Structural Interventions and the Applicability of OD

Introduction
Structural Intervention is also Known as Technostructural Intervention. This intervention or change efforts aimed at improving organizational effectiveness through changes in the task, structural, technological, and goal processes in the organization. Interventions include changes:
How the overall work of the organization is divided into units, Who reports to whom, Methods of control, The spatial arrangements of equipments and people, Work flow arrangements, and Changes in communications and authority.

Types of Structural Interventions

Sociotechnical systems (STS). Work redesign. Management by objectives (MBO). Quality circles. Parallel learning structures (or collateral organizations). Total quality management (TQM).

Sociotechnical Systems (STS)

Largely associated with experiments that emerged under the auspices of the Travistock Institute in Great Britain. Efforts generally attempted to create a better fit among the technology, structure, and social interaction of a particular production unit in a mine, factory, or office. Two basic premises: Effective work systems must jointly optimize the relationship between their social and technical parts. Such systems must effectively managed the boundary separating and relating them to the environment.

 Highly participative among stakeholders: Employees, engineers, staff experts, and managers. Feature the formation of autonomous work groups (i.e. self-managed). Theory suggested that effectiveness, efficiency, and morale will be enhanced.

Work Redesign
Hackman and Oldham theoretical model of what job characteristics lead to the psychological states that produce what they call high internal work motivation. Model approach has the characteristics of OD; use of diagnosis, participation, and feedback. Model suggested that organizations analyze jobs using the five core job characteristics; then redesign of group work: skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, feedback from job.

MBO and Appraisal

Management by objective (MBO) programs evolve from a collaborative organization diagnosis and are systems of joint target setting and performance review designed to increase a focus on objectives and to increase frequency of problem solving discussions between supervisors and subordinates and within work teams. MBO programs are unilateral, autocratic mechanisms designed to force compliance with a superiors directives and reinforce a one-on-one leadership mode.

Quality Circles
The concept is a form of group problem solving and goal setting with a primary focus on maintaining and enhancing product quality. Extensively used in Japan. Quality circles consist of a group of 7 10 employees from a unit; who have volunteered to meet together regularly to analyze and make proposals about product quality and other problems. Morale and job satisfaction among participants were reported to have increased. Quality circles contributes toward total quality management.

Parallel Learning Structures

Consists of a steering committee and a number of working groups that:
Study what changes are needed in the organization, Make recommendations for improvement, and Then monitor the resulting change efforts.

Total Quality Management

TQM also known as continuous quality improvement, is a combination of a number of organisation improvement technique and approaches including the use of quality circles, statistical quality control, statistical process control, self managed teams and task forces, and extensive use of employee participation.

Features of TQM
Primary emphasis on customer. An emphasis on measurement technique. Competitive benchmarking. continuous search for sources of defects with a goal of eliminating them entirely. Participative management. An emphasis on teams and teamwork. A major emphasis on continuous training. Top management support on an ongoing basis.

Thank You