STSD and structural approach
7 important questions on STSD and structural approach
What are the strucutral parameters?
- functional concentration: to what degree are task created by means of vertical decomposition
- differentiation of operational transformations: are preparing, supporting and operational activities separated?
- level of specialisation of performance activities: to what degree are operational activities further vertically decomposed?
- level of separation between performance and control activities: are operational and regulatory activities all assigned to specialist capacities?
- control specialisation: split control per aspect (quality, safety, logistics, etc.)
- control differentiation: splitting into separate control levels (operational, structural, strategic)
- division of control functions: sensing, evaluating, and adjusting activities split
How could you divide activities over capacities based on output?
- start with design production structure where most disturbances enter organisation, and regulatory capacity should be high
- Rule of thumb: P >> C >> I
What does the macro level look like?
- level of the organsiation
- group all types of performance activities together on the basis of either
- orders/ family of products
- grouping together of performance, preparing and support activities within homogenous department --> parallelising
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What does the meso level entail?
- level of departments
- is there a need for creating segments
- many sub-orders, difficult or large product
- splitting products into finished parts
- group performance, supporting and preparing activities per segment
- need for interaction between segements should be low
What does the micro level look like?
- level of capacities
- what performance, preparing and supporting activities have to be conducted for per capacity within the segment
- design specifications for individual jobs/tasks; task variety, ability to learn and use capacity and recognisable contribution to the whole (segment)
How should you design the control structure?
- from micro to macro-level
- start grouping control activities at level of capacities
- look at control demands for performance of the segments, not control demand of management
- what can workers decide for themselves and for what is (some form) of control needed
- minimal critical specification
What are the limits of this perspective?
- de sitter's theory mainly based on diagnosis and redesign of standard bureaucratic organisations
- operationalisation of Ashby's attentuation and emplification into parameters and solutions therefore limited
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