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39ThompsonOrganizationsinAction2.pptxJames Thompson: Organizations in Action
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"Organizations in Action," sociologist -- James D. Thompson
Defined three types of interdependence to describe the intensity of interactions and behaviors within an organizational structure.
The study of interdependence helps business owners understand how the different departments or units within their organization depend on the performance of others.
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Pooled Interdependece
Pooled interdependence is perhaps the loosest form of the three.
In this type of interdependence, each organizational department or business unit performs completely separate functions.
Departments may not directly interact and do not directly depend on each other in the pooled interdependence model, each does contribute individual pieces to the same overall puzzle.
This creates an almost blind, indirect dependence on the performance of others wherein one department’s failures could lead to the failure of the overall process.
Clothing Manufacturing Factory
Pooled interdependence within the manufacturing sector involves groups of employees working independently to produce a certain product.
Employees of a clothing firm may use the same machines to cut, dye and sew fabrics.
At the end of each shift, the firm may package items that were produced by many employees into one box and ship those finished goods to the same store.
The workers depend on one another to produce enough goods to meet the firm's daily production goals, but each worker can produce an item of clothing without the assistance of a coworker.
Therefore, different people and business units have minimal contact during the production phase
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Sequential Interdependence
Sequential interdependence occurs when one unit in the overall process produces an output necessary for the performance by the next unit.
Example an assembly line
According to the Proven Models website, "The demand for coordination to prevent slowdown is greater than for pooled task interdependence."
Scheduling and planning your organization resources in a sequential interdependence model is essential to efficient operations.
Assembly lines are one example of sequential task interdependence at a manufacturing firm.
In a furniture producing plant, one employee may construct the wooden frame before passing a couch onto a second worker who adds the springs.
A third worker may add cushions and stuffing before a fourth worker adds the couch cover.
The production process must follow a logical sequence since you cannot add the cover or the stuffing until you have already created the frame and installed the springs
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Reciprocal Interdependence
Reciprocal interdependence is similar to sequential interdependence in that the output of one department becomes the input of another, with the addition of being cyclical.
In this model, an organization’s departments are at their highest intensity of interaction.
Reciprocal models are the most complex and difficult to manage -- the Business Intelligence website notes that "one unit can change the rules and affect everyone else at any time."
On this 1978 Cadillac assembly line, vinyl roofs have already been fitted to the vehicles.
In a reciprocal relationship, no one person or business unit can manufacture an item without the involvement of another person or unit.
Furthermore, in this type of setup, items normally pass back and forth between the same units multiple times during the production phase.
At a car manufacturing plant, the vehicle may pass between the electronics department and the steel workers several times as workers in both areas gradually add components to each vehicle.
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Coordination
Thompson theorized that the correct way to get departments within an organization working together effectively is to structure respective work tasks by intensity of interdependence, and then manage each of those interdependencies with different coordination methods.
For example, a pooled interdependency requires standardization in rules and operating procedures, while the coordination methods for the other two interdependencies are slightly more flexible.
A sequential interdependency is managed through mildly adaptive planning and scheduling,
Reciprocally interdependent departments are managed through constant information sharing and mutual adjustments.
