Case: Outputs Diagnosis, SLP: Time Warp 3

BUS599 – MBA Integrative Project

Module 4 – Background

Case: Outputs Diagnosis, SLP: Time Warp 3

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.

There are no reading assignments for SLP 4

However, if you need a refresher on various theories (product life cycle, pricing, price elasticity, market saturation, product development, etc.) there are a multitude on the Internet.

Optional Review Materials – Once again, here is the link to the sample Internet resource list for the course.