Core Principles of Organizational Management and Strategy

Total Quality Management (TQM)

TQM steps include:

• Diffuse the value of quality among employees.
• Manage the quality gap.
• Implement control systems that measure a company's ability to improve quality.
• Create incentives to motivate people in the achievement of targeted quality levels.
• Solicit input from employees.
• Introduce just-in-time inventory systems.
• Work closely with suppliers to improve input quality.
• Design for ease of production.
• Break down barriers between functions.

Flexible Manufacturing

Flexible manufacturing focuses on reducing the time spent setting up production equipment and transitioning between specific production processes. It is a strategy based on using IT to reduce costs associated with product assembly.

Hackman and Oldham's Model

This model identifies five core job characteristics: skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback from the job.

Organizational Culture

Organizational culture is shaped by four factors: people characteristics, organizational ethics, work relationships, and organizational structure.

Organizational Structures

Flexible Organizations

These organizations are fast at adapting to customer needs, delegate decisions to lower levels, maintain a wide span of control, and foster an entrepreneurial culture. They are suited for:

• Fluctuating environments (high uncertainty).
• Differentiation strategies.
• Routine technology (low variety and high analysability).
• Highly skilled workers and group-based workflows.

Formal (Rigid) Organizations

These organizations feature slow adaptability, centralized decision-making, a narrow span of control, and an administrative culture. They are suited for:

• Stable environments (low uncertainty).
• Low-cost strategies.
• Non-routine technology (high variety and low analysability).
• Low-skilled workers.

Effective Control Systems

Effective control systems possess three characteristics:

• Flexibility: Allowing managers to respond to unexpected events.
• Accuracy: Providing precise information about organizational performance.
• Timeliness: Delivering information promptly to avoid failure caused by outdated data.

Balanced Scorecard Perspectives

Customer Perspective

Metrics include satisfaction scores, average response time, complaints, retention rates (calculated as: (total customers - new customers) / initial customers), and market share. Strategies include implementing complaint resolution systems and loyalty programs.

Internal Business Process Perspective

Metrics include defect rates, on-time delivery, rework rates, and productivity. Strategies include replacing aging equipment, introducing preventive maintenance, and rebalancing workloads.

Innovation and Learning Perspective

Metrics include employee training hours, turnover rates, and engagement levels. Strategies include reinvesting in human capital (structured training, improved compensation) and investing in IT infrastructure (CRM, automated diagnostics).

Expectancy Theory

This theory is defined by three components: expectancy, instrumentality, and valence.