1. Open Questions and Emerging Issues for Theory and Practice
Wayne Smith, Ph.D.
Department of Management
CSU Northridge

8. Organizational Efficiency
Gittell, Jody. (2003), The Southwest Airlines Way: Using the Power of Relationships to Achieve High Performance, New York: McGraw-Hill.
Can an organization have a distinctive set of organizational practices?
“Relational Coordination”
Leadership credibility (care about workers)
Investment in front-line supervision
Selection and training based on “relational competence” (teams)
Proactive conflict resolution based on mutual understanding
Efforts to bridge work and family
Identification and use of “boundary spanners” (operations agents)
Performance measurement that focuses on processes (not blame)
Maintenance of job flexibility by minimizing work rules
Treatment of Unions as partners, not adversaries
Cultivation of solid relationships with suppliers
Can other airlines (or other organizations) replicate SouthWest’s success?

9. Organizational Productivity
Zeldes, N. (2009), “Infoglut: It’s the Disease of the New Millennium. How do we Treat It?”, IEEE Spectrum, Oct.
From “plan-driven” to “interrupt-driven” (Mark)
An interruption occurs approximately every 3 minutes
It takes 1 minute to “get back to where you were” for each interruption
Attention Deficit Trail (Hallowell)
Interruptions degrade accuracy, judgment, creativity, and effective management
What is “quality” or “creative” time?
Can it be expressly designed into professional life?