COMMERCE 2BC3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Work Unit, Workflow, Organizational Chart
11 Sep 2018
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Chapter 4
- Work flow design is the process of analyzing the tasks necessary for the production of a g/s prior
to allocating and assigning these tasks to a particular job category or person.
- Org. Structure refers to the relatively stable and formal network of vertical and horizontal
interconnections among jobs that constitute the org
o We must first understand how a job relates to those above, below, and at the same
level before we can make informed decisions about how to redesign or improve jobs to
benefit the org
- Workflow and org structure can be leveraged to gain competitive adv for firm
Analyzing Work Flow: Work Outputs, Processes and inputs
- All org have a need to clearly identify the outputs of work, to specify the quality and quantity
standards for those outputs, and to analyze the processes and inputs necessary for producing
outputs that meet the quality standards
- Work Outputs
o Every work unit seeks to produce some output that others can use
▪ Output = product of a work unit and can be an identifiable thing or a service
- Work Processes
o Activities that work unit members engage in to produce an output
o Every process consists of operating procedures that specify how things should be done
at each stage of the development of the product
o For complex tasks tasks, work may be assigned to a team → team based job design
becoming very popular
o For teams to be effective, level of task interdependence = level of outcome
interdependence
▪ How much they cooperate = how much they share the reward for task
accomplishment
o They also have to be given autonomy to make their own decisions
o To design work systems, manager needs to understand the process required in the
development of products for that work unit
o If work load increases → new positions in the team
o If work load lightens → people will take on tasks that are irrelevant to appear busy
▪ Without understanding tasks necessary for the production of the output, it is
hard to determine whether the work unit has become overstaffed
▪ Understanding the tasks required allows managers to specify which tasks are to
be carried out by which individuals and eliminate taks that are not necessary for
the desired end
- Work Inputs
o Last stage is to identify the inputs used in the development of the work unit’s
production
o Inputs can be broken down into raw inputs, equipment, and HR needed to perform the
task
▪ Raw inputs →consists of the materials that will be converted into the work
unit’s product
▪ Equipment → technology and machinery necessary to transform the raw
materials into the product
▪ HR → skills and abilities necessary to perform the tasks
• Consists of the workers available to the company but increasing org are
recruiting the inputs of customers as a critical input
o Research says that creating a good fit between skills and values of workers and the tasks
and missions they are assigned is a powerful determinant of org. success that cannot be
taken lightly
Organization Structure
- Typically displayed via org charts that convey both vertical reporting relationships and horizontal
functional responsibilities
- Dimensions of structure
o There are 2 dimensions:
▪ Centralization → the degree to which decision making authority resides at the
top of the organizational chart as opposed to being distributed throughout
lower levels (decentralization)
▪ Departmentalization→ the degree to which work units are grouped based on
functional similarity or similarity of work flow
- Structural Configuration
o 2 common ways to combine the 2 dimensions above
▪ Functional structure
• Employs functional departmentalization scheme with relatively high
levels of centralization
o This is because individual units in the structure are so
specialized that members of the unit may have a weak
conceptualization of the overall organization mission → they
tend to identify with their department and cannot always be
relied on to make decisions that are in the best interests of the
org as whole
• Better in stable, predictable environments, where demand for resources
can be anticipated and coordination requirements between jobs can be
refined and standardized over consistent repetitions of activity
• Supports org that compete on costs
▪ Divisional structure
• Combines a divisional departmentalization scheme with relatively low
centralization
o Units in these structures act almost like separate, self sufficient
organizations
• Can be divisionally organized around diff products, geographic regions
or clients
• Tend to be more flexible because they are semiautonomous and their
proximity to a homogeneous consumer base
• They can detect and exploit opportunities in their respective consumer
base faster than the other struccuture
• Employees like this better, and feel they are better treated because of
perceived autonomy
• Not very efficient though because of the redundancy with each group
carrying its own functional specialists
• Cannot self cannibalize if the gains achieved in one unit come at the
expensive of another unit
• Most appropriate in unstable, unpredictable environments where it is
hard to anticipate demands for resources and coordination
requirements between jobs are not consistent overtime
• Helps orgs that compete on differentiation or innovation because
flexible responsiveness is key
o It is hard to change structures → norms, cases and habits that are often created by
original structures persist even after the boxes on the org chart have been changed and
the cultural influences can be as important as structural influences when it comes to
determining outcomes of such transistions
Structure and Nature of jobs
- Jobs in funct. Strucs. Need to be narrow and highly specialized
o Little authority in decision making
Job Analysis
- Process of getting detailed info about jobs
- Managers must have detailed info about all the jobs in their work group to understand the work
flow processes
- Managers need to understand the job requirements to make intelligent hiring decisions since
managers will often interview perspective applicants and recommend who should get the job
Nature and Sources of Job Analysis information
- Two types of information are useful: job description and job specifications
o Description: list of tasks, duties, and responsibilities that a job entails
o Specification is a list of the KSAOs that an individual must have to perform the job
o KSAOS are characteristics about people that aren’t directly observable
o During job analysis, important q: who should make up the group of incumbents that give
info? →subject matter experts cuz they are experts in their knowledge of the job
o The person who does the job
o Useful to go to the jobholder for info. This is the case when it is difficult to monitor
▪ However, they might boost their duties when the analysis is used for
compensation. So you should ask others aswell
Document Summary
Work flow design is the process of analyzing the tasks necessary for the production of a g/s prior to allocating and assigning these tasks to a particular job category or person. Workflow and org structure can be leveraged to gain competitive adv for firm. Analyzing work flow: work outputs, processes and inputs. All org have a need to clearly identify the outputs of work, to specify the quality and quantity standards for those outputs, and to analyze the processes and inputs necessary for producing outputs that meet the quality standards. Work outputs: every work unit seeks to produce some output that others can use, output = product of a work unit and can be an identifiable thing or a service. If work load increases new positions in the team. Work inputs: last stage is to ide(cid:374)tif(cid:455) the i(cid:374)puts used i(cid:374) the de(cid:448)elop(cid:373)e(cid:374)t of the (cid:449)o(cid:396)k u(cid:374)it"s production.
