Passed out new class schedule thorugh the end of the semester.
Note that there will be no class next Friday
Note also that the due date for Short Paper 2 has shifted back a week (to April 10).
The questions and index card assignment due today are shifted to Monday.
Dialectics of Control
Let's consider a purchasing dept.
Director
Secretary
Typists
Head of operations
Agents
Technicians
A set of media
Forms (Requisitions, Purchase orders, and others
Files
Telephone
Formal bid requests
Advertisements
Direct Interaction
And more
And an office layout:
The department executes a formal process
Requisitions from client departments
Standardized forms
Bids from suppliers
Bid analysis and supplier selection
Finalized transactions with supplier (purchase orders)
Process varies by price
< $200 by department (petty cash)
< $5000 by phone bid
< $200,000 by written bid
> $200,000 by published requisition
< $10,000 approved by operations manager
< $50,000 approved by director
> $50,000 approved by V.P.
As a formalized system, it was known to be very inefficient
There are several relationships here
Not just boss to employee
A status hierarchy of head complement relationships
Director -> head of operations -> agents -> technicians > typists
Director -> secretary -> all
Client departments -> purchasing -> suppliers
All of this structure is about control
Minimizing unnecessary expenditures
Getting the best prices
Asserting status
Asserting control
We have, in effect, a dialectic of control
The customer controls purchasing
Purchasing controls the customer
How does this work?
Forms via internal mail
Routing within office
Signatures
Bid requests and responses
Files
Final resolutions
How could it work?
Without computerization?
Direct purchasing?
With computers
Managed workflow
Outsourcing
Computerizing this
Issue 1: Looking outside the box
An external set of eyes isn't trapped by existing process
But resentments are inevitable
Issue 2: What are you trying to solve
Improving performance versus cutting bodies
Dis-economies
Issue 3: Implementation and training
System complexity
People create shortcuts and they need ways to make them
Issue 4: Integrating the existing process
Supplier reference materials, for instance
Hard copy was supposed to go away in a "paperless office". It didn't
Unless otherwise noted, the contents of this page
were written by participants on the Media Space Wiki, operated by Davis Foulger,
and should be cited accordingly. For example (APA): Foulger, D. and other
participants. (August 27, 2008). Organizational Spr2006 Sess25. MediaSpaceWiki. Retrieved on from
http://evolutionarymedia.com/wiki.htm?OrganizationalSpr2006Sess25.