Videos on making the organization more effective

Lynette Lim, Hon Sui Sen Memorial Library

The past two decades have seen monumental changes in the way organizations, competitiveness and management are viewed. Executives, managers and workers now give more thought to organizational practices such as teamwork, empowerment and continuous improvement. Organizations must continue to keep themselves at the top by utilizing new products and new technology. They have to adapt to changes, innovate and respond quickly to customer demands, meet the goals of speed, quality, flexibility and low cost in today's global economy. All organizations face uncertainty and they have to learn to cope with it to survive.

The Hon Sui Sen Memorial Library (HL) provides videos that address these issues. These videos are available at the Information Counter and can be viewed in the library during office hours. Please quote the stack numbers when requesting for the videos. Highlighted here are selected videos from Organizational effectiveness audiovisual collection : an annotated bibliography with call number Z7164 Org.Li and location HL Reference, CL Sing/Mal Coll and CL Reference.

Expanding value building loyalty.
Harvard Business School Video, 1995.
1 videocassette (21 min.) (VHS PAL)
Stack number : HVC1092

While satisfied customers are essential to the success of businesses, loyal customers are essential to sustained industry leadership. Many companies believe that providing continuous improved products and services at competitive prices is sufficient. Other companies provide frequent user programs and preferred discounts. But none of these significantly increases long-term customer loyalty. This video portrays how the company Pioneer Hi-Bred International made a fundamental, strategic shift in their understanding of and relationship with their customers. It looks at why and how Pioneer transformed itself from a supplier of seed to a provider of information services critical to meeting customersÕ individual business needs. As a result, Pioneer developed long-term, trusting relationships with customers. Viewers of the video will learn how understanding customersÕ unique needs can redefine a business by creating new business opportunities; how personalized services can create expanding and enduring relationships with customers and why expanding value and building loyalty must begin with the initial interactions with prospective customers.

Mind matters : creating a brain-based organization.
American Management Association, 1995.
1 videocassette (22 min.) (VHS PAL)
Stack number : HVC1128

In today's society of knowledge, remaining competitive requires innovative approaches. This video introduces the brain-based approach that will provide companies the competitive edge today and in the future. A brain-based organization is one which uses the knowledge of its employees to create constant innovation in its processes, products and services. The brain-based approach emphasizes constant innovation by using the collective knowledge and intelligence of the organization's workforce. The three companies profiled in this video are : Custom Clothing Technology Corporation, a small start-up company in Newton, Massachusetts ; EG & G, an older, established firm in Salem, Massachusetts and Enterprise Systems, Inc., a medium-sized, young company in Wheeling, Illinois. The video shows, through the case studies, how the concept can positively affect an organization's ability to stay competitive. When markets shift, technologies proliferate, competitors multiply and products become obsolete. In a brain-based organization, ideas transform standardized organizational processes into fast, flexible, cost-effective methods that can respond quickly to marketplace opportunities and individual customer's needs.

Scenario thinking : pathways to the future.
Compass Films International, 1995.
1 videocassette (27 min.) (VHS PAL)
Stack number : HVC1134

The traditional way organizations cope with uncertainty has been to eliminate it using research, analysis and defining a goal and then putting available resources behind achieving it. But change has become too rapid and unpredictable for the uncertainty it creates to be planned. Scenario thinking replaces the false certainty of single track thinking by facing up to the multiple possibilities that an uncertain future holds. Scenario thinking can inject realism into all sorts of management activities from target setting to team building and from problem solving to project management. The video can be used to enrich the training of managers by applying the principles of scenario thinking in their jobs. When teams and their leaders sit down together to plan the future and review progress, scenario thinking will help them avoid getting locked in a single-track view. This video supports scenario thinking at senior management level. The approach which each organization takes to planning long-term strategy has to be custom designed to fit its particular circumstances. The video outlines how scenario thinking should be integrated into that process.

The race without a finish line.
CRM Films, 1994.
1 videocassette (10 min.) (VHS NTSC)
Stack number : HVC1154

The basic message of this video is one of strengthening teamwork and finding ways to improve. The shift from the traditional organizational life to todayÕs competitive, uncertain and turbulent environment has been challenging and invigorating. This animated video explores the underlying realities that made TQM an undisputed reality in organizations worldwide. The changes confronting organizations were brought about as a result of changes in world markets, customer perceptions and global competition. Through the guise of a charming parable, the video captures the sense of helplessness and confusion organizational members share during the shift to Total Quality. Because of the imaginative approach, viewers are encouraged to become engaged in the story, learning that constant change and continuous improvement are new ways of thinking and working.

Understanding reengineering : with Dr Michael Hammer.
Hammer Videos, 1994.
1 videocassette (85 min.) (VHS PAL)
Stack number : HVC1098

This video introduces the concepts of reengineering and shows how seven organizations have successfully put reengineering to work. Reengineering is a radical design or starting over of business processes for dramatic improvement. Instead of changing or modifying existing ways of working, radical design means starting over with a blank sheet of paper. Dramatic improvement refers to a quantum leap in performance, that is, a tenfold increase in productivity or an 80% reduction in cycle time. Reengineering is a business improvement program that is not automation, cutting fat, downsizing, fixing or making marginal changes. Through the video, viewers learn that reengineering is about starting from scratch where employees do away with many long-held beliefs, daring to be bold and radical, and being innovative in business processes. It is vital, urgent and necessary for business success in the future.

The power of change.
Change Lab International, 1992.
2 videocassettes (47 min.) (VHS PAL)
Stack number : HVC 1044

These two videos aim to help members of organizations come to terms with and gain control over the changes that are sweeping through our economy. The first video, The management revolution, provides viewers an explanation why people in business, government or not-for-profit organizations often feel stressed. The concept of the 'molecular organization' is introduced as a new way of visualizing the organization, a new form to replace the old pyramid. This video shows the enormous changes we are going through and these changes are unpredictable and beyond our control.
The second video, Reinventing the organization, answers the question 'Now that I know what is underlying this change, how do I cope?' There are some simple rules that will give viewers a headstart into a major change and make the change much more effective. The anecdotes in the video are drawn from companies that have wrestled with changing to the fast-responding, more flexible molecular organization.
Many organizations have been introducing programs for change. These organizations have been trapped in the problem of taking new ideas and placing them in the context of the old managerial paradigm. As a result, they often faced failures, causing a sense of cynicism, skepticism and doubt in the business. Similarly, many organizations have been through major 'downsizing', whether driven by market pressure on costs or responding to the opportunities afforded by modern information-driven technologies. No one is untouched by change, yet there are still organizations that find difficulty in introducing effective change. Reinventing the organization is a first step in filling that void in management practice. It aims at helping organizations assess where they are at in their change and to bring issues that will help put change programs of all sorts on track for success.