COORDINATION

INTERDEPENDANCE
COORDINATION-INTERDEPENDANCE
Once departments are created,
- The activities of the departments must have linked-
systems to keep the activities of each department
focused on the attainment of organizational goals.
- This is accomplished by coordination - the process of
linking the activities of the various departments of the
organization.
 COORDINATION-
INTERDEPENDANCE
- Departments and work groups are interdependent
- They depend on one another for information and
resources to perform their respective activities.
- The greater the interdependence between departments,
the more coordination the organization requires if
departments are to be able to perform effectively.
- There are three major forms of interdependence:
1. Pooled, 2. Sequential, and 3. Reciprocal.
 COORDINATION-INTERDEPENDANCE
A 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
Ex: Gap clothing stores operate with pooled interdependence. 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.
 COORDINATION-INTERDEPENDANCE
In sequential interdependence, the output of one unit becomes the input
for another in a sequential fashion. This creates a moderate level of
interdependence.
Ex: At Nissan, 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.
Here, the level of interdependence is generally one way-the
engine plant is not necessarily dependent on the final assembly
plant.
 COORDINATION-INTERDEPENDANCE
Reciprocal interdependence exists when activities flow both
ways between units. This form is clearly the most complex.
Ex: In hotels, the reservations department, front desk check-in,
and housekeeping are all reciprocally interdependent.
Reservations must 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.