Chapter 13

Nelson & Quick

Jobs & the Design of Work

Copyright 2005 by South-Western, a division of Thomson Learning. All rights reserved.

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
A - value comes from
performance;
accountability
is important
B - provides
personal
affect &
identity
C - profit
accrues to
others by
work
performance
D - physical
activity
directed by
others and
performed
in a
workplace
E - generally
unpleasant;
physically &
mentally
strenuous
activity
F - activity constrained
to specific time periods;
no positive affect through
its performance
Six
Patterns
of Work
Traditional
Approaches to
Job Design
Scientific
Management
Job
Characteristics
Theory
Job Enlargement/
Job Rotation
Job
Enrichment
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
Scientific
Management
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 are trained in different
specialized tasks or activities
Job Enlargement/
Job Rotation
Job Enrichment - designing or redesigning
jobs by incorporating motivational factors
into them


Job
Enrichment

Emphasis is on recognition,
responsibility, and
advancement opportunity


Job Characteristics Model -
a framework for understanding personjob fit
through the interaction 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
Job
Characteristics
Theory
Job Characteristics Model
Skill variety
Task identity
Task significance
Autonomy
Feedback
Core job
dimensions
Experienced works
meaningfulness
Experienced
responsibility
for works outcomes
Knowledge of work
activities results
Critical
psychological
states
High internal
work motivation
High-quality
work performance
High satisfaction
with the work
Low absenteeism
and turnover
Personal and
work outcomes
Employee
growth, need,
strength 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.
MPS =
Skill
variety
Task
identity
Task
significance
x [Autonomy] x [Feedback]
3
+ +
Five Core Job Characteristics


Motivating Potential Score
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) peoples positive & negative feedback
help us understand our feelings about our jobs

No one approach can solve all
performance problems caused by
poorly designed jobs
Interdisciplinary
Approach
Motivational

Perceptual/
motor


Biological
Mechanistic
Motivational
Approach
Mechanistic
Approach
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
Lower job satisfaction
Lower motivation
Higher absenteeism


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
Lower error likelihood
Lower accident likelihood
Less mental stress
Decreased training time
Higher utilization levels
Higher financial costs
because of changes
in equipment or
job environment

Lower job satisfaction
Lower motivation
Biological
Approach
Perceptual Motor
Approach
+
-
+
-
International Perspectives on
the Design of Work
The Japanese Approach
Emphasizes strategic level
Encourages collective and
cooperative working arrangements
Emphasizes lean production
lean production
Using committed employees with ever-
expanding responsibilities to achieve
zero waste, 100% good product,
delivered on time, every time
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
Problem areas &
assignment to
disciplines

Technical, anthropo-
metric, & psychophysical
problems
Technical, physiological,
& medical problems
Economical &
sociological
problems
Sociopsychological &
economic problems
Levels of
evaluation
of human
work

Practicability


Endurability


Acceptability

Satisfaction

Scientific approaches
of labor sciences
View
from
natural
science
Primarily
oriented
to
individuals
Primarily
oriented
to groups
View
from
cultural
studies
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
companys 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 that
enables employees to 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
Counter-Role Behavior - deviant behavior in either a correctly or
incorrectly defined job or role
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)
Performance Consequences of Role Behaviors
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 Distinguishing Feature of Job
Design in the Future