Transcript Chapter 14 Jobs & the Design of Work Nelson & Quick

Chapter 14
Jobs & the Design of Work
Nelson & Quick
Job Compared to Work
Job - a set of specified work and task
activities that engage an individual in an
organization
Work - mental or physical activity that has
productive results
Meaning of Work - the way a person
interprets and understands the value of
work as part of life f life
A - value comes from
personal
affect &
C - profit
accrues to identity
others by
work
performance
D - physical
activity
directed by
others and
performed
in a
E - generally
workplace
unpleasant
physically &
mentally
strenuous
F - activity constrained
activity
to specific time periods;
no positive affect through
its performance
performance.
Accountability
is important
Six
Patterns
of Work
B - provides
Scientific
Management
Job
Characteristics
Traditional
Approaches to Job Design
Job
Enrichment
Job
enlargement/
Job rotation
Scientific
Management
Emphasizes work simplification
(standardization and the narrow,
explicit specification of task
activities for workers)
+ Allows diverse groups
to work together
+ leads to production
efficiency
and higher profits
- Undervalues the human
capacity for thought and
ingenuity
Job enlargement - a method of job
design that increases the number of
activities in a job to overcome the
boredom of overspecialized work
Job rotation - a variation of job
enlargement in which workers are
exposed to a variety of specialized jobs
over time
Cross-training - a variation of job
enlargement in which workers
Job
are trained in different
enlargement
specialized tasks or activities
Job rotation
Job enrichment - designing or
redesigning jobs by incorporating
motivational factors into them
Emphasis is on
recognition,
responsibility,
and
advancement
Job
opportunity
Enrichment
Job
Characteristics
Job Characteristics Model a framework for understanding
of core job dimensions with critical
psychological states within a
person
Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) the survey instrument designed to
measure the elements in the job
Characteristics Model
Five Core Job Characteristics
Motivating Potential Score
Skill + Task + Task
variety identity significance
MPS =
3
x [Autonomy] x [Feedback]
Job Characteristics Model
Core job
dimensions
Skill variety
Task identity
Task significance
Autonomy
Feedback
Critical
psychological
states
Experienced work’s
meaningfulness
Experienced
responsibility
for work’s outcomes
Knowledge of work
activities’ results
Employee
growth, need,
strength
Personal and
work outcomes
High internal
work motivation
High quality
work performance
High satisfaction
with the work
Low absenteeism
and turnover
J.R. Hackman and G.R. Oldham, “The Relationship Among Core Job Dimensions, the
Critical Psychological States, and On-the-Job Outcomes,” The Job Diagnostic Survey: An
Instrument for the Diagnosis of Jobs and the Evaluation of Job Redesign Projects, 1974.
Reprinted by permission of Greg R. Oldham.
Social Information Processing
(SIP) model
SIP Model - a model that suggests that the
important job factors depend in part on what
others tell a person about the job
Four premises
1) people provide cues to understanding
the work environment
2) people help us judge our jobs
3) people tell us how they see our jobs
4) people’s positive & negative feedback
help us understand our feelings about our jobs
Interdisciplinary Approach
Mechanistic
Motivational
Biological
Perceptual/motor
No one approach can solve all performance
problems caused by poorly designed jobs
Outcomes of Various Job Design Approaches
Decreased training time
Higher utilization levels
Lower error likelihood
Less mental overload
Lower stress levels
Higher job satisfaction
Higher motivation
Greater job involvement
Higher job performance
Lower absenteeism
+
Mechanistic
+
-
Approach
Lower job satisfaction
Lower motivation
Higher absenteeism
Motivational
Approach
-
Increased training time
Lower personnel utilization
Greater chance of errors
Greater chance of mental
overload and stress
Outcomes of Various Job Design Approaches
Less physical effort
Less physical fatigue
Fewer health complaints
Fewer medical incidents
Lower absenteeism
Higher job satisfaction
High job satisfaction
Higher motivation
Greater job involvement
Higher job performance
Lower absenteeism
+
Biological
+
-
Approach
Higher financial costs
because of changes
in equipment or
job environment
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
arrangements
– Emphasizes lean
production
International Perspectives on the
Design of Work
The German Approach
– Technocentric - Placing
technology and engineering at
the center of job design decisions
(traditional German Approach)
– Anthropocentric - Placing
human considerations at the
center of job design decisions
(more recent German approach)
International Perspectives on the
Design of Work
The Scandinavian Approach
– encourages high degrees of
worker control
– encourages good social
support systems for workers
Scientific approaches Levels of
of labor sciences
evaluation
of human
work
View
from
natural
science
Primarily
oriented
to
individuals
View
from
cultural
studies
Primarily
oriented
to
groups
Problem areas &
assignment to
disciplines
Technical, anthropoPracticability metric, & psychophysical
problems
Technical, physiological,
Endurability & medical problems
Economical &
sociological
Acceptability problems
Sociopsychological &
Worker
economic problems
Satisfaction
H. Luczak, “’Good Work’ Design: An Ergonomic, Industrial Engineering Perspective,” in J.C. Quick,
L.R. Murphy, and J. J. Hurrell, eds. Stress and Well-Being at Work (Washington, D.C.): American
Psychological Association. Repreinted by permission.
Work Design and Well-Being:
To increase control in work organizations
• Give workers the opportunity to control
aspects of work & workplace
• Design machines and tasks with optimal
response times and/or ranges
• Implement performance-monitoring
systems as source of worker feedback
Work Design and Well-Being:
To reduce uncertainty
• Provide employees with timely and
complete work information needed
• Make clear and unambiguous work
assignments
• Improve communication at shift change
time
• Increase employee access to
information sources
Work Design and Well-Being:
To manage conflict
• Use participative decision making to
reduce conflict
• Use supportive supervisory styles to
resolve conflict
• Provide sufficient resource availability to
meet work demands, thus preventing
conflict
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
– Job sharing - an alternative work pattern in which
there is more than one person occupying a single
job
– Flextime - an alternative work pattern through
which employees can set their own daily work
schedules
Emerging Issues in Design of Work
• Technology at work
– 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
• Task revision - the modification of incorrectly
specified roles or jobs
• Skill development
Performance Consequences of Role Behaviors
Role
Characteristics
Standard
Role
Behavior
Extra-role
Behavior
Counter-role
Behavior
Correctly Specified Role
Ordinary good
performance
Excellent performance
(organizational
citizenship and prosocial
behavior)
Poor performance
(deviance, dissent, and
grievance)
Incorrectly Specified
Role
Poor performance
Very Poor
performance
(bureaucratic zeal)
Excellent performance
(task revision and
redirection, role
innovation)
Counter-role behavior - deviant behavior in either a correctly
or incorrectly defined job or role
Republished with permission of Academy of Management, PO Box 3020, Briar Cliff Manor, NY 10510-8020. “Task Revision:
A Neglected Form of Work Performance,” (Table), R. M. Straw & R. D. Boettger, Academy of Management Journal, 1990, Vol. 33.
Reproduced by permission of the publisher via Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.
The Manager’s Task: Fit the Jobs to
the People Who Are Doing Them