Exam 7: Manufacturing and Service Technologies

Characteristics of service technology include all of the following except:

Case 7.0 Toyz, a 7 year-old manufacturing company in a small valley town, produces about three plastic toy lines that they judge will be "hot" items for children. In their first two years, even though start-up costs were high, the company did well because they judged the unpredictable market well, and even set the pace within their region for popularity of a new bubble-maker. By their 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 they think 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 they would like to keep the line at about 25% of total revenues. The design department consists of five employees who are highly educated and are 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 it a point to keep informed on government standards that are occasionally issued. Some organization leaders feel that marketing is missing the boat by catering more to Toyz' 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 labor is less costly), at the present time 4/5 of their employees are in manufacturing. The manufacturing area is kept very clean, but the odor 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. -Reference 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. [Hint: Apply the textbook!]

Management information systems (MIS) link together manufacturing components that previously stood alone.

The management systems in both unit production and continuous process are characterized as mechanistic, whereas mass production is seen as organic.

List the differences between manufacturing and service technologies. Provide three examples of service technologies, product and service technologies, and product technologies.

Research suggests that FMS can become a competitive burden, rather than a competitive advantage, unless organizational structures and management processes are redesigned to take advantage of the new technology.

Compared with traditional mass production technologies, FMS has a narrow span of control, few hierarchical levels, adaptive tasks, low specialization, and decentralization, and the overall environment is characterized as organic and self-regulative.

Suppose that DiamlerChrysler is considering changing its production operations from an assembly line in which each employee adds one piece as a car chassis goes by to an operation in which several employees work as a team to build the total car, with the team deciding who does what tasks. If DiamlerChrysler implements the change, the interrelationships would change from:

Which of the following means that the job provides greater responsibility, recognition, and opportunities for growth and development?

Using Perrow's framework, in which category would you most likely find the public relations department of Dow Chemical Co., the outreach arm for all media and community relations?

Juan works for a college that offers correspondence courses. She works in the mailroom department 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. You would expect the organizational structure in her department should be:

Using an organization you are familiar with (from your readings or personal experience), place its departments in the quadrants of Perrow's framework. What two factors are used to determine placement of a department in a quadrant? Explain how you applied these two factors in placing your organization's departments in the framework.

Boundary roles are used extensively in manufacturing firms, but rarely used in service organizations.

Assume you are the supervisor of workers who have very limited education and experience, and that their work is routine. Generally you would:

____ means providing exactly the service each customer wants and needs.

Job enrichment refers to the expansion of the number of different tasks performed by an employee.

Using Woodward's findings, compare the structures that are appropriate for each of the technologies she identified. Use at least the following elements of structure: supervisor span of control, worker skill level, centralization, and number of management levels.

Case 7.0 Toyz, a 7 year-old manufacturing company in a small valley town, produces about three plastic toy lines that they judge will be "hot" items for children. In their first two years, even though start-up costs were high, the company did well because they judged the unpredictable market well, and even set the pace within their region for popularity of a new bubble-maker. By their 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 they think 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 they would like to keep the line at about 25% of total revenues. The design department consists of five employees who are highly educated and are 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 it a point to keep informed on government standards that are occasionally issued. Some organization leaders feel that marketing is missing the boat by catering more to Toyz' 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 labor is less costly), at the present time 4/5 of their employees are in manufacturing. The manufacturing area is kept very clean, but the odor 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. -Reference Case 7.0. Place Toyz' manufacturing, marketing, and design departments in Perrow's framework for departmental technology. Then, based on your analysis, make recommendations to management on any differences in how each of those departments should be managed.

Products of different sizes, types, and customer requirements freely intermingling on the assembly line is an advantage of lean manufacturing.

Perrow was most concerned with two aspects of technology: variety and interdependence.