BUS 188: Chapter 7 Outline

Matthew Mercado

07/29/16

BUS 188 (11:00am-3:00pm)

Chapter 7 Outline (2 page minimum)

Aggarwal

Chapter 7 Outline

            In any activity we do, there’s always a certain process that goes into it. Whether its’ figuring out the best route to school, which workout regiment to do at the gym, or even how to start your day, there’s always a step by step process. That is the system we currently live in because without order, everything would be unbalanced and a mess. Our day-to-day activities are considered structured for the most part and always follow a guideline. However, say a chef is trying to open up a new restaurant, but can’t quite figure which location would best suit it. This is what’s called a dynamic process, its less formal, is flexible, and often requires strategy. Processes define us because it gives us a criterion to abide by so that everything goes smoothly. Referring back to figuring out the best route to school, drivers who are going the opposite way would be facing traffic and thus, they would try to find an alternate route/contingency plan to avoid it at all costs. From an organizational standpoint, processes are spread out into 3 levels: workgroup, enterprise, and inter-enterprise. Depending on how wide the scope, it could prove challenging because there’s a fine line between following that process and managing it in its entirety.

            Workgroups is defined as the fulfillment of a purpose or goal when working together in groups. There’s always a certain process that goes into working alongside others because, for one, there has to be a designated leader, roles are clearly defined, issues need to be addressed as a team, and above anything else the work is accomplished. Certain operations all play a role in the process. For example, a leader of a group/team paper can designate one or two people to work on one component while the other members can compile a list of resources used for that paper. The leader is in charge of instilling responsibility and order so that the goal can be accomplished correctly and efficiently. Any and all problems should always be solved and anything overlooked could prove to be problematic. There’s a variety of workgroups such as: Sales & Marketing, Operations, Manufacturing, Customer Service, Human Resources, and Accounting. Each of these workgroups follows a process that abides by a set of functions that need to allocated and distributed evenly amongst its members.

            Enterprises spread out over an organization into multiple departments. You could say Sony Corporation is an enterprise because it’s a business that has split itself into multiple subsidiaries. Everything that helps contribute from various sources is considered an enterprise. Enterprises have a large amount of members and as an enterprise, there’s a lot of consistency needed to be maintained to work together. 3 examples of enterprise information systems include CRM, ERP, and EAI. An example of an Enterprise would be a hospital. It’s a system of doctors, nurses, medics, personnel, and patients that work together and support one another. When performing surgeries, doctors and their assistants have to work together to ensure that there work is performed efficiently and effectively and if not, it could be fatal for the patient they’re working on. Much like a workgroup, the compilation of its members have to ensure that everyone is doing their group, the work isn’t unburdening, and all problems can be solved so long as there’s a solution.

            Inter-enterprises are split into two or more independent organizations. Not only is there members spanning 1000+, but the level of procedure is formalizes, problems have solution right away, there are multiple organizations, and is more tight (sturdy) that ever. An example could be the Army, Marines, & Navy – all work in conjunction with one another to preserve peace for all citizens, thwart any and all terrorist or inhumane attacks, and maintain the stability of what our country stands for as a whole. They are all separate organizations, but they work together for a common goal – the preservation and prosperity of our country’s wellbeing. It’s a very complex if you think about it, but it’s difficult to change that kind of system because of its formality – its structured to the point where it’s impossible to change. Regardless if it’s a workgroup, enterprise, or inter-enterprise, there are two things processes quality follows: efficiency and effectiveness.

            Efficiency is defined as ratio of process outputs to inputs while effectiveness is defined as a measure of how well a process achieves an organizational strategy. Quality is an important thing to take into consideration because even with a structure and resources to utilize, if both efficiency and effectiveness aren’t taken into account, then everything that went forth into the process would be in vain. To improve the process quality, there are three 3 things to take into account: Performing that activity, augmenting a human who is performing an activity, and controlling data quality and process flow. Performance is key to any process and like all performances, its evaluated, critiques, and observed to ensure that its 100%. An example of performing an activity is booking a flight – you have to be able to find the best deal, ensure that you print out the receipt, and are on time early way before departure. The augmentation of a human performing an activity is dependent on management. If the human cannot perform the activity correctly, they have to be augmented so that they’ll learn and do better on the job. Lastly, controlling data quality and process flow is based on the data being collected about the human and activity. Both have to be working on conjunction together so that the data is matching the process correctly.