1. Chapter 14 Jobs & the Design of Work Nelson & Quick

2. 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 f life

3. F - activity constrained
B - provides
personal
affect &
identity
A - value comes from
performance.
Accountability
is important
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
Six
Patterns
of Work
F - activity constrained
to specific time periods;
no positive affect through
its performance

4. Approaches to Job Design
Scientific
Management
Job
Characteristics
Traditional
Approaches to Job Design
Job
enlargement/
Job rotation
Job
Enrichment

5. Scientific
Management
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

6. Cross-training - a variation of job enlargement in which workers
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

7. Job enrichment - designing or redesigning jobs by incorporating motivational factors into them
Emphasis is on recognition, responsibility, and advancement opportunity
Job
Enrichment

8. Job Characteristics Model - a framework for understanding
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

9. Five Core Job Characteristics Motivating Potential Score
MPS =
Skill
variety
Task
identity
significance
x [Autonomy] x [Feedback] 3 +

10. Job Characteristics Model
Personal and
work outcomes
Core job
dimensions
Critical
psychological
states
Skill variety
Task identity
Task significance
Experienced work’s
meaningfulness
Experienced
responsibility
for work’s outcomes
Knowledge of work
activities’ results
High internal
work motivation
High quality
work performance
High satisfaction
with the work
Low absenteeism
and turnover
Autonomy
Feedback
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. 2

11. 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) people’s positive & negative feedback
help us understand our feelings about our jobs

12. Interdisciplinary Approach
Mechanistic
Motivational
Biological
Perceptual/motor
No one approach can solve all performance
problems caused by poorly designed jobs

13. - - + + 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
Mechanistic
Approach
Motivational
Approach + + - -
Lower job satisfaction
Lower motivation
Higher absenteeism
Increased training time
Lower personnel utilization
Greater chance of errors
Greater chance of mental
overload and stress 3

14. - - + + Outcomes of Various Job Design Approaches Less physical effort
Less physical fatigue
Fewer health complaints
Fewer medical incidents
Lower absenteeism
Higher job satisfaction
High job satisfaction
Higher motivation
Greater job involvement
Higher job performance
Lower absenteeism
Biological
Approach
Perceptual Motor
Approach + + - -
Higher financial costs
because of changes
in equipment or
job environment
Lower job satisfaction
Lower motivation 3

15. International Perspectives on the Design of Work
The Japanese Approach
Emphasizes strategic level
Encourages collective and cooperative working arrangements
Emphasizes lean production

16. 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)

17. International Perspectives on the Design of Work
The Scandinavian Approach
encourages high degrees of worker control
encourages good social support systems for workers

18. assignment to disciplines
Problem areas &
assignment to disciplines
Technical, anthropo-metric, & psychophysical
problems
Technical, physiological, & medical problems
Economical &
sociological
Sociopsychological &
economic problems
Levels of
evaluation
of human
work
Practicability
Endurability
Acceptability
Worker
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.

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. Emerging Issues in Design of Work
Telecommuting - employees work at home or in other locations geographically separate from their company’s 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 through which employees can set their own daily work schedules

23. 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

24. Performance Consequences of Role Behaviors
Characteristics
Standard
Behavior
Extra-role
Counter-role
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)
Counter-role behavior - deviant behavior in either a correctly or incorrectly defined job or role
Republished with permission of Academy of Management, PO Box 3020, Briar Cliff Manor, NY “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.

25. The Manager’s Task: Fit the Jobs to the People Who Are Doing Them