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  • 1.  General Policies to Handle Specific Cases

    Posted 12-03-2006 16:03
    I'm looking for some articles, references, whatever, that discuss the consequences of creating polices that apply generally in an attempt to solve problems created by one or two individuals.  (I know I've seen some, but memory fails me.)  Thanks for any assistance.


  • 2.  General Policies to Handle Specific Cases

    Posted 12-03-2006 19:14
    Ray,

    I don't have any handouts on the subject but I discuss it in terms of
    Edwards Deming's notion of problems being generated by the system vs.
    special causes. In "Out of the Crisis" (1982, Cambridge:Massachusetts
    Institute of Technology), he wrote: "In my experience, most troubles and
    most possibilities for improvement add up to proportions something like
    this: 94% belong to the system (the responsiblity of management and 6%
    are attributed to special causes." (He also caused the system "common
    causes.") By the time he died, he was saying that at least 98% were
    system problems. I generally use lightning spiking the electrical
    current to a machine as a special cause, because it has strong face
    validity. In talking about "human error" that is grounded in common
    causes, I describe the Red Bead Game.

    Ruth

    Ray Guydosh wrote:
    > I'm looking for some articles, references, whatever, that discuss the
    > consequences of creating polices that apply generally in an attempt to
    > solve problems created by one or two individuals. (I know I've seen
    > some, but memory fails me.) Thanks for any assistance.

    --
    Ruth H. Axelrod
    (H/O) 301-593-4938


  • 3.  General Policies to Handle Specific Cases

    Posted 12-03-2006 20:35
    The first one that pops into my mind is: When it's time to stop writing policies. I believe it was written by Russell Cropanzano and published in Human Resource Management Review

    Tom Timmerman

    ________________________________

    From: Management Education and Development Discussion on behalf of Ray Guydosh
    Sent: Sun 12/3/2006 3:02 PM
    To: MG-ED-DV@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Subject: General Policies to Handle Specific Cases


    I'm looking for some articles, references, whatever, that discuss the consequences of creating polices that apply generally in an attempt to solve problems created by one or two individuals. (I know I've seen some, but memory fails me.) Thanks for any assistance.


  • 4.  General Policies to Handle Specific Cases

    Posted 12-04-2006 10:01
    You may find Denise Rousseau's work helpful for your question. She has researched and written on the subject of making idiosyncratic contracts with individual workers (making exceptions and special / different person-specific contracts with employees. This is not my area. But, it sounds like it may shed some light on your particular issue as well.
     
     
    Good luck.
     
     Eli Kass
    Dept of Management
    Saint Joseph's University
    ----- Original Message -----
    Sent: Sunday, December 03, 2006 4:02 PM
    Subject: General Policies to Handle Specific Cases

    I'm looking for some articles, references, whatever, that discuss the consequences of creating polices that apply generally in an attempt to solve problems created by one or two individuals.  (I know I've seen some, but memory fails me.)  Thanks for any assistance.