CHAPTER FIVE

METHOD STUDY AND WORK

MANAGEMENT
 Management of Human Resources in
Operations
• Why should the operations manager be
concerned with Human Resource
Management?
– People are one of the critical inputs hence their
deployment must be controlled.
– People have an influence on the quality and cost
of products produced.
– People interface with other inputs and processes
that inputs undergo to become outputs.
– People have the ability to think, judge and act
according to situations that they face.
» People are not passive inputs
– Human resource costs contribute a substantial portion
to the total production costs. Hence need to be
managed.

Note:
- Labor force in an organization needs to be carefully
considered because of its contribution to overall
productivity of a business.
- For productivity to be maximized the operations
manager must be conscious of the people employed by
the organization.
 What are the issues in Human
Resources Management in Operations?
• To ensure productivity of the workforce in
operation, three major issues must be looked at
critically:
– Job design
» Jobs and tasks should be designed so that efficient performance
is maximized.
– Work Measurement
» There should be recognized methods of measuring work using
acceptable standards.
» Workers should know what is expected of them.
– Workforce compensation
» Workers should be paid as a way of motivating them.
 Job Design
• A job is a task that has to be performed.
• A task is a repetitive operation and a job may contain
many related tasks.
• Job design is a process that describes the tasks,
methods of doing work and responsibilities of workers.
• Job design aims at finding out one best way of doing a
job.
• Job design specifies the contents of each job and
determines how work is to be distributed in the
organization.
 The Challenges in Job design
• Identifying the activities involved in jobs.
• Integrating activities into a set of tasks.
• Assigning the jobs to individuals
• Providing a conducive environment in which
employees can work.
 Advantages of Effective Job design in an
organization
• Wastage of resources is avoided since
irrelevant tasks are discarded.
• It motivates the workforce which leads to
increased productivity.
• It creates order and promotes specialization.
• It cuts down on costs of wasted resources
 Elements that satisfy Employees and
managers to consider when designing jobs

• The Physical environment in which the

work is done
• The Social environment that deals with
the Psychological conditions of the
workers.
• Work Methods that describe how work is
done.
 (A) The Physical Work Environment

• The working environment is extremely vital in

designing jobs for the workforce to perform
tasks:
– Temperature and Humidity = Eg Singapore

– Noise = Eg Kisenyi
– Air pollution = Eg Bugolobi
– Safety = Mukwano case
(B) The Social Work Environment
• The Psychological needs of workers should be
considered when designing jobs.
• Employees need to have good relationship
within the workplace.
• Employees need to be treated with care,
empathy and understanding. It motivates
them.
 (c) Work Methods
• Work methods concern the details of how
tasks should actually be done in the
organization.
• It involves studying the individual tasks and
deciding on the best possible way of arranging
the tasks.
 Approaches to Job Design
• There are three(3) approaches to job
design:
– The scientific Management Approach
– The Behavioral Approach( Human
Ralations Approach)
– The Empowerment Approach
1.The Scientific Management Approach

• It was promulgated by F .W .Taylor

• It states that jobs should be designed
maximize productivity of the workforce.
• Hence it requires:
» Careful definition of tasks that make up a job.
» Arranging tasks into a logical flow.
» Provision of a right environment
» Reward for work performed
Assumptions of the Scientific Management Approach

• The workforce has a negative attitude towards work and

hence needs to be coerced to work.
• The method of reward or payment should be tied to the
physical output that an employee is able to generate.
• Those who exceed average performance should be
rewarded with bonuses.
• Those who are unable to perform to the expected
standards the reward should be removed.
• An environment conducive for working should be
provided so that there is no excuse for poor
performance.
 Issues to consider under scientific
management
• The nature of tasks in operations should be
scientifically documented.
• The best method of performing each task should
be scientifically determined.
• Tasks should be sequenced using a job chart.
• What is deemed an average days work should be
determined.
• Choose workers scientifically so that each does
what he can do best.
• The average worker sets the basis for the reward.
• Scientific education and development of the
worker should be undertaken to enable those
performing below average to improve.
• The environment needs to be studied and
whatever is conducive for good performance is
provided.
• Management should ensure that there is friendly
cooperation between workers and management.
• Rewards should be given consistent with
performance levels.
 2.The Behavioral Approach
• It was championed by Elton Mayo.
• It recognizes that human relations
influence performance and thus
social factors should be fully
recognized and included in designing
jobs.
 Assumptions of Behavioral Approach
• The attitude of the workforce towards work is assumed to
be positive
• Workers view their work as something natural that they
even volunteer to work.
• Monetary rewards are not the only factors that motivate the
workforce but their different needs especially social ones.
• Workers’ social needs must be recognized and met
accordingly.
• A conducive environment has to be provided to enhance
high performance.
The needs of Workers are met in Two ways:
= Job enlargement, Job Enrichment, Job Rotation

1.Job enlargement: It involves braking up a job into

various tasks redesigning jobs, combining
operations to create variety.
Job enlargement can take two forms:
– Horizontal enlargement: Is where the nature and
content of the job can be changed by adding more tasks
of a similar nature and skill level Eg POM lecturer asked
to also teach PPM
– Vertical Enlargement: Is Where tasks of similar skill
level but different nature are added to the employees
existing tasks. Eg POM lecturer asked to draw timetable.
 Job Enlargement improves performance
because:
• It ensures that there is variety in the tasks
available and gives employees opportunities to
use all their skills.
• There is autonomy in terms of the opportunity
to exercise control over how and when the work
is completed.
• It increases task identity.
• It enhances the opportunity to give direct
feedback to higher authority about
performance.
 2.Job Enrichment
• Is vertical expansion of jobs, is very closely related
to vertical job enlargement only that more tasks of
different nature from the existing ones are added
which require higher levels of responsibility.
• Job enrichment can be done by involving employees
in planning, organizing and controlling their work.
• Involving employees makes them feel recognized,
identified and taken as important.
Conditions for Success of job Enrichment

• Management should supply information on

goals and performance levels.
• A proper working climate has to be
established.
• Viewing every employee as a manager, involve
them in planning, organizing and controlling.
• Motivate employees by making work fun.
 3.Job rotation
• This involves moving workers from one job to
another, usually after short periods of time.
• Though there may be no change in job
content, rotation reduces boredom and
monotony by exposing the employee to
broader variety of tasks and skills needed to
meet them.
 3.THE EMPOWERMENT APPROACH

• This approach is an extension of the

behavioral approach and is also bent on
recognition of social factors that affect
employee performance.
• It emphasizes recognizing the workforce and
make it feel important and realize that it has
power and authority.
 Empowerment can be realized through:

• Giving autonomy to employees, enabling

them decide on how and when to complete
work.
• Using a consultative approach when designing
jobs, the workforce feels recognized. They
generate ideas on how jobs should be done,
which performance levels should be set, which
rewards to give.
 2. WORK MEASURENT:
Job Performance Standards
• To determine the level of productivity and performance ,
work has to be measured:
• Work measurement is the application of techniques
designed to establish the time a qualified worker takes to
carry out a specific job at a defined level of performance.
• To be able to measure work, the operations manager should
have established standards.
• A standard is a criterion established as a basis for
comparison in measuring or judging actual against planned
output.
• The standard can be set for quantity, quality, cost. ….
 Three level of Standards
• Individual Standards
- Is what is expected from an average worker under
average conditions for a given period of time.
• Departmental standards
- Are standards set for a group of people working
together as a unit and their output is jointly assessed.
• Organizational Standards
- These apply to the entire organization and are a
measure of overall performance
 Why are Standards important?
• They form a basis of evaluating the efficiency
of workers and facilities in production.
• They form a basis for rewarding employees.
• They are used to predict output.
• They are used to control performance in
operations and are useful in planning for
needed workforce size, capacity.
Why is Work Measurement important?

• It enables management to know if targets set

are being met.
• It helps management to decide whether to
adjust targets if they are not being met.
• It is important for purposes of planning.
Approaches for Measuring work and setting
standards
• No standards
• Historical data approach
• Direct Time Study Approach
• Pre-Determined Time Study
• Work Sampling Technique
• Combining Work Measurement Technique
 3. WORKFORCE COMPENSATION
• Compensation for employees is done with an
aim of motivating employees so that high
performance levels are can be attained,
maintained, and job satisfaction obtained.
• Motivation is a human psychological
characteristic that contributes to ones degree
of commitment.
Abraham Maslow theory of Motivation
• A person is motivated when he/she has not yet
attained certain levels of satisfaction with his/her
life.
• A satisfied need is not a motivator.
• Maslow discussed that individuals are motivated
to fulfill needs that seem most powerful at a
given time.
• The strength of the need depends on the
individual conditions.
Abraham Maslow theory of Motivation
Diagram
 Why is it important to motivate the
Workforce
• It increases performance levels
• It helps in arranging jobs
• Its seen as a reward.
Approaches used to motivate the workforce

1. Using Pay system

- Time Rate System
- Piece Rate System
- Fixed Pay System
- Bonus Schemes
- Differential Rate System
2. Promotions
3. Transfers