Quản trị kinh doanh - Chapter 8: Advanced job design

Chapter 8: Advanced Job Design3/29/20201Chapter 8: Advanced Job DesignTeamsGroup Decision MakingFree Rider EffectsWhen to Use TeamsOther Benefits of Team ProductionSpecializationKnowledge TransferImplementation of Teams Optimal Team SizePeer Monitoring and Norms to Reduce Free RidingTeam CompositionAlternating DrawsBidding for Members Effects on Information TechnologyEffects on Organizational StructureCentralizing or Decentralizing? Centralizing Tendencies.Decentralizing Tendencies.Other Effects on StructureEffects on Job Design High-Reliability OrganizationsSummary3/29/20202Chapter 8 – Advanced Job DesignOn completing this chapter, you will be able to address the following questions:What are characteristics of teams?What is the cost-benefit tradeoff of using teams?What sort of organization should use teams?What is the optimal team size and composition?How does the presence of IT affect teams? How does teaming affect job design?3/29/20203Teams3/29/20204Definition: TeamAn aggregation of workers performing a collective taskTeam members may be led by an individual or joint decision-making bodyOutputs may or may not be measureableCompensation usually includes a common component3/29/20205Cost-Benefit TradeoffPrimary BenefitComplementarities between the contributions of individual workersCould be because their skills are different ORBecause the task is too large to handle individuallyCosts to weighCoordination/CommunicationFree Rider effects3/29/20206Example: Costs and Benefits of TeamworkACTIVITYBENEFIT RANKCOST RANKCOMMENTFishing on a small boat25Tasks too many for one person;Monitoring easier with small group; Remove unproductive TMFishing on a large boat14More teamwork needed; More difficult to monitor efforts; Free Rider more prominentSelling fish wholesale51Sales people can work alone; Monitoring as a group difficultAccounting for sales42Not much benefit from teaming; Individual monitoring idealSelecting the site33Group judgment matters; Joint decision can require effort3/29/20207Ancillary BenefitsSpecializationTeaming can permit individual members to specialize more than if working aloneKnowledge TransferIncomplete codificationIdiosyncratic practicesArbitrageValuable knowledge exchange from one to another3/29/20208Incentives in Teams*Explicit RewardsProfit SharingStock OptionsImplicit RewardsTying to overall profitabilityNorms & ExpectationsJointly held beliefs and practicesCan reduce free-rider effect* Important3/29/20209Competition Between TeamsCooperation is expected within teamsCompetitive forces a consequence of differential compensation and recognitionStrategies to mitigateEnsure joint compensation within teamsBring key members into teamsCould remain participants in rival teams3/29/202010Worker-Owned Firms and Co-OpsConsidered worker-owned when significant proportion of shares is held by employees Influence may assist labor-management relations or “cause firm to deviate from efficiency”Labor co-operatives were common in the lumber industryCompared to similar, non-co-op firms, their growth was slower – may be due to labor costsLumber cooperatives found to be more efficient in some production measures (Pencavel, 1992)3/29/202011Effects of Information Technology3/29/202012Effects of IT on OrganizationsCountervailing tendencies: Centralization: Specific knowledge converted to general knowledgeAccountability and reporting expandedTracking of real-time information newly possibleDetailed information can be made available at any desired levelDecentralization: Information can be provided down the chainSupports lower level decision makingReal-time feedback SPC and other methods of analysis can be used “on the shop floor”Some analysis now newly enabled at lower levelsOther effects on structure – OUTSOURCING3/29/202013IT & Decision MakingDecentralizing?facilitates product complexity, time-based competition, etc.better collection & use of specific knowledge in real-timelower-level employees have more info, better analysis toolsfacilitates ad hoc communication & groupsCentralizing?fewer layers, geography less importantcentral monitoring & direction is easiermuch knowledge becomes general, not specificmore can be standardized 143/29/2020IT & Job DesignA Dismal View“A new era of production has begun brought about by the combination of the computer and the self-regulating machine.“This results in a system of almost unlimited productive capacity which requires progressively less human labor.”Ad Hoc Committee on the Triple Revolution, 1964153/29/2020ExamplesComputers often replace humansre-engineeringsoftware that writes softwareor facilitate offshoring & outsourcingComputers often make jobs less meaningful“Big Brother” in the trucking industryMrs. Fields Cookies – who runs the store?End result: less empowered, less skilled workersnow let’s think about the other face of IT 163/29/2020A More Positive View of ITA Dismal View“A new era of production has begun brought about by the combination of the computer and the self-regulating machine.“This results in a system of almost unlimited productive capacity which requires progressively less human labor.”Ad Hoc Committee on the Triple Revolution, 1964The Positive ViewJobsIT often empowers even low skilled workersPlaces even greater value on skilled workersFirmsSpeeds up production cyclefacilitates customization & complexityopens up new customers & products never before possible, or even conceivable173/29/2020How to Explain the 2 Faces of IT?IT sometimes substitutes for, & sometimes is a complement to, humansWhat do computers do best, & what do humans do best?Computersinformation transmissionrepetitive tasksrules-based tasksHumanspattern recognitionabstraction / generalizationcreativity183/29/2020Where’s the Economic Value?Once something is made systematic it can be computerized or mechanizedit can be outsourcedit will be commoditizedMost economic value arises from creation of new knowledgeso, the implications for your firm, & your career, are obvious 193/29/2020Toward Classical or Modern Jobs?IT often replaces humansre-engineeringsoftware that writes softwarefacilitates offshoring & outsourcingIT often make jobs less interesting (Classical)“Big Brother” in the trucking industryMrs. Fields Cookies – who runs the store?But IT often has the opposite effect 203/29/2020Explaining Opposing Effects of ITWhat do computers do best, & what do humans do best?Computers: information transmission; repetitive tasks; rules-based tasksHumans: pattern recognition; abstraction / generalization; creativityOnce something is made systematic it can & will be mechanized, computerized, commoditized, outsourcedMost economic value arises from creation of new knowledgeimplications for your firm, career, & which skills are most valuable should be obvious 213/29/2020Chapter 8 – RecapTeams are groupings of workers with a common output or objectiveTeams can be thought of as a way of scaling-up a worker capabilities – shared specialization or capacityCosts of teaming include communication and free-ridingTeam settings include those with Complementary knowledge setsIdiosyncratic knowledgeNeed to transfer informationIT wields powerful effects on the structure of organizationsboth toward empowerment (decentralization) and toward centralization3/29/202022