Generating Critical Organizational States: Bridges between sociotechnical design features and high performance

 
 
 
 

Generating Critical Organizational States: Bridges between sociotechnical design features and high performance

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Title: Generating Critical Organizational States: Bridges between sociotechnical design features and high performance
Author: Sabiers, Michael P.
Description: This study conceptualizes the organizational change process as consisting of two stages. The first stage is the introduction of changes in organizational structure, technology or human relationships (action levers) that Sociotechnical Systems principles predict should result in desirable organizational outcomes. In sufficient number these action levers foster a broad realignment of underlying assumptions and inter-locking behavioral response sets within the organization. This study identifies groups of these response sets as "Critical Organizational States" that can be measured using a questionnaire developed for the purpose. These Critical Organizational States are theorized to interact synergistically and in their turn lead to increased organizational effectiveness and efficiency, decreased turnover and absenteeism, and increased employee commitment and satisfaction. An analysis of survey results from 10 manufacturing plants lends some support for the two-stage conceptualization of organizational change. The usefulness of the concept of Critical Organizational States in evaluating change efforts is also supported. Data imply that desired organizational outcomes may be reduced or eliminated when firms are unwilling or unable to remove enough hierar chical control mechanisms to allow shop floor subsystems to become self-correcting. Because of limitations in the data, an evaluation of relationships between Critical Organizational States and organizational effectiveness was not possible.
Permanent Link: http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1055956344
http://hdl.handle.net/2374.OX/16749
Date: 1992

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