The organizational constraints analysis framework: a formative approach to the analysis, modeling and design of organizations

Organizational design – the arrangement of functions, processes and resources in an organization – is a critical determinant of organizational effectiveness. Organizational researchers and practitioners need effective and efficient tools to analyze and model the organization of work in order to determine the requirements for effective organizational design. Although organizational research has provided important insights into organizational behaviour, it has provided few tools for analyzing and modeling organizations. In contrast, human factors researchers have developed many tools for analyzing work, but few tools can be used at the organizational level of analysis. In this thesis, I integrated ideas from organizational research with the Cognitive Work Analysis framework to develop a formative approach to the analysis, modeling and design of organizations called the Organizational Constraints Analysis framework. As a formative approach to organizational analysis, the framework examines the drivers that shape the variety of ways that work can be organized instead of just focusing on how work should be organized (a normative approach) or is being organized (a descriptive approach). Furthermore, because the framework incorporates ideas from organizational research, it supports an analysis of organizations that is based on established theories and findings about the organization of work. The research performed for this thesis involved developing ideas for the framework and conducting a preliminary evaluation of its generalizability. To develop ideas for the framework, I conducted field studies on the following three areas of work: (a) nurse rostering and allocations in a hospital intensive care unit, (b) patient transport in a hospital radiology department, and (c) controller rostering in a government rail organization. Through an iterative process of data collection, analysis, and modeling activities, as well as reviewing the literature for theoretical guidance, I refined modeling ideas into two analytical templates. The first analytical template – the Organizational Constraints model – delivers a set of concepts that focus on the following: (a) the variety of work inputs, processes and outputs in a work domain (Work Possibilities), (b) the variety of contexts in a work domain (Temporal Contexts) that emerge from interactions among reoccurring Work Possibilities over time (Work Patterns), and (c) how well the variety of Work Possibilities, Work Patterns, and Temporal Context in a work domain supports the stability and adaptive needs of workers. I also developed a set of investigative probes that researchers and practitioners can use to elicit information about the concepts in the model. The second analytical template – the Work Possibilities diagram – delivers a set of notations that researchers and practitioners can use (a) to represent the Work Possibilities of a work domain, and (b) to reason about the Work Patterns and Temporal Context of a work domain. To evaluate the generalizability of the two analytical templates in the framework, I conducted a fourth field study in a hospital bed management domain. Overall, I found that using the investigative probes helped me to quickly and effectively elicit information about the Work Possibilities, Work Patterns and Temporal Context in the bed management domain. In addition, I could quickly develop a Work Possibilities diagram of the work domain, which helped me to consider how combinations of Work Possibilities and Work Patterns could influence the supportiveness of the Temporal Context for bed management work practice. However, the outcomes of the evaluation study are subject to various biases; further evaluation and use by others will be needed for a stronger validation of the framework. Overall, the research in this thesis suggests that the Organizational Constraints Analysis framework provides effective and efficient tools for analyzing and modeling the organization of work. It is hoped that the framework can help researchers and practitioners from the organizational and human factors fields of research gain a better understanding of the requirements for organizational design and contribute to the design of more effective organizations.