Background Reading for Case 4
In Case 4, you will continue with the Nadler-Tushman
Congruence Model to assess an organization's outputs. Nadler and Tushman
identify outputs as existing at the individual, group, and organizational
level. They also emphasize the importance of identifying the outputs that the
organization desires vs. what is actually achieved.
Read:
Nadler, D. A. &Tushman, M. L. (1980) A Model for Diagnosing
Organizational Behavior. Organizational Dynamics,
9 (2), 35-51. Retrieved on November 7, 2012 from EBSCO.
For Case 4, focus on the Outputs aspect of this model. Read pages
43 to 51.
Outputs are not complicated to understand. At the Organization
level, they are the products and services that are provided to its customers.
(It can also be the value provided to its owners, but we are not going to
consider this here.) The primary way that a company measures its performance is
financially: Sales, Profit, Return on Sales (ROS), Return on Assets; and also
via market share.
The organization is made up of various groups. One way to look at
groups is by functional area: marketing, operations, purchasing, etc. Another
way, if the company is large, is by its various divisions or by its product
groupings. Here it becomes a little more complicated to measure performance,
but it is possible by defining the goals and objectives of each group.
The bottom level of the organization is the individual. Each
person has a job description and is responsible for specific outputs for that
job. The main method of performance measurement here is individual
productivity: Outputs/Inputs (e.g., widgets/hour, or reports/day). This is more
difficult to quantify and for a specific company is difficult to obtain, since
this data is not generally reported. Sometimes you can infer some individual
measures, for example, by dividing Profit by the number of total employees, to
get a measure of overall profitability per person.
BACKGROUND
XCG
THE EXCELLENT CONSULTING GROUP
COMMUNICATION FROM ART:
Onward to the next project: Outputs of Whole Foods Market.
As I indicated before, this is a follow-up using the Nadler-Tushman Congruence
Model.
We need to analyze how Whole Foods Market has been doing in
terms of its performance and how it stacks up against its goals. We will do
this at three levels: the overall organizational level, the group level, and
the individual level. The Congruence Model explains this well. You should
be up to speed on this model.
The executives want to know how congruent the outputs are
across the three levels. Given your analysis of performance at each of the
three levels, are the interactions of these outputs congruent - highly,
somewhat, or very little? Make this determination and support it with a logical
argument using the information that you obtain about Whole Foods Market's goals
and performance.
REQUIRED READING:
Nadler, D. A. &Tushman, M. L. (1980) A Model for
Diagnosing Organizational Behavior. Organizational Dynamics, 9
(2), 35-51. Retrieved on November 7, 2012 from EBSCO.
CASE 4 ASSIGNMENT:
Use the Nadler-Tushman Congruence Module to analyze
Whole Foods Market's outputs. Start with the Organizational Level.
Identify the Outputs - what does it produce and sell? What are its goals? How
has it been performing? Then go the group level. What are some groups that Whole
Foods Market identifies, and the goals and performance of these groups.
Finally, discuss the Individual level. Here you will find it difficult to get
much detailed information, so identify five to seven key jobs and their
outputs. How can the performance of these jobs be measured? Finally determine
the congruence of the outputs and make a strong argument for your case.
Be sure to include references. Turn in the 5- to 7-page
paper by the end of the module.
KEYS TO THE ASSIGNMENT:
In order to make your case you need to identify the outputs
of the organization at each of three levels. Also identify the goals that it
has set and its current performance. Include the following:
- Outputs
at the organizational level are the products and/or services that it
provides to its customers. What are these and how does the company
categorize them? How does it measure its organizational performance (e.g.,
sales, net profit, return on sales, return on assets, market share,
customer satisfaction, etc.). Provide some specific performance data.
- What
are some ways the company identifies groups? For example, are there
geographic groups (or divisions), functional groups, etc. What are the
outputs of these groups? How does it (or how might it) measure performance
of these groups?
- What
are some of the key individual functions, and what are their outputs? How
do these outputs contribute to the group outputs? How do they measure
individual performance?
- Evaluate
how the outputs at the different levels interact with each other. Determine
if you think the congruence of the outputs is high, medium, or low.
Then make a strong case. It is very important that you support
your position with evidence and information that you have discussed
earlier in the report.
ASSIGNMENT EXPECTATIONS
Your paper will be evaluated on the following seven
points:
- Precision
- Does the paper address the question(s) or task(s)?
- Breadth
- Is the full breadth of the subject, that is, the Keys to the Assignment,
addressed?
- Depth
- Does the paper address the topic in sufficient depth and include the
background reading and other background resources as references?
- Critical
thinking - Is the subject thought about critically, that is, accurately,
logically, relevantly, and precisely?
- Clarity
- Is the writing clear and are the concepts articulated properly? Are
paraphrasing and synthesis of concepts the primary means of responding to
the questions or are points conveyed through excessive use of
quotations?
- Organization
- Is the paper well written? Are the grammar, spelling, and
vocabulary appropriate for graduate-level work? Are headings
included in all papers longer than two pages?
- Referencing
(citations and references) - Does the paper include citations and
quotation marks where appropriate? Are the references from the
background readings and assignment present and properly cited? Are
all the references listed in the bibliography present and referred to
via citation?
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