This paper outlines frameworks for assessing and classifying manufacturing and service operations in terms of their suitability for use of cross-trained (flexible) workers. We refer to our combined framework as Agile Workforce Evaluation (AWE). The primary contributions of this paper are: (1) a strategic assessment framework that structures the key mechanisms by which cross-training can support organizational strategy, (2) a tactical framework that identifies key factors to guide the selection of an architecture and worker coordination policy for implementing workforce agility, (3) a classification of workforce agility architectures, (4) a survey of a broad range of archetypical classes of worker coordination policies, (5) a survey of the literature with an operational perspective on workforce agility set within our frameworks, and (6) the identification of opportunities for research and development of architectures for specific production environments.

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Introduction Driven by the pressures to improve quality, manufacturing firms are forming work teams on production lines. Most empirical evidence relating work team formation to quality improvement is largely anecdotal. Our objective in this paper is to delineate the trajectories of manufacturing quality following the institution of work teams at an assembly plant and examine if work teams have a sustainable positive impact on manufacturing quality. The positive impact of quality circles, an organizational mechanism commonly used to facilitate worker participation in workplace decisions, on manufacturing performance has been found to be not sustainable (Griffin, 1988; Mohrman and Novelli, 1985; Lawler and Mohrman, 1987; Meyer and Stott, 1985). However, unlike quality circles, which exemplify "consultative participation," work teams we study are an institutionalized form of "substantive participation" (Levine and Tyson, 1989, p. 189-190). 1 The

This is an ethnographic study of two software development teams within the same organization, one which utilizes the Extreme Programming (XP) methodology and one which does not. This study compares the work routines and work practices of the software developers on the XP team and the non-XP team. Observed behavior suggests that certain features of the XP methodology lead to greater uniformity in work routine and work practice across individual team members. The data also suggest that the XP methodology makes awareness development and maintenance less effortful on a software development team.

http://www.business.queensu.ca/kbe This paper was commissioned by the Queen’s Management Research Centre for Knowledge-Based Enterprises and is part of a Framework Series established to organize existing research and identify key research issues for future investigation. The series can be found at

This paper has not undergone formal review or approval of the faculty of the ILR School. It is intended to make results of Center research available to others interested in preliminary form to encourage discussion and suggestions. Page 1Measuring Organizational Performance WP 98-24 A major challenge for Strategic Human Resource Management research in the next decade will be to establish a clear, coherent and consistent construct for organizational performance. This paper describes the variety of measures used in current empirical research linking human resource management and organizational performance. Implications for future research are discussed amidst the challenges of construct definition, divergent stakeholder criteria and the temporal dynamics of performance. A model for performance information markets to address these challenges is introduced. The model uses a multi-dimensional weighted performance measurement system and a free information flow exchange mechanism for determining performance achievement criteria.

(Editor), and three of this journal’s anonymous reviewers for their invaluable comments on earlier drafts of this article. Page 1A Theoretical Exploration WP 97-22