Pooled interdependence
represents the lowest level of interdependence. Units with
pooled interdependence operate with little interaction—the output of the units is pooled
at the organizational level. Old Navy clothing stores operate with pooled interdepen-
dence. Each store is considered a “department” by the parent corporation. Each has its
own operating budget, staff, and so forth. The profits or losses from each store are
“added together” at the organizational level. The stores are interdependent to the extent
that the final success or failure of one store affects the others, but they do not generally
interact on a day-to-day basis.
In
sequential interdependence
, the output of one unit becomes the input for another
in a sequential fashion. This creates a moderate level of interdependence. At Nissan, for
example, one plant assembles engines and then ships them to a final assembly site at
another plant, where the cars are completed. The plants are interdependent in that the
final assembly plant must have the engines from engine assembly before it can perform
its primary function of producing finished automobiles. But the level of interdependence
is generally one way—the engine plant is not necessarily dependent on the final assembly
plant.
Reciprocal interdependence
exists when activities flow both ways between units.
This form is clearly the most complex. Within a Marriott hotel, for example, the
reservations department, front-desk check-in, and housekeeping are all reciprocally
interdependent. Reservations has to provide front-desk employees with information
about how many guests to expect each day, and housekeeping needs to know which
rooms require priority cleaning. If any of the three units does not do its job properly, all
the others will be affected.
Structural Coordination Techniques
Because of the obvious coordination require-
ments that characterize most organizations, many techniques for achieving coordination
have been developed. Some of the most useful devices for maintaining coordination
among interdependent units are the managerial hierarchy, rules and procedures, liaison
roles, task forces, and integrating departments.
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Organizations that use the hierarchy to achieve coordination place one manager in
charge of interdependent departments or units. In Walmart distribution centers, major
activities include receiving and unloading bulk shipments from railroad cars and loading
other shipments onto trucks for distribution to retail outlets. The two groups (receiving
and shipping) are interdependent in that they share the loading docks and some equip-
ment. To ensure coordination and minimize conflict, one manager is in charge of the
whole operation.
Routine coordination activities can be handled through rules and standard proce-
dures. In the Walmart distribution center, an outgoing truck shipment has priority
over an incoming rail shipment. Thus, when trucks are to be loaded, the shipping
unit is given access to all of the center’s auxiliary forklifts. This priority is specifically
stated in a rule. But, as useful as rules and procedures often are in routine situations,
they are not particularly effective when coordination problems are complex or
unusual.
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