Relational Coordination
Guidelines for Theory, Measurement and Analysis
Chapter 2: The Theory of Relational Coordination (continued)
How the Dimensions of Relational Coordination Reinforce One Another
To summarize, the theory of relational coordination states that the coordination of work is most effectively carried out through frequent, high quality communication and through high quality relationships among participants. Furthermore, the theory of relational coordination argues that relationships of shared goals, shared knowledge and mutual respect support frequent, high quality communication and vice versa - and that these dimensions work together to enable participants to effectively coordinate their work. Scholars in the field of communication have found that relationships influence the frequency and quality of communication, and that the frequency and quality of communication in turn influence the quality of relationships. For example, communications scholar Theodore Newcomb argued that frequent, high quality communication is rewarding for those who engage in it and thus develops the basis for trusting and respectful relations. Others, like Albert Rubenstein and his colleagues, have argued for the reverse causal path, namely that strong group member relations form the basis for effective communication. This mutual influence between communication and relationships lies at the heart of relational coordination. xx
Shared goals motivate participants to move beyond sub-goal optimization and to act with regard for the overall work process. Shared knowledge informs participants of how their own tasks and the tasks of others contribute to the overall work process, enabling them to act with regard for the overall work process. Respect for the work of others encourages participants to value the contributions of others and to consider the impact of their actions on others, further reinforcing the inclination to act with regard for the overall work process. This web of relationships reinforces, and is reinforced by, the frequency, timeliness, accuracy and problem-solving nature of communication, enabling participants to effectively coordinate the work processes in which they are engaged.
Low quality relationships have the opposite effect, undermining communication and hindering participants' ability to effectively coordinate their work. For example, when participants do not respect or feel respected by others who are engaged in the same work process, they tend to avoid communication, and even eye contact, with each other. Participants who do not share a set of superordinate goals for the work process are more likely to engage in blaming rather than problem solving with each other when problems occur. Finally, participants who are not connected to each other through shared knowledge of the work process are less able to engage in timely communication with each other - they do not understand what others are doing well enough to anticipate the urgency of communicating particular information to them.
EXHIBIT 6 below is a portrayal of the mutual reinforcement that is expected to occur between the communication and relationship dimensions of relational coordination, illustrating how this mutual reinforcement can occur in either a positive or negative direction.
EXHIBIT 6: Mutual Reinforcement Among Relational Coordination Dimensions
Expected Performance Effects of Relational Coordination
Any production process can be understood in terms of a production possibilities frontier, representing the optimal outcomes that can be achieved at different levels of quality and efficiency. On a given production possibilities frontier, quality and efficiency are in opposition to each other, such that one must be "traded off" in order to improve the other. By increasing inputs per output, the quality of the outputs can be improved, but at the expense of efficiency. Conversely, by decreasing inputs per output, efficiency can be improved, but often at the expense of quality. This tradeoff is illustrated below in Exhibit 7. xxi
EXHIBIT 7: Impact of Relational Coordination on Production Possibilities Frontier
Expected Performance Effects of Relational Coordination
The production possibilities frontier can potentially be shifted out to a more favorable position with the introduction of a new technology or fundamental process improvement. Total quality management and continuous quality improvement have both focused on achieving fundamental process improvements that enable the simultaneous achievement of both higher quality and greater efficiency, as outlined by James Womack, Daniel Jones and Daniel Roos in their analysis of the auto industry and its transformation by Toyota. The underlying argument, which quality guru Joseph Juran labeled the "cost of quality," or more accurately, the cost of poor quality, is that work processes that generate poor quality also tend to be inefficient, and that the same process improvements that lead to better quality outcomes often waste fewer resources as well. xxii
Relational coordination is an example of a fundamental process improvement that enables a work group, department or organization to shift out its production possibilities frontier to a more favorable position, achieving higher levels of quality while simultaneously achieving greater efficiencies. More specifically, relational coordination improves a work process by improving the quality of work relationships between people who perform different functions in that work process, thus leading to higher quality communication. Task interdependencies are therefore managed in a more seamless way, with fewer redundancies, lapses, errors and delays.
Relational coordination enables employees to more effectively coordinate their work with each other, thus pushing out the production possibilities frontier to achieve higher quality outcomes while using resources more efficiently - for example, enabling hospital workers to achieve higher patient-perceived quality of care along with shorter patient lengths of stay. Relational coordination is therefore particularly relevant in industries that must maintain or improve quality outcomes while responding to cost pressures. In an increasingly competitive economy, nearly all industries are likely to face this dual challenge. Thus far, the performance effects of relational coordination have been documented in the airline industry, in the hospital industry, and in the nursing home industry. xxiii
But the achievement of relational coordination depends on the adoption of a set of organizational practices that support its development. As discovered in the context of flight departures:
"Lean resources in the form of less ground time and leaner staffing could inspire teamwork across functional groups to 'get the job done,' or the added stress could simply engender unproductive conflict and a deterioration of service. Other research suggests that Southwest [Airlines] has developed a set of organizational practices that build cohesion and common goals across groups, allowing the stress to be used in a productive way." xxiv
This finding raises a new question: which organizational practices tend to support the development of relational coordination and which ones tend to hinder its development? (Continued ... )