Organizational systems barriers to engineering effectiveness

An approach to the design of surveys for detecting organizational systems barriers that suppress effectiveness of engineers is presented. The approach views organizations as open systems and specifies the conditions necessary for engineers to be effective within the content of the larger systems. A survey of engineers is conducted to determine where organizational systems pose barriers to effectiveness and estimate the cost impact of these barriers. One application to a large design engineering unit is presented. The results reveal substantial barriers to effectiveness, removal of which could save the company millions of dollars annually mainly in reduced warranty and manufacturing costs. The survey approach and its underlying model of productive organizational systems appear to provide a tool for measuring barriers to effectiveness of engineers and white collar workers generally.