7-1

Design of Work Systems

Operations Management
BUMG 3107
Faculty of Business
Instructor: Dr. Suresh Subramoniam

LECTURE 8

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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 be done
Where the job will be done

Ergonomics is the incorporation of human factors

in the design of the workplace.

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Design of Work Systems

Design of Work Systems

Specialization- Work that concentrates on some

aspect of product or service

Behavioral Approaches to Job Design

Teams

Methods Analysis

Motions Study

Working conditions

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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

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Design of Work Systems

Specialization in Business: Advantages

Table 7.1

For Management:

For Labor:
1. Simplifies training 1. Low education and
2. High productivity
3. Low wage costs

skill requirements

2. Minimum
responsibilities
3. Little mental effort
needed

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Design of Work Systems

Disadvantages
Table 7.1

For Management:

For Labor:

1. Difficult to motivate
quality

1. Monotonous work

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

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Design of Work Systems

Behavioral Approaches to Job Design

Job Enlargement

Job Rotation

Giving a worker a larger portion of the total task by horizontal

loading. Eg. Making a worker responsible for sequence of
activities instead of one activity.
Workers periodically exchange jobs. This broadens their
learning experience. Helps fill up gaps during absence of other
workers.

Job Enrichment

Increasing responsibility for planning and coordination tasks, by

vertical loading. Eg. Stock clerks handling reordering of goods
at supermarkets

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Design of Work Systems

Motivation and Trust

Motivation
Influences quality and productivity
Contributes to work environment

Trust between management & workers

Influences productivity and employeemanagement relations
More responsibility is entrusted with the worker
only when the trust is more

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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

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Design of Work Systems

Methods Analysis

Methods analysis
Analyzing how a job gets done
Begins with overall analysis
Moves to specific details

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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

Governmental regulations

Other factors (e.g. accidents, quality

problems)

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Design of Work Systems

Methods Analysis Procedure

1.

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Identify the operation to be studied. Eg.

Jobs with high labor content, unsafe ,
frequently done
Get employee input
Study and document on current method
Analyze the job
Propose new methods
Install new methods
Follow-up to ensure improvements have
been achieved

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Design of Work Systems

Analyzing the Job

Flow process chart (Fig. 7.2)

Chart used to examine the overall sequence

of an operation by focusing on movements
of the operator or flow of materials

Worker-machine chart (Fig. 7.3)

Chart used to determine portions of a work

cycle during which an operator and
equipment are busy or idle

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

ge
Stor
a

Del

ay

ion
ect

Ins
p

Details of Method

en t

ANALYST PAGE
Job Requisition of petty cash D. Kolb 1 of 2

vem

FLOW PROCESS CHART

Mo

Figure 7-2

tion

Design of Work Systems

Op
era

7-14

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Design of Work Systems

Motion Study
Motion study is the systematic
study of the human motions used
to perform an operation.

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Design of Work Systems

Motion Study Techniques

Motion Study is the systematic study of human

motions used to perform an operation.

Motion study principles - guidelines for designing

motion-efficient work procedures

Analysis of therbligs - basic elemental motions

into which a job can be broken down. Eg. Search,
select, grasp, hold, transport, release load

Micromotion study - use of motion pictures and

slow motion to study motions that otherwise
would be too rapid to analyze

Charts SIMO Chart Fig. 7.4

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Design of Work Systems

Motion study principles

A.

Use of human body

- Both hands must begin, accomplish simultaneously and must not be idle
- Motion of hands must be symmetrical
- Continuous curved motion is preferable than straight line motion with
sharp turn
B. Arrangement and conditions of work place
- Fixed location for all tools and material to avoid therbligs in search and
select
- Gravity bins should be used to reduce reach and move times
C. The design of tools and equipment
- All levers handles and control devices must be readily accessible with the
required mechanical advantage
- Parts must be held by fixtures

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Design of Work Systems

Developing Work Methods

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Eliminate unnecessary motions

Combine activities
Reduce fatigue
Improve the arrangement of the workplace
Improve the design of tools and equipment

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Design of Work Systems

Working Conditions
T e m p e ra tu re &
H u m id it y

I llu m in a t io n

V e n t ila t io n

C o lo r

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Design of Work Systems

Working Conditions (contd)

Noise & Vibration

Work Breaks

Safety

Causes of Accidents

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Design of Work Systems

Work Measurement

Determines how long it will take to do a job

Standard time- The amount of time it

takes a qualified worker to complete a
specified task, working at a sustainable rate
using given methods, tools and equipment,
raw materials and workplace arrangement.

Stopwatch time study- Development of

time standards based on observations of
one worker taken over number of cycles

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Design of Work Systems

Determination of number of cycles

Example on Page 317

Number of cycles of observation = n = [(z.s) / (a.x)]2

where s= standard deviation of the sample time
a= desired accuracy percentage
x= sample mean of time
z= Number of normal deviations needed for
desired confidence, eg., z=90% confidence
then z= 1.65

Alternatively
Number of cycles of observation = n = [(z.s) / (e)]2
where e = maximum acceptable error in time units

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Design of Work Systems

Determination of Standard Time

1. Determine observed time (OT) = xi / n
where x= recorded time, n= no. of observations
2. Normal time (NT)= OT x PR
where PR= performance rating
3. Standard Time = NT x AF
where AF= Allowance Factor
AFjob= (1+A) where A is allowance based on job time
AFworkday= 1/(1-A) where A is allowance based on work day time

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Design of Work Systems

Standard elemental times

Time standards derived from a firms historical time
data

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Design of Work Systems

Predetermined Time standards

Published data based on extensive research standard
elemental times.
Advantages:
-Based on large no. of workers under controlled
conditions;
-Analyst not required to make performance rating;
-No disruption of operation;
-Standards can be established even before a job is
done;
Basic measurement unit is Time Measurement Unit
(TMU) which is .0006 minute or the wink of an eye

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Design of Work Systems

Work Sampling
Technique for estimating the proportion of time that
a worker or machine spends on various activities
and idle time

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Design of Work Systems

Example on Page 323

The manager of a supermarket chain tries to find proportion of time stock
clerk spend making price changes on previously marked merchandise.
The manager wants a 98% confidence that the resulting estimate will be
within 5% of the true value. What sample size should he use?
2

z
n p (1 p )
e
z No. of standard deviations
e Percentage error allowed from true value
n Sample size

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Design of Work Systems

Example contd.

Z 2.33
e 0.05 . Take the following for
the true proportion as follows

p 0.5

Revise value of p to new value after

20 observations. Recalculate " n"

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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

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Design of Work Systems

Form of Incentive Plan

Accurate

Easy to apply

Consistent

Easy to understand

Fair

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Design of Work Systems

Compensation

Individual Incentive Plans, piece rate

Group Incentive Plans, profit sharing

Knowledge-Based Pay System, based on

training undergone and skill levels

Management Compensation, top executive

pay based on success of the company