One of the lecture topics this week is abstraction and "black box" processes. The idea is that a work process can usually be broken up into multiple subprocesses, and each subprocess can probably also be broken up into subprocesses. Responsibility for the completion of a task within a subprocess can be delegated without needing to know the details of how it will be completed. These ideas can sometimes be better understood by drawing a comparison to a human process. Can you think of an example of a simple-seeming request that requires delegation of responsibility at many levels to get it done? What are some of the steps in the process you have selected? How many people are involved? What do they do? Can some of those steps be swapped out for an equivalent option without affecting the final result? What decisions need to be made at each level and what decisions can be delegated to someone at the next level down in granularity? How is the work split up?
I used to work at Tiffany & Co. when I was attending my radiation therapy program in Richmond, VA. I loved helping customers select and purchase engagement rings. When reading what this discussion post entailed it made me think about the process of engagement ring buying and decided to write about it from the point of view of the customer. The customer would come in and discuss the aspects (color, cut, clarity, carat weight, sourcing, etc.) of Tiffany diamonds with the sales professional (SP) and decide on what the perfect ring would be for them and what they would like to see. The SP would then look in the computer system to see what stores had the rings and would send those store a transfer request to bring the rings in for the customer to see. From here the SP is relying on the stores they sent the transfer request to to complete the request correctly. The operations associate at the stores that receive the transfer requests would delegate the task of locating the ring to a SP and after finding the ring they would have an operations associate box up the ring and process a shipping label to the requesting store. Once the rings arrive to the store the SP sets up a time for the customer to come in and view the rings. If the SP is not available when the customer wants to come in the SP informs the store manager or the store director and delegates the task of presenting the rings to the customer and processing the sale. After the customer selects and purchases the perfect ring it gets sent out the master jewelers in New York to be sized. The SP will send an alteration request with the ring to tell the master jewelers what size they would like them to make the ring and then they essentially don't have to think about it until it arrives back at the store or to the customer. There are many steps in this process that rely on people in various departments to complete correctly to make sure the customer is getting the perfect ring to propose with. Although there may be some substitutions that could be made during this process, for example the operations associate could locate the ring instead of delegating it to the SP, many of the steps must be completed by that specific individual because of how the work and skill represents the Tiffany & Co. name, for example the master jeweler that studies for five years as an apprentice before they can work on customer merchandise. Even with all the steps in this seemingly simple process I loved being able to help someone find the perfect engagement ring!