Arab British Academy for Higher Education

Thetechniquesofjobdesign Therearemanytechniquesofjobdesign,butforthepurposeofthiscourseweareonly concernedwiththetechniquesofjobenlargement,jobenrichmentandjobrotation. Jobenlargement

Thisisthehorizontalexpansionofthecontentofajob,whichisachievedbyincreasingthenumberand varietyoftaskswhichareassociatedwithit.Whenjobenlargementiscarriedoutinanorganisation, workersaregivenanopportunitytoperformawiderrangeoftasksatthesamelevel.Forexample,a factoryworker,whopreviouslywasjustinstallingatube,maygettheopportunitytoassembletheentire televisionset. Thistechniquehasachievedsomepositiveresults,butithasthemajor disadvantagethatalthoughthenumberoftasksavailabletotheindividualis greater,theymaybejustasroutineanddullasthebasicjob.

Jobenrichment. Jobenrichmentistheverticalexpansionofajobsoastoincluderesponsibilitiesata higherlevel.Theworkermayplanhisownworkscheduleandbegivensomedecision makingpowers.Forexample,aclerkmaybegivenapprovaltosignlettersonbehalfof themanagerwithoutalllettershavingfirsttobeapprovedbythelatter. Job enrichment does enhance job satisfaction and performance. However, there are occasions when it fails to do so. The following are the main reasons foranyfailure:

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Arab British Academy for Higher Education

Themanagersaresometimesresistanttothedelegationofauthority.Inotherwords theyarehesitantinleavingcontrolandplanningofworktosubordinates. Thereareoccasionswhenjobenrichmentfailstomakeasignificantchangeinthejob content. Failuremayarisefromindividualdifferences.Someworkersdonotdesireenriched jobs;theyarequitehappyintheirownlittleworld. Itisnotpossibletoenrichalljobsbecauseoftechnologicallimitations.Forexample, productioninanassemblyplantcannotbemodifiedexceptatconsiderablecost. Jobrotation Jobrotationisverysimilartojobenlargement,butinsteadofgivingtheworkersmore taskstoperform,theirjobsareswitched,atregularintervals,withthoseofother workers.Theschemepossessesthesameadvantagesanddisadvantagesasjob enlargement. AllRightsReservedArabBritishAcademyforHigherEducation

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