¶ … Sustain High Performance Public Organizations
Highly Interdependent Work
Why? Because We LUV You. Different types of work and the organization of types of work have been studied by those interested in business leadership and organization development for decades. When a categorically new business emerges on the scene, or when a mature business invents a strikingly effective new approach to business, the textbooks and Harvard Business Cases get dusted off and circulated anew. Such is the case with the study of Southwest Airlines, a company that turned the airlines business on its head -- or rather, on its hub and spokes orientation -- by developing a more efficient and economical way to approach the business of domestic airlines (Goudreau, 2007). Southwest isn't necessarily an innovative company, but it has worked to establish systems that work and then has diligently protected those systems. The company's determination to stick with what works against the pressure to get in line with its competitors is remarkable -- but it is a business strategy that has panned out quite extraordinarily well (Braneatelli, 2008).
Relational Coordination. Relational coordination can be thought of as the management of independent tasks -- the integration of tasks, accomplished through high quality communication, but also through high quality relationships. Gittell (2010) suggests that the quality of work relationships can be measured by the degree of mutual respect, shared goals, and shared knowledge evident in those transactions. Gittell argues that relational coordination theory can be applied to 'work processes in which multiple providers are engaged in carrying out highly interdependent tasks under conditions of uncertainty and time constraints" (2010, p. 3).
Work System Design. The term adhocracy was first made popular by Alvin Toffler in the early 1970s, and picked up by Henry Mintzberg in his management theories and framework for analyzing work organizations. An adhocracy was defined by Waterman (1993) "any form of organization that cuts across normal bureaucratic lines to capture opportunities, solve problems, and get results." An adhocracy takes shape, generally, in order to solve problems efficaciously. A changing environment incubates an adhocracy, such that, innovative, sophisticated, and technical systems are generated in order for the organization to thrive and excel. In an adhocracy, all associates have both responsibility and authority in their areas of specialization in the coordination of their efforts. Without the weighty hierarchy present in a bureaucracy, associates in an adhocracy are able to take actions that affect the future of the organization. Mintzberg and Toffler both saw bureaucracy as an "old school" organization and adhocracy as its modern, improved corollary.
Quality and efficiency. Southwest is a master of the lean team. This organizational adaptation fits well with Waterman's argument that "teams should be big enough to represent all parts of the bureaucracy that will be affected by their work, yet small enough to get the job done efficiently" (2010). Thus, adhocracy and relational coordination agree on this point: The design of work systems can undermine or support the effectiveness of work teams. Gittell (2010) argues that "relational coordination appears to have a significant positive impact on key measures of performance, including both quality and efficiency."
Shared goals, knowledge, & mutual respect. One of the ways that relational coordination contributes so mightily to quality work and efficiency is that it permits a high level of worker-role interchangability. When employees share knowledge and are frequent and excellent communicators, they can more readily step into the "work streams" of colleagues. Most Southwestern employees start work that others will finish and a system of distributed leadership enhances the company's ability to capitalize on employees' talents. With such a high level of interchangeability, the company is able to support individual employees in their need for flexibility in their efforts to maintain work-life balance and to quickly adjust to any employee churn. No less important is the capacity of the company to respond to the vagaries of their industry that cause them to resort to leaner configurations from time to time. Southwest is known for its ability to weather periods of fiscal crisis without the tremendous layoffs of its peers (Braneatelli, 2008). From circumstances that foster the shared goals, shared knowledge, and mutual respect required for successful role interchangeability, a phenomenon known in the literature as mutual adjustment (Gallant, 2010). The mutuality of coordinated work implies a level of conscientiousness that is frequently seen in companies with highly motivated employees who are confident that they are valued by the company.
Managing Motivation. Southwest Airlines is an excellent example of efficient organizational systems and structure (Braneatelli, 2008). The flexibility that the company has achieved and maintained since its early days at LUV field have put it in good stead...
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now