1.Read the attached Article and provide a Summary

2.Highlight the main research area of the article and discuss the concepts of Organizational Development that is presented

3.The Article highlighted some "Key" changes that occur in organizations. Discuss these changes and refer to an organization that you are familiar that have seen similar changes

4.Culture and Socialization are two concepts that are frequently identified in organizations.Define both concepts and identify from the Article how these impacted the outcome of the research

5.According to the Article, what constitutes the 'New Psychological Contract'?

ARTICLE

Workplace RESEARCH

Changing Nature of Organizations, Work & Workplace

(Adapted from a Whole Building Design Guide Resource Page prepared for Steven

Winter Associates by J. Heerwagen, K. Kelly and K. Kampschroer, WBDG.org, 2005)

INTRODUCTION

Imagine you went to sleep and woke up to a work day in 1960. How

different is your work life today, compared to what it was 40 years ago?

Clearly, there would not be a Starbucks on every corner or a cell phone in

every pocket - but what else has changed and why?

In today's world, the structure, content, and process of work have

changed. Work is now:

More cognitively complex

More team-based and collaborative

More dependent on social skills

More dependent on technological competence

More time pressured

More mobile and less dependent on geography

In today's world, you will also be working for an organization that is likely

to be very different due to competitive pressures and technological

breakthroughs. Organizations today are:

Leaner and more agile

More focused on identifying value from the customer perspective

More tuned to dynamic competitive requirements and strategy.

Less hierarchical in structure and decision authority

Less likely to provide life long careers and job security

Continually reorganizing to maintain or gain competitive advantage

Changes in Organizational Structure and

Relationships

Increasing pressures on organizations to be more competitive, agile,

and customer focused has generated much interest in the "lean

enterprise" that first captured attention in manufacturing, lead by

Toyota in the 1970s. Adopting lean principles and lean thinking has

led to numerous changes in organizational structure to improve the

efficiency of internal processes, with a goal of eliminating waste and

redefining customer value.

These changes have been supported and enabled by transformations

in information and communications technology, especially the Internet

and mobile computing and communication devices.

Local coffee shops are an increasingly

popular workplace for high mobility

Workers.

Changing Nature of Organizations, Work & Workplace 2

Key organizational changes include:

Reduced hierarchical structure - Hierarchies are cumbersome and

cannot respond quickly to changing market demands. Hierarchies are

being replaced by cross unit organizational groupings with fewer layers

and more decentralized decision making.

Blurred boundaries -- As organizations become more laterally

structured, boundaries begin to breakdown as different parts of the

organization need to work more effectively together. Boundaries

between departments as well as between job categories (manager,

professional, technical) become looser and there is a greater need for

task and knowledge sharing.

Teams as basic building blocks - The move toward a team-based

organizational structure results from pressures to make rapid decisions,

to reduce inefficiencies, and to continually improve work processes.

New management perspective - Workers are no longer managed to

comply with rules and orders, but rather to be committed to

organizational goals and mission. Also, as employees gain more

decision authority and latitude due to reduced hierarchical decision

making, managers become more like social supporters than

commanders.

Continuous change. Organizations are expected to continue the cycles

of reflection and reorganization. However, changes may be both large

and small and are likely to be interspersed with periods of stability.

How Work is Changing for Individuals and Groups

Over the past two decades, a new pattern of work is emerging as the

knowledge economy realizes the full potential of both new technologies

and new organizational models. The changes fall into the following

domains:

Cognitive competence

Social and interactive competence

The new "psychological contract" between employees and employers

Changes in process and place

Although these domains are discussed separately, they overlap.

We briefly discuss the overlaps, where they exist, and point to the

benefits and concerns the new work patterns present for workers and

managers.

Kling and Zmuidzinas

(1994) identify three types

of organizational change:

"Metamorphosis" - far

reaching, fundamental

change

"Migration" - shifts

toward a new form

"Elaboration" -

changes that enhance

some aspect of work.

Working together, both informally and

formally, requires social and Interactive

competence.

Changing Nature of Organizations, Work & Workplace 3

Cognitive Competence

Cognitive workers are expected to be more functionally and cognitively

fluid and able to work across many kinds of tasks and situations. The

broader span of work, brought about by changes in organizational

structure, also creates new demands, including:

Increased complexity of work - Workers need to know more, not only to

do their jobs and tasks, but also to work effectively with others on teams.

Many knowledge based tasks require sound analytical and judgment

skills to carry out work that is more novel, extemporaneous, and context

based, with few rules and structured ways of working. Although demand

for high cognitive skills are especially prominent in professional,

technical, and managerial jobs, even administrative tasks require more

independent decision making.

Different ways of thinking - Rosabeth Kantor (1990) argues that crossfunctional

and cross-boundary teams require "kaleidoscope thinking," the

ability to see alternative angles and perspectives and to create new

patterns of thinking that propel innovation. Workers also need to be able

to synthesize disparate ideas in order to make the cognitive leaps that

underlie innovation.

Continuous competency development - Not only do workers need to

keep their technology skills up to date, they need to be continuous

learners in their knowledge fields and to also be more conversant with

business strategy. Time to read and attend training classes is no longer

a perquisite of only a few, it is essential for all workers

Cognitive Overload: The Cost of Complexity

Vastly increased access to information has made work both easier and

more difficult. The ease comes from ability to rapidly locate and

download information from diverse sites. The difficulty comes with the

need to consume and make sense of new information in a timely fashion.

Information overload, coupled with time pressures and increased work

complexity, lead to what psychologists call "cognitive overload syndrome

(COS)." Symptoms of COS include stress, inability to concentrate, multi

tasking, task switching, and a tendency to focus on what is easy to do

quickly rather than what is important (Kirsh, 2000)

"Kaleidoscope thinking is at the

heart of the creative process in

innovation - the use of new angles

or perspectives to shuffle

the parts to make a new pattern,

thus challenging conventional

assumptions."

Rosabeth Kanter, 1990.

Many of our workstations are loaded

with paper documents, reminders, and

other distractors. This causes frequent

shifts in attention as documents move

in and out of our visual field.

Changing Nature of Organizations, Work & Workplace 4

Social and Interactive Competence

In a 2001 report on the changing nature of work, the National

Research Council called attention to the importance of relational and

interactive aspects of work. As collaboration and collective activity

become more prevalent, workers need well-developed social skills -

what the report calls "emotional labor."

According to the NRC report, good social skills are necessary for:

Team work and collaboration - Conflict resolution and negotiation

skills are essential to collaborative work. Conflicts often occur about

group goals, work methods, assignments, workloads, and recognition.

Team members with good conflict and negotiation skills are better

equipped to deal openly with problems, to listen and understand

different perspectives, and to resolve issues in mutually beneficial

ways.

Relationship development and networking. Sharing important

information, fulfilling promises, willingness to be influenced, and

listening are the building blocks of reciprocity and the development of

trust. When workers trust one another, they are more committed to

attaining mutual goals, more likely to help one another through

difficulties, and more willing to share and develop new ideas.

Learning and growth. Many organizations strive to be learning

centers - to create conditions in which employees learn not only

through formal training but through relationships with co-workers.

Learning relationships build on joint problem solving, insight sharing,

learning from mistakes, and working closely together to aid

transmission of tacit knowledge. Learning also develops from

mentoring relationships between new comers and those with

experience and organizational know how.

The Costs of Collaborative Environments

In a collaborative work setting, the fate of individuals is inextricably

bound to collective success. Dependence on others for one's own

success is often uncomfortable. Comments about the fear of not

having individual efforts recognized are common in the literature on

team work.

Collaboration and relationship development also take time and effort.

Understanding co-workers perspectives and "thought worlds" requires

time spent listening, integrating, and synthesizing. For those workers

recognized as both knowledgeable and approachable, the demands of

interaction may be especially high.

Interactions at work occur in many

locations and help to build friendships

and collaborative work practices.

"We have been socialized to

Value individual responsibility

And individual achievement,

And feel discomfort with the

Thought of relying on others."

S. Mohrman and S. Cohen,

The Changing Nature of Work

(2005)

Changing Nature of Organizations, Work & Workplace 5

The New Psychological Contract

As work changes, so does the nature of the relationships between employees and employers. In

the new work context, the informal, "psychological contract" between workers and employers -

what each expects of the other - focuses on competency development, continuous training, and

work/life balance. In contrast, the old psychological contract was all about job security and

steady advancement within the firm. As already discussed, few workers expect, or desire,

lifelong employment in a single firm.

As job security declines, many management scientists see clouds on the horizon, including:

Corporate indifference -- Shoshana Zuboff and James Maxmin, in The Support Economy

(2002), describe a new individualism among US workers. These new individuals are invested in

"psychological self determination". They desire participation, expression, identity, and quality of

life - all values which are espoused by organizations, but largely ignored in practice as

organizations continue to focus on reducing fixed labor costs.

Reduced loyalty and commitment - With little expectation for advancement, workers feel less

committed to organizational goals and more committed to their own learning and development.

The knowledge and technological skills that employees bring with them to the workplace are

transportable and are not lost when a new job is taken.

Increased time burdens - Years of downsizing and outsourcing have produced what Lesie

Perlow (1999) calls a "time famine" - the feeling of having too much to do and too little time to

do it. In order to keep up with workloads, many workers are spending longer hours at work,

according to reports by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Center for Workforce

Development.

Flexible work arrangements do not keep up with employee preferences - The Work Trends

2000 report found that 74% of workers were not allowed flexible hours and work arrangements

(such as telecommuting). Those with flex hours have limited freedom regarding when and

where to work. The vast majority of workers have to commit to a specific day to work at home or

a specific day to take off if they work four10-hour days.

The Changing Workplace

The changing workplace is driven by the organizational issues described above and enabled by

technologies that support mobility and easy access to information. These pressures and

opportunities, however, have not resulted in a specific new workplace model. Many models and

ideas exist concurrently, with designs depending upon the organization, its work practices,

culture, and customers. Table 1 highlights key drivers, solutions, and potential issues raised by

the solution.

Changing Nature of Organizations, Work & Workplace 6

Table 1. Drivers, Solutions and Issues for the Changing Workplace

Workplace and technology

Drivers solutions Issues and concerns

Increased use Greater variety of meeting spaces Increased noise

of teams and (open & enclosed, large & small) Increased distractions and

cross unit work; Smaller individual workspaces interruptions

more pressure More open individual workspaces Potential for "over

for improved Unassigned workspaces communicating"

communication Greater interior visibility to support Cultural barriers to behavioral

and information awareness change

flow Mobile supports (phones, laptops, Individuals working longer hours

PDAs, wireless) to compensate for lack of time to

Personal video, instant messaging, do individual asks

desk top team software Expectations that workers are

More use of project rooms always available

Persistent information displays

Small rooms for individual focus

Lockers for personal belongings

Greater use of Increased use of video conferencing, Expansion of the workday to

dispersed work computer based team tools accommodate geographically

groups - often More reliance on conference calls dispersed team meetings

global Greater need for mobile technological Loss of opportunity to develop

supports for meeting rooms trust through face to face

Use of facilities beyond normal interaction

working hours More difficulty managing and

coordinating

Very high dependence on

technological reliability

Continual Flexible infrastructure to support rapid Acoustical problems with loss of

reorganization reconfiguration good enclosure

and Mobile furnishings and technologies Potential for reduced ergonomic

restructuring effectiveness

Reduced Shared or unassigned workspaces Increased distractions and

costs/more Centralized filing system interruptions

efficient space Reduced workstation size and Increased noise

use increased overall densities May meet with employee

Greater overall spatial variety to resistance

enable different kinds of work to be More difficult for paper intensive

accommodated at same time work

Improved More equitable access to daylight, Resistance from those who

quality of work views, and other amenities support hierarchical space

life and More equitable spatial allocation and allocation

attraction of workspace features

new workers Amenities (cafs, child care,

Changing Nature of Organizations, Work & Workplace 7

CASE STUDY

Cisco Systems

Connected Workplace Proof of Concept

San Jose, California

Like many other organizations today, Cisco came to the conclusion that

their workplace environment was at odds with the way they worked.

People were seldom at their desks. Meeting spaces were in short

supply. Communication was ever more variable - face to face, instant

messaging, desk top video, phone, e-mail. And work hours shifted

dramatically as the need to work globally increased. With these

changes in mind, Cisco created the "Connected Workplace." It is

currently in the Proof of Concept phase.

Key Goals:

Encourage collaboration

Reduce real estate costs

Reduce infrastructure costs

Accommodate different work styles

Workplace Solutions

Unassigned workspaces

Increased number and variety of meeting spaces, from enclosed

conference rooms and informal areas with comfortable chairs

to a centrally located caf

Small individual workstations

Highly mobile furnishings and space dividers

Lockers for personal items

Increased density; the space used for the POC would normally hold

88 employees compared to the 140 actually assigned to the workplace

High visibility throughout the space

High daylight and views to the surrounding outdoor landscape

Enabling Technologies:

Wireless infrastructure and wireless LANS

Laptops and docking stations

Cisco work support software for individuals and groups,

Cisco IP Communications Technology, including software that

enables calls over PCs using wired or wireless headsets

Mobile video conferencing tools and software for web meetings

Interactive white boards

Instant messaging, e-mail and voice mail

Tools for enabling workers to locate one another electronically.

Preliminary Results

Employees expressed generally high levels of satisfaction with the space

80% said they would prefer to stay in the space rather than return to their

previous workspace

Those who spend the most time at their desks were more challenged by

the mobility.

Cost savings of 37% to 60% across categories such as rent, construction,

furniture, cabling, and workplace services.

Changing Nature of Organizations, Work & Workplace 8

Article References

Cisco Systems, 2003. Cisco Connected Workplace Enhances Work Experience and Cuts Costs.

www.cisco.com

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Howard, A.1995. Ed. The Changing Nature of Work. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Kirsh, D. 2000. A Few Thoughts on Cognitive Overload. Intellectia, 1(30): 19-51.

Kling, R. and M. Zmuidzinas, 1994. Technology, Ideology, and Social Transformation: The Case of

Computerization and Work Organization. Revue Internationale de Sociologie, 2-3: 28-56.

Liker,J. 2003. The Toyota Way. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Mohrman, S.A.., J.A. Gailbraith, E.E. Lawler III, and Associates. 1998. Tomorrow's Organization. San

Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Mohrman,S.A. and S. G. Cohen, 1995. When People Get Out of the Box. In A. Howard (Ed). The

Changing Nature of Work. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

National Research Council, Committee on Techniques for Enhancement of Human Performance:

Occupational Analysis, 2001, The Changing Nature of Work: Implications for Occupational Analysis.

Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

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44: 57-81.

Ranter R.M.,1990. The New Workforce Meets the Changing Workplace. In K.Erikson and S.P. Vallas

(Eds). The Nature of Work: Sociological Perspectives. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.

Womack, J.P., D.T. Jones, and D. Roos, 1990. The Machine that Changed the World. Old Tappan, N.J.:

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Work Trends, 2000. Nothing but Net: American Workers and the Information Economy, John J. Heldrich

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Zuboff, S. and J. Maxmin, 2002. The Support Economy. New York: Penguin Group, Viking Press