Exam 7: Manufacturing and Service Technologies

Perrow's study is about organization-level technology, while Woodward's study is classified as pertaining to department-level technology.

What is the goal of the sociotechnical systems approach?

Jane works for a college that offers correspondence courses. She works in the mailroom stuffing envelopes with the replies of professors to students. She then seals the envelopes and puts them in an outgoing bin. She finds that on this job she has a lot of time for daydreaming. What would you expect the organizational structure in her department to be?

John Davis just decided to quit his job with General Motors where he worked in an assembly plant. He is going to open his own shop that will install customized mufflers on cars. Using Woodward's framework, explain the differences in the technologies of these two types of organizations. What resulting differences in organization structure should there be?

You work for a large company that has just installed a flexible manufacturing system (FMS). You have been eagerly sharing this news with one of your relatives, who says to you, "I don't like computers, because they remove the companies so much from the demands of the customer." Based on your readings in organization theory, how would you reply?

A baseball team is an example of pooled interdependence.

Which type of process is used in the production of an intangible product?

Describe an organization in which a mechanistic structure would be the most appropriate and explain why. Describe an organization in which an organic structure would be the most appropriate and explain why.

Which kind of production represents mechanization and standardization one step beyond those in an assembly line?

More advanced technology tends to cause job enrichment.

Advanced technology does not always have a positive effect on employees, but research findings in general are encouraging, suggesting that jobs for workers are enriched rather than simplified, engaging their higher mental capacities, offering opportunities for learning and growth, and providing greater job satisfaction.

Engineering technologies tend to be low in analyzability and high in variety.

Case 7.0 Toyz, a seven-year-old manufacturing company in a small valley town, produces three plastic toy lines that it judges will be "hot" items for children. In their first two years, even though start-up costs were high, the company did well because it judged the unpredictable market well and even set the pace within its region for popularity of a new bubble maker. By the third year, however, similar, cheaper bubble makers were commonly imported from Taiwan, and the owner's judgments on other "hot" items were not on target; consequently, Toyz operated at a loss for two years. Three years ago Toyz added a small new product line that it thought might bring some stability to the company. In addition to the "hot" items, Toyz added a small "cash cow" line of plastic furniture for children. Last year the furniture line constituted 25% of total revenue, and Toyz would like to keep the line at about 25% of total revenues. The design department consists of five employees who are highly educated and held responsible for safe engineering of a product that can realistically be manufactured. Toyz designers gear up annually in January for that year's Christmas season. As professionals, they make a point of keeping informed of government standards that are occasionally issued. Some organization leaders feel that marketing is missing the boat by catering more to Toyz's end users rather than to the company's wholesale buyers. Toyz deals with only two major distributors to handle all warehousing and distribution. Frequently their orders are not filled correctly because sufficient quantity cannot always be produced on time. Although top management is giving some consideration to outsourcing part of its manufacturing operations overseas (where labour is less costly), at present 80% of employees are in manufacturing. The manufacturing area is kept very clean, but the odour on the premises is so bad that many people in town will not accept jobs there even though entry-level pay is somewhat above minimum wage. -Refer to Case 7.0. Place Toyz's manufacturing, marketing, and design departments in Perrow's framework for departmental technology. Then, on the basis of your analysis, make recommendations to management on any differences in how each of those departments should be managed.

If several of a bank's departments are considered to be sequentially interdependent, how should their interrelationship be managed?

Case 7.0 Toyz, a seven-year-old manufacturing company in a small valley town, produces three plastic toy lines that it judges will be "hot" items for children. In their first two years, even though start-up costs were high, the company did well because it judged the unpredictable market well and even set the pace within its region for popularity of a new bubble maker. By the third year, however, similar, cheaper bubble makers were commonly imported from Taiwan, and the owner's judgments on other "hot" items were not on target; consequently, Toyz operated at a loss for two years. Three years ago Toyz added a small new product line that it thought might bring some stability to the company. In addition to the "hot" items, Toyz added a small "cash cow" line of plastic furniture for children. Last year the furniture line constituted 25% of total revenue, and Toyz would like to keep the line at about 25% of total revenues. The design department consists of five employees who are highly educated and held responsible for safe engineering of a product that can realistically be manufactured. Toyz designers gear up annually in January for that year's Christmas season. As professionals, they make a point of keeping informed of government standards that are occasionally issued. Some organization leaders feel that marketing is missing the boat by catering more to Toyz's end users rather than to the company's wholesale buyers. Toyz deals with only two major distributors to handle all warehousing and distribution. Frequently their orders are not filled correctly because sufficient quantity cannot always be produced on time. Although top management is giving some consideration to outsourcing part of its manufacturing operations overseas (where labour is less costly), at present 80% of employees are in manufacturing. The manufacturing area is kept very clean, but the odour on the premises is so bad that many people in town will not accept jobs there even though entry-level pay is somewhat above minimum wage. -Refer to Case 7.0. Classify Toyz in the organizational framework for manufacturing technology. Explain. Then make recommendations to management for an appropriate structural response based on that analysis.

Which term means that an organization functions best only when the social and technical systems are defined to fit the needs of one another?

Which of the following is based on employee involvement?

The verification department of the federal tax department checks the mathematics on returns and notes any discrepancies. Which of Perrow's quadrants would this department fit into?

A mediating technology provides products or services that mediate or link clients from the external environment and, in doing so, allows each department to work independently.

What is the core principle underlying the sociotechnical systems approach that refers to the iterative process of design?