7-1 Design of Work Systems

Operations Management

William J. Stevenson

8th edition
7-2 Design of Work Systems
7-3 Design of Work Systems

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
7-4 Design of Work Systems

Design of Work Systems

 Specialization
 Behavioral Approaches to Job Design
 Teams
 Methods Analysis
 Motions Study
 Working conditions
7-5 Design of Work Systems

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 Design of Work Systems

Specialization in Business: Advantages

Table 7.1

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 Design of Work Systems

Disadvantages
Table 7.1

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 Design of Work Systems

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 Design of Work Systems

Motivation and Trust

 Motivation
 Influences quality and productivity
 Contributes to work environment

 Trust
 Influences productivity and employee-
management relations
7-10 Design of Work Systems

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 Design of Work Systems

Methods Analysis

 Methods analysis
 Analyzing how a job gets done
 Begins with overall analysis

 Moves to specific details

7-12 Design of Work Systems

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 Design of Work Systems

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 Design of Work Systems

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
7-15 Design of Work Systems

Figure 7-2

ion
ent
n
FLOW PROCESS CHART ANALYST PAGE

tio

age
ect
vem

ay
Job Requisition of petty cash D. Kolb 1 of 2

era

Stor
Del
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
7-16 Design of Work Systems

Motion Study

Motion study is the systematic

study of the human motions used
to perform an operation.
7-17 Design of Work Systems

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
7-18 Design of Work Systems

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
7-19 Design of Work Systems

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
7-20 Design of Work Systems

Working Conditions (cont’d)

Noise & Vibration Work Breaks

Safety Causes of Accidents

7-21 Design of Work Systems

Work Measurement

 Standard time
 Stopwatch time study
 Historical times
 Predetermined data
 Work Sampling
7-22 Design of Work Systems

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
7-23 Design of Work Systems

Form of Incentive Plan

 Accurate
 Easy to apply
 Consistent
 Easy to understand
 Fair
7-24 Design of Work Systems

Compensation

 Individual Incentive Plans

 Group Incentive Plans
 Knowledge-Based Pay System
 Management Compensation