Reorganization of Work
REORGANIZATION OF WORK
The challenging way to increase efficiency is achieved through reorganizing the way work gets done. From the late 1970s through the early 1990s, companies experienced slow growth, for reasons related to the U.S. and worldwide economy. However, one key reason for the slow growth arose from the competition from other industrialized nations. The typical reaction to slow growth caused by global competition was to try to cut back on production costs by laying off workers. A business would downsize by reducing the amount and variety of goods and services produced and the number of employees needed to produce them. By laying off workers, dropping unprofitable products, or even increasing the use of technology, firms were able to cut their costs. But the problem of producing right products inexpensively still existed. Better ways were needed to compete with foreign firms, many of which had lower labor costs and equal or better quality and productivity. Some firms boldly decided to move in a direction that was similar to tearing down the business and rebuilding it. Many firms arrived at the conclusion that employees were their most important resource. Further, managers learned that by empowering workers, the firm could become more productive. Empowerment is letting workers to involve in determining how to perform their work tasks and offer ideas on how to improve the work process of the company.
Empowerment dramatically changed the role of the worker. In the past, workers performed narrow tasks on assembly lines and had little decision-making power. After empowering workers, firms found that the quality of work often improved, as did the efficiency of production. Although better-trained and highly skilled workers were required, fewer managers were needed. Companies were able to reduce the number of levels of management by pushing down the day to day decisions directly to workers rather than to managers. Workers were taught to use computers, to
The challenging way to increase efficiency is achieved through reorganizing the way work gets done. From the late 1970s through the early 1990s, companies experienced slow growth, for reasons related to the U.S. and worldwide economy. However, one key reason for the slow growth arose from the competition from other industrialized nations. The typical reaction to slow growth caused by global competition was to try to cut back on production costs by laying off workers. A business would downsize by reducing the amount and variety of goods and services produced and the number of employees needed to produce them. By laying off workers, dropping unprofitable products, or even increasing the use of technology, firms were able to cut their costs. But the problem of producing right products inexpensively still existed. Better ways were needed to compete with foreign firms, many of which had lower labor costs and equal or better quality and productivity. Some firms boldly decided to move in a direction that was similar to tearing down the business and rebuilding it. Many firms arrived at the conclusion that employees were their most important resource. Further, managers learned that by empowering workers, the firm could become more productive. Empowerment is letting workers to involve in determining how to perform their work tasks and offer ideas on how to improve the work process of the company.
Empowerment dramatically changed the role of the worker. In the past, workers performed narrow tasks on assembly lines and had little decision-making power. After empowering workers, firms found that the quality of work often improved, as did the efficiency of production. Although better-trained and highly skilled workers were required, fewer managers were needed. Companies were able to reduce the number of levels of management by pushing down the day to day decisions directly to workers rather than to managers. Workers were taught to use computers, to