le Te Uae Le Ue) 1 ‘Admit it. Sometimes the projects you're working on (School, work, or both) can get prety boring and monotonous. Wouldnt it be great to havea magic button you could push to get someone ese to do that boring. time-consuming stl? At Pier, that magic bution’ isa reality fra large numberof employecs”™ ‘As global pharmaceutical company, Pizzi coatinully looking for ways to help employees be more efficent and effective. The company’s senior director of oF {gnnizationa effectiveness found that the highly educated MBAS it hired to “develop strategies and innovate were instead Googling and making PowerPoints"™ Indeed internal studies conducted to find out just how much time is valuable talent was spending on menial tasks was startling. The average Pizer employee was spending 20 percent to 40 percent of his or her time on support work (ereaing document typing notes, doing rescarch, manipulating laboratin, critical thinking) And the problem wasn't just at lower levels. Even the highes-level employees were affected. Take, for instance, David Cain, an executive director fr global engineering. He enjoys his job assessing environmental real es- tate aks, managing laces, and contelling a multimillion dollar budget. But be didnt s0 much enjoy having to go through spreadsheets and ut together Power Points Now, however, with Pizer’s "magic Button” those tasks are passed off 19 individuals ouside the organization, Just what this “magic button”? Originally called the Office of the Future (OOF), the renamed Prizer Works allows employees to shift tedious and time-consuming tasks withthe cick ofa single Button on their computer desktop. They desribe what they ‘ood on an online form, which is then seat to one of two Taian service-outsourcing firms When a request is received, a tam member in India calls the Pier employee to ‘lary what's needed and by when. The team member then e-mails back a cost speci- fication for the roquested work. I the Pizer employee decides to proceed, the cots involved are charge o the employees department. About this unique arrangement, Cain sid that he relishes working with wht he prefers call his “personal consulting orzanization.” The number 6,500 illustrates just how beneficial PizerWorks has been forthe ‘company. Thats the number of work hours estimated to have ben saved by employees ‘eho've sed PhizerWorks What sbout David Cains expersncse? When he ave the Indian team a complex projet researching strategic actions that worked when coasol- dating company facilities, the team put the report together ina month, something that ‘would have taken him sx mooths td alone. "Pfizer pays me not to work tactically but to work strategically” he says” 1. Describe and evaluate what Pfizer is doing with its PfizerWorks. 2. What structural implications—good and bad—does this approach have? (Think in terms of the six organizational design elements.) Do you think this arrangement would work for other types of organizations? Why or why not? ‘What types of organizations might it also work for? 4, What role do you think organizational structure plays in an organization’ efficiency and effectiveness? Explain.