Posted: September 16th, 2017
Whole Foods Market's outputs.
Background Reading for Case 4
In Case 4, you will continue with the Nadler-Tushman Congruence Model to assess an organization’s outputs. Nadler and Tushman identify outputs as existing at the individual, group, and organizational level. They also emphasize the importance of identifying the outputs that the organization desires vs. what is actually achieved.
Read:
Nadler, D. A. &Tushman, M. L. (1980) A Model for Diagnosing Organizational Behavior. Organizational Dynamics, 9 (2), 35-51. Retrieved on November 7, 2012 from EBSCO.
For Case 4, focus on the Outputs aspect of this model. Read pages 43 to 51.
Outputs are not complicated to understand. At the Organization level, they are the products and services that are provided to its customers. (It can also be the value provided to its owners, but we are not going to consider this here.) The primary way that a company measures its performance is financially: Sales, Profit, Return on Sales (ROS), Return on Assets; and also via market share.
The organization is made up of various groups. One way to look at groups is by functional area: marketing, operations, purchasing, etc. Another way, if the company is large, is by its various divisions or by its product groupings. Here it becomes a little more complicated to measure performance, but it is possible by defining the goals and objectives of each group.
The bottom level of the organization is the individual. Each person has a job description and is responsible for specific outputs for that job. The main method of performance measurement here is individual productivity: Outputs/Inputs (e.g., widgets/hour, or reports/day). This is more difficult to quantify and for a specific company is difficult to obtain, since this data is not generally reported. Sometimes you can infer some individual measures, for example, by dividing Profit by the number of total employees, to get a measure of overall profitability per person.
BACKGROUND
XCG
THE EXCELLENT CONSULTING GROUP
COMMUNICATION FROM ART:
Onward to the next project: Outputs of Whole Foods Market. As I indicated before, this is a follow-up using the Nadler-Tushman Congruence Model.
We need to analyze how Whole Foods Market has been doing in terms of its performance and how it stacks up against its goals. We will do this at three levels: the overall organizational level, the group level, and the individual level. The Congruence Model explains this well. You should be up to speed on this model.
The executives want to know how congruent the outputs are across the three levels. Given your analysis of performance at each of the three levels, are the interactions of these outputs congruent – highly, somewhat, or very little? Make this determination and support it with a logical argument using the information that you obtain about Whole Foods Market’s goals and performance.
REQUIRED READING:
Nadler, D. A. &Tushman, M. L. (1980) A Model for Diagnosing Organizational Behavior. Organizational Dynamics, 9 (2), 35-51. Retrieved on November 7, 2012 from EBSCO.
CASE 4 ASSIGNMENT:
Use the Nadler-Tushman Congruence Module to analyze Whole Foods Market’s outputs. Start with the Organizational Level. Identify the Outputs – what does it produce and sell? What are its goals? How has it been performing? Then go the group level. What are some groups that Whole Foods Market identifies, and the goals and performance of these groups. Finally, discuss the Individual level. Here you will find it difficult to get much detailed information, so identify five to seven key jobs and their outputs. How can the performance of these jobs be measured? Finally determine the congruence of the outputs and make a strong argument for your case.
Be sure to include references. Turn in the 5- to 7-page paper by the end of the module.
KEYS TO THE ASSIGNMENT:
In order to make your case you need to identify the outputs of the organization at each of three levels. Also identify the goals that it has set and its current performance. Include the following:
- Outputs at the organizational level are the products and/or services that it provides to its customers. What are these and how does the company categorize them? How does it measure its organizational performance (e.g., sales, net profit, return on sales, return on assets, market share, customer satisfaction, etc.). Provide some specific performance data.
- What are some ways the company identifies groups? For example, are there geographic groups (or divisions), functional groups, etc. What are the outputs of these groups? How does it (or how might it) measure performance of these groups?
- What are some of the key individual functions, and what are their outputs? How do these outputs contribute to the group outputs? How do they measure individual performance?
- Evaluate how the outputs at the different levels interact with each other. Determine if you think the congruence of the outputs is high, medium, or low. Then make a strong case. It is very important that you support your position with evidence and information that you have discussed earlier in the report.
ASSIGNMENT EXPECTATIONS
Your paper will be evaluated on the following seven points:
- Precision – Does the paper address the question(s) or task(s)?
- Breadth – Is the full breadth of the subject, that is, the Keys to the Assignment, addressed?
- Depth – Does the paper address the topic in sufficient depth and include the background reading and other background resources as references?
- Critical thinking – Is the subject thought about critically, that is, accurately, logically, relevantly, and precisely?
- Clarity – Is the writing clear and are the concepts articulated properly? Are paraphrasing and synthesis of concepts the primary means of responding to the questions or are points conveyed through excessive use of quotations?
- Organization – Is the paper well written? Are the grammar, spelling, and vocabulary appropriate for graduate-level work? Are headings included in all papers longer than two pages?
- Referencing (citations and references) – Does the paper include citations and quotation marks where appropriate? Are the references from the background readings and assignment present and properly cited? Are all the references listed in the bibliography present and referred to via citation?
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