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Chapter 14: Jobs and the Design of Work

Terms in this set (57)

Learning Objectives
Differentiate between job and work.

Discuss the traditional approaches to job design.

Identify and describe alternative approaches to job design.

Identify and describe contemporary issues facing organizations in the design of work.
Learning Outcome 1
Differentiate between job and work
Job
A set of specified work and task activities that engage an individual in an organization
Ways of Thinking about Jobs
Organization position
Career
Organization position
A job in relation to other parts of the organization
Career
A sequence of job experiences over time
Work
Mental or physical activity that has productive results
Meaning of work
The way a person interprets and understand the value of work as a part of life
Six Patterns of Work
Value comes from performance
Accountability is important
...
Provides personal affect and identity
...
Profit accrues to other by work performance
...
Physical activity directed by others and performed in a workplace
...
Generally unpleasant, physically and mentally strenuous activity
...
Activity constrained to specific time periods
No positive affect through its performance
Learning Outcome 2
Discuss the traditional approaches to job design
Traditional approaches to job design
Job Enrichment
Scientific Management
Job Enlargement/Job Rotation
Job Characteristics Theory
Ways of Thinking about Jobs
Emphasizes work simplification
--Standardization and the narrow, explicit specification of task activities for workers

Limits number of tasks
Tasks are designed so worker doesn't have to think

+Allows diverse groups to work together

+Leads to production efficiency and higher profits

-Undervalues the capacity for thought and ingenuity
Job Enlargement
Increases the number of activities in a job to overcome the boredom of overspecialized work
Job Rotation
Workers are exposed to a variety of specialized jobs over time
Cross-Trianing
Workers are trained in different specialized tasks or activities
Advantages and Disadvantages of Job Enlargement/Rotation
+Overcome boredom and lack of variety of highly specialized jobs

+Overcomes underutilization and lack of stimulation

-Need to make sure that workers see the consequences of their decisions moving on to the next task
Job Enrichment
Designing or redesigning jobs by incorporating motivational factors

+Increases recognition, responsibility and opportunity for achievement

- Only certain jobs should be enriched
Job Characteristics Theory
Emphasizes the interaction between the individual and specific attributes of the job

A worker's values, religious beliefs and ethnic background influence response to the job
Job Diagnostic Survey
Survey instrument designed to measure the elements in the Job Characteristics Model
Engagement
The expression of oneself as one performs in work or other roles
Learning Outcome 3
Identify and describe alternative approaches to job design
Social Information Processing (SIP) Model
A model that suggests that the important job factors depend in part on what others tell a person about the job
4 Premises of Social Information Processing Model
1) People provide cues to understanding the work environment

2) People help us judge our job

3) People tell us how they see our jobs

4) People's positive and negative feedback help us understand our feelings about our jobs
Ergonomics
The science of adapting work and working conditions to the employee or worker
Interdisciplinary Approach
Mechanistic
Motivational
Biological
Perceptual/motor
Outcomes of Various Job Design Approaches

Mechanistic Advantages
Decreased training time

Higher utilization level

Lower error likelihood

Less mental overload

Lower stress levels
Mechanistic Disadvantages
Lower job satisfaction

Lower motivation

Higher absenteeism
Motivational Approach Advantages
Higher Job Satisfaction

Higher motivation

Greater job involvement

Higher job performance

Lower absenteeism
Motivational Approach Disadvantages
Increased training time

Lower personnel utilization

Greater chance of errors

Greater chance of mental overload and stress
Biological Approach Advantages
Less physical effort

Less physical fatigue

Fewer healthy complaints

Fewer medical incidents

Lower absenteeism

Higher job satisfaction
Biological Approach Disadvantages
Higher financial costs because of changes in equipment or job environment
Perceptual Motor Approach Advantages
Lower error likelihood

Lower accident likelihood

Less mental stress

Decreased training time

Higher utilization levels
Perceptual Motor Approach
Lower job satisfaction
Lower motivation
International Perspectives on the Design of Work

The Japanese Approach
Emphasizes strategic level

Encourages collective and cooperative working arrangement

Emphasizes lean production
Lean Production
Using committed employees with ever-expanding responsibilities to achieve zero waste, 100 percent good product, delivered on time, every time
The German Approach
Technocentric
Anthrocentric
Technocentric
Placing technology and engineering at the center of job design decisions
Anthropocentric
Placing human considerations at the center of job design decisions
The Scandinavian Approach
Encourages high degrees of worker control

Encourages good social support systems for workers
Work Design and Well Being

Increase Control by:
Giving workers the opportunity to control several aspects of the work and the workplace

Designing machines and tasks with optimal response times and/or ranges

Implementing performance-monitoring systems as a source of relevant feedback to workers
Reduce Uncertainty by:
Providing employees with timely and complete information needed for their work

Making clear and unambiguous work assignments

Improving communication at shift change time

Increasing employee access to information sources
Manage conflict through
Participative decision making

Supportive supervisory styles

Having sufficient resources available to meet work demands, thus preventing conflict
Learning Outcome 4
Identify and describe contemporary issues facing organizations in the design of work
Emerging Issues in Design of Work

Telecommuting
Employees work at home or in other locations geographically separate from their company's main location
Alternative work patterns
Flextime
Job Sharing
Flextime
Enables employees to set their own daily work schedules
Job Sharing
An alternative work pattern in which there is more than one person occupying a single job
Technology
Concept involves work being where the people are, rather than people moving to where work is
Virtual Office
A mobile platform of computer, telecommunication, and information technology and services
Technostress
The stress cause by new and advancing technologies in the workplace
Skill Development
The knowledge and information requirement for jobs of the future are especially high
...
Motivational work characteristics and social support played a strong role in predicting job satisfaction
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