to the findings before the leadership team uses them.
Limits
The survey reflects a moment of anxiety, and the appreciative sessions reached only two of the three rural communities. Further sessions are planned.
Conclusion
Research offers two forms of organization development, diagnostic and dialogic, each revealing different aspects of an organization, and shows that appreciative inquiry transforms when it generates new ideas and action. At High Desert Public Media, a causal model diagnosis identified weaknesses in strategy, culture and systems, while appreciative conversations generated new possibilities for rural service and digital reach. Together, they provide the foundation for the leadership approaches and change plan in the weeks ahead.
References
Burke, W. W., & Litwin, G. H. (1992). A causal model of organizational performance and change. Journal of Management, 18(3), 523-545. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920639201800306
Bushe, G. R., & Kassam, A. F. (2005). When is appreciative inquiry transformational? A meta-case analysis. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 41(2), 161-181. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021886304270337
Bushe, G. R., & Marshak, R. J. (2009). Revisioning organization development: Diagnostic and dialogic premises and patterns of practice. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 45(3), 348-368. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021886309335070
What the LDR 535 Week 2 instructions ask
In Week 2, LDR 535 students commonly analyze an organization using organization development concepts and tools. Assignments may ask students to describe OD approaches, such as action research, diagnostic models, appreciative inquiry and large-group interventions, apply a model to diagnose the organization and recommend an intervention approach. A strong graduate paper explains the assumptions behind different OD approaches, applies at least one model systematically with evidence from the organization, involves members of the organization in the process and draws conclusions that guide the change. Ground the work in scholarly sources cited in APA style, and tie the findings back to what each stakeholder group stands to gain or lose.
How this LDR 535 Week 2 example is built
Before deciding what to cut or build, High Desert's leaders need to understand how the network works and what its people believe is possible. The paper first applies a causal model that sorts the network's levers into deep ones, purpose, direction, leaders and values, and everyday ones, structure, procedures and atmosphere. Research distinguishing diagnostic organization development, which treats the organization as an object to assess, from dialogic organization development, which treats it as a set of conversations that can be changed, shapes a two-part approach. A meta-case analysis shows that appreciative inquiry produces transformation when it generates new ideas and improvised action rather than only positive feelings. Survey data, interviews and four appreciative sessions produce a diagnosis and a set of generative possibilities.
LDR 535 Week 2 grading rubric: where the points go
In graduate OD papers, reviewers weigh three things: grasp of the concepts, care in the diagnosis and whether the chosen approach suits the change at hand. Quoting participants' own words adds texture. Strong work explains the assumptions of diagnostic and dialogic approaches, applies a model with real evidence and involves organizational members appropriately. Graders reward recognition that different approaches reveal different things and that the choice should fit the change. The analysis should lead to conclusions that guide intervention, connected to the stakeholder value defined earlier. Clear presentation of findings and careful scholarly writing round out the evaluation, and honest notes on the limits of the data add credibility.
LDR 535 Week 2 help: mistakes to avoid
A frequent weakness is applying a diagnostic model as a checklist, filling in each box without evidence. Support each element with data from surveys, interviews or documents. Another common problem is treating appreciative inquiry as simply staying positive. Research shows its value lies in generating new ideas and action. Explain how it will produce something new. Some papers diagnose the organization without involving its members, contrary to OD's participative roots. Include their voices. Others choose one approach without explaining why. Justify the choice or the combination. Report the limits of your data honestly. Finally, end with implications for the intervention, so the diagnosis leads somewhere.
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LDR 535 Week 2 questions, answered
What does LDR 535 Week 2 usually cover?
It usually covers organization development approaches, such as diagnostic models, action research and appreciative inquiry, and applying them to understand an organization before leading change.
Where can I find a free LDR 535 Week 2 sample paper?
Above is a complete Week 2 paper that pairs a formal diagnosis with appreciative conversations at an invented New Mexico radio network.
What is the Burke-Litwin model?
A widely used framework that sorts what drives an organization into deep levers, like purpose, direction, leaders and shared values, and everyday levers, like reporting lines, procedures and unit atmosphere.
What is dialogic organization development?
It is an approach that sees organizations as networks of conversations and meaning, and seeks change by creating new conversations, images and possibilities rather than diagnosing problems.
When does appreciative inquiry lead to transformation?
Research suggests appreciative inquiry is transformational when it generates new knowledge, models or ideas and encourages improvised action, not when it focuses only on positive feelings.
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