Z94.15 - Organization Planning and Theory

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EFFECTIVENESS. Achievement of goal.

EFFICIENCY. The ratio of effective output to the input required to achieve it.

EMPLOYEE. A person who provides services for an organization and receives compensation and benefits for such services in accordance with general rules established for members of the organization, and who is considered a member of the organization for the period of time during which he serves in the sense that he acknowledges the right of the employer to direct and control his services. Excluded is a self-employed individual, i.e., an individual who carries on a business endeavor as a proprietor or partner, or who renders services as an independent contractor.

ENACTED ENVIRONMENT. The unique environment created by an organization through its own process of selectively responding more to some external elements than to others.

ENCODING. To operate on a message from the source of transmission and convert it to signals which the communication channel will accept and which can be decoded.

ENCOUNTER GROUP. A small group of persons meeting with the intention of (1) seeking deeper and more personal relations among members and (2) learning more about themselves and others from the attempt to develop these relations. (See SENSITIVITY TRAINING; T-GROUP.)

ENGINEERING SCHOOL OF JOB DESIGN. A mechanistic approach that focuses on efficiency.

ENTRY PROCESS. Jargon phrase for the highly complex set of enabling conditions by which a consultant begins to exert influence. It is regarded as a highly important set of actions separate from the main work the consultant intends, although they are naturally closely related.

EQUITY. Third of four principles of productivity gainsharing (PGS); the concept of a reasonable balance in the distribution of the "gain"' (financial benefits) between the parties (normally the participants and the company) through the design of the productivity measurement system and the related payment system.

EQUITY THEORY. Individuals compare their job inputs and outcomes with those of others and then respond so as to eliminate any inequities.

ERGONOMICS SCHOOL OF JOB DESIGN. Seeks to increase system reliability by developing equipment and jobs that are safe, simple, reliable, and that minimize mental requirements on the worker.

EXECUTIVE. (1) An employee-a) whose primary duty consists of the management of the enterprise in which he is employed or of a recognized department thereof; b) who customarily directs the work of two or more employees therein; c) who has the authority to hire or fire other employees, or whose suggestions and recommendations as to hiring, firing, advancement promotion, demotion or other change in status of other employees will be given particular weight; d) who customarily and regularly exercises discretionary power; e) who does not devote more than 20 percent of his time to activities other than those described in a) through d); f) whose salary and other compensation reflects the intellectual and discretionary content of the position. (Adapted from Explanatory Bulletin, Regulations Part 541, 1956, defining the terms of Section 13a of the Fair Labor Standards Act.) (2) A manager, usually of a top or middle management level.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. A committee consisting of top officers who are on the board of directors and outside board members (usually where the Board only meets quarterly) that assist and act to aid the C.E.O. in making very major policy, planning, and operating decisions between board meetings. In other firms the Executive Committee, if it exists, is composed of a small group of executives reporting to the C.E.O. and assisting the C.E.O. in decision-making.

EXPECTANCY THEORY. The strength of a tendency to act in a certain way depends on the strength of an expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual.

EXPERIENTIAL. A term for a kind of learning process in which the content of what is to be learned is experienced as directly as possible, in contrast to being read about in a book or talked about in lecture and discussion. The term applies to a wide variety of training techniques. It is often used in the phrase, "experiential level," in contrast to cognitive level.

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