Comment on the need for flexibility in both the workforce and capital equipment. What process types and production situations require greater flexibility?

What will be an ideal response?

As the authors indicate, high task divergence and flexible process flows require more flexibility of the process's resources — its employees, facilities, and equipment. Employees need to perform a broad range of duties, and equipment must be general purpose. Otherwise, resource utilization will be too low for economical operations. Highly task divergent operations are required when customers have unique needs; casting these needs in the product-process matrix suggests that job processes and batch processes, both large and small, would benefit from flexibility. In the customer-contact matrix, both front office and hybrid office types would reap the benefits of greater worker and equipment flexibility.