176 Pata ~ Organizing Ontario Electronics Ltd. To: Claude Fortier, Special Assistant to the President From: lan Campbell, President ‘Subject: Learning Organizations Fstof al, thanks fr keoping everything "gong" while | atondod the annval meeting ofthe Canadian Electronics Manufacturers Industry Associaton last week. Our luncheon speaker on the final day taked about how imporant itis for organizations tobe responsive fo customer and marketplace needs. One approach she discussed for doing ths was becoming a learning organi zaton, Im now convinced that our eompany's future may Well ‘depend on how well were able t"earn” Td like you to find some current information on fear: ing organizations. Atnough I'm sure youll be able to find CASE APPLICATION * 1 numerous articles about the topic, limit your report to fve of wat you consider o be the best sources o information onthe topic. Wite a one-paragraph summary for each of these five aricies, being sure to nate all the bibliographic information in ase we need to ing the article later. Since I ke our exeeu- tio team to move on this idea fairly quick, please have your report back to me by the end of te week. tn! poses anand nt meant reo paste negate A New Kind of Structure eee eer meee Ax ‘work, o bth) can gt preity boring and mo- otonus. Would’ be greato have a mac bton 3 cout push o get someone eset do that bring, ne onsen mu? At Par, ut “nai baton is realy for ‘a large number of employees. ‘As a global pharmaceutical company, Pfizer is contin ce eee aera) elec ne creer Cflcsveess found at the “Harvard MBA. stall we ied fetter vate wee instead Googling a risking PowerPoint” Inde, ane aes find out jut how meh ie i ams oeeeoea ee ee Teel ee re ee eee ere meee work (eating documents, ping nts, doing research, ma niplating dats, scheduling meting) and only 60 percent 0 eee eer ing cloning, cea tiking, And the problem warn jus at lower lvls, Even te highesc-level employes were ered iN eee ert Coane eer for global engineering. He enoy his obsessing environ ee ae ec ee er eae Wouldn't you like a MAGIC BUTTON @D you could push to get someone else to do all your tedious and boring work? ‘multimillion-dollar budget. But he didn’t so much enjoy hav~ ing to go through spreadsheets and put together PowerPoint. Now, however, with Pfizer's “magic button” those tasks are ‘passed off to individuals outside the organization, ‘ust what is this “magic button”? Originally called the (Office of the Future (OOF), the renamed PfizerWorks allows employees to shift tedious and time-consuming tasks with the click of a single button on their computer desktop. They describe what they need on an online form, which is then sent to one of two Indian service-outsourcing firms. When a request is received, a team member in India calls the Pfizer employes to clarify what's needed and by when, ‘The team member then e. mails back a cost specifica- tion for the requested work, If the Phizer employee de- cides to proceed, the costs involved are charged to the em- ployee's department, About this unique arrangement, Cain sald that he relishes working with what he prefers to call his “personal consulting organization.” ‘The number 66,500 illustrates just how beneficial PizerWorks has been for the company. Thats the number of ‘work hours estimated to have been saved by employees who've ‘used PfizerWorks. What about Joc Cain’s experiences? When the gave the Indian team a complex project researching strategicCHAPTER 6 - sections that worked when consolidating company facilities, the team put the report together in a month, something that would have taken him six months to do alone, He says, “Pfizer pays ‘me not to work tactically, but to work strategically.” Discussion Questions 6-22 Describe and evaluate what Phizer is doing with its iar Watks CASE APPLICATION #2 W7 Organizational Structure and Design 6-23 What structural implications —good and bad—does this ap- prac have? (Think in tems ofthe six orgrizational design slements) 6-24 Do you thnk this arangement woul wok fr other types of organizations? Why or why not? What types af organizations right it also work for? 6-25 What role do you think organizational structure plays in an ‘organizations affcioney and effectiveness? Exlan. Volunteers Work eye individuals you might never have thought of 25 being pat of an organizations structure, but for ‘many organizations, volunteers provide & much-needed source of labor Maybe you've volunteered st a Habitat for Humanity build, a homeless shelter, or some nonprofit organi zation, However, what ifthe volusteee assignment ws at a for- profit business andthe ob description rea lik this; Want job where you work omly coupe of hours day at your computer answering cusiomers' technical questions al fr n0 pay. Many large corporations, start-up companies, and venture captass ane betting that this new group of talented “volunteer” indi ‘uals who are quite knowledgeable about the Web and ober technical ares will alter bow individuals who do this type of “Volunteering” are motivated ‘mainly by a payoff in enjoyment and respect among thei peers and to some extent the skills they're able to develop. Now, as the concept of individuals volunteering for work tasks moves to the realm of customer service, can it work and what does it mean for managers? For instance, at Verizon's high-speed fiber optic Internet, television, and telephone service, “volunteers” are answering ‘euslomer questions abou technical matters on a company-spon- sored customer-service Web site for no pay. Mark Studness, director of Verizon's e-commerce unit was familiar with Web sites where users offered tips and answered question, His chal lenge? Find a way to use that ‘customer service is provided Self checkouts, Self check-ins. Pumping your own as (although most of you are probably too young to remem: ber having an attendant that pumped your gss, checked your oil, and washed your wind Shield). Filling out online forms. Businesses have become very good al geting customers to do free work. Now, they're taking he concept even further, especially in customer service seitings, by getting “volunteers” to perfor specialized work tasks ‘The role that these volunteer “enthusiasts” have played, ‘especially in contibuting innovations to research and devel- ‘opment efforts, has been closely researched in recent years For example, case studies highlight the product tweaks made by carly skateboarders and mountain bikers to their gear, Researchers have also studied the programmers behind open- source software like the Linux operating system. It seems that Organizations are using “volunteers” to do specialized work tasks. potential resource for customer service, His solution? “Super for lead users—that is, users ‘who provided the best answers and dialogue in Web forums. ‘The experiment at Verizon sccms to be working well and these online “volunteers” can be fan important addition to a company's customer service efforts, Suidoess says that ereaing an atmosphere that these super us- ers find desirable is a key consideration because without tha, you have nothing. A company thst worked with Verizon to set up its structure said that these super or lead-users are driven by the same online challenges and aspects as fervent gamers are. So they sot up the stutare with an elaborate rating system for con- trbutors with ranks, badges, and "kudos counts.” So far, Suness is happy with how it's gone. He says the company-sponsored customer-service site has boon extremely useful and cos efficent in redirecting thousands of questions that would have been an- sweted by staff ata Verizon cal center: