Running Head: WORK SYSTEMS
Chelynmae Fuller
OMGT 310 – Operations Management I
October 21, 2012
Work Systems
http://www.nist.gov/baldrige
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Summary:
This column addresses the concept of work systems and work processes. Dr. Hertz covered the evolving thoughts on why these two concepts are so important and how to best treat these concepts in the Baldrige Criteria. Baldrige criteria defines work systems as involving your workforce, your key suppliers and partners, your contractors, your collaborators, and other components of the supply chain needed to produce and deliver your products and services and your business and support processes. An organization’s work systems comprise the internal work processes and the external resources necessary for you to develop, produce, and deliver their products and services to their customers and to succeed in the marketplace. Work processes are the most important internal value creation processes. This processes might include product and service design and delivery, customer support, supply chain management, business, and support processes. They are the processes that involve the majority of your organization’s workforce.
Reaction:
Work systems are an important part of the organization. It shows and defines how the organization functions and evolves over the life of the organization from the informality of a new venture to the policies and procedures of an established organization. To obtain a better concept on what work processes it helps to know the definition of processes which is a coordinated
(parallel and/or serial) set of process activity(s) that are connected in order to achieve a common goal. Such activities may consist of manual activity(s) and/or workflow activity(s) .” With that said Work Processes is about the daily strategic operations of the entire organization.

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Application:
In exploring work systems, here is an example: Consider a company that produces electronic widgets for the consumer marketplace. The decision on how to research, design, manufacture, distribute, and service these widgets are key strategic decisions.
Will the company use contract research, or will they conduct in-house research for the next-generation product? Will the company manufacture the widget in their own facilities, or will they hire an outside contractor?
What subassemblies does the company feel comfortable procuring through their supply chain, and what do they want to make in their facilities? The work system being analyzed is product development, production, and delivery. The key work processes are those pieces of the system that the company decides to do in-house with their own employees. The other components of this work system will involve upstream and downstream suppliers, partners, and collaborators
(possibly joint ventures). How will the company accomplish their work involves strategic decisions of immense consequence.
Key work processes for this widget producer associated with the work system just described might include the following: in-house research and development, widget final assembly from supplier-fabricated components, supply-chain management, and marketing and sales to major retail outlets.
Reference on Site:
Hertz, H. (n.d.). Insights on the road to performance excellence. Retrieved from http://www.nist.gov/baldrige/publications/archive/insights_0812.cfm