HPO/HPS/HPWS

Historical 61 Common N.A. Action-levers

75 Common NA Innovation Action-levers

Complex Team Terrain Continuum

24 Best Practice Action-levers

Financial HPO Results from HPO Traditional Organizations

Lessons from Designing High Performance Organizations
75 Common North American Innovation Action-Levers: 1991-present
1. ORGANIZATION CAPACITY ACTION-LEVERS:
  1. MBO (Management by Objectives)
  2. Behavior Modification/ Reinforcement Systems
  3. Structured Feedback from Performance Appraisal Process 
  4. Formal Supervisory Feedback System
  5. Physical Layout
  6. Human Factors Design
  7. Multiskill/Common Job Classification
  8. Job Rotation/Cross Training Systems
  9. Formalized Task Forces/ Employee Involvement Groups/Committees
  10. Non-Traditional Work Schedules
  11. Semi-Autonomous Team
  12. Autonomous Teams
  1. Other Hierarchical Changes:
    13.1. Strategic Business Unit (S.B.U.)
    13.2. Horizontal Design (Matrix)
    13.3. Horizontal Design
    (Non-matrix aligned-decentralized)
    13.4. Product Alignment (Non-matrix decentralized)
    13.5. Focused Factory (Matrix)
    13.6. Process/Area Teams
    13.7. Other Re-structuring
  2. Goal Setting/ Stewardship/ Measurement Systems of Performance Indicators
  3. Innovative Financial Reward (Pay) Systems
  4. Status Equality (No Perks)
  5. All Salaried Workforce
    17.1 Co-Location of Aligned Resources
    17.2 External Benchmarking Deployment
2. HUMAN RESOURCES ACTION-LEVERS:
  1. Employee Recognition Systems
  2. Multi-Skill Training/Retraining Systems
  3. Career Development Systems
  4. Management Development/Education
  5. General Employee Education Systems
  6. Special Employment Testing
  7. Special Selection/Assessment Procedures
  8. Job Enrichment/ Enlargement/Task Variety System
  1. Team Building/Group Process Training
  2. Work/Manufacturing Cells (Process Improvement Teams)
  3. Job Talks/Open Forums/ Monthly Meetings/Employee Breakfast Meetings
  4. "Open" Information/ Communication Systems
  5. Peer Review/Performance Appraisals
  6. Other Team Configurations (Quality Improvement Teams,  Natural Work Teams, QC's, HP Teams, etc.)
    31.1. External Benchmarking Deployment
3. TECHNOLOGY ACTION-LEVERS:
  1. CAD/CAM
  2. Robotics
  3. Non-Computerized Materials Handling/Work Flow Processes
  4. Flexible Manufacturing Systems
  5. Just-In-Time Systems
  6. Statistical Process Control Systems (TQM)
  7. MIS/Decision Support Systems
  1. Computer Network/Electronic Mail
  2. Office Automation/Work Processors
  3. Capital Investment in New Plant, Buildings, Offices, etc.
  4. Computerized Materials Handling/Work Flow Processes
  5. Computerization
  6. Paperless Office/Factory
    45.1. External Benchmarking Deployment
4. TOTAL QUALITY LEADERSHIP ACTION-LEVERS:*
  1. TQM Core Values/ Charter Developed
  2. Cost of Quality Monitoring
  3. Formalized Focus on External Customer
  4. Formalized Focus on Internal Customer
  5. Formal External Customer Partnerships
  6. Formal Supplier/Vendor Partnerships
  7. Formalized Customer Information Shared and disseminated with Employees
  8. Produce for Customer Order (Not for Inventory)
  9. Line Employees Inspection of "Raw Materials"
  10. Line Employees Inspection of "Work-in-Progress"
  1. Line Employees Inspection of "FINALS"
  2. SPC/SQC/TQC Training
  3. Vendor/Supplier Delivery of Raw Materials "Just-in-Time"
  4. Customer Ordering from Finished Goods Inventory
  5. Customer Complaints directed to employees that made product/produced service
  6. ISO 9000 Certification (9001, 9002, or 9003)
  7. NOA Baldridge Assessment
  8. Policy Deployment
  9. Quality Function Deployment
  10. External Benchmarking Deployment
NOTE: Semiautonomous Teams are defined as work groups with a coach but without first-line and/or second-line supervisors, making significant work decisions and solving work and product/service related problems. Autonomous teams are defined as work groups working without a coach and without first-line and/or second-line supervisors, making significant decisions and solving work and product/service related problems. The figure on the following page shows how Self-Directed Work Teams differ from other types of groups and teams. As may be seen in the matrix above, Self-Directed Work Teams require structural changes in the organization’s hierarchy, while other team or group action-levers are human resource changes (also see next page for the eight types of teams and their prevalence in North America).
Source: Macy, B.A. & Izumi, I. (1993) Organizational Change, Design and Work Innovation: A Meta Analysis of 131 North American Field Studies – 1961-1991. Research on Organizational Change and Development, 7, pp. 235-313, JAI Press.
Significant relationship to financial performance improvement highlighted in green.
* = financial performance improvement not measured in any of the 1,800 organizations, 1961-1991.

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