Organization theory and design: Lecture 14

Organization theory and design: Lecture 14 provides students with content about: manufacturing and service technologies; organizational level manufacturing technology; woodward’s technical complexity categories; computer integrated manufacturing (CIM);... Please refer to the lesson for details!

Manufacturing & Service

Technologies

• Exploring manufacturing and service

technologies and how technology is related to organizational structure

Manufacturing & Service

Technologies

• Technology refers to tools, techniques,

machines and actions used to transform

organizational inputs (materials, information,

ideas) into outputs (products and services)

• Technology is an organization’s production

process and includes work procedures as well

as machinery

• For a service organization technology includes the equipment and procedures for delivering the service

Organizational Level Manufacturing

Technology

Woodward’s Study:

• She classified manufacturing firms

according to the technical complexity of

the manufacturing process.

• Technical complexity represents the

extent of mechanization of the

manufacturing process

• High and low technical complexity and role

of machines and workers

Woodward’s Technical Complexity

Categories

1 Small batch and unit production:

– job shops, assemble small orders, specific needs of

customers are met, human operators have prime importance,

1 Large batch and mass production:

– long production runs of standardized parts, output

goes into inventory, customers do not have special needs, (assembly lines for automobiles)

1 Continuous Process Production:

– entire process is mechanized, no starting and

stopping, mechanization and standardization are one step ahead of assembly lines, outputs are

Relationship Between Technical

Complexity & Structural Characteristics

Structure Unit Production Mass

Production Continuous Process Production

Woodward’s own Words

• “Different technologies impose different kinds of demands on individuals and

organizations, and those demands had to

be met through an appropriate structure”

Computer Integrated Manufacturing

(CIM)

• CIM is also called advanced

manufacturing technology, agile

manufacturing, the factory of the future,

smart factories, or flexible manufacturing systems

• Mass customization

Mass Production & CIM

Decision making centralized decentralized

HR interactions standalone teamwork

Customer demand stable changing

Suppliers many few, close relations