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Chapter 7: Manufacturing and Service
Technologies
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
This chapter explores the nature of organizational technology and the impact that
technology has on organizational design. This chapter explores both manufacturing and
service technologies. Technology is an organization’s production process and includes
work procedures as well as machinery. This chapter will discuss both core and non-core
work processes and their relationship to designing organizational structure. External
strategic needs and internal operational work processes impact design. The chapter
focuses on three design issues:
CHAPTER OUTLINE
A LOOK INSIDE
General Electric at Bromont, Québec (Bromont)
The Bromont plant, which manufactures compressor airfoils for aircraft engines,
began operations in 1983. Its mandate is to use innovative technologies and
manufacturing processes; achieve cost superiority; maintain optimum quality; and
optimize both its technical and social systems. The manufacturing process involves
more than 100 steps which must be performed to the most rigorous quality
standards. Its organizational design is shaped by its core values of participation,
personal development, social climate and structure, justice, family and community
involvement and organizational renewal. The plant is structured around three levels
of hierarchy – production teams of operators in each business unit; supervisory
teams for each business and support teams for the whole plant; and the senior
management team. At a time when many manufacturing plants are outsourcing to
contractors in other countries for lower cost, Bromont has chosen to apply new
technology to gain a competitive edge. The plant is seen as a model GE plant with
stellar productivity rates and high net income.
Core Organization Manufacturing Technology
Technology refers to the tools, techniques, machines, and actions used to transform
inputs (materials, information, ideas) into outputs (products and services). Technology
includes such things as machinery, employee education, and work procedures. An
organization’s core technology is the work process that is directly related to the
mission. The key question of this chapter is: How should organization structure be
designed to facilitate the production process? (It is worth reinforcing the point that the
term technology is used here in a different context than its everyday use).
Manufacturing Firms
Joan Woodward's classic study classified manufacturing firms into: small batch (job
shop, single orders); mass production (assembly line); and continuous process
technologies (automated machines control a continuous process). Woodward
discovered that technology was related to structure and performance, and was based
Exhibit 7.3 on technical complexity (extent of mechanization and predictability of
manufacturing process). Mass production firms tended to be more formalized,
centralized, mechanistic, had larger span of control and less-educated workers than
small batch or continuous process technologies. Successful firms had
complementary structures and technologies. Successful small-batch and continuous
process organizations tended to have organic structures. Successful mass production
organizations tended to have mechanistic structures.
IN PRACTICE
Doepker Industries (Doepker)
Doepker, a family business, started as a repair shop in 1948. It then ventured into
farm equipment manufacturing and has since expanded further. It now employs 500
people and strategically locates its plants close to its markets in Western Canada.
The plants use modern equipment such as state-of-the-industry paint department, 3-
D solids modelling engineering design software, robotics, and CNC equipment
technology. It is expanding its dealer network in Eastern Canada and has made
some forays into the US market.
BOOK MARK
Inviting Disaster: Lessons from the Edge of Technology
By James R. Chiles
Advancing technology makes possible the creation of machines that strain the
human ability to understand and safely operate them. Three examples of system
fractures include the Sultana, an American steamboat on which the operators failed
to reset the safety valve on one of the boilers that had been temporarily patched to
cover a crack. The result was an explosion killing 1,800 people. The Piper Alpha
offshore drilling platform had a fire that killed 167 due to the failure of workers
who turned on a pump with incomplete repairs. Union Carbide released highly toxic
chemicals into an Indian community causing 7,000 deaths. In all his examples,
Chiles reminds us that even though technology can take us into risky areas,
managers need to create organizations in which people throughout the company are
experts at picking out the subtle signs of real problems and empowered to report
them and take prompt action.
Contemporary Applications
Lean Manufacturing
Lean manufacturing uses highly trained employees at every stage of the production
process, which take a painstaking approach to details and problem solving to cut
waste and improve quality. This application is also used in service organizations
where lean principles are used to reduce wait times, speed up referral times and
improve quality and customer service.
IN PRACTICE
Garrison Guitars (Garrison)
At Garrison, it takes 45 seconds to complete a guitar frame rather than the two hours
it takes to machine and assemble 30 wooden pieces using the traditional approach to
manufacturing guitars. The Garrison system manufactures specialty guitars using
injection moulding to build a single-piece frame that is 40 percent glass. The
manufacturing system also makes the guitar sound better and last longer because it is
no longer affected by temperature changes and humidity levels. To enable its
continued growth, Garrison was sold to Gibson Guitar of Nashville.
LEADING BY DESIGN
Dell Computer
Dell PCs are made to order and delivered directly to the customer. To accomplish this
Dell uses very small teams of workers to build a complete computer by following
Exhibit 7.5
precise guidelines and using components that arrive in carefully indicated racks in
front of them. Dell’s system has improved productivity, increasing manufacturing
Exhibit 7.6
speed and throughput of computers custom-made computers by 150 percent.
Service Firms
Service firms have a different technology, and are identified by the following eight
elements:
1. Intangible output means that a service is abstract, such as information or
knowledge
2. Simultaneous production and consumption means that clients of services
consume the output of the organization at the same time it is produced and that
the intangible product does not exist until it is requested by the customer.
3. Labour and knowledge intensive
4. Interaction between customer and employee
5. Human element is extremely important
6. Quality of a service is perceived and cannot be directly measured
7. Rapid response time affects satisfaction and perception of quality
8. Site selection is often much more important than with manufacturing
All organizations can be classified along a continuum that includes both
manufacturing and service characteristics.
IN PRACTICE
Home Depot
Home Depot became successful in the retail home improvement market by focusing
on the service skills and knowledge of its employees. By hiring skilled tradespeople
in their stores, they ensured that customers were helped by people who knew the
products and also had a genuine interest in home renovations. A change in strategy
from quality service to cutting costs damaged their value proposition and impacted
their sales. Home depot is trying to return to its previous strength by focusing on a
targeted recruiting strategy and linking training to customer service.
IN PRACTICE
Pret A Manger (Pret)
Pret operates 150 quick service outlets in the United Kingdom and is expanding into
the U.S. The company is organized as a mass-market service business around
innovation rather than standardization. Menu items are constantly changing based
freshness, ingenuity and customer feedback. Management aligns strategy, structure
and management processes. Employees are rewarded for providing high levels of
customer service in an industry that generally doesn’t value ‘high-touch’ service. Pret
also has a socially responsible agenda in that it gives back to the community and
supports several charitable causes.
Exhibit 7.9
Noncore Departmental Technology
Variety refers to the number of exceptions, problems or novel events that occur in the
department's work.
Analyzability refers to the extent to which the work is mechanical, clear cut, and
follows an objective, computational procedure. Work that requires intuition and
judgment would be considered unanalyzable.
1. Formalization
2. Decentralization
3. Worker Skill Level
4. Span of Control
5. Communication and Coordination
Types
Thompson defined three types of technology interdependence that influence
structure.
▪ Pooled interdependence means that all departments contribute to the
organization but do not interact directly with each other. Pooled
interdependence is associated with mediating technology, that which mediates
or links clients from the external environment (banks, real estate offices).
▪ Sequential interdependence means that the outputs of one department become
the inputs to the next department. Sequential interdependence is associated with
long-linked technology in which each stage of production is dependent on the
previous stage (assembly lines).
▪ Reciprocal interdependence means that departments exchange resources and
information simultaneously in both directions. Reciprocal interdependence is
found with intensive technology in which the client becomes the object of the
conversion process or receives a combination of services (hospitals,
universities).
Structural Priority
As a general rule, higher levels of interdependence should receive priority in the
structure to reduce errors of coordination.
IN PRACTICE
Sports Teams
Note: Be sure to refer to the sports analogy given in the text, as students identify so
well with it.
Job Design
Job design includes the assignment of goals and tasks to be accomplished. Job
rotation involves moving employees from job to job for variety. Job simplification
reduces the variety and difficulty of tasks performed by a single individual. Job
enrichment approaches use technology to increase responsibility, recognition, and
opportunities for achievement. New computer-based manufacturing systems
provide many opportunities for job enrichment, or jobs with higher level mental and
social skills requirements. Job enlargement is an expansion of the number of
different tasks performed by an employee, made quite possible by new technology
that demands fewer workers on a given task.
Sociotechnical Systems
The sociotechnical systems approach combines the needs of people with the needs
of technical efficiency. The goal of this approach is to design the technology so that
the needs of people and efficiency fit one another for joint optimization. Scholars
today are arguing for an expansion of the sociotechnical approach to capture the
chaotic environment and the shift from routine to nonroutine jobs brought about by
advances in information technology.
There are 11 core principles that underlie the sociotechnical systems approach. They
are:
1. Compatibility
2. Minimum critical specifications
3. Variance control
4. Boundary location
5. Information flow
6. Power and authority
7. Multifunctional/multi-skills
8. Support congruence
9. Design and human values
10. Transition bridging, and
11. Incompletion.
Discussion Questions
1. Where would your university or college department be located on Perrow's technology framework?
Look for the underlying variety and analyzability characteristics when making your assessment.
Would a department devoted exclusively to teaching be put in a different quadrant from a
department devoted exclusively to research?
ANSWER: The purpose of this question is to generate discussion about how to apply Perrow's framework
to a real organization. Students often are not aware of the full range of work activities that take place in an
academic department so it is a nice opportunity to discuss the technology of teaching and research. Students
generally agree that university departments go into the research quadrant. Most teaching and research are
unanalyzable because they require experience, judgment and skill to know how to perform. One cannot do
them just by studying a procedure manual. Moreover, there are frequent problems and exceptions that have
to be handled. A department devoted to teaching would generally be lower in variety than a department
devoted to research. A department devoted to teaching would be in the craft category because after two or
three years of teaching, few new problems arise. In schools where teaching is an assembly line, the
department might be in the routine quadrant. A department devoted exclusively to research would go into
the nonroutine category because research always contains unexpected problems that are not analyzable and
require experience and intuition to solve.
ANSWER: Pooled interdependence is the lowest form of interdependence. All departments contribute to the
overall organization mission, but they do not directly exchange resources with each other. Sequential
interdependence means that the outputs of one department are inputs to another department. Reciprocal
interdependence means that the outputs of department A go to department B and from department B back to
department A. Resources are exchanged in both directions.
An example of pooled interdependence would be the marketing and philosophy departments. Both
contribute to the university but generally they do not exchange resources with one another. An example of
sequential interdependence would be the course sequence in accounting. Students from the first course
become inputs to the second course, and so on. An example of reciprocal interdependence would be an
interdisciplinary research project or capstone course that was jointly taught by accounting and management.
Discoveries in accounting would become inputs into the thinking of management, and management's work
would become inputs to accounting.
As interdependence increases, greater time and energy is needed for coordination. Simple rules and
standardization can provide for any coordination needed between pooled departments. Planning is needed to
make sure that outputs of one department are suitable as inputs to the next department in sequential
interdependence. Mutual adjustment, which involves face-to-face discussion, becomes necessary to solve
joint problems in the case of reciprocal interdependence.
3. Describe Woodward's classification of organizational technologies. Explain why each of the three
technology groups is related differently to organization structure and management processes.
ANSWER: Woodward assigned 100 firms to 10 categories. These 10 categories were then summarized into
three major groups. The first group is small batch, which are job shops. They manufacture and assemble
individual orders to meet the specific needs of customers. Examples include made-to-order manufactured
products such as for unique applications in the construction industry.
The second type is called large batch or mass production. This is the assembly line process which uses long
production runs of standardized parts. The manufacturer of automobiles, trailer homes, and textbooks all are
examples of mass production.
The third group is continuous process. This is automatic technology that runs continuously. Examples
include chemical plants or nuclear power plants.
The difference in management processes and structure are related to increasing technical complexity. As
stated by Woodward, different technologies impose different demands on individuals and organizations and
the organization must adapt to those demands. In order to produce the products desired in the unit
production operation, highly skilled employees are hired. The operations are non-standardized, requiring
verbal and frequent communication. The same is true of the continuous process operation, though the
emphasis is on supporting the complex machinery and units responsible for maintaining the machinery.
Mass production operations are standardized, utilize lower skilled employees, and can be coordinated with
rules and procedures. The structure and management processes support the type of technology used in the
organization.
4. What relationships did Woodward discover between supervisor span of control and technological
complexity?
ANSWER: Woodward proposed that technological complexity increased from small batch to mass
production to continuous process technology. However, small batch had a span of control of twenty-three,
while mass production increased to forty-eight, and continuous process decreased to only fifteen. This is a
curvilinear relationship because span of control does not increase steadily with technological complexity.
Rather, it increases than decreases. Other factors are probably associated with this relationship. Continuous
process and unit production have more highly skilled employees, but more complex problems so that
supervisors cannot handle as many people simultaneously.
5. How do flexible manufacturing and lean manufacturing differ from other manufacturing
technologies? Why are these new approaches needed in today’s environment?
ANSWER: FMS involves a computer taking over the manufacturing process. On Woodward's technical
complexity scale, FMS would be considered even more complex than continuous process technology
because machines run the manufacturing process and batch size can be adjusted for customization or mass
production. FMS allows for the production of a single unit or of 1,000 or more identical units to be produced
in the manufacturing flow. The computers are programmed to construct each part according to bar code data.
The equipment does not have to be stopped and retooled as in small batch manufacturing. In effect, a single
manufacturing plant can operate as both small batch and mass production at the same time. Several custom
orders can be combined into a large volume production run. The tremendous advantage of computer
integrated manufacturing is the immediate responsiveness to customers that have a unique order, and the
ability to produce these custom orders in large batches for efficiency.
6. What is a service technology? Are different types of service technologies likely to be associated with
different structures? Explain.
ANSWER: Service technologies differ from manufacturing technologies because there is no tangible
product. Service technologies are typically defined as having two elements:
1. Simultaneous production and consumption, which means that the employee and customer interact to
provide the service, thereby involving the customer in the production process.
2. Intangible product which refers to an abstract service that cannot be stored in inventory in the same way
a product can. This may consist of information or knowledge and/or the actual service itself.
The structure of service firms usually differs from product firms because the service organization has to be
located close to the customer and employees have to have high interpersonal skills. The differences among
service technologies were not addressed in the text, but are described in the auxiliary lecture for this chapter.
Service technologies that have a high degree of labour intensity and which require customization of services
are considered nonroutine and would have a structure characterized by decentralization and informality.
Service technologies that have low customization and a low degree of labour intensity (high level of
physical facilities) would tend to be structured in a way to increase centralization and formalization.
Perrow's technology framework can also be used to understand service technology. Those service
technologies that are routine would tend to be structured in a more mechanistic structure while services
considered nonroutine would tend to be structured in a more organic fashion.
7. Mass customization of products has become a common approach in manufacturing organizations.
Discuss ways in which mass customization can be applied to service firms as well.
ANSWER: Several examples given in the text were of mass customization in service firms. For example,
Ritz-Carlton hotels are linked to a database filled with the preferences of half-a-million guests, allowing any
desk clerk to find out what your favourite wine is, whether you’re allergic to feather pillows, and how many
extra towels you want in your room. At Wells Fargo, customers can apply over the Internet and get a three-
second decision on a loan structured specifically for them.
8. In what primary ways does the design of service firms typically differ from that of product firms?
Why?
ANSWER: In the service firm, separate boundary roles are few as opposed to many, geographical
dispersion is much as opposed to little, decision making is decentralized as opposed to centralized,
formalization is lower, employee skill level is higher, and skill emphasis is interpersonal as opposed to
technical. The design differs primarily because the service firm has the need for technical core employees to
be close to the customer.
9. A top executive claimed that top-level management is a craft technology because the work contains
intangibles, such as handling personnel, interpreting the environment, and coping with unusual
situations that have to be learned through experience. If this is true, is it appropriate to teach
management in a business school? Does teaching management from a textbook assume that the
manager's job is analyzable, and hence that formal training rather than experience is most
important?
ANSWER: This question is designed to foster discussion of management work and to puzzle over the role
of education in management training. Generally, students agree that management work tends to be craft.
Many problems do require experience. Management work is not yet a profession that would go in the
engineering category. Formal training and rulebooks will not make people good managers.
The reason management is taught in business schools is twofold. First, some aspects of management are
analyzable. Frameworks and concepts can be used to help the manager understand certain aspects of the
organization. But other parts are unanalyzable, and a good way to become better at these is through
experience based on a sound ability to think and analyze. Effective management thus requires the
combination of formal training and experience. Second, the university concentrates on analyzable activities
because that is what they do best. Schools cannot provide a substitute for experience, but through research
they can learn which parts are analyzable and transmit them through course work to students. Furthermore,
by offering a well-rounded liberal background, education can foster critical thinking ability that enhances an
unanalyzable management job.
10. In which quadrant of Perrow’s framework would a mass production technology be placed? Where
would small batch and continuous process technologies be placed? Why? Would Perrow’s framework
lead to the same recommendation about organic versus mechanistic structures that Woodward made?
ANSWER: This question is designed to help students integrate Perrow’s framework with Woodward's
framework. Generally, mass production technology would go in the routine quadrant of Perrow’s
framework.
The work is highly analyzable and there is little variety. People do the same thing over and over. Small
batch, on the other hand, would tend to be craft. The work requires experience and is less analyzable
because each activity is custom tailored to the customer. Continuous process would tend to go in the
engineering quadrant. The work is well understood because the machinery can be designed to handle it, but
there are many exceptions that may arise.
Generally, Perrow’s framework would lead to similar recommendations about organic versus mechanistic
structures as Woodward. Mass production goes in the routine quadrant, and both are suited to mechanistic
structures. Craft and engineering quadrants tend to be more organic which is consistent with Woodward's
observation about small batch and continuous process firms.
11. To what extent does the development of new technologies simplify and routinize the job of
employees? How can new technology lead to job enlargement? Discuss.
ANSWER: The development of new organizational technologies has the potential to both enrich and
simplify employee jobs. Computer integrated manufacturing is the most recent development in
manufacturing technology. The shift from mass production to CIM has noticeably enriched jobs in three
ways: greater opportunities for intellectual mastery and cognitive skills for workers; more worker
responsibility for results; and a greater interdependence among workers, enabling more social interaction
and the development of teamwork and coordination skills. The new manufacturing technologies hold great
potential for employees because jobs are enriched rather than simplified, engaging higher mental capacities
and providing greater job satisfaction.
Advanced manufacturing technology may contribute to job enlargement because fewer workers are needed
and each employee has to be able to perform a greater number and variety of tasks. Workers may find that
technology actually changes their jobs frequently because of new software programs, increased use of the
Internet, and other advances in information technology.
12. Describe the sociotechnical systems model. Why might some managers oppose a sociotechnical
systems approach?
ANSWER: This model recognizes the interaction of technical and human needs in effective job design,
combining the needs of people with the organization’s need for technical efficiency. The goal is to design
the organization so that social and technical systems are designed to fit the needs of one another. There
might be some opposition to the approach because of the need for expansion of the socio approach capturing
the real nature of today’s organization--in a chaotic environment with a shift to nonroutine jobs.
WORKBOOK: BISTRO TECHNOLOGY
Alternatively to the instructions given in the text, you may wish to suggest that students examine the Internet
home page of national chains and interview the owner of a local family restaurant for perspective on
organization goals. How customized versus standardized is the product? Is the batch size one meal created
for the individual or is it a mass produced food product that consumers can identify throughout the nation?
Place the various restaurants’ technologies closer to service or product, depending on the extent to which
choose to mass produce their product, and note how internal organizational variables change accordingly.
TEACHING NOTE
8B09D12
Not for Distribution to Students. Professors P. Fraser Johnson and Robert D. Klassen wrote this teaching note as an aid
to instructors in the classroom use of the case Metropolitan College, No. 9B09D012. This teaching note should not be used
in any way that would prejudice the future use of the case.
Ivey Management Services prohibits any form of reproduction, storage or transmittal without its written permission.
Reproduction of this material is not covered under authorization by any reproduction rights organization. To order copies
or request permission to reproduce materials, contact Ivey Publishing, Ivey Management Services, c/o Richard Ivey School
of Business, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 3K7; phone (519) 661-3208; fax (519)
661-3882; e-mail: cases@ivey.uwo.ca. Copyright © 2009, Ivey Management Services. Version: 2010-01-11. One time
permission to reproduce granted by Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation on April 27, 2011. )
SYNOPSIS
As manager of Student Services at a small college, Mary Clark was very concerned about the delays and
costs of processing student registrations during the annual orientation week. She glanced at the recently
collected data on processing times for the seven major steps required during the registration process. She
wondered how the process might be improved while also balancing budgetary pressures to reduce costs.
This short case is well-suited for an introductory or undergraduate operations management class as an initial
case to explore process analysis in service operations. The case provides both sufficient information to draw
a process flow diagram, and the data needed to calculate process performance metrics such as capacity
utilization. The impact of variability for process performance can also be discussed qualitatively on the basis
of student’ personal experiences. Finally, students can debate the merits of short- and long-term alternatives
to improve the process.
KEY SSUE
The key issue in this case is to improve simple service processes. Aspects to be addressed include process
efficiency, customer experience and expected wait times.
SUGGESTED STUDENT ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS
ANALYSIS
The goals or objectives that Mary need to consider fall into two broad groups: efficiency and effectiveness.
Efficiency addresses all operating costs associated with personnel and processing times at each step,
including any allocated costs for space and equipment (e.g., cameras and debit and credit card readers).
Effectiveness captures such aspects as wait times in the system, accuracy rates, and worker and customer
satisfaction.
Two points about effectiveness might not be obvious to the students, and should be stressed by the instructor
as the discussion develops. First, why should Mary worry about satisfying the students who need to register?
For example, expecting students to pay a premium to move through the process in less time is unrealistic.
Yet, the reality is that the process of registration is, for many students, their first major introduction to the
college's systems. As such, this process starts to establish the tone for students' subsequent service
experiences. Moreover, unhappy students might complain to their parents about their experiences and might
also be difficult in their interactions with the staff, likely lowering their productivity. Finally, for returning
students, annual registration will reaffirm either good or bad services experiences from prior years.
Second, why are accuracy rates a concern? If the first step in registration has such a high error rate (10 per
cent), other errors are also likely creeping in elsewhere in the process. Every error requires significant
rework later in the semester by staff and faculty who will need to sort out any problems with health care
coverage and fees, processes that also contribute to reducing student satisfaction.
Later, in the analysis of utilization rates, this issue of accuracy rates can be addressed again. The most
overloaded step is Step 6, the production and coding of the cards, which will likely be assigned to the least
experienced workers (i.e., seniority usually allows experienced workers the first choice of work
assignments, typically the steps with low utilization). And in their rush to complete the tasks at Step 6, two
inexperienced workers are likely to make more errors than their more experienced co-workers. Thus, the
process is structured such that many undetected errors can be expected.
2. Draw a process diagram for student registration.
3. What is the utilization rate at each step in the process? What is the overall capacity of the process?
The following analysis summarizes the capacity and utilization of the process:
Note: It is simplest to calculate the capacity and demand analysis on a weekly basis, which is consistent with
the natural cycle for the current process (i.e., all 1,000 students are required to register at some point during
the week).
Assumptions
In the current process, Step 6 is the bottleneck, although Steps 1 and 3 may also be constraints if the students
do not arrive at a fairly constant rate (i.e., short-term, above-average blips in the arrival rate will create
temporary bottlenecks, and therefore long lines).
4. At what point in the process is variability likely to occur? How will this variability affect the
performance of the process and customer experience?
• Processing time variability: The variability of the time needed to process applications, particularly in
Steps I and 3, is likely to created bottlenecks and long queues.
• Student arrival rate variability: The case provides no indication that students book appointments or are
scheduled at specific days or times for registration. As a result, the arrival rate will vary significantly
during the week and within each day. For example, how many students will wait until the last day to
register? How many students will get out of bed early (especially during Orientation Week) to go the
student registration centre? Exhibits TN-l and TN-2, illustrate some likely scenarios for the process
during the week. Thus, early in the morning, students are likely to have much shorter processing times,
and the staff are likely to have much more idle time than during other times of the day.
• Student mix: Mix includes the percentage of students that require medical coverage, first-year students
vs. returning students, and the amount of work required to process individual registration forms (e.g.,
types of courses and number of courses). All of these mixes might vary (sometimes in predictable ways)
over the day, and over the week.
• Appointment schedule: Have students arrive within a period of scheduled time linked to their last name,
college year or some other variable. Students who cannot attend during their pre-assigned period can
register during the final period each day. (These students will need to be warned that their wait times
will be much longer.)
• Batching: Similar to the scheduling option, students can be batched on the basis of a criterion, such as
requirements for medical coverage. If all out-of-province students were scheduled on one day, for
example, this step (and the staff required for this step) would not be required for the other four days.
• Change hours of operation: Take into account the student schedule of orientation events, such as
mandatory opening sessions and special social events. This schedule will need to be coordinated with the
committee running student orientation.
• Quality control: How can Mary avoid the rework in the first step? Ten per cent of the registration forms
are not completed properly, which is an unacceptable level. Potential solutions include either revising the
form or revising the instructions.
• Technology: Shift some processes online so that students must access and complete those services before
they arrive at the registration process (e.g., web-based data entry). Some data may still need to be
verified by staff.
• Re-engineer the process: Aggregate several steps under one staff person to reduce the number of hand-
offs (and the resulting queues at each step). Several parallel lines would result. Students would wait in
fewer queues once they have started the process, and staff would need to familiarize themselves with a
smaller number of cases.
For example, if the first three steps were combined, each of the three staff members would serve
approximately one-third of the total number of cases (see following diagram). The result would be a
shorter changeover time and the impression of personalized service. Moreover, utilization levels across
the first three steps would be averaged.
Also, at a minimum, adding capacity at Step 6 is required. Since extra capacity is available at Steps 5 and 7,
cross-training the staff could address this capacity problem.
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comme Roger. Mais l’anneau vient déchirer le voile qui depuis de
nombreuses années déjà cachait la vérité. Ce n’est donc pas miracle
si, dans l’esprit de Roger, toute pensée d’amour pour Alcine s’éteint,
maintenant qu’il la trouve telle que ses artifices ne peuvent plus le
tromper.
Mais, comme le lui avait conseillé Mélisse, il se garda de changer
de manière d’être, jusqu’à ce que, des pieds à la tête, il se fût revêtu
de ses armes trop longtemps négligées. Et, pour ne point éveiller les
soupçons d’Alcine, il feignit de vouloir essayer ses forces, et de voir
s’il avait grossi depuis le jour où il ne les avait plus endossées.
Il suspendit ensuite Balisarde à son côté, — c’est ainsi que
s’appelait son épée, — et prit également l’écu merveilleux qui non
seulement éblouissait les yeux, mais qui frappait l’âme d’un tel
anéantissement, qu’elle semblait être exhalée du corps. Il le prit, et
se le mit au cou, tout recouvert du voile de soie avec lequel il l’avait
trouvé.
Puis il alla à l’écurie, et fit mettre la bride et la selle à un destrier
plus noir que la poix. Mélisse l’avait prévenu d’agir ainsi, car elle
connaissait ce cheval qui s’appelait Rabican, et elle savait combien il
était rapide à la course. C’était le même qui avait été porté en ces
lieux par la baleine, avec le malheureux chevalier, à cette heure
jouet des vents sur le bord de la mer.
Il aurait pu aussi prendre l’hippogriffe qui était attaché à côté de
Rabican, mais la magicienne lui avait dit : « — N’oublie pas, tu le
sais, combien il est indocile. — » Et elle lui promit que le jour suivant
elle le ferait sortir de ce pays et le lui amènerait dans un endroit où
elle lui apprendrait à le dompter et à le faire obéir en tout.
En le laissant, du reste, il ne donnerait aucun soupçon de la fuite
qu’il préméditait. Roger fit comme le voulait Mélisse qui, toujours
invisible, lui parlait à l’oreille. Ainsi dissimulant, il sortit du palais
corrompu et efféminé de la vieille putain, et il arriva à une des portes
de la ville où aboutissait la route qui conduit chez Logistilla.
Assailli à l’improviste par les gardes, il se jeta sur eux le fer à la
main, laissant celui-ci blessé, celui-là mort, et, peu à peu, gagna le
pont en dehors duquel il prit sa course. Avant qu’Alcine en eût été
avisée, Roger avait franchi un grand espace. Je dirai dans l’autre
chant quelle route il suivit, et comment il parvint chez Logistilla.
CHANT VIII.
Que ne peut-il pas faire d’un cœur qui lui est assujetti, ce cruel et
traître Amour, puisqu’il a pu enlever du cœur de Roland la grande
fidélité qu’il devait à son prince ? Jusqu’ici, Roland s’est montré sage
et tout à fait digne de respect, et défenseur de la Sainte Église.
Maintenant, pour un vain amour, il a peu souci de son oncle et de lui-
même, et encore moins de Dieu.
Mais moi je ne l’excuse que trop, et je me félicite d’avoir un tel
compagnon de ma faiblesse ; car moi aussi, je suis languissant et
débile pour le bien, et sain et vaillant pour le mal. Roland s’en va
entièrement recouvert d’une armure noire, sans regret d’abandonner
tant d’amis, et il arrive à l’endroit où les gens d’Afrique et d’Espagne,
avaient leurs tentes dressées dans la campagne.
Quand je dis leurs tentes, je me trompe, car sous les arbres et
sous des restants de toits, la pluie les a dispersés par groupes de
dix, de vingt, de quatre, de six, ou de huit, les uns au loin, les autres
plus près. Tous dorment, fatigués et rompus ; ceux-ci étendus à