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Praise for the Handbook of Human Performance Technology, Third Edition

“This third edition of the seminal Handbook weaves in two decades of applied HPT experience to provide even more relevant guidelines to today’s performance improvement practitioners as they continue the important work of leveraging an organization’s most precious capital—its people—toward verifiable, mea- surable, and valuable outcomes.”

—Clare Marsch, senior principal, global learning consulting, Convergys Learning Solutions

“The Handbook of Human Performance Technology is a valued resource for pro- fessionals who lead learning and performance improvement efforts in organi- zations. In this edition, top thinkers in our field take on the tough issues, summarize current thinking, and offer valuable new insights.”

—Catherine M. Sleezer, CPT, Ph.D., professor, human resource/adult education, Oklahoma State University

“This Handbook not only bridges the gap between European and American per- formance improvement strategies, it also includes key multicultural approaches for change agents that focus on business results.”

—Steven J. Kelly, CPT, managing partner, KNO Worldwide

“Taking the helm with the third edition, James Pershing ensures that the Hand- book of Human Performance Technology retains its leading role in the field. Two aspects particularly resonate: a new classification of interventions at the worker and team levels and workplace and organizational levels, and a superb section on measurement and assessment, which concisely applies a variety of research and evaluation techniques specifically for use in our field.”

—Saul Carliner, assistant professor, graduate program in educational technology, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada

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“The Handbook’s clear and supportive structure and the high scientific and/or practical expertise of its authors makes this excellent documentation of HPT’s mission, values, processes, and tools very beneficial and credible for both man- agers and HPT practitioners in work or social settings as well as academic read- ers with interest in state-of-the-art HPT related knowledge and experience.”

—Verena Dziobaka-Spitzhorn, house of training/ head of learning and communication, METRO Cash &

Carry International GmbH, Germany

“The Handbook reflects the vast and diverse experience of the very best think- ing and applications of HPT in the world today. It is an invaluable and com- prehensive reference for anyone interested in improving human performance in the workplace.”

—Christine Marsh, CPT, principal, Prime Objectives, United Kingdom

“As the knowledge revolution takes hold, victory will go to the smartest orga- nizations and societies. This must-have reference handbook provides consul- tants and business leaders with visual models, practices, and case histories to achieve measurable improvements in human performance and business results.”

—Geoffrey A. Amyot, CPT, CEO, Achievement Awards Group, South Africa

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Handbook of Human Performance Technology

Third Edition Principles, Practices, and Potential

James A. Pershing Editor

Foreword by Harold D. Stolovitch and Erica J. Keeps

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Copyright © 2006 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Published by Pfeiffer An Imprint of Wiley

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No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the

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Printed in the United States of America Printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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To Patricia Lorena, James Frederick, and Dara Lynn

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CONTENTS

Foreword to the Third Edition xiii Harold D. Stolovitch, Erica J. Keeps

Preface xxi

Acknowledgments xxvii

The Editor and Editorial Advisory Board xxix

Foreword to the First Edition xxxi Thomas F. Gilbert

Foreword to the Second Edition xxxvii Robert F. Mager

PART ONE: FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY 1 Monique Mueller, editor

1 Human Performance Technology Fundamentals 5 James A. Pershing

2 The Performance Architect’s Essential Guide to the Performance Technology Landscape 35 Roger M. Addison, Carol Haig

3 Business Perspectives for Performance Technologists 55 Kenneth H. Silber, Lynn Kearny

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4 Performance Improvement: Enabling Commitment to Changing Performance Requirements 93 William R. Daniels, Timm J. Esque

5 Systemic Issues 111 Dale M. Brethower

6 Mega Planning and Thinking: Defining and Achieving Measurable Success 138 Roger Kaufman

7 The Origins and Evolution of Human Performance Technology 155 Camille Ferond

PART TWO: THE PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY PROCESS 189 Jim Hill, editor

8 Aligning Human Performance Technology Decisions with an Organization’s Strategic Direction 191 Ryan Watkins

9 Analysis and More 208 Allison Rossett

10 Requirements: The Bridge Between Analysis and Design 223 Ray Svenson

11 Modeling Mastery Performance and Systematically Deriving the Enablers for Performance Improvement 238 Guy W. Wallace

12 Dimensions of Organizational Change 262 Larissa V. Malopinsky, Gihan Osman

13 Using Evaluation to Measure and Improve the Effectiveness of Human Performance Technology Initiatives 287 Robert O. Brinkerhoff

14 The Full Scoop on Full-Scope Evaluation 312 Joan C. Dessinger, James L. Moseley

PART THREE: INTERVENTIONS AT THE WORKER AND WORK TEAM LEVELS 331 Karen L. Medsker, editor

15 Instruction as an Intervention 335 Michael Molenda, James D. Russell

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CONTENTS ix

16 Designing Instructional Strategies: A Cognitive Perspective 370 Kenneth H. Silber, Wellesley R. Foshay

17 Games and Simulations for Training: From Group Activities to Virtual Reality 414 Robert L. Appelman, John H. Wilson

18 Distance Training 437 José Manuel Ochoa-Alcántar, Christy M. Borders, Barbara A. Bichelmeyer

19 Innovations in Performance Improvement with Mentoring 455 Margo Murray

20 Motivating Individuals, Teams, and Organizations 478 Richard E. Clark

21 Shifting Organizational Alignment from Behavior to Values 498 Anthony W. Marker

22 Principles and Practices of Work-Group Performance 516 Michael F. Cassidy, Megan M. Cassidy

23 Performance Support Systems 539 Steven W. Villachica, Deborah L. Stone, John Endicott

PART FOUR: INTERVENTIONS AT THE WORKPLACE AND ORGANIZATIONAL LEVELS 567

Mark J. Lauer, editor

24 The Impact of Organizational Development 571 Brian Desautels

25 The Fifth Discipline: A Systems Learning Model for Building High-Performing Learning Organizations 592 M. Jeanne Girard, Joseph Lapides, Charles M. Roe

26 Knowledge Management, Organizational Performance, and Human Performance Technology 619 Debra Haney

27 Coming to Terms with Communities of Practice: A Definition and Operational Criteria 640 Sasha Barab, Scott J. Warren, Rodrigo del Valle, Fang Fang

28 Workplace Design 665 Karen L. Medsker

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29 Six Sigma: Increasing Human Performance Technology Value and Results 692 Darlene M. Van Tiem, Joan C. Dessinger, James L. Moseley

30 Normal Excellence: Lean Human Performance Technology and the Toyota Production System 717 Joachim Knuf, Mark J. Lauer

PART FIVE: PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT AND ASSESSMENT 743 Jana L. Pershing, editor

31 A Commentary on Quantitative and Qualitative Methods: Myths and Realities 745 Jana L. Pershing

32 Constructing Effective Questionnaires 760 Sung Heum Lee

33 Interviewing to Analyze and Evaluate Human Performance Technology 780 Jana L. Pershing

34 Observation Methods for Human Performance Technology 795 James A. Pershing, Scott J. Warren, Daniel T. Rowe

35 Using Content Analysis in Human Performance Technology 819 Erika R. Gilmore

36 Quantitative Data Analyses 837 Mary Norris Thomas

37 Evidence-Based Practice and Professionalization of Human Performance Technology 873 Ruth Colvin Clark

PART SIX: PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION 899 Debra Haney, editor

38 Making the Transition from a Learning to a Performance Function 903 Dana Gaines Robinson, James C. Robinson

39 Using an HPT Model to Become Management’s Partner 924 Danny Langdon

40 Managing Human Performance Technology Projects 943 Nicholas Andreadis

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41 Leadership in Performance Consulting 964 Roger Chevalier

42 The Anatomy of Performance: A Framework for Consultants 986 Geary A. Rummler

43 Certification: An Alignment Intervention 1008 Judith A. Hale

44 Standards and Ethics in Human Performance Technology 1024 Ingrid J. Guerra

45 Professional Ethics: A Matter of Duty 1047 Jim Hill

46 Improving Human Performance by Employing a Top-Down Function Analysis Methodology in Navy Aircraft Design 1067 Dennis Duke, Robert Guptill, Mark Hemenway, Wilbur Doddridge

PART SEVEN: LOOKING FORWARD IN HUMAN PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY 1085 Darlene M. Van Tiem, editor

47 SWOT Analysis 1089 Doug Leigh

48 Sustainable Development and Human Performance Technology 1109 Scott P. Schaffer, Therese M. Schmidt

49 Rapid Reflection Throughout the Performance-Improvement Process 1122 Sharon J. Korth, Brenda S. Levya-Gardner

50 Appreciative Inquiry: Unraveling the Mystery of Accentuating the Positive 1147 Darlene M. Van Tiem, Julie Lewis

51 Comprehensive Performance Evaluation: Using Logic Models to Develop a Theory-Based Approach for Evaluation of Human Performance Technology Interventions 1165 Barbara A. Bichelmeyer, Brian S. Horvitz

52 Aligning the Human Performance System 1190 John Amarant, Donald T. Tosti

53 Systems, Measures, and Workers: Producing and Obscuring the System and Making Systemic Performance Improvement Difficult 1224 Donald J. Winiecki

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54 Hidden Order of Human Performance Technology: Chaos and Complexity 1251 Darlene M. Van Tiem, Swati Karve, Jennifer Rosenzweig

55 Quantulumcunque Concerning the Future Development of Performance Technology 1274 Klaus D. Wittkuhn

About the Editor 1286

About the Contributors 1288

The International Society for Performance Improvement 1311

Name Index 1312

Subject Index 1326

Addendum to the Copyright Page 1364

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FOREWORD TO THE THIRD EDITION

H uman performance technology (HPT) is a professional field of study and application, the main purpose of which is to engineer systems that allow people and organizations to perform in ways that they and all stakehold-

ers value. HPT is a derivative field that for over a half of a century has evolved from a number of disciplines, such as psychology, communications, neuro- science, management science, information science, economics, ergonomics, and measurement and evaluation. It is also the progeny of a number of applied fields, such as instructional technology, human resource development, organi- zational development, and industrial engineering.

Eclectic as this all sounds, HPT has grown to become a distinct specialty with its own international, national, and local professional societies as well as numerous publications, university programs, and certification structures that lend it credence. It has emerged as a domain of practice that is increasingly rel- evant, if not essential, for today’s organizational success. The term human per- formance technology sounds somewhat dry and mechanistic. Hence, human performance improvement (HPI) has begun to appear in professional publica- tions as a more acceptable euphemism. We view HPT as the rigorous means for achieving valued performance, that is, what we as performance-improvement specialists do, and HPI as the end result, that is, what we accomplish. Regard- less of the terminology, HPT-HPI has come to represent a unique area of study, research, and professional practice, one that is worthy of recognition in the world of work and, more recently, in nonwork and social settings.

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THE HANDBOOK OF HUMAN PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY: A FOUNDATION DOCUMENT

Such an energetic field must, at points in its development, stop for a moment to consolidate its thinking, values, position, mission, direction, and practices and make a statement about what it is and why anyone should care. This state- ment serves three purposes: (1) to help its diverse scholars and practitioners disengage themselves from their daily, disparate, and pressing activities and reflect on who they really are as a family; (2) to inform the outside world of what the field is all about and why its existence is so excitingly important; and (3) to guide those entering the field and those responsible for informing new members on what and where to focus.

The statement HPT has made is this Handbook of Human Performance Tech- nology. In 1988, the then National Society for Performance and Instruction (NSPI), now the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI), realized that while it was preaching HPT vigorously and vociferously, the message was not coming through very clearly. A stronger affirmation had to be made. A source doc- ument was necessary to inform the world of what HPT was all about. The result was the launching of a publication initiative. We were selected to be the parents of this publication, and our job was to give birth to a powerful HPT manifesto.

Here was our mission as it appeared in 1992 in the preface to the first edition of the handbook:

What has been needed as a solid cornerstone for the field . . . is a major publication that clearly articulates, to the world and to HPT professionals, that we have arrived. That is the purpose of the Handbook of Human Performance Technology: to announce the existence of an emerging, highly relevant field, and to express what this field is about, where it comes from, what it does, and how its principles and practices can very significantly benefit organizations that seek outstanding results [Stolovitch and Keeps, 1992, p. xx].

Little did we realize what an undertaking this was to be, involving almost three years of intense work. Also, little did we anticipate its impact. Not only were the handbook’s sales outstanding, it soon became the major textbook for uni- versity programs that were adding ever-increasing numbers of professionals to the field. The first edition also generated widespread, international enthusiasm for HPT. This resulted in a second edition, this time with a global thrust. What came out of this two-and-a-half-year effort was a markedly increased worldwide profile for HPT and many new adherents to the field from a host of nations.

However, as optimistic as we were about the staying power of the handbook, we certainly could not have predicted an entirely new, amazingly updated third edition some fourteen years after the first one. We view the contents of this

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FOREWORD TO THE THIRD EDITION xv

outstanding, highly evolved volume with awe and admiration for what Profes- sor Pershing and his authors have accomplished and strong emotion at seeing how far the field has evolved in so short a time.

HPT: HOW FAR WE HAVE COME

Speaking about our advances as a professional group, it is tremendously impres- sive to note the indicators of our dramatic growth. Witness the numerous books, chapters, periodicals, and articles dealing with HPT themes. Since 1992, publica- tions have multiplied tenfold. The number of university programs and courses focused on human performance at work has burgeoned, and not only in the United States and Canada where the movement began, but also in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, South America, Australia, New Zealand, and throughout the world where there are people searching for ways to achieve organizational results val- ued by all. As an example, over the past year, we ourselves received requests for HPT guidance, suggested readings, and learning opportunities from countries including China, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Malaysia, Singapore, Bangladesh, Romania, South Africa, Colombia, Israel, and Niger. In this listing, we do not even name the Western European countries, as they have now become normal fare, something we would not have said even ten years ago.

Along with the impact on publications and programs are the noticeable changes to professional societies and organizations that once were centered exclusively on training. The American Society for Training and Development, now ASTD, and VNU, publishers of Training, have begun to include the term performance in their taglines, including those for their various certificate programs. Recently a new magazine, Workforce Performance Solutions, sprang into existence, an offshoot of the Chief Learning Officer magazine. Also, let us not forget the emergence of the HPT certification program from the flagship organization for HPT, ISPI. The ISPI Certified Performance Technologist (CPT) program now has produced over one thousand CPTs worldwide. In contributing to growing the field, ISPI has also designed and developed a comprehensive set of professional development insti- tutes for individuals and organizations interested in integrating HPT. Several large companies and organizations now have performance-improvement units. Promi- nent among these is the United States Navy Human Performance Center.

THE RELEVANCE OF HPT

While HPT has dramatically evolved since the first edition of the handbook, it is not one of those flash-in-the-pan fads that explodes on the organizational scene with blinding éclat, only to dissolve into forgotten history like a celebrity diet. Here is why HPT has stood and will continue to stand the test of time.

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• A concern with bottom-line results and return-on-investment (ROI) issues. Yes, HPT possesses strong processes. Nevertheless, its central focus, as one of HPT’s major founders, Thomas F. Gilbert, often stated, is valued accomplish- ment, meaning verifiable results that far exceed their costs. The ferociously com- petitive global marketplace drives organizations. In a world of limited resources, for-profit, nonprofit, and social welfare organizations all find themselves com- peting for these as well as scarce funds. Anything that can deliver high ROI and positive cost-benefit ratios as well as demonstrate impact supported by data immediately draws attention. This is HPT’s raison d’être. HPT is bottom line and measurement conscious, imbuing it with ongoing relevance.

• The high stakes of high investment. As technology and communications inno- vations generally cause major changes to organizations, virtually any significant initiative demands the investment of large sums to ensure successful adoption. A new way of tracking customer buying behaviors can quickly mount into the mil- lions of whatever currency one is using. Will the employees adapt well to it? Will the full potential of its promise be realized? These are the concerns of the enter- prise. These are also the key issues with which HPT professionals deal.

• The increased emphasis on measurement: Six Sigma and its relatives. Long before Six Sigma, reengineering, and even total quality management appeared on the scene, there was HPT using a language very similar to all of these movements. HPT has always emphasized systemic analysis, systematic processes, holistic inter- vention design, and measurement. From time to time, individual practitioners may have been swayed by enthusiasms and fads, but not so for the field itself. HPT is about demonstrated hardcore results. If HPT could have a motto, it might very well be, “let data talk.” Its caution would be, “beware enthusiasms!”

• Systems thinking. HPT is an applied offspring of general systems theory. Unlike science, which focuses on ever more minute phenomena viewed through the lens of a microscope, HPT employs a macroscope (de Rosnay, 1975) to examine all of the relevant elements that interact to affect the activities and out- comes of a system. Human performance is, as Gilbert (1996) suggested, valued accomplishment derived from costly behavior. To achieve valued accomplish- ment means analyzing all of the costly behavior elements and designing an inte- grated set of interventions that most efficiently generates desired and measured results. In our complex current and most likely future world, HPT possesses the appropriate viewpoint, processes, and validated tools to achieve constantly accelerating organizational goals.

• Changes to departmental titles. In the same way that personnel morphed into human resources and accounting into finance, training is in a period of transition to a new and more strategic state. The first transformational baby steps have been to learning, learning services, or learning and development. The bolder organizations have changed to workforce development, workplace learning and

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performance, learning and performance support, and even performance enhance- ment. What is in a name? Opinions abound. Nevertheless, changes in labels when accompanied by modifications and additions in activities, services, and deliverables certainly alter expectations and outcomes. The newer departmental or service titles appear to match more closely the needs of organizations. As such these augur well for evolved, more strategic, systemic roles than tactical training ever provided.

• The interrelationship of HPT with human resource development (HRD), organizational effectiveness (OE), and organizational development (OD). What we have asserted to date about HPT is in many ways true of other related fields. Gilley, Maycunich, and Quatro (2002) forcefully pointed out that the role of HRD professionals has been mainly a transactional one just as in the case of train- ing. They encourage greater focus on becoming more transformational and per- formance focused. As they assert, “the challenges facing organizations require HRD professionals to adopt a role that improves firm performance, enhances competitive readiness, and drives renewal capacity and capability” (p. 25).

From the field of OE, we witness a growing emphasis on helping the organi- zation fulfill its mission through a blend of sound management, strong gover- nance, and a persistent redirection to achieving results. The concerns of OE sound markedly familiar to HPT professionals.

What is true for HRD and OE can also be repeated for OD. While OD gener- ally operates at macro levels of organizations, its mission is that of increasing organizational effectiveness and health through planned interventions in the orga- nization’s processes or operations. OD may not adopt the engineering style of HPT; it is more characterized by its emphasis on communication and facilitation. However, its purpose, as with HPT, is to deliver valued organizational results, largely through people. This is not a far cry from HPT’s concern with improving human performance.

These convergences, although seemingly threatening to the exclusivity of HPT’s terrain, in fact only enhance its relevance. All desire valued performance. Each has its approach. HPT’s is that of engineer. In this respect, it is well positioned for cre- ating solid business cases for its activities and presenting data-based evidence of desirable outcomes. Increasingly, organizational decision makers demand this.

THE EMERGENCE OF HUMAN CAPITAL

Perhaps we should speak more of human capital’s reemergence. Theodore Schultz, in 1979, and Gary Becker, in 1992, both won Nobel prizes in econom- ics for their work in human capital. There was a brief period of excitement for

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this then-new concept in the early 1980s that quickly faded. However, in the last seven or eight years, the human capital theme has once again emerged as a seri- ous and strategic business issue. A number of authors such as Davenport (1999), Edvinsson and Malone (1997), Fitz-enz (2000), Kravetz (2004), Pfeffer (1998), and Stewart (1997) have fanned the flames of human capital accounting and potential and have demonstrated the high returns to be derived from human cap- ital management. By human capital, we mean the sum total of all knowledge, experience, and performance capability an organization possesses that can be applied to create wealth. The key words are performance capability. This is HPT’s purview, and in this respect, the HPT professional, as portrayed throughout the chapters of this handbook, is above all a leverager of human capital. In fact, one might sum up the essential elements of this third edition of the Handbook of Human Performance Technology in the following ways:

• The key mission of HPT: the leveraging of human capital in the most efficient manner to achieve targeted, valued results.

• The key process of HPT: the engineering of valued and effective individ- ual and organizational performance based on systemic, systematic, and scientific principles and demonstrated through credible measures.

• The key roles of the HPT professional: analyst, consultant, designer, evaluator, facilitator, project manager, management mentor, and, as required, organizational therapist.

• The key contexts of HPT application: the workplace or work setting. However, increasingly, HPT is being applied in social settings, for example, reproductive health in developing nations, community substance abuse programs, public education, and improved quality of life for the chronically ill and aged.

AND SO THIS THIRD EDITION OF THE HANDBOOK OF HUMAN PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY . . .

As you enter the pages of this remarkably impressive volume, you will be struck with how firmly the handbook still remains a foundation document. Now that it is in its third iteration, it has also assumed two new and extremely important roles: that of chronicler of HPT’s progress as an evolving field and that of cred- ible witness to HPT’s ongoing relevance to organizations, workers at every level and of all stripes, and society at large. As was meant to be, it fulfills the role of authoritative guide and standard bearer for HPT’s mission, processes, values, and practices.

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Having twice stood in the shoes of editor James Pershing, we can appreciate the many months of tireless effort that he, the editors, and all of the contribu- tors have invested to bring forth this important milestone that is the new hand- book. It marks a significant moment in the history of HPT. It also represents a challenge for even greater HPT achievements in the years ahead.

February 2006 Harold D. Stolovitch Erica J. Keeps

Los Angeles, California

References

Davenport, T. B. (1999). Human capital: What it is and why people invest in it. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

de Rosnay, J. (1975). Le macroscope, vers une vision globale. Paris: Le Seuil.

Edvinsson, L., and Malone, M. S. (1997). Intellectual capital: Realizing your company’s true value by finding its hidden brainpower. New York: HarperCollins.

Fitz-enz, J. (2000). The ROI of human capital: Measuring the economic value of employee performance. New York: American Management Association.

Gilbert, T. F. (1996). Human competence: Engineering worthy performance. Washington, DC: International Society for Performance Improvement.

Gilley, J. W., Maycunich, A., and Quatro, S. A. (2002). Comparing the roles responsi- bilities, and activities of transactional and transformational HRD professionals. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 15(4), 23–44.

Kravetz, D. J. (2004). Measuring human capital: Converting workplace behavior into dollars. Mesa, AZ: Kravetz Associates.

Pfeffer, J. (1998). The human equation: Building profits by putting people first. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Stewart, T. A. (1997). Intellectual capital: The new wealth of nations. New York: Doubleday/Currency.

Stolovitch, H. D., and Keeps, E. J. (Eds.). (1992). Handbook of human performance technology: A comprehensive guide for analyzing and solving performance problems in organization. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

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PREFACE

I t is true; the one constant we can count on in this modern world is change. Since 1992, when Harold D. Stolovitch and Erica J. Keeps so ably coedited the first edition of the Handbook of Human Performance Technology, the world

in which we live and work has undergone significant transformation. Several of these changes and their impact were captured in Stolovitch and Keeps’s sec- ond edition of the handbook, published in 1999. However, when one compares and contrasts the first two editions of the handbook, one will note that there are constants in the forms of truisms and principles in the field of human per- formance technology (HPT) that transcend time. Our goal in producing this third edition of the handbook, some six-plus years after the second edition, was twofold: to capture the truisms and principles of HPT and to address what we judge to be some important transformations.

We purposefully established seven objectives to achieve these two purposes. In 2004 we worked with trusted formal and informal leaders in HPT, seeking their advice and counsel in setting the direction and content for the handbook. At HPT conferences and meetings we spoke in person with a number of indi- viduals we judged to be established leaders in HPT. We sought their input and asked them to suggest others to contact. This led to our contacting a total of fifty individuals from whom we received valued advice in person, by e-mail, or over the telephone. Their input helped us to develop further objectives as well as to identify authors and to select members for the handbook editorial advisory board.

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Given the interlude between the first two editions of the handbook and this third edition, the second objective was to have all new chapters. This objective has been met with fifty-five new information-rich chapters for this third edition.

A third objective was to have well-recognized leaders and subject-matter experts in HPT author at least one-half of the chapters. The reason for this objective was to give the handbook credibility and marketability. As a leading contributor to the field of HPT, the handbook must contain the ideas and views of our thought-and-practice leaders. Each of you may count differently; how- ever, in our judgment, thirty of the fifty-five chapters have one or more authors that meet this criterion. The remaining chapter authors are emerging leaders in HPT or thought-and-practice leaders from fields closely aligned with HPT.

As a fourth objective, we sought diversity among the chapter authors, in terms of (1) demographics such as gender, years of experience in HPT, and nationality; (2) position, including academics, consultants, practicing profes- sionals in business and the public sectors, and expertise representing a broad range of HPT interventions; and (3) what some affectionately dub old, new, and no guards in terms of perceived roles in the field of HPT and our flagship orga- nization, the International Society for Performance Improvement. These judg- ments too will be in the eyes of the beholder. In our judgment we achieved our diversity objective.

Objective five had to do with a personal bias of mine, which stems from my years of experience in academia. I believe that knowledge is best advanced when it combines theory and practice and when we recognize that worthwhile ideas and views evolve from the in-depth study of and appreciation for the work of those who preceded us as well as from our contemporaries. In short, there are no giant leaps in knowledge development or practice in disciplines and fields of study associated with the social sciences. There are incremental steps, often forward, but sometimes backward, that come from synthesizing, integrating, and trying out the ideas or practices of others in different settings or ways. To this end, we were insistent that all chapter authors overtly acknowledge the impact of others on their work by citing and referencing the pertinent research, theoretical, and professional practice literature generously and accurately.

Our sixth objective also reflects a professional bias I have about the field of HPT. It is generally recognized that many of the principles and practices of HPT evolved from the field of instructional technology (IT). Over time, many per- formance technologists have expanded both the principles and practices of HPT, embracing ideas and views from a number of other academic and professional practice fields. However, the pervasiveness of education and training in HPT is substantial in my judgment. This dominance of IT in HPT exists in part for two important reasons. First, many practicing performance technologists and stu- dents of HPT have as their primary professional homes institutionalized

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PREFACE xxiii

programs that have education or training as a first line of business. There are not large numbers of organizations or academic programs with HPT as the sin- gle or even dominant focus. Second, education and training, especially when broadly viewed, are more often than not a part of the intervention set that per- formance technologists often settle upon to address performance issues. This is particularly true when one looks at primary or first-level interventions versus secondary or second-level interventions. Even if training is not a primary inter- vention, it often comes into play as other interventions are implemented. For example, retooling may be a logical choice to solve quality problems with a manufacturing process. However, the personnel responsible for implementing and using the new tooling may need formal or informal training or job aids to be effective. Whether this pervasiveness of education and training in HPT is real or perceived, I believe that it has existed for too long and has in part retarded the development and use of non-education interventions. Perhaps this is epito- mized best by the number of HPT models and publications about HPT practice, including the first two editions of this handbook, that categorize or classify interventions as being of an instructional versus noninstructional nature. For this third edition of the handbook, we have chosen to address this issue by hav- ing parts of the book dealing with interventions designated as “Interventions at the Worker and Work Team Levels” and “Interventions at the Workplace and Organizational Levels.” Four of the sixteen chapters in these two parts deal with some aspect of education and training. The others deal with a wide array of other interventions.

Finally, we had as our seventh objective the development of a brand new part for the handbook. For the first time, the handbook addresses issues related to a core practice of HPT, the gathering and analysis of data, and its transforma- tion to information for use by performance technologists and their clients. We have a number of chapters devoted to performance measurement and assess- ment. We hope this added dimension is valued by our readers and contributes to improving the practice of HPT.

INTENDED AUDIENCES

As with the first two editions of the handbook, we believe that this third edi- tion will appeal to a broad array of readers and users. We anticipate that human performance technology practitioners will use the handbook as their primary reference tool. We also believe that students and faculty in academic programs and those in professional development programs will use it as a textbook.

We anticipate that the ways we have treated and presented interventions will have greater appeal to a number of individuals and groups that are interested

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in performance improvement but come from disciplines and fields other than education and training. We are also hopeful that managers and executives in corporations, government, the military, and public agencies and organizations find that many parts of the handbook resonate with their goals to improve indi- vidual and organizational improvement.

Finally, we are confident that the well-established community of HPT practi- tioners, regardless of their experience and expertise, will find many chapters that challenge their thinking and rekindle their enthusiasm for our field of HPT. There is evidence that in the past the handbook has significantly reinforced the vital- ity and devotion that practicing HPT professionals have for our field, and we hope that this third edition continues to achieve this lofty goal.

OVERVIEW OF THE CONTENTS

Although all of the chapters are new, parts of this third edition of the hand- book resemble the first two editions. Other parts are quite different. As before, we have leading HPT thinkers and doers sharing with the readers their expe- riences and views. We also have some authors who are familiar with HPT but are not mainstream performance technologists. They share with us a variety of perspectives about performance improvement that come from other fields and disciplines that are concerned with quality and effective performance in organizations.

The book itself is divided into seven parts. Some readers will read the book from beginning to end, obtaining a complete and comprehensive view of HPT. Others will be more interested in specific parts that align with their interests and practices. Still others will pick and choose among chapters in different parts of the book, being motivated by particular topics, authors they admire or want to learn from, and so on. The handbook will accommodate all of these approaches.

Part One, “Foundations of Human Performance Technology,” has information about the practice of HPT as well as its more esoteric or academic attributes. The first three chapters paint a clear picture of what HPT is all about. The mid- dle chapters deal with foundational ideas that support and justify practice. The last chapter is a comprehensive overview of the origins and history of the field that will provide readers with a sense of why and how HPT has evolved.

Part Two, “The Performance Technology Process,” covers the main elements of HPT practice. It begins with explanations about strategic alignment, moves on to analysis, design, and change, and ends with evaluation. The symbiotic relationships of analysis and evaluation are made clear, and the importance of evaluation and accountability are evident given the two information-rich chapters that address evaluation issues.

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Part Three, “Interventions at the Worker and Work Team Levels,” is one of two parts that address HPT and related interventions. In Part Three, we have the first four chapters addressing the importance and criticality of instructional interventions. We have five more chapters that address critical interventions in the areas of mentoring, motivation, behavior in organizations, group perfor- mance, and performance support systems. These interventions exemplify prob- lems and quality-improvement initiatives that focus on workers and work teams.

Part Four, “Interventions at the Workplace and Organizational Levels,” is the companion part to Part Three. In Part Four, the focus moves to the workplace and organization. We have chapters that address established as well as new and emerging disciplines and fields of practice that complement and enhance the effec- tiveness of HPT. They include organizational development, learning organizations, knowledge management, communities of practice, workplace design, Six Sigma, and lean manufacturing. The authors strive to explain in detail these associated practices and show their relationships and value in partnering with HPT.

Part Five, “Performance Measurement and Assessment,” presents information- packed chapters on collecting and analyzing data, a core process in HPT. The first chapter addresses issues related to quantitative and qualitative methods, showing the value of each. The next four chapters provide the readers with guid- ance on the mainstay means for collecting HPT data: questionnaires, interview- ing, observing, and content analyses. The next chapter is a comprehensive overview of quantitative data analyses. Part Five wraps up with a treatise on the importance of evidence-based practice in HPT.

Part Six, “Performance Technology in Action,” has much “how to” informa- tion. Several of the chapter authors make up a who’s who of HPT. They share their wisdom and insight on a variety of practices, including transforming from learning to a performance function, partnering with management, project man- agement, leadership in HPT, and consulting. There are two chapters that deal differently with the same topic, ethics. Given the state of affairs in our world today concerning corporate and government waste and malfeasance, these chap- ters seem most pertinent to HPT practice. Part Six ends with a chapter that pro- vides an insider’s view of HPT in practice. It is a military application and shows the power and value of HPT in a large organizational setting that deals with matters of life and death.

Part Seven, “Looking Forward in Human Performance Technology,” presents a set of thought-provoking chapters. The authors challenge conventional think- ing about HPT and help us to look forward, trying to envision the ways HPT may change and adapt to the future. We are provided with alternative ways to both think about and do HPT. Collectively, the authors present cutting-edge ideas and challenges that we must face as we move forward in developing our field of HPT, helping it to meet tomorrow’s needs.

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Given the expanding role of HPT in helping individuals, groups, and organi- zations meet the performance challenges of an ever-changing world, we have strived to reflect the stabilizing attributes of HPT as well as its potential trans- formations. Our new team of editors brings to you, our readers, fresh viewpoints that we hope advance the field and at the same time reflect its long-established strengths and foundations.

February 2006 James A. Pershing Bloomington, Indiana

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

E diting the handbook was a team effort. The core team members are the chapter authors who chose to expend the effort and the time to share with us in writing their knowledge and expertise about the field of human

performance technology (HPT). Writing well is a laborious task, and this tal- ented group of individuals has provided us with thought-provoking as well as valuable “how to” information that will advance the field of HPT. Their involvement, which often required substantive reorganization and rewriting of their chapters in response to reviewer comments and editorial suggestions, was central in helping to produce an integrated volume. I offer to the chap- ter authors my sincere appreciation and hope that the final product meets their expectations.

I also want to thank the seven part editors: Monique Mueller, Jim Hill, Karen L. Medsker, Mark J. Lauer, Jana L. Pershing, Debra Haney, and Darlene M. Van Tiem. This group of distinguished scholars and practicing professionals also constitute the handbook editorial advisory board. All of these individuals pro- vided valued input in identifying and selecting authors, editing the content of chapters, and encouraging and challenging chapter authors to produce their best work. They also provided me with encouragement when I needed it and were very receptive to working with tight timelines and unexpected snafus. My appreciation goes to all seven editorial board members for their dedication and professionalism. I learned a lot from them.

S S

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I want to thank the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) for its sponsorship and support in producing this volume. A special thanks goes to ISPI’s elected leaders, who supported the production of this third volume, represented by ISPI presidents Guy W. Wallace (2003–2004), Donald T. Tosti (2004–2005), and Sivasailam Thiagarajan (2005–2006). Also a special thanks goes to ISPI staff, represented by April Davis, senior director and head of the book-publishing program, and Richard D. Battaglia, executive director. These ISPI elected members and staff provided valued resources and logistical sup- port. Most of all, they granted the editorial board and me complete autonomy as we organized and produced the handbook to the best of our abilities.

Great appreciation goes to my wife, Patricia L. Pershing, and my Indiana Uni- versity graduate assistant Alena R. Treat. Together, these two talented and patient individuals helped me to coordinate and set up systems to deal with the logisti- cal aspects of this project. They also provided careful and thoughtful editing of the entire handbook manuscript. They made it feasible for me to invest the nec- essary time and effort to complete the project. Also, I want to recognize the mate- rial and moral support provided to me by my colleagues, graduate students, and the administration of my academic home, the Department of Instructional Systems Technology, School of Education, Indiana University.

My thanks to the very competent and professional staff at Pfeiffer: David B. Horne, the copy editor, for his careful and thoughtful editing of the handbook man- uscript; Nina Kreiden, who managed the production of the handbook; Leota Hig- gins, senior editorial assistant; Matthew C. Davis, senior acquisitions editor; and Kathleen Dolan Davies, director of development. Their guidance, support, and advice at every step of the production process was valued and appreciated. They are very knowledgeable in their craft and insistent that quality be front and foremost in developing valued publications.

Producing a handbook of this magnitude is a major undertaking in time and effort. Frankly speaking, it is tedious and difficult work. My burdens were signif- icantly lessened because of the input and support I received from the coeditors of the first two editions of the handbook, Harold D. Stolovitch and Erica J. Keeps. As I began working on this third edition, they graciously shared with me their working notes and production process templates as well as numerous insights as to what to expect and how to keep the process moving forward. Throughout the process they were available for consultation and moral support. The capstone of their support was their agreeing to write the foreword to this third edition. Harold and Erica, thank you very much.

J.P.

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S S THE EDITOR AND

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

THE EDITOR James A. Pershing

Professor Department of Instructional Systems Technology

Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Part One:

Foundations of Human Performance Technology Monique Mueller

Chief Executive Officer La Volta Consulting

Zurich, Switzerland, and Sitges, Spain

Part Two: The Performance Technology Process

Jim Hill Chief Executive Officer

Proofpoint Systems Los Altos, California

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Part Three: Interventions at the Worker and Work Team Levels

Karen L. Medsker Professor Emerita Human Resources

School of Business Administration Marymount University

Arlington, Virginia

Part Four: Interventions at the Workplace and Organizational Levels

Mark J. Lauer Lead Consultant

Performance Knowledge Incorporated Bloomington, Indiana

Part Five: Performance Measurement and Assessment

Jana L. Pershing Associate Professor

Department of Sociology San Diego State University

San Diego, California

Part Six: Performance Technology in Action

Debra Haney President

Performance Knowledge Incorporated Bloomington, Indiana

Part Seven: Looking Forward in Human Performance Technology

Darlene M. Van Tiem Associate Professor and Coordinator

Performance Improvement and Instruction Design Graduate Program University of Michigan-Dearborn

Dearborn, Michigan

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S S

FOREWORD TO THE FIRST EDITION

In Memoriam Thomas F. Gilbert

1927–1995

I offer my foreword in the hope that it can help readers focus the lenses they use to look at the Handbook of Human Performance Technology, which promises to offer a technology—a science, really—of human performance.

At least I have had a lot of time to look at this subject in many different ways. It has been almost thirty years now since I advertised my first workshop in

“performance technology.” At that time, I thought I had developed a sort of sci- entific way to improve human performance in the workplace. And what did I think I meant by that? A philosophy professor who is a friend of mine warned me, “You have a lot of jargon and excitement—but is it really a science, or just an urge?”

“Well, I can get results in the workplace,” I huffed. “Can you ever!” he said. “You get enough people to share your excitement,

and they will improve something!” He did not know how good a point he had made. Since then, I have dis-

covered that job performance and job management are still so primitive that almost anyone can go into the workplace and find ways to improve perfor- mance, to a noticeable extent. An urge and some common sense will do quite well as a start. And why should the “modern” workplace not be prim- itive? It has been around only a hundred years or so. At Ford Motors, they are still using Henry Ford’s original metal-stamping machines on the assem- bly lines, and there were no training development departments when I was born.

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According to my dictionary, a technology is a system that applies the best tech- niques and sciences to a subject matter. Theoretically, we could have a technol- ogy of just about anything—a “cosmohirsutology,” for example: how the heavens determine hair growth. Or perhaps we would prefer “hirsutocosmology”: the way hair growth affects the movements of the stars. No bandwagons of this nature have come along recently, simply because they do not offer much opportunity to make a difference.

Does Human Performance Technology (HPT) pose a greater opportunity? Some economists claim that the best we can do is improve human productivity by no more than 4 or 5 percent, so why waste our precious days with Human Performance Technology? But economists look at large variables that few of us have any control over, like the weather, the aging of capital plants, government regulations, and foreign competition. A technology of human performance, how- ever, focuses on those doing and managing the jobs, and here we find much greater potential for improving performance—the PIP, or the ratio of exemplary performance to the average. I have often discussed this elsewhere, but the rule- of-thumb PIP in the workplace runs about double: the top clerks perform 50 to 75 percent better than the average, and the spread in performance grows as jobs become more complicated. The top performers can usually be emulated because they typically do things more logically and systematically than others. That is why I call them exemplary performers—we can make examples of them. Obvi- ously, then, there is a great opportunity to make huge differences in human per- formance, and not just the 10 or 20 percent improvement that almost any enthusiastic person walking in from outside might bring.

The opportunity is there, but it cannot be seized by our just saying that we have a technology. We must really have one and practice it systematically. If we can all agree that science is at the base of a technology, what are the charac- teristics of science, and does our effort here share them? I will use the character- istics of science to help polish the lenses through which you will be viewing this book.

SCIENCE HAS A CLEAR SUBJECT MATTER

Every science must be clear about its subject matter, and the science of human performance has not always been. From the start, there was an easy assump- tion that the focal part of our subject is human behavior, and this has caused a lot of confusion.

A subject matter has two parts: a focus (the philosophers call this the depen- dent variable) and the controls (they call these the independent variables). A little thought must lead us to abandon human behavior as our focal, dependent

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variable, since we have no interest in changing human behavior for its own sake alone. In fact, the more we think about it, the more we see that our focus is on human accomplishment, the valuable output of behavior, and that be- havior itself is our independent variable. This may be very obvious when we talk about it, but it is not so obvious when we set out to practice our technol- ogy. I believe that the most difficult thing we as performance technologists have to do—or have our clients do—is focus on accomplishments rather than on human behavior.

Get a group of managers or HRD specialists together and ask them to iden- tify the accomplishments expected in some rather simple jobs. You will find that this is not an easy task. Even bus drivers are often expected to move their buses quickly from one point to another (behavior), rather than deposit cus- tomers on time at their destinations (accomplishment). Cities that measure the behavior of their bus drivers tend to have too many customers complain- ing that buses did not stop for them. The following memory aid is about the most useful device I have found to help us distinguish accomplishment from behavior:

Behavior, you take with you; accomplishments, you leave behind.

SCIENCE SIMPLIFIES

In getting us to focus clearly on improving human accomplishments, the con- tributors to this book are also making an effort to contribute to Human Perfor- mance Technology. The old philosophers of science insisted that scientific contributions be evaluated using a three-edged ruler: parsimony, elegance, and utility.

Parsimony, simply put, means stinginess. A good scientific concept should be relieved of any unnecessary baggage. It should never use three ideas to explain something if one idea will do as well. Elegance means that the pieces and parts of a scientific theory fit together coherently and that the science is not a messy jumble of eclectic ideas. Utility simply refers to the scientific contribu- tion’s usefulness—if not in the marketplace today, then at least in the develop- ment of the science.

If we look at the early development of Newtonian physics, we see how closely it adhered to these characteristics. The same is true of Skinner’s rules of reinforcement: they explain the development of behavior patterns with great parsimony, elegance, and utility.

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SCIENCE IS GROUNDED IN MEASUREMENT Acceptable evidence about performance must rely on measurement. If science does nothing else, it measures, and we must become very good at measuring human performance. As a general rule, our clients in the workplace are not good at it, and here is where we can be of especially great help. We can have our greatest effects on human performance just by measuring performance correctly and making the information available.

There are three kinds of measurement, and we need them all. Direct mea- sures are measures of quality, quantity, and costs (QQC). Quality measures con- cern such things as accuracy, class (quality beyond mere accuracy), and novelty. Quantity measures concern rate (speed of productivity), volume (where time is not critical), and timeliness. Cost measures concern labor costs, management time, and material costs. Comparative measures, once we know the critical QQC dimensions, can enlighten us by showing variance on performance. True exem- plary performers can begin to suggest the PIP to us—roughly, the ratio of exemplary to average performance. Where exemplary performers are not avail- able to give us estimates of the PIP, we must use our heads and our experience and begin to estimate what is possible. Economic measures are also necessary; direct and comparative measures of performance are not enough. We need to translate these measures into dollar values, or stakes. What is at stake for us in improving human performance? Performance engineers should acquire basic financial skills to become adequate at estimating financial worth. For example, they should know what a load factor is. (This is the number by which we mul- tiply a person’s wage in order to obtain a rough estimate of what it costs an organization to employ the person. If a maintenance specialist in a power com- pany earns $15 an hour, for example, it actually costs the company about three times that hourly amount to employ him—in insurance, benefits, work space, utilities, supervision, training, and so on.)

One device that performance technologists should not use in measuring per- formance is the instrument called the performance appraisal. Look closely at one, and you will see that it is largely concerned with people’s estimates of such vague behavioral traits as initiative, creativity, and attitude. Even if we could estimate those traits reliably, they would be poor correlatives of actual job per- formance. It is much easier to measure job performance directly than it is to rate such presumed correlatives.

SCIENCE IS CAREFUL OF ITS LANGUAGE Physicists are careful when they use words like velocity and speed, because those words mean something slightly different. In the Human Performance Tech- nology business, we need to be careful about some of our basic terms, and we

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can do this without creating jargon. For example, I use the term exemplary per- former, since top or peak performers may have come to be known as such for reasons other than their performance. (Perhaps they buttered up the boss, cheated, worked eighty hours a day, or possessed some sort of genius, but we need not try to make examples of them.) To take another example, I use the word accomplishment because it connotes value. (Outputs can be malodorous and results disastrous.) It would be nice if we could settle on some basic ter- minology that really says what we want it to say.

ENGINEERING SCIENCE FOCUSES ON ITS MOST PROMISING INDEPENDENT VARIABLES

How many kinds of things could influence our achieving exemplary standards of performance? The literature is full of suggestions, from leadership to motivation, from management sensitivity to self-esteem. I have concluded that if we make people’s pay contingent on their performance, tell them clearly what we expect of them and whether they have delivered it, and give them excellent instruction when they need it, then they will mostly rise to exemplary levels of performance, no matter what else we do. If we get the three I’s right—information, incentives, and instructional design—we will have done 95 percent of the job.

I am proud to have written the foreword to the Handbook of Human Perfor- mance Technology. As you read the book, I hope you will stay alert to how well these characteristics of a science have been considered.

Hampton, New Jersey Thomas F. Gilbert January 1992

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S S

FOREWORD TO THE SECOND EDITION

“G ood grief!” you might exclaim as you note the number of pages in this volume. True, there are a lot of pages, but then there is an incredible amount of worthy information at your fingertips. Fortunately, you

don’t have to read all the pages at once—or ever. Were you to read this entire volume at a single sitting (prudence forbid!), it

might be easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the information, assertions, techniques, and procedures described herein. It would be easy to be awed by the seemingly boundless domain under discussion. And, although such an impression might have merit, it would be improper to conclude that learn- ing one’s way to the level of a competent practitioner in the performance craft would represent an insurmountable task. After all, just as it can easily be veri- fied that the world of music is huge, one need learn only a minuscule fraction of what is knowable to become a very competent musician. And, though the domain of medical knowledge is beyond the ability of any single person to mas- ter, many practitioners provide useful services to their clients. Similarly, that there is much one could know about Human Performance Technology (HPT) should not deter one from an effort to become worthy in the field.

One also need not conclude that a lifetime of academic preparation is required to acquire the necessary skills. Many of the useful contributors to the field developed their expertise from the experience and coaching they received from mentors more professionally senior to themselves.

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Thus it would be a mistake to conclude that formal training is the only door through which to enter the exciting and personally rewarding field of HPT, or even that the HPT classroom is where one will surely observe state-of-the-art HPT practices being modeled. Unfortunately, although there are now many graduate programs teaching aspects of HPT in our universities, few of their fac- ulty members appear as yet to be applying much if any of that technology to their own instruction. It is as if they were still operating on the belief that telling is the same as teaching, as your own academic experience may confirm. Even so, there are many competent HPT practitioners who ply their profession from inside the walls of academe, and from whom you could learn a great deal.

WHAT IS HPT?

That is the question this volume will attempt to answer. In the chapters that fol- low, you will read about the nature of HPT, about the breadth of human per- formance problems being addressed, about the techniques and procedures used to solve these problems, about some of the research from which these tech- niques and procedures have been derived, and about some of the results achieved. This content will provide you with a solid foundation on which to build your own expertise in the field of human performance. (Note: though this volume is called a handbook, it isn’t intended to serve as a how-to-do-it manual; it is left largely for you to decide which components and techniques will be applicable to your own world.)

Because this volume does not tell a story that must be read from beginning to end, you should feel comfortable reading the chapters in any order you find interesting. To provide a framework, however, a few words about the purpose and scope of the field may be helpful.

The term HPT refers to a powerful collection of techniques, procedures, and approaches intended to solve problems involving human performance. What kinds of problems? All kinds of problems, in all kinds of locations, for all kinds of people. Here is just a short sampling of the types of events that might trigger application of one or more HPT interventions, much as a leaky faucet or a deci- sion to build a new house might trigger the need for a master plumber.

“These students have a bad attitude toward school.”

“Production is down in the shipping department.”

“These managers aren’t motivated.”

“My team doesn’t believe that they’ve been empowered.”

“It’s taking too long to get these people up to speed.”

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“We’re having way too many accidents.”

“These people aren’t taking charge of their own health and safety.”

“Our Little League coach is a bully.”

“My dog piddles on the carpet.”

Each of these statements describes a symptom of a problem in need of attention, and each could benefit from the magic touch of HPT. That touch might involve any number of interventions (remedies), some involving instruction, and many not. But, regardless of the solutions applied, all are intended to improve the lives of their targets. There seems to be no limit to the types of human performance problems that can be profitably addressed, or the types of human situations that can be improved.

IT WASN’T ALWAYS THUS It wasn’t always thus. In earlier days, for example, every problem (or nonprob- lem) was treated with a single pill—instruction. Wrong attitude? Not motivated? Not authorized to do what they already know how to do? Not to worry; instruc- tion will solve all. Instruction was seen as the remedy for almost every problem of human performance. The mantra seemed to be “If it moves, instruct it—and hang the cost, or the time required.” This was hardly surprising, since there were as yet no techniques to facilitate systematic analysis for divining the cause(s) of a problem, nor was there an array of remedies (other than instruc- tion) with which those problems might be solved.

The analysis issue became critical for me while working out of Paris during the 1960s. Though our company intended to solve performance problems mainly through development of programmed instruction solutions, it became clear that those who alleged to have “training problems” seldom presented prob- lems that could be solved through instruction. In more than 80 percent of these client contacts, the appropriate remedy was something other than instruction. It was this reality that forced me to begin development of a performance analy- sis procedure that would quickly sort through the symptoms, identify the under- lying problems, and point to relevant solutions.

Two years later, while I was managing a behavioral research laboratory for a large corporation, the same reality presented itself. My research program was designed to discover how close we could come to instantaneous development of instruction. The focus, in other words, was on severely shortening develop- ment time rather than on having an impact on delivery time. But it wasn’t easy to complete the experiments. No sooner would we begin a speed run intended to quickly extract relevant information from a subject matter specialist (in a closed

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environment especially designed for the purpose) than we would discover that we were again faced with a problem that could (and should) be solved without instruction. Again and again we were asked to solve problems allegedly requir- ing instruction for their solutions, and again and again we discovered that some- thing else would work better—and faster. This exasperation intensified the development not only of a performance analysis procedure but of nontraining solutions as well.

Other common practices of the day underline how far we have progressed in just three short decades. For example, until recently there was little or no con- cern with assessment of the results or outcomes of the treatments (interventions, solutions, remedies) being applied. Practitioners seemed far more concerned with the processes they were promoting than with their effects on the lives of their clients and their organizations. Evaluation tools were hardly thought to be needed when it was common knowledge that if students performed poorly or not at all, it was their fault—not the fault of the interventionists (for example, instructors), or of the materials, or of the procedures. Whatever the source of a failure, the finger was pointed squarely at the performers—it was always the student who got the grade. And what a diabolical grading system it was. Eval- uation, such as it was, consisted of a comparison of the performance of one stu- dent (usually measured by a multiple-choice test) with that of another, rather than with an objective standard. (In the industrial arena, evaluation consisted mainly in end-of-course distribution of a “happiness sheet” intended to sample the warmth of the glow left behind by the instructors.) Thus it was that faulty measuring instruments were mated with faulty evaluation practices. The mantra “70 percent is passing” permeated the entirety of our educational system as though this magical number had been handed down from the gods themselves. Thus the conspiracy required that no matter how well students performed, at least some of them would be required to consider themselves inferior.

Instructors were often “selected” through a primitive incantation such as “You’ve been doing such a great job in your present assignment that now you are an instructor.” And presto! With that incantation, a good artist or cabinet- maker or medical technician or salesperson was instantly transformed into an untrained, inexperienced instructor. University professors were similarly selected. Those with rich or promising publication track records and a willing- ness to work tirelessly on committees were judged qualified to teach—and ripe for promotion. It didn’t matter much whether the teaching led to learning; after all, the Holy Grail of academe was the pursuit of publication, seldom the pur- suit of academic excellence. And besides, if students didn’t learn, it was their own fault. These outdated and mostly ineffective practices still exist, of course, but because of professionals such as those contributing to this volume, these practices are no longer the only option, nor are they in vogue.

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BRIGHT WITH PROMISE

Currently available interventions present a much wider array of possibilities, from problem analysis to the selection, creation, and application of effective remedies. And the effectiveness of correct application of the technology is truly wondrous to behold. For example, not only can learning be guaranteed to take place and production problems to be solved, but health can be improved, self- efficacy can be made to soar, lifelong phobias can permanently be cured in less than half a day, public school students can be helped to grow two full grade lev- els in but a few weeks, and failure-oriented lives can firmly be put onto a path toward success. These are outcomes well worth the effort and, needless to say, they provide a great source of satisfaction to those who produce them.

Not only do currently available interventions present far more available solu- tions than the solution of instruction, but these interventions are also available from a broadening array of sources (which is especially gratifying when you know that instruction is often contraindicated as the primary intervention for improving performance). Human performance can be improved through proper design of buildings as well as of workstations; through improvement of men- tal and physical health; through redesign of tools and controls; through restruc- turing of the physical work environment as well as through redesign of the missions, policies, and structure of the organization; and through proper design and implementation of performance aids and incentive and feedback systems, to mention only some interventions. Today, when we think of performance improvement specialists, we no longer think only of instructors but also of health professionals, human factors engineers, tool and job aid designers, and architects. All these and more can have a profound effect on the successful per- formance of the wide array of clients with whom one might work (for exam- ple, students, workers, managers, marriage partners, parishioners, and so forth).

Interestingly, successful application of HPT often causes difficulties for HPT practitioners when their solutions prove too powerful (read: work “too well”) for the establishment or client to tolerate—when, for example, those com- missioning a project aimed at improving their instructional program discover that the best solution would be to abandon existing instruction in its entirety, or when it is discovered that unacceptable worker performance is caused not by deficiencies in the workers themselves but instead by the incompetence of their managers or by obstacles imposed by organizational policies and prac- tices (for example, “Sorry, I’m not authorized to solve your problem”). And, all too often, the very livelihood of large numbers of people—in and out of government—depends on problems not being solved (for example, the drug “problem”).

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SCIENCE-BASED

That performance technology works as well as it does is no surprise, nor is it accidental. Just as medical practice is based on medical science, HPT prides itself on being science-based, on the derivation of its basic methodology from the best available research. Though there is no shortage of pseudoscience mas- querading as sound practice, or of fads notable more for the dazzle of their processes and trappings than for the results they achieve, the field of HPT is moving rapidly toward the acceptance of science as the primary guide for the creation and perfection of its techniques. Research from the field of neuroscience, for example, not only has verified that the brain is not like a computer (when was the last time you deliberately moved information from one side of your brain to the other?) but also has provided us with a growing knowledge base from which to devise even more effective ways to accomplish our mission. It is this reliance on science as one of the arbiters of our success or failure that will expand the integrity of HPT as well as the power of its techniques.

But HPT is about a great deal more than just the prudent application of sci- entific research to the design of HPT interventions, for what good is the science- based design of an intervention if it is brutishly applied? What good is the application of a science-based procedure if the effectiveness of the treatment is impeded by unnecessary obstacles, or if the objects of the treatments are insulted, humiliated, or robbed of their self-esteem? What good is the applica- tion of a well-researched procedure if its best effect is too small to be easily noticeable? And how much should we value science-based practices applied more for evil than for good?

As you proceed through these pages, and then through your quest to become an exemplary HPT practitioner, it might be well to remember that accomplish- ment of your mission begins and ends with a concern for those human beings who will be the objects of your attention—with those who are the intended tar- gets of your interventions. It begins with a deep respect for the lives and the agendas of those people, and with a profound concern that you not only do no harm but also do not impose (inflict?) yourself and your interventions on their lives when doing nothing would work just as well.

Nonetheless, keeping one’s eye firmly on the ball is essential if we are to be perceived as effective and caring professionals. This is a mission that requires a focus on the well-being, existing abilities, and agendas of those with whom we interact rather than on the satisfaction of an urge to brandish the latest tech- nique or hardware iteration as a glittering sword with which to skewer the objects of our attention. Among other things, this means attention to the wants and needs of clients—to the “business case” underlying our activities, to the

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refinement of our ability to interact tactfully, to the strengthening of our ability to function with discretion, and especially to our habit of acting reliably.

Those striving to become competent practitioners of the performance craft would do well, therefore, to remember that most of those who lose their jobs do so not because of an inability to perform their jobs but because of an absence of those critical social skills that lead to their performing reliably, politely, tactfully, discreetly, and responsibly. Those who lack these skill sets will always lose out against those who possess them.

THERE’S STILL WORK TO BE DONE As you study the material contained herein, you might begin to think that the technology is now mature, that everything has been invented, that all the tech- niques have been honed to perfection, and that they have been applied to all applicable areas where they might conceivably improve performance. Nothing could be further from the truth. HPT is an evolving technology, and there’s still much to learn, especially about how to disseminate the fruits of the technology to those who might benefit. For example, we have yet to make much of a dent in the bureaucracy that passes the laws and makes the rules. We have yet to attract the attention of those who create the rules that make it “illegal” to teach efficiently in our schools (for example, “70 percent is passing”), who pass the laws that require us to revere process over results, and who make the rules that confine the measurement of competence to the straitjacket of the multiple- choice test. We have yet to attract the attention of those institutions that pack- age their wisdom into time-based chunks called “credit hours” and that have yet to require anything much in the way of instructional literacy on the part of the faculty members they employ. And we have yet to make a significant impact on those government agencies whose primary criterion for certification (and recertification) of competence in critical skills consists mainly of assessing the knowledge that may be necessary for supporting desired performances (rather than the performances themselves) and of counting the number of hours the student posteriors have been glued to classroom chairs.

It is clear that opportunities stretch as far as the eye can see, and not only for development of “new and improved” components of the technology itself. Oppor- tunities exist for the improvement of the environments where people work and the places where they live. Opportunities exist for improvement in the performance of large systems as well as for improvement in the health, well-being, and perfor- mance of a single individual, a marriage, a family, or the family dog. And if you can but contribute to the elimination of a single obstacle to effective performance, you will have made a significant contribution to the betterment of the lives you touch. Happily, the contents of this volume will help you to do exactly that.

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THE REWARD IS WORTH THE EFFORT

HPT provides a set of powerful tools with which we can and do perform humane acts of value for individuals and organizations alike. As long as we remember that these tools are intended to serve as means rather than as ends in themselves—as long as we remember to measure our success by the results we achieve rather than by the glitter of our processes—we will continue to grow in value to our mission, and HPT will justifiably be perceived as an enterprise worthy of acclaim. This volume will introduce you to the practitioners and the practices through which that accomplishment can indeed be achieved.

Carefree, Arizona Robert F. Mager January 1999

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PART ONE

FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY

MONIQUE MUELLER

N early fifty years of research and practice with human performance tech- nology (HPT) have led to a vast body of literature: theoretical concepts and models, case studies, and lessons learned from application. As HPT

evolves, and a healthy debate on what it really entails continues, we have one certainty, that the field is alive and well.

Through experience and through the solid work of scholars and professional practitioners, HTP now is firmly grounded in a set of fundamental principles and a code of ethics.

The purpose of the chapters in Part One is to introduce these fundamentals. They are meant to orient the reader with an overview of what HPT is about, its practical application, the basic concepts and models, and the history and evolution of the field.

The first chapter, by James Pershing, provides a definition of the field and a process model. It explains in unambiguous terms what HPT is today. As with any serious professional field, future research and insights may make some knowl- edge obsolete and confirm other knowledge. For today, this is what we know and agree upon.

The next three chapters are devoted to the application of HPT. First, Roger Addison and Carol Haig take you on a journey through the key elements of a full performance process, with its pitfalls and how to avoid them, including guidelines and tools. This is followed by a chapter by Kenneth Silber and

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Lynn Kearny, which ties HPT firmly into the world of business. Understanding the language of business is an essential prerequisite for successful performance improvement. This language is financial, the data mostly numeric, and the val- ued results economic. The chapter shows you how to learn your client’s lan- guage and how to find, analyze, and use financial data for your HPT project. Chapter Four, by William Daniels and Timm Esque, is concerned with the essen- tial concept of feedback. No other word in our field has been used and abused to such an extent. The authors build solidly on tried-and-true experience in the field, develop a detailed case study of a working feedback system in a large high-tech company, and share their insights on how to implement feedback for results.

Two subsequent chapters delve deeply into theory. First you will find a detailed analysis by Dale Brethower of the concept of systems thinking. Be systemic is one of the fundamental principles of HPT. Accordingly, systemic issues appear in most publications within HPT and within many other disci- plines. This has created confusion about the definition of systems, sometimes for lack of a definition, often for excess of conflicting definitions. This chapter explains the meaning and value of being systemic. To illustrate and clarify the concept it tells you stories from various sources: fiction, a case study from a large company, and examples from the author’s experience.

Chapter Six presents Roger Kaufman’s model of HPT, which is probably the most inclusive. The author’s quest is to provide meaningful results consistent with the fundamental principles of HPT. His view of meaningful results aims at looking for all elements involved: the world, society, companies, and individu- als. Any change intervention should lead to a better future for all. At the very least, companies should try to do no harm to their environments. Kaufman puts the threshold high and expects you to be concerned as much with ethics as with the bottom line.

The final chapter, by Camille Ferond, takes a general look at both history and the future of humankind’s struggle to improve its well-being, its knowledge, and its organizations. Within the field of HPT it summarizes the work of the main thinkers and explains how all of them build on prior knowledge to expand or invent new HPT models and tools.

Part One of this HPT handbook is designed to be an introduction to the key concepts of human performance technology. Readers who are new to the field or have little experience will become familiar with the essential ideas of HPT. Also, experienced professionals will find new and exciting views that put a different focus on HPT’s crucial questions. Part One sets the stage for the remaining parts of the book, in which methodology, methods, and tools will be presented in detail and within different contexts of thought and application.

Our field is evolving and attracting interest from a large variety of sources. HPT can help to improve performance in all sectors of society, be they business,

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public, or nonprofit. Within the past decade the field has become more interna- tional. HPT will benefit vastly from research and practice from all over the globe. Thus far, the experience with HPT in a variety of countries is encouraging; we can therefore assume that HPT is effective independent of culture. Or, the other way round, that those cultural issues can properly be addressed within the HPT framework.

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CHAPTER ONE

Human Performance Technology Fundamentals

James A. Pershing

I deas and conceptualizations of human performance technology (HPT) have evolved over time. What we know about HPT today is timebound. It builds upon the work of a number of academic and professional practitioners begun

in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s. Randell K. Day, in the book Performance Improvement Pathfinders: Models for Organizational Learning Systems, edited by Peter J. Dean and David E. Ripley (1997), presents the case that the field of HPT evolved from the ideas of B. F. Skinner and his collabora- tors. “Many performance improvement pioneers got their start by attempting to improve training and were heavily influenced by Skinner” (Day, 1997, p. 22). Skinner was trying to explain how people operate in their environments. He formulated the idea that people “learn to manipulate and control their envi- ronment by their responses to it” (Day, 1997, p. 23).

Susan Markle, an early collaborator with Skinner, worked on the develop- ment of teaching machines and accompanying instructional materials. These activities and much experimentation by Markle and others on designing instruc- tional materials led to the design and development of programmed instruction (Day, 1997).

Early in the heyday of programmed instruction, Thomas Gilbert and Joe Harless experienced instances in which well-designed instruction was failing to have an impact on individual and organizational performance. Both Gilbert and Harless came to recognize that training is but one factor that affects human per- formance. They questioned at the outset of design and development whether

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training was the appropriate intervention to improve individual and organiza- tional performance. These ideas are well articulated in Harless’s 1970 book An Ounce of Analysis (Is Worth a Pound of Objectives) and Gilbert’s 1978 book Human Competence: Engineering Worthy Performance. During the past fifty years, a plethora of individuals has influenced the growth and direction of HPT. Studying the ideas of these individuals and their evolving thinking is to see history in action (Argyris, 1970; Brethower and Smalley 1998; Coscarelli, 1988; Geis, 1986; Harless, 1970, 1988; Kaufman, 2000; Langdon, 1999, 2000; Mager and Pipe, 1984; Molenda, Pershing, and Reigeluth, 1996; Robinson and Robinson, 1989; Romiszowski, 1981; Rosenberg, 1996; Rossett, 1987, 1999; Rothwell, 1996; Rummler and Brache, 1995; Stolovitch and Keeps, 1992, 1999; Wile, 1996; Zemke and Kramlinger, 1982).

A DEFINITION OF HUMAN PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY

Defining a field is risky business. There are at least two hazards. The first has to do with time. Any definition is today’s definition and may not fit as a defin- ition for tomorrow. Second, many people are very familiar with the illustrious history and foundations of HPT. They will not agree with all of the elements or their emphases in any one definition. These points are exemplified in looking at a sample of definitions for HPT that have been offered over the past four decades (see Table 1.1). Cognizant of these risks, I offer the definition that I have developed and use with my clients and students:

Human performance technology is the study and ethical practice of improving productivity in organizations by designing and developing effective interventions that are results-oriented, comprehensive, and systemic.

ELEMENTS OF THE DEFINITION

Following is a discussion of each of the key terms used in this definition of HPT. Understanding the meaning of each in the context of the overall definition is important.

Study The use of the term study means that human performance technologists care- fully examine and analyze questions that arise in understanding and applying their knowledge and skills. These questions involve both how to do HPT and what to do in given situations. This requires an understanding of the theoreti- cal, empirical, and research foundations of the field.

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HUMAN PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY FUNDAMENTALS 7

Table 1.1. Sample of Definitions of Human Performance Technology from the Past Thirty Years.

Author(s) Definition Key Terms

Gilbert (1978, p. 18)

Ainsworth (1979, p. 5)

Stolovitch (1982, p. 16)

Harless (In Geis, 1986, p. 1)

NSPI, via Coscarelli (1988, p. 8)

Langdon (1991, p. 2)

• Accomplishment • Behavior • Competence

• Objective • Outcome signification

• Achievements • Change • System

• Accomplishment • Behavior • Cost effective • Process

• Processes • Realizing opportunities • Solving problems

• Establish • Extinguish • Improve • Maintain • Systematic

Human competence is a function of worthy performance (W), which is a function of the ratio of valuable accomplishments (A) to costly behavior (B).

A cornerstone of performance tech- nology is outcome signification— discovering valid, useful performance objectives and stating them in terms that are easily understood.

A field of endeavor that seeks to bring about changes to a system in such a way that the system is improved in terms of the achievements it values.

Human performance technology is the process of selection, analysis design, development, implementa- tion, and evaluation of programs to most cost-effectively influence human behavior and accomplishment.

A set of methods and processes for solving problems—or realizing opportunities—related to the performance of people. It may be applied to individuals, small groups or large organizations.

Systematic application of identifying that a need exists to establish, main- tain, extinguish, or improve perfor- mance in an individual or organization; defining the need; identifying, implementing, and net- working appropriate interventions; and validating that the results are true improvements.

(Continued)

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8 HANDBOOK OF HUMAN PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY

Table 1.1. Sample of Definitions of Human Performance Technology from the Past Thirty Years. (Continued)

Author(s) Definition Key Terms

Stolovitch and Keeps (1992, p. 4; 1999, p. 5)

Rothwell (1996, p. 29)

O’Driscoll (1999, p. 97)

Van Tiem, Moseley, and Dessinger (2004, p. 2)

• Accomplishments • Change to a system • Human and organiza-

tional behavior

• Holistically • Present and future

work • Systematically

• Achievement • Derived theories • Grounded in science • Systems thinking • System value

• Achieving goals • Analyzes • Common methodology • Design processes • Study • Success indicators • Systematic process

The application of what is known about human and organizational behavior to enhance accomplish- ments, economically and effectively, in ways that are valued within the work setting. Thus HPT is a field of endeavor that seeks to bring about changes to a system, in such a way that the system is improved in terms of the achievement it values.

Human Performance Enhancement (HPE) is the field focused on systemat- ically and holistically improving pres- ent and future work results achieved by people in organizational settings.

Systems thinking applied to human resource activities. (1) Systemic, (2) systematic, (3) grounded in scien- tifically derived theories and the best empirical evidence available, (4) open to all means, methods, and media, and (5) focused on achievement that human performers and the system value.

The systematic process of linking business goals and strategies with the workforce responsible for achieving goals. Moreover, perfor- mance technology practitioners study and design processes that bring about increased performance in the workplace using a common methodology to understand, inspire, and improve. And finally, perfor- mance technology systematically analyzes performance problems and their underlying causes and describes exemplary performance.

(Continued)

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HUMAN PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY FUNDAMENTALS 9

Table 1.1. (Continued)

Author(s) Definition Key Terms

ISPI (2005b)

• Accomplishment • Competence • Cost effective • Process • Realizing opportunities • Solving problems • Systematic

A systematic approach to improving productivity and competence, uses a set of methods and procedures—and a strategy for solving problems—for realizing opportunities related to the performance of people. More spe- cific, it is a process of selection, analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation of programs to most cost-effectively influence human behavior and accomplishment. It is a systematic combination of three fundamental processes: performance analysis, cause analysis, and intervention selection, and can be applied to individuals, small groups, and large organizations

A key to understanding the importance of the term study in HPT is the idea of disciplined and systematic inquiry. This involves asking questions and seeking answers about human performance in orderly and prescribed ways that follow organized sets of principles. It includes both quantitative and qualitative approaches to research as well as philosophical analyses, histori- cal investigations, theorizing and theory building, model development, and evaluation.

From the beginning, systematic inquiry, including research and evaluation, has been the genesis for new ideas in HPT. Early on, the dominant paradigm for inquiry was studies that focused on proving that specific interventions were effective ways to improve individual and organizational performance. Today, the performance technology researcher and evaluator have added other para- digms or ways of looking at and approaching research and evaluation. These include understanding the complex world of people’s experiences from their points of view as they function in natural or authentic settings (Mertens, 2005). Popular labels associated with these two paradigms are quantitative and qual- itative research. In contemporary practice many HPT researchers and evalua- tors combine or blend these paradigms.

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The importance of the term study in the definition is threefold. First, study is critical to understanding and improving the practice of HPT. Second, study is important to the selection, design, development, and testing of human performance interventions. Finally, it is important to avoid the trap of believing that we already know all that needs to be known about how and what to do in HPT. The continued growth of HPT is dependent upon per- formance technologists who think about the field, practice it, and do not become complacent by believing that the philosophy of HPT is set in stone, that its history has been written, its theories and models are beyond reproach, and how we ask and answer research and evaluation questions are one dimensional and tied to one research paradigm. Study we do, and study we must.

Ethical Practice HPT has a long history of ethical standards and ethical practice (Dean, 1993; Watkins, Leigh, and Kaufman, 2000; Westgaard, 1988). The certified perfor- mance technologist (CPT) credential of the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) emphasizes recent guidelines for ethical standards and ethical practice.

The CPT code of ethics includes (1) the principle of adding value for clients, their customers, and the global environment; (2) promoting and using validated performance technology strategies and standards that align with an existing body of theory, research, and practice knowledge; (3) working collab- oratively with clients and being a trustworthy strategic partner; (4) continually improving one’s proficiency in the field of HPT; (5) practicing integrity by being honest and truthful in representations to clients, colleagues, and others; and (6) maintaining client confidentiality and avoiding conflicts of interest (International Society for Performance Improvement, Certified Performance Technologist, 2002).

In this time of corporate scandal and international strife, there are increasing concerns about ethical issues in HPT. Nonethical behavior is detrimental to individuals, groups, organizations, the profession, and society. It undermines the work and good intentions of all who practice in the field. Key elements in ethical behavior are to do no harm to your clients, their customers, and the profession and to keep in the forefront serving the good of society.

Improving Productivity To improve is to make better and involves enhancing quality and value. Pro- ductivity has both quality and quantity dimensions. It is the maximum value that an organization that delivers a particular product or service creates at a given cost using the best available management techniques, skills, technologies, and required inputs. “In a nutshell, productivity reflects results as a function of

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effort. In a classical sense, productivity is defined as a ratio such that the output of an effort under investigation is divided by the inputs . . . required to produce the output” (Brinkerhoff and Dressler, 1990, p. 16).

Productivity can be simply depicted as the relationships between inputs, processes, outputs, and feedback. “Inputs are the resources consumed in pro- ducing the goods and services of an organization” (Brinkerhoff and Dressler, 1990, p. 72), while outputs are simply the goods and services an organization produces. Processes are mechanisms organizations employ to convert inputs to outputs. Feedback is the means organizations use to calibrate the inputs, processes, and outputs. There are essentially three ways to increase productiv- ity. An organization can hold inputs constant and increase outputs. Second, out- puts can be held constant and inputs can be decreased. And finally, inputs can be decreased while outputs are increased. These combinations are achieved by modifying or changing inputs and processes.

Organizations Organizations are enterprises that are dynamic, political, economic, and social systems with multiple goals. They are invented by, made up of, and serve the needs of people. People come together and create an organizational culture consisting of principles, ideas, and pronouncements that define an organiza- tion. They also create a structure that defines the roles, relationships, tasks, and duties of individuals and groups. Finally, organizations operate in a larger environment that requires the development of direct and indirect relationships with other organizations, including suppliers, distributors, stockholders, and others. Organizations are purposeful and serve the needs of their members and a public that values and consumes the organization’s products and services.

Historically, HPT has had as its major focus individuals, including workers and managers. Over the years, several human performance technologists and management gurus have modified or changed this single focus on individual workers. Ideas from two pioneers exemplify this shift in thinking. Thomas Gilbert, in referencing organizational systems, observed that if you “put good people in a bad system, the system will dominate” (quoted in Dean, 1997, p. 63). W. Edwards Deming, a founder of total quality management (TQM), emphasized that workers are not the source of problems in organizations. Man- agers and those that lead organizations have the control and power to change and improve the structure of organizations, and problems rest with them, not the powerless worker (Petty, 1991).

So nobody works alone. People work in organizations and regularly interact with other individuals. Individuals belong to units or work groups and receive and give information, meet, and problem solve as part of and in the context of a group which is part of an organization (Hanson and Lubin, 1995). In short,

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people’s needs are organizational needs and organizational needs are people’s needs. The two are inextricably entwined.

Designing and Developing Designing involves the preparation of a detailed plan for performance- improvement interventions. It includes completing a performance analysis, spec- ifying objectives, identifying characteristics of the affected population, grouping and sequencing objectives, specifying characteristics of the interventions, and executing an evaluation process. Designers orchestrate and logically sequence a series of activities that solves problems and improves performance.

Production involves translating design specifications into actual interventions and strategies for implementing them. Performance design is often confused with performance development. The major difference is that design indicates what the performance should look like, whereas development indicates how to make it that way (Reigeluth, 1983).

Effective Effective performance improvement produces desired results. It is achievement of purpose; doing the right thing and doing it right. Doing the right thing means that performance is aligned with the mission, goals, and purposes of the orga- nization. This strategic alignment means that there is a direct and traceable relationship between a performance-improvement initiative and a declared goal of the organization.

Doing things right is subsumed with doing the right thing. It means achiev- ing desired results with a minimum of inputs. So there is a hierarchy for effec- tive and efficient behavior. Effective behavior is efficient, but efficient behavior may not be effective.

For example, a city builds a traffic bridge over a small river. The bridge is built to state and federal load and safety standards for minimal costs: it is built efficiently. However, a traffic bridge may not be the best solution to a strategic goal of the city: the movement of people. Mass transit may be a better solution. Or moving people across the river may become less important if zoning laws that restrict commercial and home building on the floodplain on the far side of the river are enacted and enforced. If the bridge is the best solution but building it takes decades versus months and nearly bankrupts the city with cost over- runs delaying its use, it is not effective. Effectiveness is being correct and in so doing, doing things correctly.

Interventions An intervention is a course of action taken to improve performance. It is planned and purposeful, and requires organizations and the people in them to behave differently. Interventions have to be proactively planned for and

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managed, and people must adapt to them. Interventions are designed and developed to respond to specific needs, which are gaps between where an orga- nization is and where it seeks to be in the future.

Results-Oriented An enduring and distinguishing principle of HPT is focusing first and focusing last on results. Results must be tangible and measurable, due to a performance improvement initiative, and must positively affect an organization. They must create value for the organization, its members, and its customers. In short, they must have a positive impact.

There are many types of results. Some focus on an organization’s bottom line. Examples include increased production, reduced scrap, reduced backlog work, and reduced costs. Time savings also have an impact on the bottom line of an organization. The focus also can be on workers and work teams. Exam- ples include reduction in accidents, increases in worker health and safety, improvements in morale and motivation, increases in knowledge and skills, and reductions in grievances and personnel turnover. Or the focus can be market- oriented, such as increased market share, maintaining and increasing satisfied customers and repeat business, long-term growth, and expanding partnerships. Finally, organizations can focus externally and serve and give back to the com- munity by being good corporate citizens and avoiding externalities such as air and water pollution, worker exploitation, and wasting of natural resources.

All results must be legal, ethical, and morally defensible. Most important, they must be aligned with one or more of the values, missions, goals, and objectives of the organization.

Comprehensive and Systemic To be effective, performance-improvement interventions must solve the whole problem; that is, be comprehensive. The interventions must also be integrated into the organization, which is being systemic (Irlbeck, 2002). In deriving a solu- tion set and as the whole picture is uncovered as we seek to maximize effec- tiveness, there are inevitable trade-offs when only partial performance issues are identifiable or partial solutions are feasible.

All organizations are complex systems of multiple and mutually interact- ing components. These interrelated parts connect with one another to carry out the purposes of the organization. The parts of an organization are uni- fied as a whole by complex sets of rules, principles, ideas, and methods that govern the interactions and behavior of the parts. There are also boundaries for organizations that separate them from other organizations.

Systemic interventions address organizational needs as a whole, especially with regard to an organization’s vital processes and functions. Systemic problem

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solving looks beyond linear cause and effect by taking the perspective that a given cause and its effect cannot be separated or isolated from their context. It is a matter of holism versus reductionism (Douglas and Wykowski, 1999; Hallbom and Hallbom, 2005).

In explaining the idea of systemic thinking and problem solving, I find a use- ful analogy in the old game of “pick-up sticks.” For those unfamiliar with this game, it often uses painted wood sticks that are about eight inches in length and look like oversized toothpicks. Twenty-five or so sticks come in a bundle, often stored in a tube. A player grasps the bundle of sticks and drops them on a table in a pile. The object of the game is to pick up as many sticks as possible, one at a time, without disturbing the rest of the pile.

Imagine each stick as a part or element of an organization. When dropped, the pile of entwined sticks represents the organization as a whole. Some of the sticks may not touch or they may only touch in simplistic and easy-to-manage ways. Other sticks will be piled in a complex web, and if disturbed or changed, they will move or disturb other sticks. In other words, there are ripple effects of moving or changing any one part of the organization, with some parts being more affected or sensitive to change than others. Moreover, as the pile of sticks is disturbed as a player touches and manipulates a given stick or part, the pile as a whole changes its form. Although not a perfect analogy, the game of “pick- up sticks” does illustrate the need for performance-improvement initiatives to be comprehensive and systemic.

PERFORMANCE-IMPROVEMENT MODEL

As with definition building, model building in HPT is risky. I often get the questions, Why are there so many HPT models? and Why has the field not set- tled on one model? In my judgment, the answer is threefold. First, if one looks back over time, as the field has matured and the ways organizations operate and are managed have changed, academics and practitioners have adapted their views and practices. The models they use reflect these changes. Second, organizations have different needs, vary in their orientations to HPT, and have HPT personnel from varying backgrounds. Because of this, performance tech- nologists customize an HPT model that reflects their views and ways of doing performance improvement. Third, there is the view that some academics and independent consultants build models for self-promotion and as a marketing device.

The model I have built and use is a process model. It builds on the work of others, consists of a set of components that I find essential in doing HPT, and fits with my definition and view of the field. Use it as is, adapt it, or reject all or parts of it. Do not accept or use it without study. The graphic depiction is displayed in Figure 1.1.

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Getting Started As displayed in Figure 1.1, the performance-improvement process has a begin- ning. I find that individuals or a group in an organization move forward with one of three types of perceptions. They believe there are performance problems, they believe there is a challenge for quality improvement, or they believe that new or emerging business opportunities have arisen (see Table 1.2). Further- more, they sense that there is a void or gap between where the organization is and where it ought to be. The void or gap is often perceived as the difference between present or actual performance and desired future performance.

Perception Analysis Needs for performance improvements are identified on a daily basis in organi- zations. Given this frequent activity, how is a performance analyst to know which needs are important and deserve attention?

Different performance-improvement needs will have different perceived levels of importance within an organization. This leaves the question, Who has the

HUMAN PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY FUNDAMENTALS 15

Human and social systems

Physical and technical systems

Management systems

Organizational systems

Intervention Selection

Performance Analysis

Desired performance

Vold or Ga

p

Actual performance

Strategic alignment Organizational

mission, goals, and objectives

Yes No

Feasibility Analysis

E va

lu at

io n a

n d F

ee d b ac

k

Perception Analysis

Productivity problem

Quality- improvement

initiative

Business opportunity

STOP

Design, Development, and Implementation

Figure 1.1. Pershing Performance Improvement Process.

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correct perspective? For the performance analyst the key to this dilemma is found in the process of perception analysis.

The power of individual and group perceptions is well established in the lit- erature on performance analysis, needs assessment, and organizational change (Hall and Hord, 1978; Eggen and Kauchak, 1997; Tafoya, 1983). If you are famil- iar with the idea that someone’s perception is his or her reality, then you are familiar with the most basic reason for carrying out a perception analysis as part of the performance-improvement process. Individuals and groups within an organization may have widely varying understandings of the same situation, event, process, or need.

Perceived needs reside in the values, beliefs, opinions, and judgments people have about their work and the culture of their organization. Often they evolve from people’s reactions to events or situations. In a way, they are like the vital signs of an organization as viewed by the very people who make up the organi- zation. Such information helps gauge individual and group perceptions and pos- sible ambivalence toward, support for, or resistance to an identified need and potential interventions. Perception analysis uses three guiding questions to reveal three important aspects of the need: who, how, and why?

The Who Question. The who question identifies which individuals and groups are involved in the performance-improvement initiative. At a minimum, a per- ception analysis discerns the sponsors, champions, and stakeholders.

Sponsors are people and groups with influence and power. They control the purse strings and have the authority to devote resources to a performance- improvement initiative. Their belief in and their willingness to support an ini- tiative are vital to success. Champions are individuals or groups that lead the

16 HANDBOOK OF HUMAN PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY

Table 1.2. Sample Performance-Improvement Initiatives.

Quality Improvement

Performance Problem Initiative or Challenge Business Opportunity

• Backlogs • Customer complaints • Delivery delays • Employee absenteeism • Employee turnover • Equipment downtime • Quality-control failure • Waste and breakage • Worker health and safety

• Decrease inputs • Increase outputs • Increase return on

investment • Improve organizational

climate • Improve processes • Reduce unit costs • Speed up delivery

• Acquire new business • Acquire competitor • Enter new geographic

market • Expand customer base • Expand product line • Merge businesses

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effort to improve performance. They are personally invested in the process and believe in its importance and potential. Stakeholders are individuals and groups either directly or indirectly affected by the performance-improvement initiative. They will include employees, owners, stockholders, customers, suppliers, and others. They have significant interest in the actions and effec- tiveness of the organization. Performance-improvement initiatives must have a strong sponsor and champion. These may be the same person or group. Stakeholder support is helpful. More critical, however, is to make sure that key stakeholders are not hostile toward an initiative or overtly intent on undermining the efforts.

The How Question. Perception analysis considers the origin of the need because the very nature of people’s perceptions of a problem, quality-improvement initiative, or business opportunity is rooted in the originator’s perceptions. This gets at the issue of ownership. If the performance analyst identifies a need or opportunity, it is considered proactive. This type of purposeful action by the analyst will need to be sold to affected individuals and groups so that they take ownership. If the initiative is perceived to be owned only by the analyst, it will falter or fail.

Reactive situations occur when individuals or groups identify a need or opportunity and seek assistance from performance-improvement specialists. The initiators have ownership. Challenges for the performance analyst come into play when the need or opportunity is misdiagnosed by the owners and the inter- ventions are predetermined and do not meet the need. In such instances, the analyst must sell the rigor of the performance-analysis process.

The Why Question. The final perception-analysis question is Why is the perceived performance-improvement initiative important? This is essentially a matter of impact: impact upon individuals, groups, the organization as a whole, other organizations, and society. It is best answered in terms of the next component in the model, strategic alignment.

Strategic Alignment with Organizational Mission, Goals, and Objectives

A way to judge the importance of a perceived need is to ascertain its relation- ship to meeting the missions, goals, and objectives of the organization. This is strategic alignment. The essence of strategic alignment is looking for agreement between perceived needs and the goals and tactical behavior of an organization. Strategic alignment is a state of affairs, not an outcome. The assumption is that alignment leads to increased organizational effectiveness and performance- improvement initiatives that contribute to rather than conflict with strategic alignment. The performance-improvement analyst must ask, If this need is met,

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will this fit or conflict with the organization’s missions and goals in the following ways?

• Values: Do the perceived need and potential interventions fit with the set of preferences and judgments concerning what individuals and groups in the organization deem as good or bad and desirable or undesirable?

• Norms: Will the proposed interventions support formal and informal guidelines for acceptable and unacceptable behavior standards that facilitate interactions between individuals and groups in the organization?

• Culture: Is there congruency with the prevailing values, beliefs, and expectations within the organization, including the ways the organiza- tion is managed, what is expected of its members, and goal attainment?

• Structure: Is there a rational cascade of goals, key processes, teams, and individuals so that outputs contribute directly to goal attainment and reward systems?

• Performance: Will the interventions help individuals and groups engage in goal-directed, results-oriented behavior?

• Environment: Are there external factors or demands from the environ- ment that conflict with the proposed interventions? [Adapted from Semler, 1997]

Questions of strategic alignment are the most important in the performance- improvement process. Too often, nonaligned performance-improvement initia- tives are undertaken, resulting in suboptimal behavior. Organizations are often caught up in expending resources and time in solving problems or seizing opportunities with little or no payback or contribution to organizational goals. Sometimes the outcomes have negative consequences and make things worse by addressing performance in a way that directly conflicts with organizational goals. If a performance-improvement initiative is not strategically aligned and causes suboptimal behavior by individuals or groups, as the model depicts, stop and move on to another project.

Performance Analysis Performance analysis focuses on factors that drive individual, group, and orga- nizational performance. The factors may be causes of problems, road maps to improve quality, or ways to exploit opportunities. They are the why questions, and the answers can be classified and analyzed in several ways.

In terms of classification, there are a number of popular HPT models that depict performance elements and suggest that analyzing performance gaps is

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often complicated and multifaceted (Gilbert, 1978; Langdon, 1999, 2000; Mager and Pipe, 1984; Molenda, Pershing, and Reigeluth, 1996; Robinson and Robinson, 1989; Van Tiem, Moseley, and Dessinger, 2004; Wile, 1996). The taxonomy of performance elements or classification scheme depicted in the performance- improvement-process model (Figure 1.1) synthesizes elements from models of five distinguished names in the HPT field: Harless (1970, 1988, 1997), Gilbert, (1978), Rossett (1999), Spitzer (1992), and Wile (1996). It also builds upon the work of Gilmore and Pershing (2001). The four elements are organizational sys- tems, management systems, physical and technical systems, and human and social systems.

Organizational Systems. At the core of any organization is its economic status for present and future conditions, including financial stability and readiness for change. Its structure is important, including lines of communication, lines of command, span of control, and divisions of labor. Both formal and informal lines of communication are significant, as are relationships between manage- ment, employees, suppliers, customers, the community, and government. How people access information, methods of operation, and executive decision mak- ing are part of the organizational system (Gilley and Coffern, 1994). The goal in analyzing an organizational system is to look for ways to improve organiza- tional viability and effectiveness.

Management Systems. At the heart of every organization are people who man- age others. They provide guidance and direction to employees and serve as the interface with the organization’s executives. The functions of managers are to delegate, develop personnel, conduct performance appraisals, and establish pri- orities. Managers need to have good listening skills, provide constructive feed- back, and have productive relationships with the employees they manage. In short, they must be skilled at the art of managing and be supported at the orga- nizational level as they do so (Gilley, Eggland, and Gilley, 2002). The goal in analyzing the management system is to improve management practices and techniques.

Physical and Technical Systems. Organizations of every type have facilities, equipment, and tools that surround its members. These need to be up to date and appropriate for the tasks that are performed. Facilities need to be of adequate size, properly lighted, well heated or cooled and ventilated, noise inhibitive, and so on. Equipment and tools need to be available, ergonomically sound, and safe. Facilities, equipment, and tools need to be well maintained (Rothwell, 1996).

All organizations have technical processes that combine and integrate people, machines, materials, and methods to produce a product or service (Mears, 1995).

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These work activities consist of sets of interrelated tasks that produce results. The ideal is to minimize the variation in these technical processes. Information and engineered systems are often combined with various job aids and perfor- mance support tools that reduce system complexities and enhance the mental and physical capabilities of individuals and teams. Well-designed technical sys- tems minimize worker fatigue and monotony, enhance safety, minimize physi- cal distractions, and maximize the quality and quantity of outputs (Pipe, 1986). Productive organizations invest in the necessary facilities, equipment, tools, and technical processes to be effective.

Human and Social Systems. People in effective organizations are competent. They have the required skills, knowledge, aptitudes, and attitudes or beliefs to perform effectively whether individually or in groups. They know how to solve problems and work in teams. The organization has formal and informal on-the- job education and training systems in place to maintain and enhance the com- petencies of its members. These education and training systems have clear linkages with workplace applications.

Effective organizations also have effective systems for recruiting, hiring, ori- enting, advancing, and redeploying competent people. Often there are struc- tured coaching and mentoring systems in place. There are also support systems in place to help workers be safe and healthy, and for emotional support. Accord- ing to Gilley and Boughton (1996), a healthy work environment includes free- dom from fear, positive interactions with others, personal involvement, trust, honesty, and self-esteem.

Effective organizations also have reward systems and incentives that support individual and team performance. Rules and regulations for worker compliance with policies, procedures, and work rules are clear and fairly administered.

Finally, there are systems in place that enhance collaboration and group dynamics. Examples include team and group work between management and labor, day and night shifts, home and field offices, technicians and engineers, and departments. In effective organizations, race, ethnicity, and gender are celebrated, and diversity adds to productivity (Hanson and Lubin, 1995). Productive organizations invest in their people and treat them well.

Order of the Four Elements. The order of the elements in the model, from left to right, has meaning. When carrying out a performance analysis, experience has taught me to look at all four elements but to look first at the organizational system, second at the management system, third at physical and technical sys- tems, and finally at human and social systems. Over time, I have also learned that the order, again from left to right, has meaning in terms of level of difficulty in problem identification and problem solving. These experiences parallel what David Wile (1996) reported in presenting his classification scheme of seven

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elements: organization systems, incentives, cognitive support, tools, physical environment, skills and knowledge, and inherent ability.

How Is It Done? Performance analysis is a form of action research. Research involves “a problem to be investigated, a process of inquiry, and explanations that enable individuals to understand the nature of the problem. Research can also incorporate actions that attempt to resolve the problem being investigated” (Stringer, 1996, p. 5). In paraphrasing Denzin and Lincoln (1994), Stringer explains action research as follows:

Its purpose is to assist people in extending their understanding of their situation and thus resolve problems that confront them. Put another way . . . action research provides a model for enacting local, action-oriented approaches to inquiry, applying small-scale theorizing to specific problems in specific situations [p. 9].

According to Stringer, this approach to research may be used to enhance work practices by reviewing goals and procedures, evaluating their effectiveness, and planning activities and strategies. It can help to “resolve specific problems and crises by defining the problem, exploring its context, analyzing its compo- nent parts, and developing strategies for its resolution” (1996, p. 13). Is this not the essence of the performance-analysis process?

For each of the four performance-analysis elements in the performance- improvement process model (Figure 1.1), the analyst will pose questions, col- lect data, analyze the data, and determine a response. These action research activities are akin to pieces in a complex puzzle (see Figure 1.2).

Intervention Selection Once the performance gap and its underlying causes, means, or opportunities are identified, interventions can be selected. Performance problems, quality- improvement initiatives, and business opportunities are usually multidimen- sional, and more than one intervention is needed. Performance can be improved even more and maintained for a longer period of time when interventions across the performance-improvement technology spectrum are coordinated (Rosenberg, 1996).

According to well-established intervention design and selection principles, there are many different interventions to improve performance (Burke, 1982; Coleman, 1992; Deterline and Rosenberg, 1992; Holton, 1999; Langdon, Whiteside, and McKenna, 1999). Various authors have developed comprehen- sive classification and categorical schemes for major performance-improvement interventions. For a comprehensive understanding of several options, I recom- mend the Intervention Resource Guide: 50 Performance Improvement Tools (Langdon, Whiteside, and McKenna, 1999).

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As early as 1970, Argyris developed three basic requirements for effective intervention selection: valid and useful information, free choice, and internal commitment. By valid and useful information, Argyris meant “that which describes the factors plus their interrelationship that create the problem for the client system” (Argyris, 1970, p. 17). By free choice he meant “the locus of deci- sion making [is] in the client system” (p. 19) and the client is provided alter- natives for action. No particular or specified action is automatic, preordained, or imposed. By internal commitment, Argyris (1970) meant that the client owns the choices made and feels responsible for implementing them.

Without careful planning, intervention selection can lead to disaster. To increase success, Spitzer (1992) suggests eleven principles that will enhance the successful selection of interventions. They can be summarized as follows. Choose interventions that

1. Are based upon a comprehensive understanding of the situation

2. Are carefully targeted

3. Are sponsor-based and supported

22 HANDBOOK OF HUMAN PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY

Human and Social

Systems Analyze

data

Determine response

Collect data

Physical and Technical

Systems

Analyze data

Determine response

Collect data

Analyze data

Management Systems

Determine response

Collect data

Productivity Problem

Quality- Improvement Initiative

Business Opportunity

Design, Develop, and Implement a Set of Interventions.

Organizational Systems

Analyze data

Determine response

Collect data

Pose Question(s)

Pose Question(s)

Pose Question(s)

Pose Question(s)

Figure 1.2. Analyzing Performance-Improvement Initiatives.

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4. Employ a team approach

5. Are cost sensitive

6. Align directly with organizational priorities

7. Are well investigated and weighed against options

8. Are powerful

9. Are sustainable

10. Take implementation into consideration

11. Take an iterative approach to design, development, and implementation

Feasibility Analysis This component of the model relates to identifying and assessing the probable or likely success of solution strategies or interventions. For most performance- improvement initiatives there is more than one intervention making an inter- vention set. The feasibility of each intervention as well as the bundle or set as a whole has to be analyzed (Stufflebeam, McCormick, Brinkerhoff, and Nelson, 1985; Harrison, 1994; Mitchell, 1998). These feasibility factors can be classified as practical, political, and cultural (Kirkey and Benjamin, 2005).

Practical factors include administrative capacity, costs, workplace readiness, available technology, and timing. Political factors include perceived benefits, leadership, stakeholder readiness, and organizational power structures. Cultural factors include employer and employee development, organizational culture, and readiness for change.

Some intervention sets or bundles of interventions will require articulation and coordination. For complex feasibility analyses, a decision matrix may be helpful. Table 1.3 displays a sample feasibility decision matrix.

Design, Development, and Implementation Any performance-improvement initiative that is worth carrying through should produce results that convert a given performance from what it is into what it should be. The initiative will pass through three stages: design, development, and implementation. The design stage involves proposing objectives as well as means and strategies for achieving the objectives. The means include iden- tifying content and substance, and delineating outcomes. Strategies include proposing cost-effective activities and actions to achieve the objectives. All of this leads to a design plan. The development stage involves the actual pro- duction of the interventions, including a project-management plan. The inter- ventions and the accompanying administrative support system must be validated through pre- and pilot testing. The implementation stage involves the application of the tested interventions on a large scale. Each of these stages needs its own evaluation, approval, and feedback provisions (adapted from Romiszowski, 1981).

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24 HANDBOOK OF HUMAN PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY

Table 1.3. Sample Feasibility Decision Matrix.

Risk

Consideration Weight (W)** Risk

(estimated or projected) Risk (R)* (1 to 10) Index (I)

1. Projected return on investment Low � 1 Low � 1 I � R � W (ROI): cost-effectiveness Moderate � 2 Moderate � 5

High � 3 High � 10

2. Strength of support Low � 1 Low � 1 I � R � W Moderate � 2 Moderate � 3

High � 3 High � 5

3. Organizational change impact Low � 1 Low � 1 I � R � W Moderate � 2 Moderate � 5

High � 3 High � 10

4. Barriers to implementation Low � 1 Low � 1 I � R � W Moderate � 2 Moderate � 3

High � 3 High � 5

5. Number of interventions Low � 1 Low � 1 I � R � W in intervention bundle Moderate � 2 Moderate � 5

High � 3 High � 10

6. Available resources Low � 1 Low � 1 I � R � W (financial and human) Moderate � 2 Moderate � 3

High � 3 High � 5

7. Dependence on time, or urgency Low � 1 Low � 1 I � R � W Moderate � 2 Moderate � 5

High � 3 High � 10

8. Number of sites or Low � 1 Low � 1 I � R � W functions affected Moderate � 2 Moderate � 5

High � 3 High � 10

9. Number of people and Low � 1 Low � 1 I � R � W groups affected Moderate � 2 Moderate � 5

High � 3 High � 10

10. Other ___________ Low � 1 Low � 1 I � R � W Moderate � 2 Moderate � 3

High � 3 High � 5

Totals

*Risk category descriptors can be modified. Numerical values assigned to the descriptors vary from low to high depending on the consideration; that is, whether it is more or less desirable.

**Weight assignments are made in consultation with clients and affected parties.

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In most cases, the performance technologist orchestrates and manages this process. Cross-functional and interdisciplinary teams are brought together that have expertise in the various interventions. Within the team, or as separate members, there must be personnel with change-management expertise. Performance-improvement initiatives by their very nature lead to purposeful change involving the beliefs, attitudes, values, and structures of organizations. Such change will be adopted and become institutionalized only if it is planned and managed.

Evaluation and Feedback Evaluation is the means to ascertain the worth or value of a performance- improvement initiative. It can be used to improve a performance-improvement process or to decide to discontinue the effort. It is also useful in judging the rel- ative worth of performance-improvement alternatives. Two types of evaluation are formative and summative. Formative evaluation is used to make improve- ments as a performance-improvement initiative is being designed and devel- oped. Summative evaluation is used to judge the worth or merits of a completed and fully implemented performance-improvement initiative.

There are five ways in which evaluation can be used in HPT:

1. As a means of feedback. As performance-improvement initiatives are being designed, developed, and implemented, one can measure progress against stated objectives, analyze what is working well and what is not working as expected, and identify potential barriers to implementation. If information products, training materials, job aids, or new tools and equipment are involved in the initiative, their usability can be assessed.

2. As a means of control. During development and implementation of initiatives and after they are completed, questions can be asked and answered concerning the value of the program to the organization as well as alignment issues. Measures of worth can be compared to measures of cost.

3. As a means of power. Evaluation data can be very powerful. These data are sometimes used politically in organizations. Given this reality, the HPT specialist must be certain that evaluation data are based upon sound evidence and are presented fairly and ethically.

4. As an intervention. The very act of evaluation affects the performance-improvement initiatives being evaluated. As evaluation questions are formulated, instruments for collecting data are designed and tested, and those that will be involved in the evaluation are identified, people begin to behave differently as they react to and prepare for the evaluation process. These reactions can

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be positive and enhance the initiative, or they can be skeptical and lead to resistance to the initiative.

5. As a means of research. This is the most important and often the most overlooked role that evaluation can play in the HPT process. As performance-improvement initiatives are evaluated, data can be collected and analyzed in ways to add knowledge to HPT principles and practices and provide knowledge that can be gener- alized to future efforts. Evaluations can be designed to provide reliable and valid data to ascertain what worked, when, and how it worked. This information, when shared with the field, will advance practice.

IS THERE MAGIC IN HUMAN PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY?

There is no magic in HPT. There are no easy-to-use cookbooks or templates for doing HPT. To be an effective human performance technologist takes hard work and dedication to its study and practice. Each organization and its performance- improvement challenges are unique and require individualized study and atten- tion. The clever title Figuring Things Out, a 1982 book by Ron Zemke and Thomas Kramlinger, best captures the job of the performance technologist. Zemke and Kramlinger explain that figuring things out is process oriented, and that there are political, strategic, tactical, and technical considerations that need to be taken into account as problems are matched with techniques. They explain in great detail research techniques and procedures including “time stud- ies, task listings, S-R tables, behavioral frequency counts, behavioral algo- rithms, focus group discussions, one-on-one interviews, consensus groups, the critical incident technique, fault tree analysis, and much more” (pp. vi–x). Since 1982, other performance technologists and quality-improvement spe- cialists have added to this tool list with data-gathering and analysis techniques such as mapping and indirect estimations, content or document analysis, the community forum, the nominal group technique, focus groups, DACUM, Del- phi technique, concept mapping, cross-impact analysis, future wheels, fishbone diagramming, affinity diagramming, cause-and-consequence analysis, fault tree analysis, Pareto diagram, force-field analysis, control charting, deployment charting, benchmarking, and so on (Gilley, Eggland, and Gilley, 2002; Ishikawa, 1987; Juran, 1988; Langdon, 2000; Mears, 1995; Rothwell, 1996; Witkin and Altschuld, 1995).

At the core of HPT is formalized speculation: hypotheses or statements of conjecture about the relationships among variables are stated and tested.

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Sometimes the variables can be quantified, and sometimes they are qualitative or contextual. In either case, data describing the variables and their relation- ships with other variables can be collected. These data can be transformed by analysis to information that can be used in decision making by performance- improvement technologists and clients. This is the essence of a basic action research routine:

• Look

Gather relevant information: gather data

Build a picture: describe and define the situation

• Think

Explore and analyze: What is happening here? Speculate or hypothesize

Interpret and explain: How and why are things as they are? Theorize

• Act or intervene

Plan and report

Implement

Evaluate [Stringer, 1996, p. 16]

The behavior and actions of successful performance-improvement special- ists may at times seem magical. In my judgment, if you scratch below the sur- face, you will find four success criteria. First, the HPT specialist recognizes that performance improvement is not something we do to or for organizations and their members; rather it is something we do with them. We are collabora- tors. “In the collaborative style, decisions regarding actions to take and imple- mentation plans are all shared responsibilities” (Robinson and Robinson, 1995, p. 20). Second, HPT requires a team effort. The performance-improvement specialist is like an orchestra leader, coordinating and integrating the efforts of team members and clients that have cross-functional and interdisciplinary responsibilities and expertise. The third factor has to do with appreciation for and tolerance of iteration. As depicted in the performance-improvement- process model (Figure 1.1), evaluation and feedback connect the major ele- ments of the model in a nonlinear or repetitive way. At any given time in the process, one may have taken five steps forward and have to go back two or three steps to collect and analyze new data and to change or modify responses to those data. Fourth, and related to the iteration requirement, is to avoid letting solutions or interventions prematurely drive the process. This is a par- ticular problem when the client and project team members have expertise in or an affinity for specific interventions.

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CONCLUSIONS

An immediate appeal of human performance technology is that all organiza- tions are human performance systems. Organizations can be viewed as opera- tional, process, technical, or financial systems, but they are still founded by and for people. HPT is symbiotic in that it views organizations and their members as one. Its foci, or units for analyses, are individuals or workers, units or teams, departments or divisions, branches or subsidiaries, and the community or soci- ety. It is a process that begins and ends with results and the ultimate goal of creating value for an organization, its members, and the society it serves. HPT has been applied in all sizes and types of organizations, including private busi- nesses, government, social service and nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and the military. The field of HPT has evolved over a period of fifty years, and as a whole the field itself is not a passing fad.

Is HPT a cure all or end all for all organizational challenges or problems? The answer is no. It is not an effective approach for organizations to use when they are involved in goal-free or goal-conflicted activities. If results are a nonissue, HPT will not help in planning or decision-making activities. It is often ineffective when predetermined or suboptimal interventions drive the process. Finally, the HPT process is data-driven. If clients are skeptical about data gathering and analysis or only accept data as valid if the data support their preconceived views of problems or improvement initiatives, then the HPT process will falter.

How does HPT distinguish itself from other fields and disciplines involved in improving organizations? (1) Largely, HPT is evaluation- and change-driven. At each stage of the performance-improvement process, activities and outputs are evaluated and focus on the ultimate target of organizational results. Solving problems, improving organizations, and actualizing opportunities by their very nature mean change. In HPT, before, during, and after the performance- improvement process, change is managed. (2) The characteristics of HPT are dynamic and ever-changing. It is not identified with one person or one institu- tion. (3) When practiced properly, HPT is nonideological in two important ways. First, it draws upon a variety of research and evaluation methodologies, let- ting the questions posed drive the methods employed. Second, there is no inter- vention bias. The selection, design, development, and implementation of interventions are driven by organizational needs and capabilities. (4) Finally, as a field of practice, HPT is eclectic. It selects what is best from a number of fields of study in terms of theories, models, and practices including, but not limited to, applied math and statistics, communications and cybernetics, economics, folklore, general systems theory, human capital theory, human resource devel- opment and management, instructional systems design and technology, man- agement science, political science, psychology, quantitative and qualitative

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research and evaluation methods, sociology, systems design, the engineering disciplines, and more.

There are concerns and challenges facing the field of HPT. In my judgment, prominent among them are three. The first concern has to do with one of the strengths of HPT. Being an eclectic field has a downside. Drawing upon the prin- ciples and theories of numerous academic disciplines and other fields con- tributes to a lack of clarity for HPT. Scholars and practitioners alike have had difficulty in clearly articulating and agreeing upon foundational issues: “It is now time to bring clarity to definitions for the field” (Irlbeck, 2002, p. 87). Second, HPT has been and continues to be a largely North American and European enterprise. Strides are being made in South America and the Asian Pacific Rim. With economies expanding all over the world and more interna- tional trade agreements materializing on a regular basis, HPT needs to increase its influence and impact globally. The third concern has to do with a new type of partnering for the field of HPT. There are other established and emerging dis- ciplines and fields of study that have organized bodies of knowledge and prac- tice that address issues of performance by individuals and organizations. Examples of established disciplines are organizational development, human resource development, health and safety, total quality management, instruc- tional technology, and reengineering and restructuring. Examples of newer and emerging disciplines are appreciative inquiry, communities of practice, infor- matics, knowledge management, lean manufacturing, learning organizations, rapid development and reflection, Six Sigma, and sociotechnical systems. By partnering with individuals and other organizations that represent many of these areas, there are some potentially positive outcomes. Several of these areas are experiencing what training personnel experienced years ago as HPT evolved. They find that their field or interest area is solution-driven, and this does not always fully address performance-improvement needs. They too are looking for more comprehensive solutions and may be attracted to HPT. At the same time, all of these areas have perspectives, tools, insights, and sometimes established credibility with organizations that HPT professionals need to learn about and utilize. In short, experts from these areas often make natural team members or partners for performance-improvement initiatives, and if treated respectfully they will become enthusiastic partners. The International Society for Perfor- mance Improvement, the flagship organization for HPT professionals, is address- ing this issue by forming professional communities within its ranks to broaden its membership base and to help its current members learn about and network with these companion disciplines and fields of study (Svenson, 2005).

In closing, this is an exciting time for the field of human performance tech- nology. More and more evidence is being compiled through action research and the presentations of case studies that show the significant impact HPT can have on adding and creating value for all types of organizations and the people they

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serve. This evidence is exemplified in the Got Results presentations and publi- cations of ISPI that “demonstrate how practitioners can and do use meaningful measures of performance outcomes to evaluate and make decisions about per- formance interventions and ongoing performance systems” (International Soci- ety for Performance Improvement, 2005a). Both ISPI and ASTD have published books of authentic case studies in performance improvement and closely aligned areas (Deterline and Rosenberg, 1992; Esque and Patterson, 1998; Hodges, 1999; Phillips, 2000; Rothwell and Dubois, 1998). Articles, monographs, and books abound that will help you explore and learn about this exciting and dynamic field. For starters, begin with the publications of ISPI: Performance Improvement, Performance Improvement Quarterly, and PerformanceXpress. The remaining sections and chapters of this handbook will also help you to gain greater insight into the field of human performance technology. In looking to the future, I find a statement by Joe Harless (1997, pp. iv–v) insightful: “[I]f today we are concerned primarily with improvement of human performance at work, can concern with human performance in all parts of lives be next?”

References

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Harless, J. H. (1970). An ounce of analysis (is worth a pound of objectives). Newnan, GA: Harless Performance Guild.

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International Society for Performance Improvement, Certified Performance Technolo- gist. (2002). Standards of performance technology and code of ethics. Retrieved May 19, 2005, from www.certifiedpt.org/index.cfm?section=standards.

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CHAPTER TWO

The Performance Architect’s Essential Guide to the Performance

Technology Landscape Roger M. Addison, Carol Haig

S ome years ago, a company had a team of high-performing data-entry clerks that was known for consistently rapid production with very low error rates. These were skilled, dependable employees who had worked together for some

time. When their company moved to a new and much larger building, the clerks were delighted with their workspace. They loved their spacious office, large wrap- around windows, and restful views of lush lawns and shady trees.

When they moved, they brought along all their existing office furniture, state- of-the-art computers, and other equipment. They settled into their wonderful new space and continued with their work. After a week or two, their manager reviewed the production reports and was surprised to see that the team’s error rates had noticeably increased. He searched in vain for an obvious reason and could only conclude that the move had somehow disrupted the clerks’ usual accuracy.

When this alarming trend continued through several reporting cycles, the manager decided the best course of action would be to retrain this group of skilled high performers because they obviously had forgotten how to do their jobs. So all the data-entry clerks were retrained. And, as you may have guessed, their substandard performance continued, with subsequent reports showing no reduction in error rates.

In desperation, the manager asked the Performance Consulting department for help, and a consultant paid him a visit. After the manager brought her up to date on events, the consultant asked to see all the reports from after the move and several sets from before to compare the clerks’ performance.

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After reviewing the reports, the consultant shared her findings with the manager. In the reports generated since the move to the new building she noticed a definite pattern of increased errors in the late afternoons. The manager could not immedi- ately provide an explanation for this, so the consultant asked if she could spend a few days on the floor to observe the clerks and learn more about their jobs.

When her observations were complete, the consultant met with the manager to again share her findings. Those large, bright windows really let in lots of light. In the late afternoons, as the sun began to set, it created glare on the clerks’ computer screens. Even though they knew their software well, it was easy to make mistakes and not see them; hence, the increased error rates.

The manager was somewhat embarrassed to have missed this obvious rea- son for poor performance, but the consultant helped him see the value of another pair of eyes when trying to diagnose a problem from inside the situa- tion. She pointed out the power of observation in analyzing performance prob- lems and confided that she never fully believed anything her clients told her until she went to see for herself. The manager forgave himself his oversight and was pleased to discover that window coverings were a relatively quick and inex- pensive solution to a critical performance obstacle.

INTRODUCTION

In this chapter we welcome you to the territory of the seasoned performance- improvement professional. Join us as we journey across the region to explore the features of the “Performance Technology Landscape.” In preparation for our trav- els, we will provide a packing list of helpful tools for the trip. We have selected them based on their usefulness to us in our combined sixty years of performance- improvement practice, coupled with the valuable work of such notables as Dale Brethower, Judith Hale, Paul Harmon, Lloyd Homme, Tom Gilbert, Robert Mager, Margo Murray, Geary Rummler, Harold Stolovitch, Don Tosti, and others. These practitioners are among those responsible for building the foundation of human performance technology (HPT); they have contributed to the principles of perfor- mance technology through their work and documented it in publications.

So get out your backpack and your walking shoes as we begin to chart our course and study the map of the Performance Technology Landscape.

THE PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY LANDSCAPE

Experienced travelers prepare carefully for a new journey by collecting maps and resource materials to plan their trip. Our map for this tour is the Per- formance Technology Landscape (Figure 2.1). It provides a framework

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for the work of HPT, an integrated-systems approach to performance improvement. Our resource materials include two key concepts that will pre- pare us for discoveries along the way: performance and human performance technology.

GUIDE TO THE PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY LANDSCAPE 37

Work Environment

Society

Workplace or Enterprise

Operations or Work

Individual or Team

Business Case

Co nd

iti on

s,

en vi ro

nm en

t, cu

ltu re

In pu

ts

Pr oc

es se

s

Pr od

uc ts,

o ut

pu ts,

ou tc om

es

Re ce

iv er

s,

be ne

fit o r v

al ue

Fe ed

ba ck

System(s) Viewpoint

Systematic Approach

1

2

3

4

5

6

NEED Assessment and analysis of need, performance, or opportunity

RESULTS Functional or requirement analysis

WHAT Drivers or cause analysis Solutions or interventions recommendations

HOW Organize, design, develop

DO Implement, deploy, manage change

EVALUATE Effectiveness, value, continuous improvement, lessons learned

Four Principles of Performance Technology

Focus on results Take a system(s) viewpoint

Establish partnerships and work collaboratively

Add value and focus on the business or organizational purpose

1 2

4

3

Figure 2.1. Performance Technology Landscape. Source: Addison, 2004, p. 15.

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What Is Performance? While many of us might think of performance as simply an activity on the Per- formance Technology Landscape, seasoned performance-improvement profes- sionals add a critical component: a result. So performance equals activity plus result, as in reading a map, activity, and using it to find your destination, result. We further stipulate that the result must be of value. For example, reaching your destination enables a wedding to take place in which you are the groom. The value is in the importance of the wedding to all involved stakeholders: bride, groom, families, guests, and others.

In 2003 the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) con- vened a Presidential Initiative Task Force to address critical issues in HPT. One of this group’s many achievements was the further refinement of the defini- tion of performance to include “those valued results produced by people work- ing within a system” (International Society for Performance Improvement, 2004, p. 9).

What Is Performance Technology? We define a technology as a set of empirical and scientific principles and their application. Performance technology (PT) is the technology that comprises all of the variables that affect human performance. We use PT in the workplace to identify the factors that enable workers to perform their jobs and to produce the desired results. Performance technology provides tools and processes to identify opportunities for improved performance, valued solutions, and return on invest- ment, as well as the building blocks to construct new performance environments and systems. The HPT task force also suggested the following definition (Inter- national Society for Performance Improvement, 2004, p. 4) for HPT:

1. Focuses on valuable, measured results

2. Considers the larger system context of people’s performance

3. Provides measurement tools that can be used repeatedly and will consistently show the same outcome

4. Describes programs and solutions clearly enough to be duplicated by others

Mapping the Performance-Improvement Journey The Performance Technology Landscape is a topographical map for performance technologists, providing a multidimensional representation of the routes we can travel in pursuit of improved human performance and increased value to the client organization. A closer look at the Performance Technology Landscape calls out four noted landmarks to guide us on our journey: Principles of Performance Technology, Work Environment, System(s) Viewpoint, and Systematic Approach.

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Principles of Performance Technology. Performance improvement profes- sionals adhere to these principles in our work. We

• Focus on results, using our knowledge of the business we are supporting to link performance-improvement initiatives to business needs and goals and add value for the stakeholders

• Take a systems viewpoint that encourages consideration of all aspects of the organization’s total performance system

• Add value to the organization or business by producing results that make a difference

• Establish partnerships with clients and other performance-improvement professionals to share skills, knowledge, creativity, and successes

By thinking systemically, we are able to identify and work with all the linkages in organizations as we strive to improve performance.

Work Environment. In organizations work is performed at three, and some- times four, levels:

• Individual or teams: the worker level

• Operations: the work level

• Organization: the entire enterprise

• Society: the communities served, the world

We ensure that we correctly identify the level affected by the performance issue or opportunity so that our investigations are complete and our recommenda- tions have a high probability of success.

Many organizations today acknowledge society as a fourth level in which they, as good corporate citizens, can make valuable contributions to the environment, the economy, and the communities they serve. This service may involve encour- aging employees to contribute their efforts to local charities, such as the Volun- teer Day program or the 78 Community Involvement Teams at Levi Strauss worldwide (Levi Strauss & Co., 2005). Another example is through active support of humanitarian issues, as with Hewlett Packard’s Design-for-Environment pro- gram (HP Invent, n.d.) that provides environmentally sustainable products through recycling services, or the Siemens Arts Program (Siemens, 2005) that sup- ports and advances local arts and culture in company locations around the world.

Performance-improvement professionals also work at the societal level, using HPT tools and techniques to address broad areas of need in the developing world (Haig and Addison, 2002).

Whenever possible, performance-improvement practitioners expand their work to the next highest organizational level to increase the impact of improved

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performance and add value for the organization. Many practitioners are accus- tomed to working with individuals or teams to improve performance. However, organizations realize broader, longer-lasting gains in performance improvement when changes are made in processes or across the enterprise, because these levels directly affect the customer.

System(s) Viewpoint. One way that we in HPT differentiate ourselves from other disciplines is with our systems viewpoint. HPT professionals consider that every organization is, by definition, a system, and that all components of that system are related. Therefore, when performance improvement is needed in one component we consider all of them in our investigation. This is often referred to as thinking systemically. Remember, we make the greatest impact on performance when we address the whole system.

As the Systems Model illustrates (see Figure 2.2) performance begins with inputs into a system, which are processed until the results reach the receiver; hence performance occurs from left to right. Performance-improvement spe- cialists, however, work from right to left, beginning by clearly identifying the desired results of an initiative and then working backward through the model to inputs.

By thinking systemically we are able to view the enterprise as a complete system comprising the following components (adapted with permission from International Society for Performance Improvement, 2004):

Receivers: The system stakeholders who receive or are directly affected by the result.

40 HANDBOOK OF HUMAN PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY

Conditions

Culture

Performance feedback

Value feedback

Society

Workplace

Work

Worker

Inputs Process Results Receiver

Figure 2.2. Systems Model.

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Results: The accomplishment, or that which is produced or created by a process, including products and services.

Process: The sequence of actions in the value chain that produces the desired results.

The organizational or workplace level focuses on those processes concerned with the governance of the organization.

The operational or work level includes all the processes in the value chain as well as those that maintain them. The variables here take into account the specific activities and tasks and their sequence and flow. At this level we often look for broken connections and misalignments such as bottlenecks and disconnects.

The performer or worker level is focused on the actions of the individual. It therefore seems best to put the performer in the Process box in Figure 2.2. The variables to be considered are those internal to the performer that are relevant to the execution of the task. These include

• Skill or knowledge

• Motivation

• Other variables such as confidence, preferences, and practices

It may be useful to think of two types of processes. Some, such as sales or service, touch the customer. Others, such as employee payroll or recruitment, enable the organization to function. Ultimately, organizations require both types of processes to be effective.

Inputs: What initiates or directs an action or process, including customer requests, stakeholder demands, information, the strategic plan, tools and equipment, work schedules, assignments, and support.

Conditions: The surroundings or environment within which performance occurs, such as economic and market trends; industry norms; and the physical, business, and social environments.

Performance feedback: Information about the quantity or quality of outputs that is fed back to a performer, operational unit, or organization from within the system, and that can be used to make adjustments that will improve the results.

Value feedback: The same type of information as provided by performance feedback, but originating from outside the system. Sources may include end users, stockholders, the surrounding community, the media, and so forth.

Remember that performance feedback comes from within the system and value feedback from outside. A colleague explains the difference this way: when the chef tastes the soup, that is performance feedback; when the customer tastes the soup, that is value feedback (personal communication, Lynn Kearny, April 21, 2004).

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Systems thinking is scalable and can be applied at any of the three organi- zational levels: worker, work, or workplace.

Systematic Approach. Performance-improvement professionals use a system- atic approach to organize projects. They follow sequential steps and create a replicable process to identify needs and recommend solutions. The steps include

• Need: identify and review the problem or opportunity with the client

• Results: assess current performance against expected results and identify requirements for success

• What: identify sources of current performance and recommend solutions

• How: design and develop selected solution

• Do: implement approved solutions and put change-management processes in place

• Evaluate: monitor performance against the expected results defined initially

Finally, performance-improvement specialists take care to nurture and enhance the business partnerships they have established with their clients.

WHAT IS PERFORMANCE ARCHITECTURE?

It seems that a large organization had a sizable population of operations man- agers in desperate need of training. While they were mostly experienced employees, their work performance was deteriorating. They were consistently working extended hours, they were challenged to find the time to train new hires, and quite a few were on stress-related leaves of absence.

In response to the situation, a senior manager requested extensive additional training. Fortunately, the performance consultants assigned to the project had con- siderable performance technology experience. They were able to gather pertinent data, make observations, and diagnose critical alignment and priority issues that were having a negative impact on the operations managers’ effectiveness.

The performance consultants found that the priorities of senior management were not consistent, and the operations managers receiving their directives were understandably confused about how to focus their work. With many staff vacancies to fill, and no efficient tools for teaching rudimentary tasks, many operations managers were simply doing low-level work themselves because it was faster than taking the time to teach a new employee.

Finally, many customer-service and problem-resolution tasks formerly han- dled by the operations managers had been moved into processing centers. A number of the operations managers had found it more expedient, and better for

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their customers, to continue to handle these issues personally rather than trust them to the processing centers, where response time was slow and accuracy not dependable.

With these and additional findings, the performance consultants were able to show that the operations managers had the skills and knowledge to do their jobs, thus ruling out training as a viable solution. They then recommended a cascading suite of solutions that included aligned priorities from senior man- agement, delegation tools for the operations managers, and service-level agree- ments with the processing centers. The solutions were packaged into an offsite meeting exclusively for operations managers that showcased their concerns and gave them a prominent voice in the organization.

In addition to the improved performance of the operations managers, an unprecedented reorganization in the processing centers, and a significant shuf- fling of roles and responsibilities among senior management, results showed a decrease in the number of operations managers on leave and a considerable increase in customer satisfaction. Let us take a look behind the scenes and examine the tools that the performance consultants used.

Performance Systems The performance-improvement professionals used performance-architecture tools to repair an existing performance system. They used two of our favorites, the Per- formance Map and the Iceberg Model, which we will introduce as we explore performance systems in more depth.

Let us begin with the notion of human performance as being those valued results produced by people working within a system. Many performance- improvement professionals have their roots in training. They have broadened their approach from delivering training to improving performance systems. Performance system design is not solution-driven and gives the practitioner the space to engage all relevant aspects of the total performance system in the development of the solution.

We frequently find ourselves in the business of repairing existing perfor- mance systems, as did the performance consultants in the operations managers’ case. In some situations we may construct new performance systems. Accord- ing to Tosti (2004), this is very much a back-to-the-future situation. He observes that the earliest practitioners of HPT were focused on building rather than repairing as a way to create new performance-improvement alternatives. As our discipline evolved, we became more concerned with identifying performance problems and fixing them, and moved away from inventing new performance systems. We would like to see among our HPT colleagues once again an increased emphasis on the building of performance systems.

Once, a team of performance-improvement specialists was asked to support a job redesign project. The position, “Manager of the Service Department,” was

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renamed “Customer Service Manager,” and refocused from a repair operation to emphasize the selling of customer services. This meant added management respon- sibilities for the incumbents, new customer service skills and knowledge for them to acquire, and a progressive shift in what had been a very traditional repair shop role. Wisely, the executive responsible for the job change initiative realized that the revamped position required a new performance system to support those in the job and enable them to be successful, and he asked the performance-improvement team to design it. One of the tools they used was the Performance Map.

Performance Map Whether to solve a problem or to respond to an opportunity, the Performance Map’s simple grid format is a useful tool for diagnosing performance-related issues (Figure 2.3). It is easy to explain to managers, who often pick up a pen and actively engage with the map.

The four key quadrants are

• Structure: the foundation of the organization

• Motivation: the emotions, desires, and psychological needs that incite action

• Environment: the external and internal conditions that affect the growth and development of the organization

• Learning: the increase of employee proficiency in a given area

The north-south axis looks at employee competence on a scale of 0 (low) to 10 (high). The east-west axis addresses the employee’s confidence in her or his ability to do the job, also on a scale of 0 (low) to 10 (high).

As an example, when you and a manager have identified specific employees who have performance issues, you would follow these specific steps:

• Help the manager determine the identified employees’ job competence by asking a question such as, What skills do employees need to com- plete the job? Ask the manager to rate the identified employees from 0 (no skills or knowledge) to 10 (highly skilled and knowledgeable).

• Next, ascertain the employees’ level of confidence by probing for exam- ples of accomplishments, behavior, attitudes, commitment, and contri- butions. You might say, “Tell me about the general attitude of employees toward this job.” Again, ask the manager to rate the performers. Zero means your client has no confidence in the performers and 10, that he or she has total confidence in the performers. You may also want to ask the performers these same questions. In our experience we often get conflicting responses. This is a signal to you to clearly specify the gap between manager and performer.

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Motivation "why"

• Feedback • Consequences • Contingencies • Incentives • Compensation • Career development • Coaching

Environment "where"

• Physical layout • Work flow • Tools • Resources • External users • Vigilance • Ergonomics • Personal problems

Structure "what"

• Mission • Strategies • Goals or Objectives • Functions • Tools • Recruitment • Selection • Organization design • Team building

Learning "how"

• Information • Communication • Training • Job Aids • Clinic • Monitoring • Workshop • On-the-job experience • Continuous improvement

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Competence

• Skills • Knowledge • Abilities

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Confidence

• Accomplishments • Behavior • Attitude • Contribution

Culture

• Policies • Procedures • Stories • Legends • Corporate identity • Status • Power

V is

io n

V al

u es

B el

ei f

M an

ag em

en t

P ra

ct ic

es

Figure 2.3. Performance Map. Source: Addison and Johnson, 1997, p. 4.

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• Mark the levels for both competence and confidence on the grid and draw the appropriate horizontal and vertical lines to connect the two variables.

• With such information, you can identify the quadrant in which the two variables intersect. This will help you to diagnose the most common areas of organizational problems or opportunities and prescribe a series of effective solutions. For example, if you identify a structural deficiency, possible solutions might include revisiting the mission statement or developing goals and objectives for the individual or group. Other quad- rants will suggest other solutions.

• Regardless of which quadrant houses the issue, you need to consider the other three as you work toward a solution. Remember that you are oper- ating in a performance system, and actions taken in one area will have an impact on the others. This is especially important if you have identi- fied the Learning quadrant as the source of the performance issue. If a manager has a confident employee, a high performer who has the neces- sary skills and knowledge, you would want to engineer the environment for success so that the employee will continue to perform at a high level.

• Finally, consider the organization’s culture as you identify solutions, to ensure that your prescription will do the job without unwanted side effects. Few elements of organizational life are as pervasive as culture; ignore this powerful force at your peril. We know from experience that performance-improvement recommendations and implementation plans must be culture-compatible, or they will be destroyed. When strategy meets culture, culture always wins.

Tip of the Iceberg The Performance Map guides us to the probable source of our performance issue. Our second tool enables us to explore further and integrate performance- improvement solutions with all related components of the organization’s performance system. The iceberg is a metaphor for much that can go wrong when we start with an assumed solution, at the tip, and create an organizational disaster because we neglect to consider all the layers of the iceberg below the surface (Figure 2.4).

Organizational Level. The Iceberg Model encourages us to start our work at the base organizational level with a cultural audit, so that we get to know the oper- ational norms (Carleton and Lineberry, 2004). With this perspective we can more effectively analyze, diagnose, and prescribe performance-improvement solutions that will address the identified concerns and mesh with the organization’s

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business practices. Understanding the environment avoids costly and time- consuming errors. The cultural audit is also a valuable precursor to using the Performance Map.

Structures and Goals. Moving up the model, we gather information about structures and goals—the organizational chart, for example—and such founda- tional elements as mission, vision, and values.

Management Practices. Next, we explore typical management practices. These are related to the culture, of course, and they tell us about the organization’s customs and best practices. This helps us understand what is valued in man- agement’s performance and will inform how we interact with our client and present our findings.

Priorities, Standards, and Procedures. At this point, we narrow our focus to the work level as we look at priorities, standards, and procedures. Here we are interested in work processes, and the connections among work groups as tasks are performed.

GUIDE TO THE PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY LANDSCAPE 47

Figure 2.4. The Iceberg Model. Source: Adapted from Harmon, 1984.

Skills and knowledge

Attitudes and qualifications Feedback and consequences

Tools, resources, and work environment Priorities, standards, and procedures

Management practices Structure and goals imposed by larger organization

Culture

15–25 percent

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Tools, Resources, and Work Environment. To be successful, workers require tools and resources. In addition, the work environment must support the processes to be completed. We want to learn about these elements to ensure that employees have what they need to do their jobs effectively.

Feedback and Consequences. Of course, workers need to know how they are doing, so we look next at the systems in place for feedback and conse- quences. Without these, employees are deprived of critical information about the quality and quantity of their work, and their motivation to perform is undermined.

Attitudes and Qualifications. We explore the attitudes and qualifications the organization looks for to select employees. Are these in alignment with all the other aspects represented in the Iceberg Model? If not, identifying the dis- connects will yield valuable clues to the sources of issues and their possible resolution.

Skills and Knowledge. And so we reach skills and knowledge at the tip of the iceberg, the place where many clients begin their request for help from performance-improvement specialists. Learning and skill building live here and are vital solutions for situations in which employees do not know how to perform. Organizations should provide activities in this sector to orient new hires and introduce new products and services, systems, equipment, or other innovations. For all other circumstances, as the Iceberg Model has shown, the performance issue is at another level and the solution will be found nearby.

Other Models and Tools There are many models and tools available to performance-improvement prac- titioners; we offer these as samples from among those we have found useful over the years. These models and tools are not meant to be all-inclusive. They allow us one view of organizations. However, no matter how appropriate the tools are for the task, they are useless to us and to our clients without the all- important link to the organization’s business.

Evaluation As performance-improvement professionals, we position our work in the con- text of critical business goals, requirements, or initiatives, and clearly tie what we do to one or all of these.

Identify the Business Requirements. We begin by learning from the client what critical business, process, or individual issues are of concern and how

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improved performance can affect what the client identifies as most important. This is what the client values, and to call out these elements at the beginning of an engagement is a hallmark of success in performance improvement. Another colleague begins every project by identifying the related business requirements and posting them at his desk as a reminder throughout the engagement (personal communication, Miki Lane, April 18, 2004).

Evaluation Planning. With the business need clearly identified, we move ahead with the performance-improvement project and plan what and when we will evaluate. This advance planning is key to successful evaluation. Legions of practitioners wait until implementation to go hunting for base- line information to compare with results. Then they attempt to evaluate those results only to discover the near impossibility of doing so at the end of the project.

The best time to plan how you will evaluate a solution is when you and your client agree on it. Performance-improvement specialists design evaluation to

• Show that the solution closes the identified performance gap

• Ensure that the solution relates to the business requirements

• Ensure that the solution has value and meaning for all groups that have a stake in the performance issue

• Compare results with the baseline information collected at project inception

Formative Evaluation. Successful performance-improvement initiatives usually include formative evaluation in the project plan. Because this type of evaluation occurs at each project milestone, wise performance consultants can take immediate corrective action, a practice that keeps everyone on track.

Summative Evaluation. This is the evaluation that determines whether or not a solution will be implemented, revised, or discontinued. It is usually conducted at the conclusion of the pilot or after a limited implementation.

Return on Investment (ROI). Finally, we want to provide our clients with meaningful measures, from their own data, to show that the investment the organization made to improve performance has paid off. Rummler (2004) sug- gests that if we accurately identify the critical business issue at the organiza- tional level, the critical process issue at the work or process level, and the critical job issue at the worker or individual level, we will have the necessary metrics to measure success.

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THE SAVVY PERFORMANCE-IMPROVEMENT PROFESSIONAL’S GUIDE TO SUCCESSFUL PERFORMANCE (TECHNOLOGY):

A DECEPTIVELY SIMPLE LIST

One universally enjoyable travel activity is shopping for treasures to bring back home for family and friends, or to keep and use for one’s own. The Performance Technology Landscape offers a variety of terrains with much to see and do. While you were busy absorbing new ideas and concepts we were quietly collecting a few valuable mementos we think all seasoned performance- improvement professionals should have.

In particular, we searched out the factors that, in our experience, will increase your chances of a successful implementation. Keep in mind that implementa- tion is the hill upon which so many worthy solutions have met their untimely end.

Here is what we added to our travel bag (Addison and Lloyd, 1999):

• Mission and vision: What is the organization’s purpose? Its goals? How does your performance-improvement project support and further the enterprise’s reason for existence? Be sure these vital structures are in place before you begin your work and that you and your client can clearly tie them to your project.

• Cultural audit: As we have discussed, culture is a powerful driver in every organization. The performance-improvement professional assesses the internal climate at the project’s inception to ensure that everything from daily project management to reports and recommendations are compatible with the environment.

• Implementation team: Choose your team members with care and ensure that you have several with a strong record of successful implementa- tions. You can build the best performance-improvement solution in the world, and it will fail if your team lacks the necessary navigational skills.

• Plans and contingencies: Be prepared for anything! Take the time to envision everything that could possibly happen during your project and plan your responses. Then, should the unexpected occur, you will have many good ideas to draw from in response as well as the confidence to invent something on the spot if necessary.

• Communication: Do not keep your project a secret. The most successful performance-improvement endeavors are marked by consistent, clear communications to all stakeholders. Plan who should be informed, at

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what project milestones, and what communication vehicle you will use. And it is never too early to market a new endeavor.

• Education: Show your client, your subject-matter experts, your team members, and your performance-improvement colleagues how you are running your project. There is no magic, and all can benefit from learn- ing how it is done.

• Monitoring mechanisms: Set up two-way feedback and communication conduits so stakeholders can let you know what is working and what should be fixed. Then respond promptly to maintain the project’s credi- bility and momentum.

• Lessons learned: A mistake is a powerful learning tool. While no one likes to make errors, leveraging learning from them is invaluable. Cap- ture the project goofs and repair them. Then store that information in a useful format for the future.

• Rewards and fun: There are many small successes in a well-run project, and they should be acknowledged and celebrated. Find ways to recog- nize both individual team members and the whole group for their con- tributions. And do laugh and enjoy your work.

HEADING HOME

All journeys must come to an end, and we are pleased to have been your guides as you took in the features of the Performance Technology Landscape. It is time for you to think about what you saw in your travels and how you plan to put your new tools and models to good use as you work to improve performance. Perhaps a bit of prompting from us will help you organize your impressions to take home.

Landscape Model Initially, we used the Performance Technology Landscape to orient ourselves to the world of performance improvement, gaining a better understanding of per- formance, performance technology, and critical supporting landmarks. We iden- tified the four levels of organizations where we work and the value that performance-improvement professionals can add when we raise our efforts to the next-highest organizational level.

Systems Model Because systems thinking is scalable and can be applied at any organizational level, we can expand or compress performance-improvement initiatives to meet busi- ness requirements. We explored the systematic approach to show the ways in

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which we, in performance improvement, distinguish ourselves from colleagues in related disciplines. And we saw that we always begin with the end in mind. That is, we identify the results to be achieved and work backward to inputs.

Performance Architecture As we learned about performance systems, we moved from a training perspec- tive to a performance-system perspective, bringing to light another way in which performance-improvement professionals differ from other practitioners.

We also discovered that although current practice appears to focus on repair- ing existing performance systems, we have a history of building them so that they can be put to valuable use for our clients today.

Performance Map and the Tip of the Iceberg Next, we discovered the versatile Performance Map, a tool that provides a quick diagnosis and has special appeal for managers who find it easy to use. The orga- nizational dimensions, particularly culture, are important to factor into any performance analysis.

The Iceberg Model illustrates, once again, that we think differently. By starting at the bottom with the culture factor, and working our way up to the tip of the ice- berg, we can gain a very accurate understanding of an organization’s performance system, and identify the critical linkages necessary to improve performance.

Feedback and Evaluation Performance-improvement professionals tie their work to the organization’s requirements and plan a series of evaluations at critical project milestones. We compile formative feedback to evaluate our progress during the project’s life cycle and solicit summative feedback to determine the “go–no go” decision. By plan- ning and conducting evaluations throughout the project, we are able to use the client’s metrics to compile the ROI data that they expect to receive from us.

The List Finally, of course, you have our recommended list of factors that guide you through a successful implementation of your project.

Travelers’ Advisory The savvy traveler distills the learnings from every journey and employs them to make the next trip smoother and more enjoyable. Following are our critical learnings from our many years of helping organizations improve performance. We share them as our final travel treasure for you:

• Keep up to date in your profession

• Surround yourself with smart people

• Cultivate a large and varied professional network

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• Participate in a professional association

• Never hire anyone you would not like to have lunch with

We have enjoyed your company on this introductory trip and hope to see you again somewhere on the Performance Technology Landscape.

References

Addison, R. M. (2004). Performance architecture: A performance improvement model. Performance Improvement, 43(6), 14–16.

Addison, R. M., and Johnson, M. (1997). The building blocks of performance. Business Executive, 11(68), 3–5.

Addison, R. M., and Lloyd, C. R. (1999). Implementation: The glue of organizational change. Performance Improvement, 38(6), 8–11.

Carleton, J. R., and Lineberry, C. S. (2004). Achieving post-merger success: A stakeholder’s guide to cultural due diligence, assessment, and integration. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer.

Haig, C., and Addison, R. M. (2002, October). Trendspotters: Snapshots from the field featuring Edgar Necochea and Rick Sullivan. PerformanceXpress. Retrieved January 25, 2006 from http://www.performancexpress.org/0210/.

Harmon, P. (1984). A hierarchy of performance variables. Performance and Instruction, 23(10), 27–28.

HP Invent (n.d.). Design for environment. Retrieved April 30, 2005, from www.hp.com/hpinfo/globalcitizenship/environment/productdesign/design.html.

International Society for Performance Improvement. (2004, March). ISPI Presidential Initiative Task Force Final Report. Silver Spring, MD: Author.

Levi Strauss and Co. (2005). Social responsibility/Our commitment. Retrieved April 30, 2005, from www.levistrauss.com/responsibility.

Rummler, G. A. (2004). Serious performance consulting: According to Rummler. Silver Spring, MD: International Society for Performance Improvement.

Siemens. (2005). Corporate citizenship. Retrieved April 30, 2005, from www.siemens. com/index.jsp?sdc.

Tosti, D. T. (2004). Build or repair, or why I hate cause analysis (sometimes). Working Paper. San Rafael, CA: Tosti and Associates.

Additional Resources

Addison, R. M., and Haig, C. (1999). Performance technology in action. In H. D. Stolovitch and E. J. Keeps (Eds.), The handbook of human performance technology: Improving individual and organizational performance worldwide (2nd ed.) (pp. 298–320). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer.

Addison, R. M., and Wittkuhn, K. D. (2001). HPT: The culture factor. Performance Improvement, 40(3), 14–19.

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Conner, D. R. (1994). Managing at the speed of change: How resilient managers succeed and prosper where others fail. New York: Villard.

Gilbert, T. F. (1996). Human competence: Engineering worthy performance (ISPI tribute edition). Washington, DC, and Amherst, MA: ISPI and HRD Press.

Hale, J. (1998). The performance consultant’s fieldbook: Tools and techniques for improving organizations and people. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer.

Harmon, P. (2002). Business process change. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufman.

Kaplan, R. S., and Norton, D. P. (2004). Strategy maps. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School.

Kotter, J. P. (1992). Corporate culture and performance. New York City: Free Press.

Rummler, G. A., and Brache, A. P. (1995). Improving performance: How to manage the white space on the organization chart (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Senge, P. M., Kleiner, A., Roberts, C., Ross, R., and Smith, B. (1994). The fifth discipline fieldbook: Strategies and tools for building a learning organization. New York: Doubleday.

Stolovitch, H. D., and Keeps, E. J. (2004). Training ain’t performance. Washington, DC: American Society for Training and Development.

Trompenaars, F., and Turner, H. (1997). Riding the waves of culture: Understanding cultural diversity in business. Yarmouth, ME: Brealey.

Van Tiem, D., Moseley, J. L., and Dessinger, J. C. (2001). Performance improvement interventions: Enhancing people, processes, and organizations through performance technology. Silver Spring, MD: International Society for Performance Improvement.

Wittkuhn, K. D. (2004). Models, systemic thinking, and unpredictability in consulting. Performance Improvement, 43(6), 17–19.

Zemke, R., and Kramlinger, T. (1982). Figuring things out: A trainer’s guide to needs and task analysis. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

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CHAPTER THREE

Business Perspectives for Performance Technologists

Kenneth H. Silber, Lynn Kearny

S ince the 1970s, many human performance technology (HPT) authors have been suggesting two ideas: (1) that a key component of success in HPT practice is the ability to consult well with clients, and (2) that a key com-

ponent of consulting with HPT clients is to understand their business and their language (Bratton, 1995; Liang and Schwen, 1997; Deden-Parker, 1981; Deden- Parker, Bratton, and Silber, 1980; Hartt and Rossett, 2000; Hedberg, 1980; Inter- national Board of Standards for Training Performance and Instruction, 1999; International Society for Performance Improvement, 2002; Katz, 1978; Price, 1978; Silber, 1975, 1978a, 1978b, 1980a, 1980b, 1982a, 1982b, 1998, 2001; Silber and Bratton, 1984; Silber and Kearny, 2000, 2003; Summers, Lohr, and O’Neil, 2002).

These authors suggest that understanding a business includes understand- ing the industry in which the business operates, the strategic goals of the whole organization, the financial picture of the organization, and so on.

Yet in workshops and courses we have conducted over the past five years involving approximately five hundred HPT practitioners, we have found that fewer than 10 percent can answer very basic business questions about the orga- nizations they work in or work with as consultants (Silber, 2001; Silber and Kearny, 2000, 2003). Among those basic questions is, Where can one find doc- umentation about the organization, including documentation that is public and is required by the government? Other questions have to do with the strategic issues facing the organization, and how the HPT practitioners contribute to the

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organization’s bottom line, or even what the bottom line is and how it is calculated.

Yet these HPT practitioners come to workshops to learn how to get clients to understand what we do. They seem to be missing the basic point: it does not add value, a key HPT component, for us to create extra work for the client in trying to understand what we are all about; instead it does add value for us to understand the client’s business and language and present ourselves and our ideas in light of that understanding.

WHY UNDERSTANDING THE BUSINESS IS IMPORTANT

When we talk about business in this chapter, we are using an extremely inclu- sive notion of what a business is. It certainly includes the corporate sector, which is the normal concept we think of when we mention the word business. But a business is really any organization that offers a product or service to cus- tomers; that receives income directly or indirectly for products and services; that has expenses it must meet in order to create the products and services; that strives for its income to at least meet its expenses; and that has a strategy, processes, and people to make all this happen. Therefore business also includes nonprofit organizations, educational systems or institutions, financial institu- tions, hospitals, social service agencies, and so on.

When HPT practitioners present ideas and recommendations to clients, the clients must balance those ideas with many others they face in doing busi- ness. Clients must consider how other members of management will react to the ideas, how those ideas fit into the strategic direction of the organization, what resources the ideas will require, and what changes in the organization will be necessary to implement the ideas. They must think of all the elements of the organization that will be affected. The conversations clients have about these issues, both with themselves and with others, are carried out using business concepts and business language.

If HPT practitioners cannot understand these business concepts and the busi- ness language their clients use, how can they understand their client’s most press- ing problems? And if HPT practitioners make recommendations that do not take into account all the business issues the client faces, why should the client trust the recommendations?

The clients that we HPT practitioners deal with expect us to make recom- mendations that address their key goals and objectives, in language that they understand. They expect us to recommend actions that will not shipwreck other key business initiatives in their areas of responsibility, and they expect us to find out about these issues and take them into consideration. They expect us to be able to state both the cost and the payoff of a proposal we are making in

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business terms so they can evaluate it and make an informed decision so they can defend their action if challenged.

HOW HPT PRACTITIONERS CAN IMPROVE THEIR BUSINESS UNDERSTANDING

This chapter offers HPT practitioners a set of business ideas and vocabulary so we can talk with our clients in terms that they understand about the things that they care about. It provides us with tools for understanding the problems our clients are struggling with from their own perspective. It can help us build cred- ibility and at the same time identify the business issues that are driving our clients’ decisions. It will help us discover what metrics our clients are using to measure success, so we can make better decisions about what projects to tackle and so that we know how to ask for the data that we need. It will also alert us to the other parts of the business that our clients must take into consideration, and give us some idea of how changes we propose in one area might affect initiatives in another area.

Fortunately, we do not need to have an M.B.A. degree or an education in marketing or accounting to do all of this. With a good mind and a useful model, we can get enough of a high-level view of the organization to ask intelligent questions and figure out where to get the answers we need. Every organization has people who do have the background in finance, marketing, operations, information technology, and so on. Following the International Society for Per- formance Improvement (ISPI) standard on collaboration, we can partner with our clients to obtain greater detail where needed.

THE BUSINESS LOGICS MODEL

This chapter will explain the Business Logics Model, a high-level structure for assembling an overview of an organization. It will also give us a menu of met- rics that organizations use to measure how they are doing in the different sides of the enterprise.

The Business Logics Model provides a systematic method for HPT practi- tioners to understand an organization. HPT practitioners can also use the model as the basis for building a scorecard with the current-state numbers filled in (Kaplan and Norton, 1996).

This model is not any of the following, though it has been misconstrued to be some of them: an HPT model; an organization problem-diagnosis model; an alignment model; or an HPT intervention guide.

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The Business Logics Model is specifically designed only to help HPT prac- titioners understand the organizations they are working with. The model can be extended into serving as the basis for a current-state scorecard based on the metrics involved in the model. Of course, prudent HPT practitioners can use the information gathered in the Business Logics Model as a basis for many different types of HPT analysis, design, intervention selection, evaluation, and so on.

The Business Logics Model draws on many respected sources in the general business literature. The idea of business logic was adapted from Karl Albrecht’s The Northbound Train (Albrecht, 1994). Albrecht pointed out, in his chapter on business logic and strategy, that each business has logic, or a set of ideas and assumptions, behind its approach to things. This logic may or may not be explicit, but it must be understood for the business to prosper. His idea of four basic kinds of business logic has since been extensively modified, including Michael Porter’s writings on competitive strategy (Porter, 1998), Kaplan and Norton’s The Balanced Scorecard (Kaplan and Norton, 1996), and many others.

Drawing on these sources, the authors of this chapter themselves developed and expanded the model and all the elements, graphics, and tools in it, incor- porating both our own ideas and the recommendations of clients and colleagues in the field. We have tried out earlier versions successfully both with clients and with attendees at ISPI conference sessions and workshops.

Uses of the Business Logics Model Most of us have been advised, upon deciding to go out as independent consul- tants, that before we called on a prospective client we should go to the local business library and do our homework on the client’s business. Those of us who are internal consultants are exhorted to understand the business we are in. We can use the Business Logics Model to frame and organize this homework assign- ment. This research does not have to be done all at once: we can rough it out initially and fill in details over a period of time. Once we have most of the infor- mation filled in, we have done our homework. The model can be used to accomplish two things: understand a client organization and begin developing a scorecard for the organization.

To Understand a Client Organization. We can obtain a good overview of any organization by using the Business Logics Model and worksheets in this chap- ter to gather and organize high-level information about what that organization is trying to do and also what context it is trying to operate in. In so doing, we will use the logic and the language of the business rather than our own HPT models and jargon. This high-level view will simply help us describe all of the elements of the organization in business terms. We may find we have a better overview than do many of the functional managers within the organization,

58 HANDBOOK OF HUMAN PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY

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who tend to know a lot about their own areas of responsibility, but little about the organization as a whole. But remember, it is a descriptive tool, not a diag- nostic tool. HPT is systems-based, and this model helps us to see and to under- stand the organization as a whole system.

To Develop a Scorecard for the Organization: Current and Desired. The metrics at the end of each “business logic” section provide a menu of possible measures. By partnering with our client and other experts in the organization, we can identify which of these measures are used by the organization to track its performance and which are targeted by the current year’s goals. We use this information to construct a scorecard of key metrics, not unlike Kaplan and Norton’s “balanced scorecard” (1996). For metrics that are targeted in the organization’s goals, there will be both “should” numbers, the goals, and cur- rent numbers. How the organization is doing “today” is being tracked and stored somewhere in the organization.

We can think of this scorecard as a gap analysis. We want to find opportu- nities to do projects that will move closer to the goal numbers that are crucial to the organization. This is key to our client’s survival, and should be a prior- ity for us.

Overview of the Model The Business Logics Model looks at business as something that can be viewed from different logical perspectives. Each logic focuses on a different aspect of the organization. As Figure 3.1 shows, the model describes the seven logics of an organization.

1. External logic: Opportunities and threats the organization faces, due to external forces in its own industry and general trends in the world around it

2. Economic logic: How the organization makes a profit and achieves growth

3. Strategy logic: The purpose of the organization, the direction it is moving in and its plans for getting there, and the organization’s culture

4. Customer logic: How the organization attracts and retains customers

5. Product logic: How the organization’s products and services appeal to customers, and how the organization differentiates itself from other, similar organizations

6. Process logic: How the organization creates, produces, and delivers its products and services

7. Internal logic: The organization’s infrastructure; that is, how it organizes itself to accomplish its work

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As described previously, the Business Logics Model can also be represented as a version of the “balanced scorecard” (Kaplan and Norton, 1996). Figure 3.2 shows a matrix version of the model for identifying measures, targets, short- falls, and results for each of the “logic areas.”

Gathering Data for the Various Logics and Metrics A busy senior executive will expect us to have learned as much as possible about his or her organization before we show up for an initial meeting. We will gather more information as we start working with the organization—more than is practical to gain in a single interview. Here are some ways to obtain the infor- mation that are part of the model.

Documents. There are many published sources we can use to learn about a business before we ever talk to the client. Most organizations large enough to afford our services are required to publish information about themselves every

60 HANDBOOK OF HUMAN PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY

Internal Logic Economic

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year: to inform investors, governmental agencies who fund or oversee them, and other stakeholders. Possible resources include

• Annual reports: A high-level report of the organization’s financial health, the annual report is increasingly used as a communication tool to reach many stakeholders.

• 10-K and Form 990 reports: More-detailed reports published yearly by all publicly traded companies (10-K) and not-for-profit organizations (990), these list all the financial details, details about problems such as law- suits, information about key patents and technologies, much of the busi- ness plan, names and contact information for officers, information about products and services, and more.

• Hoovers: This is a popular by-subscription investor publication that pro- files all publicly traded companies. It gives several thumbnail analyses of each company with financial information; history; a brief thumbnail critique of management, strategy, and operations; and comparisons with the company’s three top competitors. It is quick, pithy, and fun to read.

• Libraries: The main library in any city will have at least one business librarian and one research librarian. They are very helpful about identi- fying resources and showing how to use them.

• The Web: Visiting an organization’s Website reveals what the organiza- tion wants investors, customers, and prospective employees to believe about them. A Website will communicate the image the organization is trying to project, and if it is well organized it will provide useful infor- mation about the organization’s products and services.

People. An HPT practitioner can use internal experts and external networks, such as professional societies (for example, ISPI), business schools, the Cham- ber of Commerce, sports clubs, and local service organizations to make infor- mal contacts for obtaining information about an organization. Once inside and working on a project, one can use interviews, focus groups, observation, and other information-gathering techniques in the HPT toolkit. For more details on these, see the section in this book on data-gathering techniques.

• Managers: Managers are a good source of information about the areas they are responsible for. However, unless the managers are highly placed or particularly alert and well tuned into the organization, we will find many of them narrowly focused on their own specialties.

• Internal experts: Specialists in various logics of the model are invaluable resources. Ask accountants or finance people to interpret the financial information for you, instead of spending hours puzzling over numbers.

62 HANDBOOK OF HUMAN PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY

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• Clients: We may have knowledgeable clients in the same or a similar organization who can give us valuable insights, or at least useful con- tacts. Do not hesitate to ask.

Customers. External customers are the best source for information about how the organization’s customer and product logic are actually playing out.

THE MODEL, LOGIC BY LOGIC

This section of the chapter will walk you through each logic of the model; remember that our goal is to understand the organization and not to prema- turely jump to conclusions about gaps or causes of problems. For each of the logics, there will be a brief introductory paragraph and a reference to a figure that contains all the detailed information about the logic: the elements that make it up, definitions of the elements, examples of the elements, and, finally, measures that an organization can use to measure that logic.

The measures section of each figure can appear to be overwhelming if read as an algorithm; that is, that one must use all the measures mentioned. That is not the intent. The lists presented are a menu of possible measures an organi- zation could use to determine the success of the organization in that logic. Our job is not to collect data for all the measures. However, the authors cannot pre- dict in advance which will be the right measures for a specific organization. Therefore, the task of the model user is to find out from the client which mea- sures the organization actually uses and cares about, then identify the metrics that are readily available. Some measures that the organization cares about may have one metric, some may have two or more metrics, and some might have no metrics at all. The final task is to secure the actual numbers for each metric.

External Logic This view of the organization, “external logic,” refers to the factors external to the organization that exert a large and important force on the organization. These are factors that the organization cannot control, though it may, in collaboration with others, influence them. They are factors, however, that the organiza- tion must understand well, since they have an impact on all the logics internal to the organization. There are two groups of factors: general societal trends and industry trends.

General Societal Trends. Trends that affect all aspects of society, as well as all industries in the society, are the general societal trends. The general societal trends include economic factors such as a recession; demographic factors such as people living longer; political and legal factors such as military actions;

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technological factors such as bioengineering; and sociocultural factors such as political shifts at local, state, and national levels. These trends are explained, with examples, in Figure 3.3.

Industry Trends. Trends that affect an industry as a whole, rather than just one company in it, are industry trends. Industry trends include the threat of new entrants (for example, is a another Google possible?); supplier bargain- ing power (for example, Microsoft controls prices for Windows); buyer bar- gaining power (for example, Wal-Mart controls the prices it pays); threat of substitutes (for example, Linux software replaces Windows); intensity of rivalry (for example, Sun versus Microsoft); and industry growth (for example, the airline industry versus the oil industry). These trends are explained, with examples, in Figure 3.4.

Key Opportunities and Threats. Just having these lists of trends is not enough. They must be summarized and translated into what they mean for the organi- zation. The goal is to develop a list of the three to five major opportunities and threats presented to the organization by all these trends.

64 HANDBOOK OF HUMAN PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY

TREND EXPLANATION EXAMPLES

Economic

Demographic

Political and legal

Technological

Sociocultural

What changes in the economy are affecting the business?

What are changes in the population makeup?

What legislation, regulation, legal precedents, or political changes have occurred?

What developments have occurred in science and technology?

What are changes in people’s cultures, beliefs, desires, or actions?

Inflation or recession (globally, not just in the United States), tax rates, interest rates, GDP

Increased percentage of older people, migration of people from one country or region to another

Admission of Eastern European countries to the European Union; laws related to pollution

Genetics, biotech, chemistry, physics, new materials (microfiber)

Terrorism, increased global opportunities for women, AIDS/HIV

Figure 3.3. External Logic, General Societal Trends.

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Opportunities are ways the organization can benefit from the trends. For example, the food industry saw the opportunity provided by the U.S. low-carb diet craze to introduce whole new lines of food products in grocery stores and restaurants, all at premium prices.

Threats, on the other hand, are ways the organization can be hurt by the trends. For example, a threat in the retail business is that Wal-Mart and Target will drive out of business not only small businesses but also large companies in certain product lines. Toys “R” Us, for example, did not see this threat, and recently was forced to go out of the toy business.

BUSINESS PERSPECTIVES FOR PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGISTS 65

TREND EXPLANATION EXAMPLES

New entrants

Supplier bargain- ing power

Buyer bargaining power

Threat of substitutes

Intensity of rivalry

Industry growth

How easy is it for new com- petitors to enter the industry (or to change the industry to enter it)?

Are key suppliers few (and therefore have high bargaining power over supply and price) or many?

Are there many equal buyers, each with equal or low power, or few major buyers, with high power?

How likely is it the industry will be completely obsolete due to a new product that does the same thing and more?

How fiercely do firms in this industry compete?

How rapidly is the industry growing (or shrinking)?

The gasoline industry has low threat; the computer industry has high threat; the telephone industry had low threat (land- lines), but cell phones made the threat high.

Oil suppliers have high bar- gaining power; pharmaceuti- cal companies have high power until a patent runs out, then low power.

Wal-Mart and McDonald’s have high buyer bargaining power.

Telephone and computer industries have high threat; for now, auto and oil indus- tries have low threat.

Competition among software companies is high; competition among oil companies is low.

Biotech was expected to have rapid growth (so far has not); geriatric products have rapid growth.

Figure 3.4. External Logic, Industry Trends.

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At this point we will have completed a good general external scan. Now we can shift our focus to an internal scan. This means identifying an organization’s economic, strategy, customer, product, process, and internal logics. Because seri- ous businesses start with finances, we too should start there.

Economic Logic This view of the organization, “economic logic,” focuses on how the organiza- tion gets profit and spends money. The factors in economic logic include cost structure (for example, the ratio of fixed to variable costs and direct-to-indirect costs); financial focus (for example, is the organization more concerned with cost of sales or general administrative costs, and how does it look at where its profit comes from?); and financial metrics (for example, does it measure return on assets or sales?).

Without understanding the factors in this logic, we will be unable to talk to senior executives in a meaningful way about how our proposed HPT interven- tions will affect the bottom line of the organization. For more information on understanding economic logic, we refer the reader to Stack (1994). These fac- tors are explained, with examples, in Figure 3.5.

Strategy Logic This view of the organization, “strategy logic,” refers to how the organization views itself, its purpose, its direction, its unique skills, its growth, and how well all of these factors are aligned. It also includes how strategy is measured. This logic is akin to what business people call strategic planning or business align- ment. The purpose of the model here is to highlight the key factors that an orga- nization usually considers in its strategy, and to clarify what those factors are for the business in question.

Because managers and consultants can spend months debating the differ- ences among certain strategy-related terms, we have grouped related ones together to avoid the debate and provided simple, but usable, definitions for each. These factors are explained, with examples, in Figure 3.6.

Customer Logic How an organization finds and keeps customers is its “customer logic.” It asks, Who are the organization’s customers and how does the organization relate to them? This logic addresses questions about the organization’s mar- ket strategy (for example, market segmentation and target market); its relationship-with-customers strategy (for example, encouraging a life-long customer); and metrics (for example, the percentage of new versus returning customers, or desired versus actual). These factors are explained, with exam- ples, in Figure 3.7.

66 HANDBOOK OF HUMAN PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY

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ss et

[ em

p lo

ye es

, a n d s

o o

n ])

7. E

ar n in

gs p

er s

h ar

e/ p ri ce

t o e

ar n in

gs r

at io

8 . P

ro fit

ab ili

ty :

• R

et u rn

o n in

ve st

m en

t (r

et u rn

o n a

ss et

s, re

tu rn

o n s

al es

, a n d r

et u rn

o n e

q u it y)

• O

p er

at in

g m

ar gi

n

• G

ro ss

m ar

gi n

• N

et m

ar gi

n

9 . S

o lv

en cy

: •

C u rr

en t

ra ti o

• To

ta l d

eb t

ve rs

u s

to ta

l a ss

et s

• D

eb t-

to -e

q u it y

ra ti o

• Ef

fic ie

n cy

• A

ss et

t u rn

o ve

r (r

ec ei

va b le

s tu

rn , p

ay ab

le s

tu rn

, a n d in

ve n to

ry t

u rn

)

• C

o lle

ct io

n p

er io

d

A sk

: W

h a t

a re

t h

e k

e y

m e tr

ic s

yo u

r o

rg a n

iz a ti

o n

l o

o k

s a t

to d

e te

rm in

e h

o w

w e ll

i ts

c u

st o

m e r

lo g ic

i s

w o

rk in

g ?

F ig

u re

3 .5

. (C

on ti

n u ed

)

c03.qxd 2/7/06 01:02 PM Page 69

M is

si o

n a

n d

v is

io n

C H

A R

A C TE

R IS

TI C

S

A m

is si

o n is

a s

ta te

m en

t o f th

e sp

ec ifi

c p u rp

o se

o f

th e

o rg

an iz

at io

n . A

v is

io n is

a m

o re

a ff ec

ti ve

, fu

tu re

-o ri en

te d s

ta te

m en

t o f w

h at

t h e

o rg

an iz

at io

n m

ea n s.

M is

si o n s

an d v

is io

n s

p ro

vi d e

sp ec

ifi c

d ir ec

ti o n t

o th

e o rg

an iz

at io

n a

n d p

eo p le

in it

:

• M

is si

o n s

ta te

m en

ts s

h o u ld

b e

sp ec

ifi c

an d c

le ar

ab o u t

th e

o rg

an iz

at io

n ’s

in d u st

ry , p

ro d u ct

s an

d se

rv ic

es , a

n d c

u st

o m

er s—

an d e

ve n m

ea su

ra b le

.

• V is

io n s

ta te

m en

ts s

h o u ld

e xp

re ss

b ig

, b o ld

g o al

s fo

r th

e fu

tu re

— an

d t

al k

ab o u t

th e

af fe

ct iv

e si

d e

o f th

e b u si

n es

s.

E X

A M

P LE

S

M is

si o

n “C

o m

p u

te rG

e e k

s. co

m is

a le

ad in

g d ir ec

t- to

- co

n su

m er

e -C

o m

m er

ce s

it e

sp ec

ia liz

in g

in p ro

vi d in

g co

m p u te

r- re

la te

d e

xc es

s in

ve n to

ry ,

m an

u fa

ct u re

r- cl

o se

o u ts

, h ig

h -d

em an

d a

n d u

n u su

al co

m p u te

r co

m p o n en

ts , a

n d p

er ip

h er

al s

at h

ig h ly

d is

co u n te

d p

ri ce

s to

t ec

h -s

av vy

, ‘ G

ee ky

’ c o n su

m er

s.”

V is

io n

“C o

m p

u te

rG ee

k s.

co m

is c

o m

m itt

ed t o o

ff er

in g

tr em

en d o u s

sa vi

n gs

o n c

o m

p u te

r p ro

d u ct

s an

d h

o st

in g

a W

eb si

te p

ro vi

d in

g va

lu e-

ad d ed

c o n te

n t.

O u r

ai m

is t o

am u se

, i n fo

rm , a

n d e

n te

rt ai

n y

o u —

w h ile

p ro

vi d in

g am

az in

g va

lu es

— an

d t o p

u sh

t h e

en ve

lo p e

o f in

te ra

ct iv

e W

eb f u n ct

io n al

ity a

n d s

ec u re

o n -l in

e sh

o p p in

g ea

se .”

A sk

: W

h y

d o

e s

th is

c o

m p

a n

y e xi

st ?

O b

je ct

iv e s

a n

d in

it ia

ti ve

s/ ta

ct ic

s O

b je

ct iv

es a

re s

p ec

ifi c,

m ea

su ra

b le

, y ea

r- to

-y ea

r go

al s

th at

a re

s te

p s

in r

ea ch

in g

th e

m is

si o n a

n d v

is io

n .

In it ia

ti ve

s o r

ta ct

ic s

(s o m

et im

es m

is la

b el

ed “

st ra

te gi

es ”)

a re

t h e

sp ec

ifi c

ac ti o n s

th e

o rg

an iz

at io

n is

g o in

g to

ta ke

t o r

ea ch

t h e

o b je

ct iv

es , a

n d t

h er

ef o re

t h e

m is

si o n a

n d v

is io

n .

O b je

ct iv

es a

n d in

it ia

ti ve

s sh

o u ld

• B

e sp

ec ifi

c an

d m

ea su

ra b le

• B

e at

ta in

ab le

a n d im

p le

m en

ta b le

• B

e co

n si

st en

t fr

o m

y ea

r to

y ea

r (u

n le

ss o

th er

e le

m en

ts o

f to

ta l s

tr at

eg y

ch an

ge )

• P ro

vi d e

“l in

e o f si

gh t”

a t

al l l

ev el

s o f th

e o rg

an iz

at io

n .

A sk

: H

o w

d o

w e g

e t

fr o

m h

e re

t o

t h

e re

?

F ig

u re

3 .6

. St

ra te

gy L

o gi

c.

c03.qxd 2/7/06 01:02 PM Page 70

C u

lt u

re

C H

A R

A C TE

R IS

TI C

S Th

e st

u d y

o f “c

o rp

o ra

te c

u lt u re

” ca

n in

cl u d e

m an

y th

in gs

, d ep

en d in

g u p o n w

h o m

y o u r

ea d . M

o st

ex p la

n at

io n s

in cl

u d e

th re

e ke

y el

em en

ts t

h at

c an

b e

o u r

fo cu

s:

• Va

lu es

— w

h at

t h e

o rg

an iz

at io

n b

el ie

ve s

in , i

n te

rm s

o f h o w

it t

re at

s in

ve st

o rs

, e m

p lo

ye es

, a n d

cu st

o m

er s

an d h

o w

it c

o n d u ct

s b u si

n es

s w

it h

o th

er c

o m

p an

ie s.

• B

el ie

fs o

r st

o ri

es —

h o w

a n o

rg an

iz at

io n “

se es

” it se

lf, in

t er

m s

o f th

e b el

ie fs

it h

as a

b o u t

ro le

a n d

d es

ti n y

in t

h e

m ar

ke tp

la ce

a n d t

h e

st o ri es

it t

el ls

ab o u t

h o w

it g

o t

st ar

te d , w

h at

s u cc

es s

is , t

h e

go o d it

d o es

, a n d w

h at

e m

p lo

ye es

s h o u ld

d o .

• B

eh a vi

o rs

r ew

a rd

ed —

h o w

a n o

rg an

iz at

io n o

p er

a- tio

n al

iz es

t h e

cu ltu

re b

y re

w ar

d in

g b eh

av io

r co

n si

st en

t w

ith t

h e

cu ltu

re a

n d p

u n is

h in

g b eh

av io

r n o t

co n si

st en

t.

E X

A M

P LE

S C

o m

p an

ie s

kn o w

n (

fo r

b et

te r

o r

w o rs

e) f o r

th ei

r u n iq

u e

cu lt u re

s in

cl u d e

• En

ro n

• M

ic ro

so ft

• W

al -M

ar t

• G

o o gl

e •

So n y

• G

ap •

D is

n ey

A sk

: W

h a t

d o

e s

th e o

rg a n

iz a ti

o n

s ta

n d

f o

r b

o th

i n

te rn

a ll

y a n

d e

xt e rn

a ll

y?

C o

re c

o m

p e te

n ci

e s

D E FI

N IT

IO N

C o re

c o m

p et

en ci

es a

re t h o se

o rg

an iz

at io

n al

s ki

lls an

d k

n o w

le d ge

w ith

o u t w

h ic

h t h e

o rg

an iz

at io

n co

u ld

n o t ex

is t,

th at

t h e

o rg

an iz

at io

n d

o es

b et

te r

th an

a n yo

n e

el se

, a n d t h at

m ak

e th

e o rg

an iz

at io

n u n iq

u e.

Th ey

a re

f re

q u en

tl y

n o t

th e

o b vi

o u s

th in

gs t

h e

co m

p an

y is

k n o w

n f o r.

E X

A M

P LE

S N

ik e

� m

ar ke

ti n g

an d R

& D

M cD

o n al

d ’s

� su

p p ly

c h ai

n a

n d m

ar ke

ti n g

A m

az o n �

tr ac

ki n g

cu st

o m

er p

re fe

re n ce

s an

d ad

ju st

in g

re co

m m

en d at

io n s

A sk

: W

h a t

a re

w e u

n iq

u e ly

g o

o d

a t?

F ig

u re

3 .6

. (C

on ti

n u ed

)

c03.qxd 2/7/06 01:02 PM Page 71

G ro

w th

s tr

a te

g y

O P

TI O

N S

A cq

u is

it io

n s:

B u yi

n g

o th

er b

u si

n es

se s:

• To

in cr

ea se

m ar

ke t

sh ar

e b y

b u yi

n g

a co

m p et

it o r

• To

a cq

u ir e

ex p er

ti se

, d is

tr ib

u ti o n c

h an

n el

s, a

n d

o th

er r

es o u rc

es

In te

rn al

g ro

w th

: A

d d in

g “g

ro w

th r

in gs

” to

t h e

b u si

n es

s: •

G ro

w b

y b u ild

in g

fa ci

lit ie

s, h

ir in

g p eo

p le

t o

ex p an

d c

ap ac

it y

• A

cq u ir e

n ee

d ed

r es

o u rc

es a

n d e

xp er

ti se

b y

d ev

el o p in

g th

em in

-h o u se

o r

h ir in

g to

e xp

an d

ca p ab

ili ti es

A lli

an ce

s: E

xp an

d in

g b u si

n es

s b y

jo in

t ve

n tu

re s

an d s

tr at

eg ic

a lli

an ce

s to

r ed

u ce

r is

k

E X

A M

P LE

S

• B

ig b

an ks

( W

el ls

F ar

go )

• A

u to

m o ti ve

( cr

ed it a

n d in

su ra

n ce

) (F

o rd

) •

So ft

w ar

e d ev

el o p er

s (M

ic ro

so ft

a n d A

O L)

• P h ar

m ac

eu ti ca

ls (

M er

ck )

• R

et ai

l s to

re s

(W al

-M ar

t)

• M

an u fa

ct u ri n g

(I n te

l)

• H

ig h t

ec h (

A p p le

p ar

tn er

s) •

Tr an

sp o rt

at io

n (

ai rl in

es , h

o te

ls , a

n d c

ar r

en ta

ls )

• B

an ks

( W

el ls

F ar

go )

• G

ro ce

ry s

to re

s (S

af ew

ay )

• C

o n ve

n ie

n ce

r et

ai le

rs (

A m

o co

) •

Fa st

f o o d (

M cD

o n al

d ’s

)

A sk

: H

o w

a re

y o

u g

ro w

in g t

h e c

o m

p a n

y?

F ig

u re

3 .6

. (C

on ti

n u ed

).

c03.qxd 2/7/06 01:02 PM Page 72

P ri

ci n

g s

tr a te

g y

O P

TI O

N S

To p o

f th

e m

ar ke

t: C

h ar

gi n g

th e

h ig

h es

t p ri ce

s an

d co

m p et

in g

o n p

re st

ig e,

u n iq

u en

es s,

a n d p

er ce

iv ed

q u al

it y

M id

-r an

ge : M

in im

iz e

fo cu

s o n p

ri ce

b y

st ay

in g

in th

e m

id d le

o f th

e p ac

k

Lo w

e n d o

f th

e m

ar ke

t: C

o m

p et

in g

to b

e th

e lo

w -c

o st

p ro

vi d er

E X

A M

P LE

S

• Lu

xu ry

c ar

s (L

ex u s)

• D

es ig

n er

c lo

th in

g (A

rm an

i) •

Ex cl

u si

ve p

ri vi

le ge

( fir

st -c

la ss

a ir t

ra ve

l)

• In

te rn

et s

er vi

ce p

ro vi

d er

s (A

O L,

A T&

T W

o rl d n et

) •

M o st

a ir lin

es (

U n it ed

)

• Su

p er

st o re

s (W

al -M

ar t)

• C

o m

m u te

r ai

rl in

es (

So u th

w es

t A

ir )

A sk

: H

o w

a re

y o

u p

ri ci

n g y

o u

r p

ro d

u ct

o r

se rv

ic e ?

W h

a t

e n

d o

f th

e m

a rk

e t

a re

y o

u t

a rg

e ti

n g ?

W h

y?

A li

g n

m e n

t

A s

im p le

n o ti o n , m

ad e

co m

p le

x re

ce n tl y,

a lig

n m

en t

as ks

, A re

a ll

th e

el em

en ts

c o n si

st en

t w

it h o

n e

an o th

er ?

an d I s

it c

le ar

h o w

e ac

h e

le m

en t

is d

er iv

ed f ro

m t

h e

p re

ce d in

g el

em en

ts a

n d g

u id

es t

h e

fo llo

w in

g o n es

?

If t

h e

m is

si o n o

r vi

si o n is

t o b

e th

e lo

w -c

o st

le ad

er , t

h en

a re

t h e

p ri ce

s th

e lo

w es

t, ar

e th

e p ro

ce ss

es d es

ig n ed

t o m

in im

iz e

C O

G a

n d S

G A

, a re

t h e

st o re

s lo

ca te

d in

t h e

co rr

ec t

ar ea

s?

If t

h e

vi si

o n is

t o p

u sh

t h e

en ve

lo p e

o f in

te ra

ct iv

e W

eb f u n ct

io n al

it y,

d o es

t h e

o rg

an iz

at io

n h

av e

th e

co re

co m

p et

en ci

es , c

u lt u re

, fi n an

ci al

m et

ri cs

, p ro

ce ss

es , a

n d t

ec h n o lo

gy t

o d

o s

o ?

A sk

: A

re a

ll t

h e e

le m

e n

ts o

f st

ra te

g y

lo g ic

i n

a li

g n

m e n

t w

it h

o n

e a

n o

th e r

a n

d w

it h

o th

e r

lo g ic

s?

M e a su

re s

• Id

en ti fie

d (

ye s,

s o rt

o f,

n o )

• St

at ed

o r

d o cu

m en

te d

• C

le ar

ly u

n d er

st o o d b

y al

l •

Sp ec

ifi c

• M

ea su

ra b le

• C

o n si

st en

t w

it h o

th er

e le

m en

ts o

f st

ra te

gy lo

gi c

an d w

it h e

xt er

n al

a n d e

co n o m

ic lo

gi cs

• Su

p p o rt

ed b

y th

e o rg

an iz

at io

n •

A gr

ee d t

o b

y p eo

p le

in t

h e

o rg

an iz

at io

n

A sk

: H

o w

d o

w e m

e a su

re h

o w

w e ll

s tr

a te

g y

lo g ic

h a s

b e e n

d e ve

lo p

e d

?

F ig

u re

3 .6

. (C

on ti

n u ed

)

c03.qxd 2/7/06 01:02 PM Page 73

M a rk

e t

st ra

te g y

O P

TI O

N S

Se gm

en t:

D em

o gr

ap h ic

g ro

u p s

P sy

ch o gr

ap h ic

g ro

u p s

H o w

c u st

o m

er s

b u y

H o w

p ro

d u ct

s ar

e u se

d

E X

A M

P LE

S

P eo

p le

f o u rt

ee n t

o t

w en

ty -t

w o y

ea rs

o ld

( O

ld N

av y

St o re

s) U

p w

ar d ly

m o b ile

s u b u rb

an it es

( P o tt

er y

B ar

n )

B u lk

p u rc

h as

er s

(U .S

. S te

el )

C o m

m er

ci al

a ir t

ra n sp

o rt

( B

o ei

n g)

A sk

: H

o w

a re

y o

u s

e g m

e n

ti n

g t

h e m

a rk

e t?

( w

h e n

r e le

va n

t)

F ig

u re

3 .7

. C

u st

o m

er L

o gi

c.

O P

TI O

N S

Ta rg

et :

H ig

h -n

et -w

o rt

h in

d iv

id u al

s b ec

au se

t h e

p ro

d u ct

o r

se rv

ic e

is c

o st

ly t

o p

ro vi

d e

Te en

ag e

gi rl s

w it h d

is p o sa

b le

in co

m e

E X

A M

P LE

S

Sp as

a n d lu

xu ry

r es

o rt

s (L

a C

o st

a)

TV p

ro gr

am m

in g

(D aw

so n ’s

C re

ek )

A sk

: W

h ic

h s

e g m

e n

t( s)

a re

y o

u g

o in

g a

ft e r?

W h

y?

c03.qxd 2/7/06 01:02 PM Page 74

R e la

ti o

n sh

ip v

e rs

u s

tr a n

sa ct

io n

st ra

te g y

O P

TI O

N S

• H

ig h t

ra n sa

ct io

n v

o lu

m e

• R

el at

io n sh

ip : Fr

eq u en

t, o n go

in g

co n ta

ct

• R

el at

io n sh

ip : In

fr eq

u en

t, so

le s

o u rc

e

E X

A M

P LE

S

• Fa

st f o o d ; su

p er

st o re

s (M

cD o n al

d ’s

; To

ys “

R ”

U s)

• H

M O

s, h

ea lt h c

lu b s,

b an

ks (

G o ld

’s G

ym ,

Sa fe

w ay

, C h as

e)

• C

ap it al

e q u ip

m en

t ve

n d o rs

, d en

ti st

s, a

tt o rn

ey s

(A p p lie

d M

at er

ia ls

)

A sk

: A

re y

o u

f o

cu si

n g o

n b

u il

d in

g a

h ig

h v

o lu

m e o

f tr

a n

sa ct

io n

s, o

r m

o re

o n

d e ve

lo p

in g l

o n

g -t

e rm

re la

ti o

n sh

ip s

w it

h c

u st

o m

e rs

? W

h y?

F ig

u re

3 .7

. (C

on ti

n u ed

).

M e a su

re s

• Si

ze o

f m

ar ke

t se

gm en

t (a

b so

lu te

, g ro

w th

) •

Sh ar

e o f m

ar ke

t (a

b so

lu te

, g ro

w th

, o ve

ra ll,

in n

ic h e)

• N

ew c

u st

o m

er s

(n u m

b er

, p er

ce n ta

g e,

o ve

ra ll,

in n

ic h e)

• C

u rr

en t

cu st

o m

er r

en ew

al (

n u m

b er

, p er

ce n ta

g e )

• C

o m

p la

in ts

( n u m

b er

, p er

ce n ta

g e,

d ec

re a se

, v er

su s

co m

p et

iti o n )

• N

et p

ro fit

p er

c u st

o m

er (

co st

o f sa

le v

er su

s p ro

fit f ro

m s

a le

) •

Va lu

e (p

er ce

iv ed

b en

efi ts

v er

su s

co st

)

A sk

: W

h a t

a re

t h

e k

e y

m e tr

ic s

yo u

r o

rg a n

iz a ti

o n

l o

o k

s a t

to d

e te

rm in

e h

o w

w e ll

i ts

c u

st o

m e r

lo g ic

i s

w o

rk in

g ?

c03.qxd 2/7/06 01:02 PM Page 75

Product Logic The way an organization develops and positions its products and itself to cus- tomers is its “product logic.” It asks what kinds of products the organization develops, what makes them unique, and how customers see them as an orga- nization. This logic addresses questions about product strategy (for example, making and selling niche products versus wide product ranges); differentiation (for example, is the product unique because of quality, novelty, timeliness, or low price?); company image (for example, building the “shopping experience” into stores); and metrics (for example, the number of defects, the first to mar- ket by so many days, and so on). These factors are explained, with examples, in Figure 3.8.

Process Logic The economic, strategy, customer, and product logics that we have discussed are logics that our clients are used to understanding and working with, while they are logics that we, as HPT practitioners, are not used to working with. The situation is reversed for the last two logics, because it is in the areas of “process” and “internal logic” that HPT practitioners do most of their work.

Process logic refers to how the work in an organization gets done. It answers the question, How does the organization go about creating and providing the product or service? It describes the various processes in the organization, includ- ing research and development, production, supply chain and logistics, and post- sale processes as well as metrics by which these processes can be measured. These factors are explained, with examples, in Figure 3.9.

Internal Logic The second logic HPT Practitioners are used to working with is “internal logic,” or the organization’s infrastructure and support function. It includes the organi- zation’s internal structure, information systems, and learning and innovation. This logic represents the author’s reframing of the traditional human resources role to focus on organizational learning and on managing the organization’s investment in human capital. These factors are explained, with examples, in Figure 3.10.

WORKSHEETS AND HOW TO USE THE MODEL

A human performance technology handbook chapter on this topic would be incomplete without job aids and worksheets we can use to complete a “busi- ness logic” model for any organization. The worksheets in this section are intended to be used at a very high level, to obtain a quick, at-a-glance overview of an organization from a CEO’s or general manager’s point of view.

76 HANDBOOK OF HUMAN PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY

c03.qxd 2/7/06 01:02 PM Page 76

P ro

d u

ct s

tr a te

g y

O P

TI O

N S

N ic

h e

fo cu

s: N

ar ro

w ly

f o cu

se d p

ro d u ct

o r

se rv

ic e

th at

p eo

p le

b u y

u n d er

s p ec

ifi c

ci rc

u m

st an

ce s

W id

e p ro

d u ct

r an

ge : A

r an

ge o

f p ro

d u ct

s o r

se rv

ic es

t h at

le t

yo u d

o m

o re

b u si

n es

s w

it h t

h e

sa m

e cu

st o m

er s

b y

m ee

ti n g

a va

ri et

y o f n ee

d s

E X

A M

P LE

S

C at

er in

g (L

aw le

r C

at er

in g)

W et

su it s

(B o d yG

lo ve

) Tr

o p ic

al v

ac at

io n s

(C lu

b M

ed )

In ve

st o rs

r ep

o rt

s (H

o o ve

rs .c

o m

)

.c o m

c at

al o gu

es (

A m

az o n .c

o m

) D

ep ar

tm en

t st

o re

s (M

ac y’

s) So

ft w

ar e

(M ic

ro so

ft )

G en

er al

c o n tr

ac to

rs (

Ec ke

r En

te rp

ri se

s)

A sk

: H

o w

a re

y o

u s

a ti

sf yi

n g c

u st

o m

e r

n e e d

s?

F ig

u re

3 .8

. P ro

d u ct

L o gi

c.

D if

fe re

n ti

a ti

o n

E X

A M

P LE

S

• D

el iv

er y

se rv

ic e—

kn o w

e xa

ct ly

w h er

e yo

u r

sh ip

m en

t is

a t

an y

ti m

e (F

ed er

al E

xp re

ss )

• P er

so n al

c o m

p u te

r— in

n o va

ti ve

p ro

d u ct

s ty

lin g

(A p p le

C o m

p u te

rs )

• P er

so n al

p ro

d u ct

iv it y

so ft

w ar

e— m

o st

w id

el y

d is

tr ib

u te

d , h

en ce

“ re

ad ab

le ”

b y

m o re

p eo

p le

( M

ic ro

so ft

)

A sk

: W

h a t

is i

t a b

o u

t yo

u r

p ro

d u

ct t

h a t

m a k e s

it d

is ti

n ct

iv e o

r u

n iq

u e ?

W h

a t

a re

y o

u d

o in

g t

o d

if fe

re n

ti a te

i t?

C o

m p

a n

y im

a g e

O P

TI O

N S

“T h e

ex p er

ie n ce

e co

n o m

y” B

u ild

in g

cu st

o m

er lo

ya lt y

th ro

u gh

id en

ti ty

E X

A M

P LE

S

V ia

co m

( th

e ex

p er

ie n ce

o f b ei

n g

in a

m o vi

e) N

o rd

st ro

m s

(t h e

u lt im

at e

cu st

o m

er s

er vi

ce e

xp er

ie n ce

) So

u th

w es

t A

ir lin

es (

th e

“b e

ca su

al , b

e yo

u rs

el f”

e xp

er ie

n ce

)

A sk

: W

h a t

is t

h e i

m a g e y

o u

r co

m p

a n

y p

ro je

ct s

in o

rd e r

to a

p p

e a l

to c

u st

o m

e rs

? W

h a t

is t

h e c

o m

p a n

y’ s

re p

u ta

ti o

n w

it h

i ts

c u

st o

m e rs

?

c03.qxd 2/7/06 01:02 PM Page 77

M e a su

re s

1 .

P ro

d u ct

o r

se rv

ic e:

• Fu

n ct

io n al

it y

(n u m

b er

; n ov

el ty

; tim

e) •

Q u al

it y

(r et

u rn

s [n

u m

b er

; p er

ce n ta

g e]

; d ef

ec ts

[n u m

b er

; p er

ce n ta

g e]

) •

P ri ce

( ve

rs u s

co st

, c o m

p et

iti o n , e

xp ec

ta tio

n )

• Ti

m el

in es

s (v

er su

s p u rc

h a se

t im

e, c

o m

p et

iti o n )

• Sa

fe ty

( n u m

b er

o f a cc

id en

ts )

• Vo

lu m

e ( p ro

d u ct

io n v

er su

s o rd

er s)

• N

o ve

lt y

(a b so

lu te

[ n u m

b er

; p er

ce n ta

g e]

; ve

rs u s

co m

p et

iti o n [

n u m

b er

; p er

ce n ta

g e]

) •

D iff

er en

ti at

io n (

w h ic

h o

f a b

ov e

d iff

er en

tia te

y o u r

p ro

d u ct

f ro

m c

o m

p et

ito rs

?)

2 .

C o m

p an

y im

ag e:

• K

n o w

le d ge

ab le

( q u es

tio n s

a n sw

er ed

[ n u m

b er

; p er

ce n ta

g e]

) •

In n o va

ti ve

( sa

le s,

s er

vi ce

, fi n a n ce

[ n u m

b er

; n ov

el ty

]) •

C o n fid

en t

(a tt itu

d e

co n ve

ye d

) •

“S to

re e

n vi

ro n m

en t”

( p le

a sa

n t o r

u n p le

a sa

n t)

• P ro

ac tiv

e (n

u m

b er

o f q u es

tio n s

a sk

ed , n

u m

b er

o f

so lu

tio n s

g en

er a te

d ; n

u m

b er

o f p ro

b le

m s

a vo

id ed

) •

H el

p fu

l ( n u m

b er

o f p ro

b le

m s

so lv

ed ; n u m

b er

o f

p ro

b le

m s

w el

co m

ed )

• Sp

ee d y

se rv

ic e

(c yc

le t im

e; t im

e o u t o f se

rv ic

e )

• Q

u al

it y

se rv

ic e

(n u m

b er

o f re

vi si

o n s;

n u m

b er

o f

ca llb

a ck

s)

3 .

R el

at io

n sh

ip b

et w

ee n c

o m

p an

y an

d c

u st

o m

er :

• C

o n ve

n ie

n t

(s te

p s

in vo

lv ed

[ n u m

b er

, c o m

p le

xi ty

, h a ss

le ])

• R

es p o n si

ve (

p ro

b le

m s

so lv

ed [

n u m

b er

; co

m p le

xi ty

; tim

e] )

• W

el co

m e

gi ve

n (

cu st

o m

er f ee

lin g s

[n u m

b er

; p er

ce n ta

g e;

d eg

re e]

) •

Th an

ks g

iv en

( p er

ce n ta

g e;

t im

el in

es s)

• G

u ar

an te

e (a

m o u n t; e

a se

) •

A ft

er -s

al e

se rv

ic e

(n u m

b er

o f q u es

tio n s

a n sw

er ed

; lo

a n er

s) •

A va

ila b ili

ty (

p er

ce n ta

g e

o f tim

e a va

ila b le

w h en

n ee

d ed

) •

Te am

r ap

p o rt

( n u m

b er

o f a rg

u m

en ts

; p ro

b le

m -s

o lv

in g s

p ee

d )

• C

o n tr

ac ti n g

(n u m

b er

o f st

ep s,

h a ss

le s,

a rg

u m

en ts

) •

D ri ve

o u t

co st

s (n

u m

b er

o f in

n ov

a tiv

e id

ea s

p re

se n te

d )

A sk

: W

h a t

a re

t h

e k

e y

m e tr

ic s

yo u

r o

rg a n

iz a ti

o n

l o

o k

s a t

to d

e te

rm in

e h

o w

w e ll

i ts

p ro

d u

ct l

o g ic

is

w o

rk in

g ?

F ig

u re

3 .8

. (C

on ti

n u ed

)

c03.qxd 2/7/06 01:02 PM Page 78

R e se

a rc

h a

n d

d e ve

lo p

m e n

t p

ro ce

ss (

p ro

d u

ct d

e ve

lo p

m e n

t)

O P

TI O

N S

D ev

el o p n

ew o

n es

b as

ed o

n m

ar ke

t re

se ar

ch

In ve

n t

n ew

o n es

b y

p u sh

in g

te ch

n o lo

gy t

o n

ew le

ve ls

Fi n d e

xi st

in g

o r

em er

gi n g

o n es

a n d a

d ap

t th

em t

o y

o u r

o w

n s

tr en

gt h s

En h an

ce y

o u r

ex is

ti n g

p ro

d u ct

s o r

se rv

ic es

b y

ad d in

g o r

ex te

n d in

g fe

at u re

s

E X

A M

P LE

S

A s

in gl

e lig

h tw

ei gh

t d ev

ic e

th at

w ill

p ro

vi d e

p h o n e,

In te

rn et

, a n d p

ag in

g se

rv ic

es (

C is

co S

ys te

m s)

Th e

co p p er

c h ip

( IB

M )

Th e

M ac

in to

sh g

ra p h ic

al u

se r

in te

rf ac

e ad

ap te

d a

s W

in d o w

s (M

ic ro

so ft

) So

ft w

ar e

(a ll

kn o w

n s

o ft

w ar

e co

m p an

ie s)

A sk

: H

o w

d o

y o

u p

ro vi

d e n

e w

p ro

d u

ct s

a n

d s

e rv

ic e s?

F ig

u re

3 .9

. P ro

ce ss

L o gi

c.

P ro

d u

ct io

n ,

lo g is

ti cs

p ro

ce ss

e s,

o r

b o

th

P o

ss ib

il it

ie s

(H a m

m e r

a n

d C

h a m

p y,

1 9 9 3 )

P ro

d u ct

d ev

el o p m

en t

(c o n ce

p t

to p

ro to

ty p e)

Sa le

s (p

ro sp

ec t

to o

rd er

)

M an

u fa

ct u ri n g

(p ar

ts t

o p

ro d u ct

)

O rd

er f u lfi

llm en

t (o

rd er

t o p

ay m

en t)

W h

a t

d e p

a rt

m e n

t o

r g ro

u p

s a re

i n

vo lv

e d

?

En gi

n ee

ri n g

o n ly

? O

r al

so m

ar ke

ti n g,

m an

u fa

ct u ri n g,

c u st

o m

er se

rv ic

e, t

ra in

in g,

fi n an

ce , c

u st

o m

er s,

a n d e

ve n s

u p p lie

rs ?

Sa le

s o n ly

? O

r al

so fi

n an

ce , e

n gi

n ee

ri n g,

m an

u fa

ct u ri n g,

a n d

cu st

o m

er s

er vi

ce ?

M an

u fa

ct u ri n g

o n ly

? O

r al

so e

n gi

n ee

ri n g,

s al

es , c

u st

o m

er se

rv ic

e, t

ra in

in g,

s u p p lie

rs , a

n d e

ve n c

u st

o m

er s?

Sh ip

p in

g an

d a

cc o u n ts

r ec

ei va

b le

o n ly

? O

r al

so s

u p p lie

rs ,

fin an

ce , s

al es

, m an

u fa

ct u ri n g,

e n gi

n ee

ri n g,

c u st

o m

er s

er vi

ce ,

an d c

u st

o m

er s?

A sk

: W

h a t

h a p

p e n

s in

si d

e t

h e o

rg a n

iz a ti

o n

t o

t u

rn s

a le

s a n

d r

a w

m a te

ri a ls

i n

to p

ro d

u ct

s a n

d s

e rv

ic e s

d e li

ve re

d t

o t

h e c

u st

o m

e r?

W h

a t

a re

t h

e fi

ve t

o s

e ve

n b

ig g e st

c ro

ss -o

rg a n

iz a ti

o n

a l

fl o w

s o

f e ve

n ts

, a n

d w

h a t

g ro

u p

s p

a rt

ic ip

a te

i n

t h

e p

ro ce

ss ?

c03.qxd 2/7/06 01:02 PM Page 79

P o

st -s

a le

p ro

ce ss

e s

P O

S S

IB IL

IT IE

S

M in

im al

a n d r

el u ct

an t

P as

si ve

r ea

ct iv

e: c

o m

p la

in t

h an

d lin

g

A ct

iv e

re ac

ti ve

: co

m p la

in t

tr an

sf o rm

at io

n

P ro

ac ti ve

: se

ek c

u st

o m

er s

o u t

an d a

sk w

h at

c o u ld

b e

b et

te r

E X

A M

P LE

S

M an

y h ig

h -t

ec h o

rg an

iz at

io n s,

e sp

ec ia

lly f o r

In te

rn et

sa le

s (l

et ’s

n o t

m en

ti o n t

h em

)

C u st

o m

er s

er vi

ce a

n d r

ep ai

r p ro

vi d ed

a t

cu st

o m

er ’s

re q u es

t (m

o st

a u to

m o b ile

m an

u fa

ct u re

rs )

M o ve

h ea

ve n a

n d e

ar th

t o s

at is

fy t

h e

cu st

o m

er (N

o rd

st ro

m )

C o n d u ct

r eg

u la

r fo

cu s

gr o u p s

o f cu

st o m

er s

to s

o lic

it n ew

p ro

d u ct

o r

se rv

ic e

id ea

s an

d im

p ro

ve m

en ts

(s

p o rt

in g

go o d s

m an

u fa

ct u re

rs , s

u ch

a s

fo r

sk is

, m

o u n ta

in b

ik es

, m o to

cr o ss

, a n d s

o o

n )

A sk

: D

o e s

yo u

r co

m p

a n

y p

ro vi

d e p

o st

-s a le

s u

p p

o rt

t o

c u

st o

m e rs

? In

w h

a t

w a ys

? (c

u st

o m

e r

sa ti

sf a ct

io n

, te

ch n

ic a l

su p

p o

rt , re

p a ir

, u

p d

a te

s, a

n d

r e tu

rn s)

F ig

u re

3 .9

. (C

on ti

n u ed

)

c03.qxd 2/7/06 01:02 PM Page 80

M e a su

re s

1 .

R &

D p

ro ce

ss es

• P ro

d u ct

s cr

ea te

d (

ra d ic

a lly

n ew

, n ex

t g en

er a tio

n , o

r en

h a n ce

m en

ts : n u m

b er

o f ea

ch ; p er

ce n ta

g e

o f ea

ch ;

ve rs

u s

p la

n ; ve

rs u s

co m

p et

iti o n )

• C

yc le

t im

e (a

b so

lu te

; ve

rs u s

la st

p ro

d u ct

, v er

su s

co m

p et

iti o n ; ve

rs u s

cu st

o m

er r

eq u ir

em en

ts , t

im e

fr o m

in iti

a tio

n t o p

a yb

a ck

) •

P ro

ce ss

t im

e (a

b so

lu te

; ve

rs u s

la st

p ro

d u ct

, v er

su s

co m

p et

iti o n ; ve

rs u s

cu st

o m

er r

eq u ir

em en

ts )

• Va

lu e-

ad d ed

a ct

iv it ie

s (p

er ce

n ta

g e)

• R

ew o rk

o r

w as

te (

u n u sa

b le

id ea

s [n

u m

b er

; p er

ce n ta

g e]

) •

C o o rd

in at

io n (

u n p ro

d u ce

a b le

id ea

s [n

u m

b er

; p er

ce n ta

g e]

) •

In n o va

ti ve

p ro

ce ss

es u

se d (

p er

ce n ta

g e

ra p id

p ro

to ty

p in

g , a

n d s

o o

n )

• C

o st

( a b so

lu te

; ve

rs u s

la st

p ro

d u ct

, v er

su s

co m

p et

i- tio

n ; ve

rs u s

cu st

o m

er r

eq u ir

em en

ts )

2 .

P ro

d u ct

io n o

r lo

gi st

ic s

p ro

ce ss

es •

Q u al

it y

(v a ri

a n ce

[ a m

o u n t; p

er ce

n ta

g e]

; d ef

ec ts

[n u m

b er

; p er

ce n ta

g e]

; re

w o rk

[ n u m

b er

; p er

ce n ta

g e;

tim e]

; u n u sa

b le

p ro

d u ct

s [n

u m

b er

; p er

ce n ta

g e]

) •

C yc

le t

im e

(a b so

lu te

; ve

rs u s

la st

p ro

d u ct

, v er

su s

co m

- p et

iti o n ; ve

rs u s

cu st

o m

er r

eq u ir

em en

ts )

• P ro

ce ss

t im

e (a

b so

lu te

; ve

rs u s

la st

p ro

d u ct

, v er

su s

co m

p et

iti o n ; ve

rs u s

cu st

o m

er r

eq u ir

em en

ts )

• Va

lu e-

ad d ed

a ct

iv it ie

s (p

er ce

n ta

g e)

• C

o o rd

in at

io n (

o rd

er /s

u p p ly

/p ro

d u ct

io n /d

el iv

er y

m a tc

h [

n u m

b er

; p er

ce n ta

g e;

t im

el in

es s;

a cc

u ra

cy ];

yi el

d [

p er

ce n ta

g e]

; in

ve n to

ry [

p er

ce n ta

g e

tim e

�

o r

� ])

• In

n o va

ti ve

p ro

ce ss

es u

se d (

p er

ce n ta

g e

o f ra

p id

p ro

to ty

p in

g , a

n d s

o o

n )

• C

o st

( a b so

lu te

; ve

rs u s

la st

p ro

d u ct

, v er

su s

co m

p et

i- tio

n ; ve

rs u s

cu st

o m

er r

eq u ir

em en

ts )

• Su

p p lie

r an

d in

te ri m

c u st

o m

er s

at is

fa ct

io n

3 .

P o st

-s al

e p ro

ce ss

es (

re p ai

r o r

u p d at

e an

d r

et u rn

) •

R et

u rn

s (v

a ri

a n ce

[ a m

o u n t; p

er ce

n ta

g e]

; d ef

ec ts

[n u m

b er

; p er

ce n ta

g e]

; u n tim

el y

[n u m

b er

; p er

ce n ta

g e;

tim e]

; w

ro n g o

rd er

[ n u m

b er

; p er

ce n ta

g e]

) •

R ep

ai rs

/u p d at

es (

a m

o u n t n ee

d ed

[ n u m

b er

; p er

ce n t-

a g e]

; d o n e

to c

u st

o m

er s

a tis

fa ct

io n fi

rs t tim

e [n

u m

b er

; p er

ce n ta

g e]

; p ro

ce ss

c yc

le t im

e) •

Va lu

e- ad

d ed

a ct

iv it ie

s (p

er ce

n ta

g e)

• C

o o rd

in at

io n (

o rd

er /s

u p p ly

/p ro

d u ct

io n /d

el iv

er y

m a tc

h [

n u m

b er

; p er

ce n ta

g e;

t im

el in

es s;

a cc

u ra

cy ])

• In

n o va

ti ve

p ro

ce ss

es u

se d (

p er

ce n ta

g e

o f ra

p id

p ro

to ty

p in

g , a

n d s

o o

n )

• C

o st

( a b so

lu te

; ve

rs u s

la st

p ro

d u ct

, v er

su s

co m

p et

i- tio

n ; ve

rs u s

cu st

o m

er r

eq u ir

em en

ts )

4 .

M is

ce lla

n eo

u s

• Ef

fe ct

iv en

es s

an d e

ffi ci

en cy

• Su

st ai

n ab

ili ty

• C

o n su

m p ti o n o

f re

so u rc

es

A sk

:W h

a t

a re

th e

k e y

m e tr

ic s

yo u

r o

rg a n

iz a ti

o n

lo o

k s

a t

to d

e te

rm in

e h

o w

w e ll

it s

p ro

ce ss

lo g ic

is w

o rk

in g ?

F ig

u re

3 .9

. (C

on ti

n u ed

)

c03.qxd 2/7/06 01:02 PM Page 81

In te

rn a l

st ru

ct u

re P

O S S

IB IL

IT IE

S P ro

fit c

en te

rs

Fu n ct

io n al

d iv

is io

n s

G eo

gr ap

h ic

d iv

is io

n s*

P ro

d u ct

d iv

is io

n s*

*M ay

a ls

o b

e se

lf- co

n ta

in ed

p ro

fit a

n d lo

ss c

en te

rs

E X

A M

P LE

S Se

lf- co

n ta

in ed

p ro

fit a

n d lo

ss d

iv is

io n s

M ar

ke ti n g,

R &

D , m

an u fa

ct u ri n g,

h u m

an r

es o u rc

es ,

an d

so o n

N o rt

h ea

st r

eg io

n , M

id w

es t,

an d s

o o

n

A d h es

iv es

, p ro

te ct

iv e

co at

in gs

, a n d s

o o

n

A sk

: W

h a t

d o

e s

yo u

r o

rg a n

iz a ti

o n

c h

a rt

l o

o k

l ik

e ?

W h

y is

i t

st ru

ct u

re d

t h

is w

a y?

F ig

u re

3 .1

0 .

In te

rn al

L o gi

c.

In fo

rm a ti

o n

sy st

e m

s P

O S S

IB IL

IT IE

S P eo

p le

a t

ev er

y le

ve l g

et t

im el

y in

fo rm

at io

n in

a f o rm

th at

h el

p s

th em

m ak

e th

ei r

d ec

is io

n s.

In fo

rm at

io n e

xi st

s an

d is

a cc

es si

b le

t o d

ec is

io n m

ak er

s, b u t

is n

o t

u se

fu l.

Th is

is b

ec au

se it

is o

u t

o f d at

e, in

co m

p le

te , i

n ac

cu ra

te , o

r n o t

o rg

an iz

ed in

a u

se fu

l fo

rm f o r

d ec

is io

n m

ak in

g.

In fo

rm at

io n is

c en

tr al

ly c

o n tr

o lle

d . D

ec is

io n m

ak er

s o ft

en m

u st

a ct

w it h o u t

ac ce

ss t

o in

fo rm

at io

n t

h at

e xi

st s

w it h in

t h e

o rg

an iz

at io

n ’s

in fo

rm at

io n s

ys te

m .

In fo

rm at

io n is

s q u ir re

le d a

w ay

in in

d ep

en d en

t sy

st em

s th

ro u gh

o u t th

e o rg

an iz

at io

n . D

ec is

io n m

ak er

s ei

th er

d ec

id e

w ith

o u t in

fo rm

at io

n o

r m

u st

d u p lic

at e

d at

a co

l- le

ct io

n a

n d a

n al

ys is

a ct

iv iti

es p

er fo

rm ed

b y

o th

er g

ro u p s.

E X

A M

P LE

S O

p en

d at

a st

ru ct

u re

s su

ch a

s d at

a w

ar eh

o u se

s an

d d at

a m

ar ts

a re

a va

ila b le

t h ro

u gh

o u t

th e

o rg

an iz

at io

n ,

an d p

eo p le

k n o w

h o w

t o u

se t

h em

. D at

a ca

p tu

re is

ef fic

ie n tl y

d es

ig n ed

a n d m

an ag

ed .

D at

a ca

p tu

re is

p o o rl y

o rg

an iz

ed o

r p o o rl y

m an

ag ed

. P eo

p le

c h ar

ge d w

it h f o rm

at ti n g

th e

in fo

rm at

io n a

re n

o t

ac co

u n ta

b le

t o e

n d u

se rs

. T h er

e is

li tt

le o

r n o f ee

d b ac

k b et

w ee

n t

h o se

w h o s

tr u ct

u re

d at

a ca

p tu

re , t

h o se

w h o

in p u t

d at

a, a

n d t

h e

u se

rs .

A c

en tr

al le

ga cy

s ys

te m

k ee

p s

in fo

rm at

io n in

f u n ct

io n al

st o ve

p ip

es . F

u n ct

io n al

d iv

is io

n s

an d h

ie ra

rc h ic

al au

th o ri ty

le ve

ls c

o n st

ra in

a cc

es s.

Ea ch

p ar

t o f th

e o rg

an iz

at io

n h

as c

o m

p u te

rs a

n d

co m

p u te

r sy

st em

s th

at w

er e

p u rc

h as

ed a

n d p

ro gr

am m

ed in

d ep

en d en

tly . N

o o

n e

kn o w

s w

h at

a n yo

n e

el se

h as

, a n d

sy st

em s

d o n

o t in

te rf

ac e

w ith

e ac

h o

th er

. S o m

e o f th

e sy

st em

s ar

e te

ch n ic

al ly

in co

m p at

ib le

. D u p lic

at io

n a

n d

h o le

s ab

o u n d .

A sk

: W

h a t

a re

fi ve

t o

s e ve

n k

e y

d e ci

si o

n s

m o

st p

e o

p le

i n

y o

u r

o rg

a n

iz a ti

o n

h a ve

t o

m a k e e

ve ry

d a y?

H o w

d o

t h

e y

g e t

th e i

n fo

rm a ti

o n

t h

e y

n e e d

t o

m a k e t

h o

se d

e ci

si o

n s?

c03.qxd 2/7/06 01:02 PM Page 82

Le a rn

in g a

n d

in n

o va

ti o

n P

O S S

IB IL

IT IE

S

A cq

u ir e

ca p it al

: B

u y

Le as

e D

ev el

o p

E X

A M

P LE

S

R ec

ru it f o r

n ew

s ki

lls H

ir e

te m

p s

an d c

o n tr

ac to

rs Tr

ai n o

r ed

u ca

te t

h e

ex is

ti n g

w o rk

fo rc

e

A sk

: H

o w

d o

e s

th e o

rg a n

iz a ti

o n

a cq

u ir

e s

k il

ls a

n d

k n

o w

le d

g e ?

F ig

u re

3 .1

0 .

(C on

ti n u ed

).

A sk

: H

o w

d o

y o

u m

a n

a g e y

o u

r in

ve st

m e n

t in

h u

m a n

c a p

it a l?

B u ild

v al

u e:

Jo

b d

es ig

n In

fr as

tr u ct

u re

R ec

ru it m

en t

an d r

et en

ti o n

C o n ti n u o u s

le ar

n in

g

D ec

is io

n m

ak in

g, c

o n tr

o l o

ve r

su cc

es s

fa ct

o rs

W o rk

e n vi

ro n m

en t,

eq u ip

m en

t, in

fo rm

at io

n , a

n d s

af et

y P la

n n in

g, r

ep la

ce m

en t

st ra

te gi

es , c

ar ee

r p at

h s

K n o w

le d ge

m an

ag em

en t

(e ff ec

ti ve

in fo

rm at

io n s

ys te

m ),

d o u b le

lo o p le

ar n in

g (c

o n st

an tl y

ex am

in in

g m

is ta

ke s

to le

ar n a

n d im

p ro

ve v

er su

s fix

b la

m e)

A sk

: H

o w

i s

yo u

r h

u m

a n

c a p

it a l

a cq

u is

it io

n a

n d

i n

ve st

m e n

t a li

g n

e d

w it

h y

o u

r co

re c

o m

p e te

n ci

e s?

c03.qxd 2/7/06 01:02 PM Page 83

M e a su

re s

1 .

O rg

an iz

at io

n s

tr u ct

u re

• A

lig n m

en t

w it h o

th er

lo gi

cs (

p er

ce n ta

g e)

• R

ew ar

d o

r re

co gn

it io

n (

p er

ce n ta

g e,

m ea

n in

g fu

l, sa

tis fa

ct io

n )

• A

d eq

u at

e in

fo rm

at io

n (

p er

ce n ta

g e,

t im

el in

es s,

u se

fu ln

es s,

s a tis

fa ct

io n )

• Sa

fe ty

( a cc

id en

ts [

n u m

b er

, c o st

, l o st

t im

e] )

2 .

In fo

rm at

io n s

ys te

m s

A .

K n o w

le d ge

m an

ag em

en t

• K

n o w

le d ge

s tr

at eg

y (d

ev el

o p ed

?, c

o n si

st en

t w

ith o

th er

lo g ic

s? , s

a tis

fa ct

io n )

• K

n o w

le d ge

a va

ila b ili

ty (

to w

h o n

ee d s

it [p

er ce

n ta

g e,

n u m

b er

], w

h en

n ee

d ed

[ p ro

ce ss

t im

e, c

yc le

t im

e] )

• K

n o w

le d ge

u sa

b ili

ty (

re le

va n ce

[ p er

ce n ta

g e,

a m

o u n t]

, a cc

u ra

cy [

p er

ce n ta

g e,

a m

o u n t]

) •

K n o w

le d ge

e ff ec

ti ve

n es

s (b

u si

n es

s p ro

b le

m s

so lv

ed [

n u m

b er

, p er

ce n ta

g e]

), m

o re

a cc

u ra

te d

ec is

io n s

m a d e

[n u m

b er

, p er

ce n ta

g e]

, m o re

t im

el y

d ec

is io

n s

m a d e

(c yc

le o

r p ro

ce ss

t im

e re

d u ct

io n , o

n -t

im e

d ec

is io

n s

m a d e

[n u m

b er

, p er

ce n ta

g e]

)

B .

Sy st

em P

er fo

rm an

ce •

Q u al

it y

(v a ri

a n ce

[ a m

o u n t,

p er

ce n ta

g e]

, d ef

ec ts

[ n u m

b er

, p er

ce n ta

g e]

, r ew

o rk

[ n u m

b er

, p er

ce n ta

g e,

tim e]

, u n u sa

b le

p ro

d u ct

s [n

u m

b er

, p er

ce n ta

g e]

) •

C yc

le t

im e

(a b so

lu te

, v er

su s

la st

p ro

d u ct

, v er

su s

co m

p et

iti o n , v

er su

s cu

st o m

er r

eq u ir

em en

ts )

• P ro

ce ss

t im

e (a

b so

lu te

, v er

su s

la st

p ro

d u ct

, v er

su s

co m

p et

iti o n , v

er su

s cu

st o m

er r

eq u ir

em en

ts )

• Va

lu e-

ad d ed

a ct

iv it ie

s (p

er ce

n ta

g e)

• C

o o rd

in at

io n (

b u si

n es

s p ro

ce ss

m a tc

h [

n u m

b er

, p er

ce n ta

g e,

t im

el in

es s,

a cc

u ra

cy ])

• In

n o va

ti ve

p ro

ce ss

es u

se d (

p er

ce n ta

g e

o f ra

p id

p ro

to ty

p in

g , a

n d s

o o

n )

• C

o st

( a b so

lu te

, v er

su s

la st

s ys

te m

, v er

su s

co m

p et

iti o n , v

er su

s cu

st o m

er r

eq u ir

em en

ts )

• Su

p p lie

r o r

in te

ri m

c u st

o m

er s

at is

fa ct

io n

A sk

: W

h a t

a re

t h

e k

e y

m e tr

ic s

yo u

r o

rg a n

iz a ti

o n

l o

o k

s a t

to d

e te

rm in

e h

o w

w e ll

i ts

I n

te rn

a l

Lo g ic

i s

w o

rk in

g ?

F ig

u re

3 .1

0 .

(C on

ti n u ed

)

c03.qxd 2/7/06 01:02 PM Page 84

M e a su

re s

3 .

Le ar

n in

g an

d in

n o va

ti o n

A .

Jo b d

es ig

n •

In vo

lv em

en t

in d

ec is

io n m

ak in

g (p

er ce

n ta

g e,

s a tis

fa ct

io n )

• R

ew ar

d o

r re

co gn

it io

n (

p er

ce n ta

g e,

m ea

n in

g fu

l, sa

tis fa

ct io

n )

• A

d eq

u at

e in

fo rm

at io

n (

p er

ce n ta

g e,

t im

el in

es s,

u se

fu ln

es s,

s a tis

fa ct

io n )

• Sa

fe ty

( a cc

id en

ts [

n u m

b er

, c o st

, l o st

t im

e] )

B .

In fr

as tr

u ct

u re

• A

d eq

u at

e w

o rk

e n vi

ro n m

en t

(m a tc

h jo

b d

es ig

n , m

a tc

h h

u m

a n n

ee d s,

s a tis

fa ct

io n )

• A

d eq

u at

e to

o ls

a n d e

q u ip

m en

t (p

er ce

n ta

g e,

t im

el in

es s,

u se

fu ln

es s,

s a tis

fa ct

io n )

• Sa

fe ty

( eq

u ip

m en

t u se

d [

n u m

b er

, p er

ce n ta

g e]

, a cc

id en

ts o

r si

ck -t

im e

[n u m

b er

, c o st

, l o st

t im

e] )

C .

R ec

ru it m

en t

an d r

et en

ti o n

• St

ra te

gy (

b u y,

le a se

, d ev

el o p , c

h u rn

) •

A lig

n m

en t

w it h o

th er

lo gi

cs (

p er

ce n ta

g e )

• Sa

ti sf

ac ti o n (

m a n a g em

en t,

em p lo

ye es

) •

H av

e em

p lo

ye es

n ee

d (

p er

ce n ta

g e,

q u a n tit

y, q

u a lit

y) •

A cq

u is

it io

n , r

ep la

ce m

en t,

an d r

ed ep

lo ym

en t

• Ef

fic ie

n cy

( co

st p

er e

m p lo

ye e)

• Ti

m el

in es

s (c

yc le

t im

e to

fi ll,

p er

ce n ta

g e

fil le

d b

y d a te

n ee

d ed

) •

A cc

u ra

cy (

le n g th

o f st

a y

o f em

p lo

ye e)

• Sa

ti sf

ac ti o n (

m a n a g er

w ith

e m

p lo

ye e,

m a n a g er

w ith

w o rk

, e m

p lo

ye e

w ith

w o rk

, e m

p lo

ye e

w ith

c o m

p a n y,

em p lo

ye e

w ith

m a n a g er

)

F ig

u re

3 .1

0 .

(C on

ti n u ed

)

c03.qxd 2/7/06 01:02 PM Page 85

M e a su

re s

(C o

n ti

n u

e d

) D

. C

ar ee

r d ev

el o p m

en t

• C

ar ee

r p at

h s

(n u m

b er

, m ea

n in

g fu

l, sa

tis fa

ct io

n )

• C

ar ee

r p la

n n in