1. Jobs and the Design of Work
Chapter 14 Organizational Behavior: Foundations, Realities, & Challenges Nelson & Quick, 5th edition
Jobs and the Design of Work

2. Job Compared to Work
Job – a set of specified work and task activities that engage an individual in an organization
Organizational position – a job in relation to other parts of the organization
Career – a sequence of job experiences over time
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

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B – provides
personal
affect and identity
A – value
comes from
performance;
accountability
is important
Six
Patterns
of Work
C – profit accrues to
others by work
performance
F – activity constrained
to specific time
periods; no positive
affect through
its performance
E –generally
unpleasant
physically and mentally
strenuous
activity
D – physical
activity
directed by
others and
performed
in a
workplace
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Job
Characteristics
Theory
Scientific
Management
Traditional
Approaches to
Job Design
Job
Enrichment
Job Enlargement/
Job Rotation
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5. Scientific
Management
Emphasizes work simplification (standardization and the narrow, explicit specification of task activities for workers)
- Undervalues the human capacity for thought and ingenuity
+ Allows diverse groups to work together
+ Leads to production efficiency and higher
profits

6. 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
person–job 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

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

10. Five Core Job Characteristics
Motivating Potential Score
MPS =
Skill
variety
Task
identity
significance
x [Autonomy] x [Feedback] 3 +
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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 and negative feedback help us understand our feelings about our jobs

12. Interdisciplinary Approach
Motivational
Mechanistic
Biological
Perceptual/
motor
Ergonomics – The science of adapting work and working conditions to the employee or worker

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
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14. 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 +
Biological Approach +
Perceptual Motor Approach - -
Higher financial costs
because of changes
in equipment or
job environment
Lower job satisfaction
Lower motivation
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15. International Perspectives on the Design of Work
The Japanese Approach
Emphasizes strategic level
Encourages collective and cooperative working arrangements
Emphasizes lean production
lean production

16. Lean Production
Using committed employees with ever-expanding responsibilities to achieve zero waste, 100% good product, delivered on time, every time

17. International Perspectives on the Design of Work
The German Approach
Previously, Technocentric – placing technology and engineering at the center of job design decisions
Recently, Anthropocentric – placing human considerations at the center of job design decisions
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18. International Perspectives on the Design of Work
The Scandinavian Approach
encourages high degrees of worker control
encourages good social support systems for workers

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Levels of evaluation of human work
Scientific approaches of labor sciences
Problem areas and
assignment to disciplines
Technical, anthropometric, and psychophysical problems
View
from
natural
science
Practicability
Technical, physiological, and medical problems
Primarily
oriented
to groups
Endurability
Primarily
oriented to
individuals
Economical and sociological problems
Acceptability
View
from
cultural
studies
Sociopsychological and economic problems
Satisfaction
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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. Reprinted by permission.

20. Work Design and Well-Being: To increase control in work organizations
Give workers the opportunity to control aspects of work and workplace
Design machines and tasks with optimal response times and/or ranges
Implement performance-monitoring systems as source of worker feedback

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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 that enables employees to set their own daily work schedules

24. 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

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Performance Consequences of Role Behaviors
Role
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
Very poor
(bureaucratic zeal)
(task revision and
redirection, role
innovation)
Counter-Role Behavior – deviant behavior in either a correctly or incorrectly defined job or role
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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.0

26. The Distinguishing Feature of Job Design in the Future
Flexibility