1. Chapter 12
CONTROL AND JOB DESIGN

2. Control
Control - the function of regulating events, actions, outcomes, or other relevant aspects according to preferred standards, plans, objectives, or other chosen referents

3. Control
Figure 12.1
This basic model is called the negative feedback loop - because it reduces discrepancies

4. TOTE model
Figure 12.2

5. TOTE model
Figure 12.3

6. Control The necessary elements of control in any context are:
The goal - desired state
Feedback - relevant information about the current state
Discrepancy detection - comparison of the desired and actual states
Action - initiated to reduce any detected discrepancy
Discrepancy amplifying loops - positive feedback loops also exist

7. CONTROL IN ORGANIZATIONS
Prospective control - proactive alignment of resources in ways that maximize the likelihood of achieving intended objectives
Reactive control - actions taken to bring activities in line with targets and expectations
Authority - legitimate power vested in managers based on their position and role in an organization

8. Control in organizations
Two often opposing aspects to the existence of control:
Basis of order and predictability in operational activity
Control is restrictive, lacks flexibility, and can be manipulative and greedy
with regard to the abolition of personal freedom
Huczynski and Buchanan (1991) control has a number of connotations:
Physical
Economic
Psychological
A fourth connotation is that of:
Political perspectives

9. APPROACHES TO ORGANIZATIONAL CONTROL
Ouchi (1979, 1980) three organizational control strategies - bureaucratic control, market control, and clan control
Use determine by:
performance ambiguity which refers to the ease and clarity with which the value of activities or outcomes can be assessed
Goal incongruence, the second factor, is the degree of alignment between individual and organizational goals
Bureaucratic control - based on bureaucratic organizational forms
Market control - used at the unit level and based on profit/cost centres
Clan control - based on social influence on behaviour

10. Ouchi’s organizational control strategies
Table 12.1

11. Control – other perspectives
Panoptic control - based on prison design which allows all inmates to be observed without them being aware when it actually takes place
Concertive control - based on the social control exercised by groups on their members
Output control - direct measurement of the outputs produced
Behavioural control - direct observation during work performance
Input control (or clan control) – used where work outcomes are not measurable and where work performance cannot be observed
Paradox of control - control can lead to unintended consequences particularly in ethical decision

12. MEANS OF ORGANIZATIONAL CONTROL
Managerial and supervisor behaviours
Skill
Organizational structure
Hierarchy and authority
Social control and socialization
Technology
Reward, punishment and reinforcement

13. Informal supervisory control behaviours
Table 12.2

14. MEANS OF ORGANIZATIONAL CONTROL
Clegg and Dunkerley (1980) – Vicious cycle of control – the
downward spiral of tighter control leading to negative employee
behaviours leading to tighter control
Figure 12.4

15. Technology and control
Table 12.3

16. Behaviour modification
Figure 12.5

17. Job design
Job design - the way in which tasks are grouped, assigned and structured in organizations at the level of individual jobs

18. Work study Scientific management One best way Division of labour
Method Study
Work measurement

19. Work Study
Figure 12.6

20. Ergonomics
A multi-disciplinary approach to considering how people can best conduct specific work tasks, including:
The human-machine interface
Maximal efficiency with minimal effort and stress
Athropometric profiles of human beings
Physiology and biomechanics

21. Job analysis Two main approaches to job analysis:
Functional job analysis:
Employee activities relevant to data, people and other jobs.
The methods and techniques used by the worker.
The machines, tools and equipment used by the worker.
What outputs are produced by the worker.
Position analysis questionnaire:
Sources of information necessary to the job.
Decision making associated with the job activity.
Physical aspects associated with the job.
Interpersonal and communication necessary to the job.
Working conditions and their impact on the job.
Impact of work schedules, responsibility etc.

22. Job analysis and job effectiveness
Figure 12.7

23. Job analysis Job analysis is used to support activities such as:
Resourcing and HR planning
Training
Career development and succession planning
Payment and remuneration level
Provision of job descriptions and job evaluation schemes
Performance evaluation

24. Approaches to designing jobs
Simplification and job engineering
Job rotation
Job enlargement
Job enrichment
Hackman & Oldham’s model:
Skill variety
Task identity
Task significance
Autonomy
Feedback
The model applies only to individuals that have high growth-need strength – those with an intrinsic interest in developing themselves, learning new and applying their existing skills, and taking responsibility and build identity through work

25. Job characteristics approach to job enrichment
Figure 12.8

26. Job Design
Social-information processing model Salancik and Pfeffer (1978):
Recognizes the role of socially constructed reality of work
Highlights the role of social information in determining the effects of the design of a job on the holder
The way in which workers experience the nature of their job and subjectively interpret information about it
Such interpretations are influenced by others as well as by the past behaviour of the person themselves