Technostructural Intervention of TRW Systems Essay

Technostructural Intervention of TRW Systems - Essay Example (Thompson, Seher, and Kotter, 1976) Ramo-Wooldridge Corporation experienced quick growth due to its ties to the â€Å"accelerating ICBM program that the air force was sponsoring. Following the win on the contract bid for the job of providing technical supervision of the ICBM program it is reported that RW gradually expanded its capability to include advance planning for future ballistic weapons systems and space technology and by providing technical advice to the Air Force.† (Thompson, Seher, and Kotter, 1976) RW was held by many to be a ‘quasi-government’ agency with some of the aerospace industry competitors resenting the opportunities presenting in the audit and examination RW conducted on their operations. RW was due to this relationship with the Air Force prohibited from competition for mainframe and assembly work for the Air Force. TRW made the decision, following the merger of 1959 with Thompson that the hardware ban was too great a liability and moved to f ree the Systems Group from its limiting relationship with the Air Force. (Thompson, Seher, and Kotter, 1976, paraphrased) Because of the value of the services provided by RW to the Air Force a solution was created calling for a non-profit organization to be created by the Air Force and specifically the Aerospace Corporation. This Corporation is reported to have assumed the â€Å"advance planning and broad technical assistance† formerly provided by the Systems Group. ... he process pricing and billing was ‘cost-plus-fixed-fee-basis† and that changed to what is known as an incentive-based process in which rewards came from excellent performance, delivery dates that were specific and failures resulting in payment of penalties. It is reported that System â€Å"thrived in the new competitive arena, winning a number of important contracts.† (Thompson, Seher, and Kotter, 1976) II. Background In 1963 TRW is described being different systems in a matrix organization with functional divisions and the offices for program management (using project interchangeably with program). (paraphrased) TRW Systems Group was headed by the Director, and Sub-headed by the Florida, Houston, San Bernadino, and Washington Operations all of which comprised one subhead of the organization joined by the other subhead being that of the Administration. Team building is a process that was used in the earlier days of TRW. The first team-building meeting was held â⠂¬Å"offsite† and involved a team development session, which reported that the group â€Å"improved its working relationships with manufacturing. The success of this experiment became well known throughout the company.† (Davies-Williams, nd) The matrix of TRW is such that â€Å"any one man is a member of many systems simultaneously. He has interfaces with many different groups. In addition, he is continuously moving from one team to another, so they need team development to get the teams off to a fast start.† (Davies-Williams, nd) The process used at TRW Systems is one that can be easily disseminated in the interchange of company representatives after a planning session in which they all express views that differentiate the concerns and consideration of the organization when it enters into a project or process