1. Chapter 14 Jobs and the Design of Work
Differentiate between job and work.
Discuss the traditional approaches to job design.
Identify and describe alternative approaches to job design.
Identify and describe contemporary issues facing organizations in the design of work.
Learning Outcomes
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Learning Outcome 1
Differentiate between job and work.
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3. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
Job
a set of specified work and task activities that engage an individual in an organization
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4. Ways of Thinking about Jobs
Organizational position – a job in relation to other parts of the organization
Career – a sequence of job experiences over time
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Work
mental or physical activity that has productive results
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Meaning of Work
the way a person interprets and
understands the value of work as a part of
life
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7. Six Patterns of Work B – provides A – value C – profit accrues to
personal
affect and identity
Six
Patterns
of Work
A – value
comes from
performance;
accountability
is important
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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Learning Outcome 2
Discuss the traditional approaches to job design.
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9. Traditional Approaches to Job Design
Scientific
Management
Job
Characteristics
Theory
Job Enlargement/
Job Rotation
Enrichment
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10. Scientific Management
Emphasizes work simplification – standardization and the narrow, explicit specification of task activities for workers. Limits number of tasks; tasks are designed so worker doesn’t have to think.
+ Allows diverse groups to work together
+ Leads to production efficiency and higher
profits
- Undervalues the capacity for thought and ingenuity
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11. Job Enlargement / Rotation
Job Enlargement –increases the number of activities in a job to overcome the boredom of overspecialized work
Job Rotation – workers are exposed to a variety of specialized jobs over time
Cross-Training – workers are trained in different specialized tasks or activities
+ Overcomes boredom and lack of variety of highly specialized jobs
+ Overcomes underutilization and lack of stimulation
- Need to make sure that workers see the consequences of their decisions moving on to the next task
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Job Enrichment
Designing or redesigning jobs by incorporating motivational factors
+ Increases recognition, responsibility and opportunity for achievement.
- Only certain jobs should be enriched.
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13. Job Characteristics Theory
Emphasizes the interaction between the
individual and specific attributes of the job.
A worker’s values, religious beliefs and
ethnic background influence response to the job
Job Diagnostic Survey – diagnoses jobs by measuring five core job characteristics
and three psychological states
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14. Job Characteristics Model
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15. Five Core Job Characteristics
Motivating Potential Score
MPS =
Skill
variety
Task
identity
significance
x [Autonomy] x [Feedback] 3 +
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Engagement
the expression of oneself as one performs in work or other roles
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Learning Outcome 3
Identify and describe alternative approaches to job design.
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18. Social Information Processing (SIP) Model
a model that suggests that the important job factors depend in part on what others tell a person about the job
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19. 4 Premises of (SIP) Model
people provide cues to understanding the work environment
people help us judge our jobs
people tell us how they see our jobs
people’s positive and negative feedback help us understand our feelings about our jobs
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Ergonomics
the science of adapting work and working conditions to the employee or worker
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21. Interdisciplinary Approach
Motivational
Mechanistic
Biological
Perceptual/
motor
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22. 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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23. 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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24. International Perspectives on the Design of Work
The Japanese Approach
Emphasizes strategic level
Encourages collective and cooperative working arrangements
Emphasizes
lean production
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Lean Production
using committed employees with ever-expanding responsibilities to achieve zero waste, 100% good product, delivered on time, every time
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26. Beyond the Book: Lean Production to the Rescue
Manufacturing companies in the U.S. are turning to lean production methods to stay profitable during the recession.
The method involves producing only what is ordered, reducing inventory and making each part in an uninterrupted flow.
61% of manufacturers have adopted lean production methods or plan to do so within the next year.
The lean production method, pioneered by Toyota in the early 1980’s, is helping firms in the U.S. remain viable during the global economic recession. As demonstrated by a Sealy mattress factory in Maryland, lean production methods allow for faster, more efficient production, reduced inventories and lower labor costs. Before implementing lean production it used to take 21 labor hours to produce a mattress; now, it takes just four. Cliff Waldman of the Manufacturers Alliance says that “Our response to the cost pressures brought about by globalization is … to produce cheaper and more efficiently.” The results, thus far, seem encouraging, as manufacturing productivity in the U.S. rose 4.9% in the second quarter of 2009, the highest since 2005.
SOURCE: Paul Davidson “Lean manufacturing helps companies survive recession” USA Today November , accessed online at:
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27. 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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28. Hierarchical Model of Criteria
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29. 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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30. Work Design and Well-Being:
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31. Work Design and Well-Being:
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32. Work Design and Well-Being:
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33. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
Learning Outcome 4
Identify and describe contemporary issues facing organizations in the design of work.
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34. 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:
Flextime – an alternative work pattern that enables employees to set their own daily work schedules
Job Sharing – an alternative work pattern in which there is more than one person occupying a single job
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35. Emerging Issues in Design of Work
Technology:
Concept involves work being where the people are, rather than people moving to where work is.
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
Skills development – the knowledge and information requirements for jobs of the future are especially high.
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36. Beyond the Book: The Work Design Questionnaire
The Work Design Questionnaire was created to fill gaps in existing work-characteristics assessments and integrate their data
Results from the questionnaire found that both motivational work characteristics and social support played a strong role in predicting job satisfaction
Science
Assessing Job Design and the Nature of Work
This study was intended to provide a more comprehensive measure of job design and the nature of work by building on the strong tradition of previous, more narrowly focused lines of research. The resulting Work Design Questionnaire (WDQ) measures 21 distinct work characteristics in three categories. These are motivational work characteristics such as skill variety and task identity, social characteristics such as interdependence and social support, and work context characteristics such as physical demands and work conditions. Work outcomes of concern in this research included satisfaction, efficiency, and workload. The WDQ was validated with 540 incumbents, many of whom were managers, in 243 distinct jobs and the results showed excellent reliability as well as convergent and discriminant validity. While the results found that motivational work characteristics do predict satisfaction, social support was a strong incremental predictor of satisfaction beyond the motivational work characteristics. Thus, enhancing social support in the work may yield both motivational and training benefits for job incumbents. In addition, while many work redesign efforts often require trade-offs between satisfaction and training and compensation requirements, the range of design choices is much greater with the WDQ. Therefore, the WDQ offers the potential to avoid the trade-offs commonly encountered in earlier work redesign efforts. The study concludes that the WDQ holds promise for scholars studying work design theory and practitioners redesigning jobs and work in organizations.
SOURCE: F.P. Morgeson and S.E. Humphrey, “The Work Design Questionnaire (WDQ): Developing and Validating a Comprehensive Measure for Assessing Job Design and the Nature of Work,” Journal of Applied Psychology 91 (2006):
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37. 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
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
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
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38. Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girls
1. This chapter opened with a discussion of “job” and “work.” Apply
that discussion to the film sequence. Include in your analysis the
pattern of social interaction between Monty and Julia.
2. Apply the job characteristics theory to the film sequence. What is
the level of each core job characteristic for Monty’s job?
3. Estimate the levels of each critical psychological state for Monty.
Use Figure 14.1, “The Job Characteristics Model,” as a guide. Use
“low,” “middle,” or “high” for your estimate.
Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girls
Monty (Idris Elba), a hardworking automobile mechanic, loses custody
of his three daughters to his evil ex-wife, Jennifer (Tasha Smith). He
begins working as a chauffeur for Julia (Gabriele Union), an upper-class
attorney. Their relationship develops both romantically and professionally
as she represents him in his court battle. This sequence begins with
a panning shot of Julia’s condominium building and ends after Julia and
Monty arrive at the courthouse. Julia says, “Next time follow my instructions,
okay?” Monty responds, “Yes ma’am,” as he gets out of the car.