Design of

Work Systems
 Learning Objectives
 Explain the importance of work design.
 Briefly describe the two basic approaches to job
design.
 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of
specialization.
 Explain the term knowledge-based pay.
 Explain the purpose of methods analysis and
describe how methods studies are performed.
 Describe four commonly used techniques for
motion study.

7-2
 Learning Objectives
 Discuss the impact of working conditions
on job design.
 Define a standard time.
 Describe and compare time study methods
and perform calculations.
 Describe work sampling and perform
calculations.
 Compare stopwatch time study and work
sampling.
 Contrast time and output pay systems.
7-3
 Job Design

 Job design involves specifying the

content and methods of job
 What will be done
 Who will do the job
 How the job will bob will be done
 Where the job will be done
 Ergonomics: Incorporation of human factors
in the design of the workplace

7-4
 Design of Work Systems
 Specialization
 Behavioral Approaches to Job Design
 Teams
 Methods Analysis
 Motions Study
 Working conditions

7-5
 Job Design Success

Successful Job Design must be:

 Carried out by experienced personnel
with the necessary training and
background
 Consistent with the goals of the
organization
 In written form
 Understood and agreed to by both
management and employees
7-6
Specialization in Business: Advantages

For Management: For Labor:

1. Simplifies training 1. Low education and
skill requirements
2. High productivity
2. Minimum
3. Low wage costs
responsibilities
3. Little mental effort
needed

7-7
 Disadvantages

For Management: For Labor:

1. Difficult to motivate 1. Monotonous work
quality 2. Limited opportunities
2. Worker dissatisfaction, for advancement
possibly resulting in 3. Little control over work
absenteeism, high
4. Little opportunity for
turnover, disruptive
self-fulfillment
tactics, poor attention
to quality

7-8
 Behavioral Approaches to Job
Design
 Job Enlargement
 Giving a worker a larger portion of the total
task by horizontal loading
 Job Rotation
 Workers periodically exchange jobs
 Job Enrichment
 Increasing responsibility for planning and
coordination tasks, by vertical loading

7-9
 Motivation and Trust
 Motivation
 Influences quality and productivity
 Contributes to work environment
 Trust
 Influences productivity and employee-
management relations

7-10
 Teams
 Benefits of teams
 Higher quality
 Higher productivity
 Greater worker satisfaction
 Self-directed teams
 Groups of empowered to make certain
changes in their work process

7-11
 Methods Analysis
 Methods analysis
 Analyzing how a job gets done
 Begins with overall analysis
 Moves to specific details

7-12
 Methods Analysis
The need for methods analysis can come
from a number of different sources:
 Changes in tools and equipment
 Changes in product design
or new products
 Changes in materials or procedures
 Other factors (e.g. accidents, quality
problems)

7-13
Methods Analysis Procedure
1.Identify the operation to be studied
2.Get employee input
3.Study and document current
method
4.Analyze the job
5.Propose new methods
6.Install new methods
7.Follow-up to ensure improvements
have been achieved
7-14
 Selecting an Operation
 Selecting a job to study consider:
 High labor content
 Done frequently
 Unsafe
 Tiring
 Unpleasant
 Noisy
 Designated problem

7-15
 Analyzing the Job
 Flow process chart
 Chart used to examine the overall
sequence of an operation by focusing on
movements of the operator or flow of
materials
 Worker-machine chart
 Chart used to determine portions of a
work cycle during which an operator and
equipment are busy or idle

7-16
 ion
ent
tion
FLOW PROCESS CHARTANALYST PAGE

ge
ect
vem

ay
Job Requisition of petty cash

era
D. Kolb 1 of 2

a
p

Stor
De l
Ins
Mo
Op
Details of Method
Requisition made by department head
Put in “pick-up” basket
To accounting department
Account and signature verified
Amount approved by treasurer
Amount counted by cashier
Amount recorded by bookkeeper
Petty cash sealed in envelope
Petty cash carried to department
Petty cash checked against requisition
Receipt signed
Petty cash stored in safety box

7-17
 Motion Study

Motion study is the systematic

study of the human motions used
to perform an operation.

7-18
 Motion Study Techniques
 Motion study principles - guidelines for
designing motion-efficient work procedures
 Analysis of therbligs - basic elemental
motions into which a job can be broken down
 Micromotion study - use of motion pictures
and slow motion to study motions that
otherwise would be too rapid to analyze
 Charts
 Therbligs

7-19
 Developing Work Methods
1. Eliminate unnecessary motions
2. Combine activities
3. Reduce fatigue
4. Improve the arrangement of the
workplace
5. Improve the design of tools and
equipment

7-20
 Therbligs
 Therbligs: Basic elemental motions that
make up a job.
 Search
 Select
 Grasp
 Hold
 Transport load
 Release load

7-21
 Working Conditions
T e m p e ra tu re & V e n t ila t io n
H u m id it y

I llu m in a t io n C o lo r

7-22
 Working Conditions (cont’d)
Noise & Vibration Work Breaks

Safety Causes of Accidents

7-23
 Work Measurement
 Work measurement: Determining how
long it should take to do a job.
 Standard time
 Stopwatch time study
 Historical times
 Predetermined data
 Work Sampling

7-24
 Standard time

Standard time:
The amount of time it should take a qualified
worker to complete a specific task, working at a
sustainable rate, using given methods, tools and
equipment, raw materials, and workplace
arrangement.

7-25
 Stopwatch Time Study
 Stopwatch Time Study: Development of a
time standard based on observations of
one worker taken over a number of cycles.
 The basic steps in a time study:
1. Define the task to be studied
2. Determine the number of cycles to observe
3. Time the job
4. Compute the standard time

7-26
 Standard Elemental Times
 Standard elemental times: Time
standards derived from a firm’s historical
data.
 Steps for standard elemental times
1. Analyze the job
2. Check file for historical times
3. Modify file times if necessary
4. Sum elemental times to get normal time

7-27
 Predetermined Time Standards
 Predetermined time standards: Published
data based on extensive research to
determine standard elemental times.
 Advantages:
1. Based on large number of workers under
controlled conditions
2. Analyst not requires to rate performance
3. No disruption of the operation
4. Standards can be established

7-28
 Work Sampling
 Work sampling: technique for estimating the
proportion of time that a worker or machine
spends on various activities and idle time.
 Work sampling involves making brief
observations of a worker or machine at
random intervals
 Work sampling does not require
 timing an activity
 continuous observation of an activity

7-29
 Compensation
 Time-based system
 Compensation based on time an
employee has worked during a pay period
 Output-based (incentive) system
 Compensation based on the amount of
output an employee produces during a
pay period

7-30
 Form of Incentive Plan

 Accurate
 Easy to apply
 Consistent
 Easy to understand
 Fair

7-31
 Compensation
 Individual Incentive Plans
 Group Incentive Plans
 Knowledge-Based Pay
System
 Management Compensation

7-32