Chapter 14 Jobs & the Design of Work Nelson & Quick.
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Transcript of Chapter 14 Jobs & the Design of Work Nelson & Quick.
Chapter 14Jobs & the Design of Work
Nelson & Quick
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
A - value comes from performance. Accountabilityis important
B - provides personal
affect & identity
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
F - activity constrainedto specific time periods; no positive affect through its performance
SixPatterns of Work
TraditionalApproaches to Job Design
ScientificManagement
JobCharacteristics
Jobenlargement/Job rotation
JobEnrichment
Emphasizes work simplification (standardization and the narrow, explicit specification of task activities for workers)
Scientific Management
+ Allows diverse groupsto work together+ leads to production efficiency and higher profits
- Undervalues the humancapacity for thought andingenuity
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
enlargementJob rotation
Job enrichment - designing or redesigning jobs by incorporating motivational factors into them
Emphasis is on recognition,
responsibility, and advancement opportunity
JobEnrichment
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
JobCharacteristics
Five Core Job Characteristics
Motivating Potential Score
MPS =
Skill variety
Task identity
Task significance
x [Autonomy] x [Feedback]3
+ +
Job Characteristics Model
Criticalpsychological
states
Core jobdimensions
Personal andwork outcomes
Experienced work’smeaningfulnessExperienced responsibilityfor work’s outcomes Knowledge of workactivities’ results
Skill varietyTask identityTask significance
Autonomy
Feedback
High internalwork motivationHigh qualitywork performanceHigh satisfaction with the workLow absenteeismand turnover
Employeegrowth, need,
strength J.R. Hackman and G.R. Oldham, “The Relationship Among Core Job Dimensions, theCritical Psychological States, and On-the-Job Outcomes,” The Job Diagnostic Survey: AnInstrument for the Diagnosis of Jobs and the Evaluation of Job Redesign Projects, 1974.Reprinted by permission of Greg R. Oldham.
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 premises1) people provide cues to understanding the work environment2) people help us judge our jobs
3) people tell us how they see our jobs4) people’s positive & negative feedback help us understand our feelings about our jobs
Interdisciplinary Approach
No one approach can solve all performance problems caused by poorly designed jobs
Mechanistic
Motivational
Biological
Perceptual/motor
Outcomes of Various Job Design Approaches
Decreased training timeHigher utilization levelsLower error likelihood Less mental overloadLower stress levels
MechanisticApproach
+
Lower job satisfaction Lower motivation
Higher absenteeism
Higher job satisfactionHigher motivation
Greater job involvementHigher job performance
Lower absenteeism
MotivationalApproach
Increased training timeLower personnel utilization
Greater chance of errorsGreater chance of mental
overload and stress
+
- -
Outcomes of Various Job Design ApproachesLess physical effort
Less physical fatigueFewer health complaints Fewer medical incidents
Lower absenteeismHigher job satisfaction
BiologicalApproach
+
Higher financial costs because of changes
in equipment orjob environment
High job satisfactionHigher motivation
Greater job involvementHigher job performance
Lower absenteeism
Lower job satisfaction Lower motivation
Perceptual MotorApproach
+
- -
International Perspectives on the Design of Work
The Japanese Approach– Emphasizes strategic level
– Encourages collective and cooperative working arrangements
– Emphasizes lean production
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)
International Perspectives on the Design of Work
The Scandinavian Approach– encourages high degrees of
worker control
– encourages good social support systems for workers
Problem areas &assignment to disciplines
Technical, anthropo-metric, & psychophysical problemsTechnical, physiological, & medical problemsEconomical & sociologicalproblemsSociopsychological &economic problems
Levels ofevaluationof human work
Practicability
Endurability
Acceptability
WorkerSatisfaction
Scientific approachesof labor sciences
Viewfromnaturalscience
Primarilyoriented
toindividuals
Primarilyoriented
togroups
Viewfromculturalstudies
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.): AmericanPsychological Association. Repreinted by permission.
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
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
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
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
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
Counter-role behavior - deviant behavior in either a correctly or incorrectly defined job or role
RoleCharacteristics
Standard Role Behavior
Extra-roleBehavior
Counter-roleBehavior
Correctly Specified Role
Ordinary goodperformance
Excellent performance(organizational citizenship and prosocial behavior)
Poor performance(deviance, dissent, andgrievance)
Incorrectly Specified Role
Poor performance
Very Poor performance (bureaucratic zeal)
Excellent performance (task revision and redirection, role innovation)
Performance Consequences of Role Behaviors
Republished with permission of Academy of Management, PO Box 3020, Briar Cliff Manor, NY 10510-8020. “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.
The Manager’s Task: Fit the Jobs to the People Who Are Doing Them