Structural intervention

Meaning & Introduction

• Also called as Techno structural Intervention.• Aimed at improving organizational

effectiveness through changes in the tasks, structural, technological and goal processes in the organizations.

• Focus on job design, division of labor and hierarchy, arrangements of equipment and people etc.

Types of Structural Interventions

• Socio Technical Systems (STS)• Self managed Teams• Work Redesign• Management by Objectives (MBO)• Quality Circles• Quality of work life projects (QWL)• Total Quality Management (TQM)

Socio technical Systems

• Is based on joint optimization of the social and technological systems of organization.

• The boundary between the organization & its environment should be managed to allow effective exchanges but protection from external disruptions.

• The implementation of STS should be highly participative.

Self managed teams

• Providing teams with a grouping of tasks that comprises a major unit of the total work to be performed.

• Training group members in multiple skills, including team effectiveness skills.

• Delegating to the team many aspects of how the work gets done.

• Providing a great deal of information and feedback for self regulation of quality & productivity.

Work Redesign• Richard Hackman & Greg Oldham have

provided an OD approach to work design based on theoretical model of what job characteristics lead to psychological states that produce high internal work motivation.

• Based on five job characteristics- Skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback from the job.

MBO

• Goal setting and performance review processes should have a team thrust and should be both participative and transactional.

• Based on participative and transactional we mean that in goal setting, subordinates should have meaningful ways to provide inputs; and in reviewing performance, a collaborative examination of the forces in the situation needs to be made.

Contd..

• MBO may be described as a process consisting of series of inter related steps-

The subordinate proposes a set of goals for the upcoming time period.

The subordinate and supervisor jointly developed specific goals and targets. These goals must be specific and measurable.

The actual performance of the individual is measured against his goals.

The feedback of results to the individual and appropriate rewards for performance.

The outcome of the performance review provides the basis for setting new performance goals.

Quality Circles

It is a form of group problem solving and goal setting with a primary focus on maintaining and enhancing product quality.

Quality circles consists of 7-10 employees from a unit who meet together regularly to analyze and make proposals about product quality.

Leaders are encouraged to create a high degree of participation within the group.

QWL• It includes restructuring of several dimensions

of the organization.• Increased problem solving between

management and the union.• Increased participation by teams of employees

in shop floor decisions pertaining to production flow, quality control and safety.

• Skill development through skill training, job rotation, and training in team problem solving.

TQM

• Total Quality Management is a combination of a number of organization improvement techniques and approaches including the use of quality circles, statistical quality control and extensive use of employee participation.

Characteristics of TQM

• Primary emphasis on customers• It is based on measurement using SQC• Continuous search for sources of defects with

a goal of eliminating them entirely.• Participative Management• Emphasis on teams & team work• Continuous training