Question

Organizational Behaviour class.

Give an example of each of the four types of Task Interdependence:

1- Comprehensive Interdependence.

2- Reciprocal Interdependence.

3- Pooled Interdependence.

4- Sequential Interdependence.

Answer 1

The mandatory interdependence of two or more than two employees in a production or manufacturing unit for completing the tasks or project is termed as task independence. Talking in a broader context, task interdependence may also mean the way in which the different units rely upon each other while producing the goods. The American scholar James Thomson first identified three different types of interdependences including Sequential, Pooled and Reciprocal Interdependence. The fourth type is Comprehensive Interdependence.

Comprehensive Interdependence-Production units exhibiting comprehensive interdependence have the greatest levels of coordination and interaction among the employees or business units. The members of the units also have a greater degree of discretion towards whom they actually interact with and their job responsibilities. There is no place for group thinking while the employees have the highest degree of empowerment.

Comprehensive Independence is the most complex of all kind of interdependences. The team members interact with each other directly (just like in reciprocal interdependence) but the interactions are more intense, frequent and of greater time periods and duration. Brand Management business services that oversee the development of new products for leading brands (like Sony or Colgate Palmolive) exhibit comprehensive interdependence amongst team members including production engineers, market researchers, product designers and sale representatives, all of which have a two-way relationship and form a completely connected network.

Pooled Interdependence- In this kind of interdependence, the employees work on the task independently but the project is completed as a result of pooling of all the work. For instance, in a firm that produces clothes, the different employees may use the same machines for sewing, cutting or dying the fabrics. All the items produced by the different employees are later packed into a single box and the finished goods are shipped. While each worker can independently manufacture the fabrics without any assistance from another worker, the end production goals are only met by combined efforts.

Sequential Interdependence- In this kind of interdependence the workers have to work on set, given or prescribed lines for producing the end product. Employees working in the assembly lines of an Automobile manufacturing company are exhibits of sequential interdependence.

Reciprocal interdependence-The team members work on a specific task in reciprocal interdependence, much like sequential interdependence. But here there is no prescribed sequence or chronological order of doing the job and producing the goods. Interrelationships are profound and very strong in reciprocal interdependence tasks, and the credit of doing a job of one employee may go to another. All the units or members are required for producing the end product and the absence of even one employee or business unit will be detrimental for the project. The item may pass back and forth between two employees, techies or units until the best outcome is achieved. For instance, in a factory producing cars, the frame may pass in between the steelworkers and the electronic technician several times for proper manufacturing of the end product. Customized House Designer teams or business services also require professional inputs from different units including Architect, Contractor, Electrician, Plumbers and others.