Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Therefore, a 'good' organization is one that can be suited to one's
needs. It is an organization that can be adapted to the various situations
that will have to be managed (Coutarel and Petit, 2009; Petit and Coutarel,
this volume), an organization that 'agents invent every day, as much to
produce a quality service, as to support their exchanges' (de Terssac, 2003,
p. 133, our translation).
Supporting agents in the redesign of organizations:
Co-constructive analysis of work practices
To consider an organization as something that can be 'suited to one's
needs' means to infer the existence of two processes with important
methodological consequences. On the one hand, operators must appro-
priate the artifact and revise it so as to facilitate its everyday use. On the
other hand, this appropriation is potentially a source of the redesign of
the organization by the operators themselves. This process of redesign
may be facilitated or inhibited, depending on the possibilities offered by
the structure - in particular, by the possibility of engaging in a discussion
about the adjustments produced by the work of organization, using the
design criteria contained within the proposed artifact. These two move-
ments are at the root of an enabling environment. They will have to be
identified and supported whenever necessary.
To achieve this, we propose a methodology that we term 'co-
constructive analysis of work practices', which will be described in this
section. Its goal is to implement and support a reflective practice (Mollo
and Nascimento, this volume) based on observable practices. In so doing,
it aims to support the gradual redesign of an organization following a
developmental perspective, and a four-stage framework. The goal is first
to identify existing resources - both individual and organizational - as
well as the conversion factors that facilitate or prevent the effective use of
these resources (stages 1 and 2). Based on this diagnosis, the goal is then
to implement a system to start up positive, sustainable conversion factors
(stage 3). Finally, it is necessary to observe the effects of the approach in
terms of both individuals' concrete achievements and artifact modifica-
tions (stage 4).
The methodology is presented below and illustrated by an ergonomic
intervention carried out within a context of organizational change (illus-
trations appear in text inserts). The company in which the intervention
took place chose to regroup its support functions: the payroll departments
of its various establishments and subsidiary companies had been gath-
ered together in a Shared Service Centre (SSC). A SSC is a legally inde-
pendent entity that carries out some or all of the tasks related to one or
