Ch 13: Employee Involvement Interventions

Question 1

What is employee Involvement?

Answer 1

This seeks to increase members’ input into decisions that affect organizational performance and employee well-being.

Four key elements:
Power: decision-making authority over things like work methods, performance outcomes, employee selection etc.

Information: Free flowing of the necessary information

Knowledge and Skills: training and development

Rewards: Can motivate involvement- internal and external rewards

Question 2

T/f Internationally, EI may be considered a set of
processes directed at changing the structure of the work situation within a particular
economic and cultural environment and under the influence of particular values and
philosophies.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

How does EI affect productivity?

Answer 3

Improved Communcation and Coordination: Info sharing and involvement in organization.

Improved Motivation: EI helps satisfy personal needs.

Improved Capabilities: More EI typically leads to more T&D

These lead to improved productivity.

Question 4

What are the secondary effects of EI on productivity?

Answer 4

Aside from directly boosting productivity, EI increases Employee Well-being and Satisfaction which boosts attraction and retention and thus equals more productivity.

Question 5

What are the 3 EI Interventions?

Answer 5

Parallel Structures

TQM

High Involvement Organizations

Question 6

What are Parallel structures?

Answer 6

parallel structures operate in conjunction with the formal organization.

Gives workers a alternative settign in which they can work together and address problems

(think of parallel teams- they have their assigned work, but have another group they also work in to solve issues)
-free from the existing,
formal organization structure and culture

Question 7

What are the 6 application stages of Parallel Structures?

Answer 7

Define the purpose and scope: purpose and how it will function(Org diagnosis can help identify which problems to address).

Form a steering committee typically has key leaders from the various org. functions.

-Redifine scope and purpose
-Develop vision
-Ensuring senior management support

Communicate with organization members: Let them know of the structure and get them onboard- tell them the purpose procedures and rewards of participating in this.

Create forums for employee problem solving: . The most common
forum is the employee problem-solving group. Its formation involves selecting and
training group members, identifying problems for the group to work on, and providing appropriate facilitation.

Address the problems and issues: Parallel structures solve problems by using an
action research process. They diagnose specific problems, plan appropriate solutions,
and, if empowered to do so, implement and evaluate them.

Implement and evaluate the changes: This step involves implementing appropriate.
organizational changes and assessing the result (remember we assess as the process goes on, make necessary changes and then evaluate the outcome)

Question 8

Results of Parallel Structure

Answer 8

..Mixed
Some improvements in employee attitudes
Only 2 showed improvements in productivity

More recent data shows: …

Question 9

What is TQM

Answer 9

Continuous process improvement, continuous quality, business excellence

Question 10

T/f When implemented successfully, TQM
also is aligned closely with a firm’s overall strategy and attempts to direct the entire organization toward continuous quality improvement

Answer 10

T

Question 11

Demings 14 points and seven deadly sins

Answer 11

..1

Question 12

5 Application Stages of TQM

Answer 12

1. Gain long-term senior management commitment

Train members in quality methods

Start quality-improvement projects

Measure progress

Rewarding accomplishments

Question 13

Results of TQM

Answer 13

Hard to research but companies report positive or very positive reports.

TQM also found associated with the implementation fo other EI interventions

Finally, the study revealed that TQM was positively associated
with performance outcomes, such as productivity, customer service, product/service
quality, and profitability, as well as with human outcomes, such as employee satisfaction and quality of work life. O

Question 14

What are High Involvement Organizations?

Answer 14

Addresses all features of an org’s design

Org design elements addressed jointly by managers and workers to promote high levels of involvement and performance.
(in sum)

Structure, work design, management processes, physical layout, personnel policies, and reward systems are designed jointly by
management and workers to promote high levels of involvement and performance

Question 15

What are the features of HIO’s?

Answer 15

Flat, lean(reducingin inefficiencies) org. structures

Job designs that provide employees with high levels of discretion, task variety, and
meaningful feedback can enhance involvement.

Training- so that they can participate effectively in decision making

Reward systems:

Physical Layouts

Question 16

Application Factors in HIOs

Answer 16

-No universally accepted approach to implementing HIO features

Atleast 2 distinct features that characterize how HIOs are implemented.

1. implementation
   generally, is guided by an explicit statement of values that members want the new
   organization to support.

• Typically, such values as teamwork, equity, quality, and
  empowerment guide the choice of specific design feature.

2. Participative nature: Managers and employees take active roles in choosing and implementing the design features.

Question 17

Results of HIOs

Answer 17

An early
study surveyed 98 HIOs and showed that about 75% of them perceived their performance relative to competitors as better than average on quality of work life, customer service, productivity, quality, and grievance rates.