Copyright 2000, Dr. Larry W. Long1 Chapter 11 Communication & Productivity by Dr. Larry Long.

Copyright 2000, Dr. Larry W. Long

1

Chapter 11

Communication & Productivity

by

Dr. Larry Long


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Society & organizational products

Organizations are societal subsystemsadaptive: research firmssupportive: import/export companies

production: manufacturing, agribusinessmaintenance: schools, medicalmanagerial: government agencies

Each is needed & contributes to societal negentropy


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• What’s my production cycle?– (input, throughput, output)

• What is my productivity level & how can I improve it?– (more effectively acquiring input & transforming it to output)

• What are my primary and secondary product types?– (physical, capital, human, or information)

• What is the potential for production conflict?– (subsystems & functions integrated and mutually supporting)

• How can I enhance productivity– (fit between employee and job role)

Managers are concerned with answering several questions . . .


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Production cycle defined• Production is . . .

. . a process in which inputs (raw resources --physical, capital, human,

&/or information) are transformed into outputs (finished goods or

services).

$


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Production cycle stepsStep 1: Resource

(energy) acquisition from environment --

INPUT

Step 2: Transformation of resources into finished goods/services

THROUGHPUT

Productionsubsystem

supportivesubsystem

adaptivesubsystem

maintenancesubsystem

managerialsubsystem

Step 3: Product or service sent market,

i.e., exported to environment --

OUTPUT

Organizational System Boundary


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Productivity

Productivity is.... . a measurement of how efficient or inefficient an organization is in transforming resources into finished goods or services.


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Measuring productivity

Productivity is a measure of the input/output ratio, e.g. -- return on investment labor hours per unit # of units per time

interval

Specific measures vary across organizations.

investment

return

Transformation

hours units

timeunit

INPUT

OUTPUT

INPUT

OUTPUT


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How do I enhance productivity?increase resource consumption level & increase production level

if, >input, then >output

decrease resource consumption level & maintain production level

if, < input, then = output

maintain resource consumption level & increase production

if, =input, then >output


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Primary vs. secondary production• Organizations --

require physical, human, capital, and information resources

may differ by virture of which are primary & secondary

• Primary Products macro level finished good/service for

external environment

• Secondary Products micro level finished good/service for

internal environment

physicalhumancapitalinformation


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Organizations differ by type of output

Physical Capital Human InformationAuto Manufactuer Insurance

CompanyPublicSchools

TelevisionStation

Food Store StockBrokerage

Universities Newspaper

Home Builder I.R.S. Prisons BookPublisher

Steel Company Banking YWCA Theater

Chemical Company FinanceCompany

Hospital MusicCompany

Lumber Mill SalesCompany

Government ConsultingFirm

Macro-level Differences


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Input/what organizations require

Physical Resourcestangible objects

Human Resourcespeople/labor/supervision

Capital Resourcesexchange/cash flow

Information Resourcessymbols/intelligence

Micro-level Resources Needed


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Output/what organizations produce• Physical Output

physical objects and artifacts; any object that can be sensed

• Capitaltokens or money; insurance; stocks & bonds

• Humanhuman resources; labor

• Informationsymbols &intelligence


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Organizations & department productsDepartments have primary products

physical: assembly, manufacturingcapital: finance, accountinghuman: human resources, personnelinformation: research & development

They contribute to throughput in order to produce the primary output


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Product-Induced ConflictConflict occurs when each department believes its product is most important to the organization, e.g., . . . marketing produces income for the

organization & considers itself the most important group

accounting provides services for the organization & considers itself the most important group

manufacturing makes the company’s product & considers itself the most important group

personnel hires, places & trains employees & considers itself the most important group


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Production may induce conflict . . .Functional Loyalty people become loyal to their co-

workers and products that they produce

tend to view organization from micro level, i.e., physical vs. capital vs. human vs. information resources

in this case, a return to the macro-level perspective is needed

This company couldn’t exist without us!!!


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Enhancing productivity through communication

Identify unit of analysis & design for organization and communication (Phases 1 & 2)

Manage Information, decision-making processes, behavior regulation & conflict (Phase 3)

Apply appropriate motivation, quality of work life improvement & development techniques (Phase 4)

Copyright 2000, Dr. Larry W. Long1 Chapter 11 Communication & Productivity by Dr. Larry Long.

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