Northeast State University

Case: Northeast State University

The Science Department at Northeast State University houses functional areas: operations management, quantitative methods, statistics, and information systems. The student’s enrollment and faculty member increased within the last three years; however the administrative staff to support the department remained the same. Unfortunately, this caused difficulties for the administrative staff to do their primary duties. As new faculty members were added the workload increased for the administrative staff. The faculty members were under the impression that the administrative staff wasted too much time doing other things instead of focusing on their primary job responsibilities. However, the chairman of the Science Department did not believe this was the case; therefore, he had to gather information about how about how the administrative assistants spent their time and compare the data from the faculty concerning the administrative assistants. In order to resolve the problem both the faculty and the administrative assistants suggested hiring additional administrative assistant; however due to budget restraints Dr. Bay decided to collect data to gain insight on the problem before making a decision. An analysis will discuss ways in which Dr. Bay can use the collected data, recommend ways the administrative assistant’s jobs can be changed to make better use of their time and be more supportive to the facility, assess the benefits and consequences of the recommendations, and recommend ways the faculty can change work habits to reduce the burden on the administrative assistants.

Estimates of Administrative Assistants' Use of Time

Activity Faculty Estimate (%) Work Sample (%)

Working on computer 20 40

Talking on phone 25 7

Away from office 20 10

Talking with faculty 2 8

Talking with others 15 10

Filing 3 5

Photocopying 5 15

Other 10 5

Discuss the ways in which Dr. Bay can use the data he collected.

Dr. Bay can use the data to redesign jobs for his department in order to improve efficiency and win back the confidence of his staff and that of the administrative assistants who seem to bear the burden of the accusations. This is the Decisions Science Department of Northeast State University which has revealed itself as a good harbinger of poor job design. Those raising the dust belong to the academic staff which thinks that the administrative assistants are not doing enough to satisfy their needs. The administration on the other hand is convinced