1. The High Performance Organization
&
Self Realization
Dr R Ramakrishnan
ramarkish54@gmail.com
Cell: 9952669656
2. The High Performance Organization
Questions.
– What is a high performance organization?
– What are the management challenges of high
performance organizations?
– How do high performance organizations
operate?
3. What is a high performance
organization?
High performance organizations (HPOs).
– HPOs intentionally designed to:
• Bring out the best in people.
• Produce organizational capability that delivers
sustainable organizational results.
– HPOs place people first.
4. What is a high performance
organization?
Emphasis on intellectual capital.
– Intellectual capital is the foundation for HPOs.
– To utilize intellectual capital, HPOs often
organize work-flow around key business
processes and use work teams within these
processes.
5. What is a high performance
organization?
Key components utilized in HPOs.
– Employee involvement.
– Self-directing work teams.
– Integrated production technologies.
– Organizational learning.
– Total quality management.
6. What is a high performance
organization?
Employee involvement.
– The amount of decision making delegated to
workers at all levels.
– Employment involvement can be visualized on
a continuum.
• No involvement or parallel involvement.
• Moderate involvement or participative
management.
• High involvement or employee empowerment.
7. What is a high performance
organization?
Self-directing work teams.
– Empowered to make decisions about planning,
doing, and evaluating their work.
– Sometimes called self-managing or selfleading work teams.
– Important in HPOs due to:
• Need to tap employees’ expertise and knowledge.
• Need for employees to manage themselves.
8. What is a high performance
organization?
Integrated production technologies.
– Focus on providing flexibility in
manufacturing and services and involves job
design and information technology.
– Key components:
• Just-in-time systems.
• Use of computers.
9. What is a high performance
organization?
Organizational learning.
– A way for organizations to adapt to their
settings and to gather information to anticipate
future changes.
– HPOs are designed for organizational learning.
10. What is a high performance
organization?
Total quality management (TQM).
– A total commitment to:
• High-quality results.
• Continuous improvement.
• Meeting customer needs.
– TQM is a a tightly integrated part of HPOs.
• Encourages all workers to do their own quality
planning and checking.
11. What are the management challenges of
high performance organizations?
Challenges of environmental linkages.
– HPOs are open systems influenced by a
rapidly moving external environment.
– Open systems components.
• Inputs: worksite problems and opportunities, and
vision, mission, and strategy.
• Transformation processes: five HPO components.
• Outputs: individual, group, and organizational
effectiveness, and contributions.
12. What are the management challenges of
high performance organizations?
Challenges of internal integration.
– Challenge of integrating five HPO
components.
– Top-down and bottom-up decision making in
HPOs.
– HPO islands.
13. What are the management challenges of
high performance organizations?
Challenges for middle manager roles.
– Helping implement HPO components.
– HPO changes may alter middle managers’
jobs.
– Dealing with employee resistance to selfmanaging teams.
– Resolving tensions among HPO components.
14. What are the management challenges of
high performance organizations?
Challenges for high level leadership.
– Deciding how far to go in becoming a HPO.
– Internationalizing United States business
practices.
15. What are the management challenges of
high performance organizations?
Challenges of greenfield sites versus
redesigns.
– Greenfield sites start from scratch at a new
site.
– Redesigns start as more traditional
organizations and change toward HPOs.
– Greenfield sites result in better financial
performance for organizations.
16. How do high performance
organizations operate?
Southwest Airlines as an HPO.
– HPO component: employee involvement.
• Flat and lean hierarchy.
• Heavy team emphasis throughout organization.
• Paper work minimized.
• Rapid decision making emphasized.
• People were empowered to do “whatever it takes”
to get the job done.
17. How do high performance
organizations operate?
Southwest Airlines as an HPO.
– HPO component: self-directing work teams.
• Longer term service teams.
• Ad hoc teams for given projects or duties.
• Culture promotes cooperative activities.
18. How do high performance
organizations operate?
Southwest Airlines as an HPO.
– HPO component: integrated production
technologies.
• Integrated use of information technology in
distribution, order entry, crew pairings, dispatching
of flights, revenue management, schedule
planning, and parts replacement.
19. How do high performance
organizations operate?
Southwest Airlines as an HPO.
– HPO component: organizational learning.
• Deeply rooted in Southwest’s culture.
• Letters and newsletters about company business.
• Managers encourage workers to spend time at jobs
other than their own.
• Southwest’s “University for People.”
20. How do high performance
organizations operate?
Southwest Airlines as an HPO.
– HPO component: total quality management.
• “Southwest Spirit” focusing on a strong work
ethic, a strong desire for quality work, going
beyond the call of duty, helping others, and doing
the “right” thing.
• TQM qualities are reinforced by empowerment,
learning, and communications devices.
21. How do high performance
organizations operate?
Southwest Airlines as an HPO.
– Other HPO considerations: vision/direction
setting package.
• “The mission of Southwest Airlines is dedication
to the highest quality of Customer Service
delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness,
individual pride, and Company Spirit.”
• Strategic elements in direction setting.
• Core values.
22. How do high performance
organizations operate?
Southwest Airlines as an HPO.
– Other HPO considerations: the people.
• Attitude reflecting “Southwest Spirit” is a key
hiring requirement.
• Attitude more important than other hiring
qualifications.
23. How do high performance
organizations operate?
Southwest Airlines as an HPO.
– Other HPO considerations: compensation.
• Flight attendants paid by the trip.
• Incentives for employee performance.
• Pilots’ salaries are comparable to other airlines but
they fly 40% more hours.
• Profit sharing and pension plans.
• Usual airline fringe benefits.
24. How do high performance
organizations operate?
Southwest Airlines as an HPO.
– Other HPO considerations: dealing with the
environment.
• Southwest flourishes in a deregulated environment.
• Southwest’s HPO attributes serve it well in dealing
with a highly competitive environment.
25. How do high performance
organizations operate?
Southwest Airlines as an HPO.
– Other HPO considerations: outcomes.
• Highly satisfied employees.
• Strong commitment to the company.
• Low turnover.
• Strong performance on various productivity
measures.
• Active in contributing to the communities in which
it operates.