Bridging gaps to excellence

The aim of the present study is to identify organisational development (OD) intervention as a driver for achieving organisational excellence (OE) in micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) in India. The paper identifies the OE challenges faced by the selected MSME firms. Furthermore, the study investigates the types of OD interventions applied in these firms to manage the OE challenges. In this vein, the actual impact of OD interventions in minimizing the OE challenges is also explored. A cross-case methodology based on qualitative exploratory research design was employed involving 33 semi-structured interviews with management and staffs of MSME firms from the automotive industry in India. Axial coding and triangulation was used to analyse the responses. The study found five OE challenges of selected firms: “financial literacy,” “corporate structure and business environment,” “knowledge and skills,” “techniques and functioning styles,” and “resource utilization”. The results explained the success of OD interventions in reducing these OE Challenges. A five-level framework is proposed to reflect the pertinent organisational areas where OD interventions can be introduced to help MSMEs to attain OE. The paper contributes to the HRM literature on organisational development. The proposed interventions recommend efficient management, continuous improvement, and shared leadership. In practice, the role of training and development as well as leadership development is emphasised, and these can be executed by embedding OD interventions in the relevant OE areas. This study is the first of its kind to use multi case approach, apply OD interventions and explore it’s impact in achieving organisational excellence within the Indian MSME automotive industry

Automotive industry · Psychological intervention · Collaboration in agile enterprises · Innovation and Knowledge Management · Quality and Supply Management