Beyond downsizing: recreating in Australia

Abstract

The management literature is replete with articles on total quality management, just‐in‐time manufacturing, strategic partnerships between customers and vendors, re‐engineering the company, flattening the organisation, teams that replace individual decision making and horizontal organisational structures. The terms and descriptions used in the literature for these organisational changes vary, but the overall objective is the same, to increase organisational effectiveness and to ensure the future of these organisations by establishing more efficient operations. In many companies positive organisational change is often undertaken simultaneously with, or following on from a “downsizing” or “restructuring” programme. In business recreation, whether in Australia or any other country, operational efficiency built upon enhanced processes must not be seen as the final objective – the opportunities are much greater. Examples of successful Australian organisational recreation are given.

Employee empowerment in a technology advanced work environment

“…However, given increasing work redesign issues in responding to external as well as internal business environments, many organizations have tried to maintain job effectiveness and efficiency by empowering employees in order to foster more committed workers to overcome problems such as complex job features, demanding customer needs, diverse work groups, flatter organizational structures, and so on. However, employees' commitment oftentimes is sabotaged by downsizing, a business practice aimed at reducing overhead expenses with the goal of enhancing performance (Orr et al , 1999; McClure, 2007).…”

A Review on Valuable Trends of Product Data Management (PDM) Occupied in New Product Development (NPD)

“…For example, in a study of the technology adoption practice of 20 major Asian manufacturers in 1997, it was identified that quality control was more easily achieved with technology rather than with manual quality control processes. Orr et al [16] quoted that Sony Precision Engineering found that their workers were able to identify only 90% -95% of quality defects, whereas the advanced manufacturing technology employed was able to identify nearly 100%. From the manufacturing perspective, Ostwald and Munoz [17] provided examples of the use of computer technology as shown in Table 2 to support modem manufacturing strategies.…”