Chapter 1. Review Questions
1. Define work: Work can be defined as (1) a physical entity and (2) a field of
professional practice. It involves both the physical and mental aspects of a
person.
2. What are basic motion elements? It is the movement of the limbs and other
body parts while engaged in performing the task. My definition: The
movement involved of your body to accomplish a particular task; the movement
is identified specifically and the aim is to reduce the movement to its essentials.
3. What is a work element? A work element is defined as a series of work
activities that are logically grouped together because they have unified
function in the task. My definition: A series of work actives that are grouped
together because they are involved in accomplishing the same purpose.
4. Why is time important in work? Time is the measure of productivity in work.
How well work is done corresponds to the time that it takes for that work to be
completed. Book Answer:
i. The most frequently used measure of work is time.
ii. Most workers are paid according to the time they work
iii. Workers must arrive at work on time
iv.
While on the job, workers must utilize their time effectively
v.
When production workers are paid on an incentive plan, they
earn bonuses based on how much time they can save relative
to the standard time for a given task.
vi.
Labor and staffing requirements are based on workloads
measured in units of time
5. Define work as a physical system: As a physical entity, a work system is a
system consisting of humans, information, and equipment that is designed
to perform useful work.
6. Define work as a field of professional practice: As a field of professional
practice, work systems includes
i. Work methods, which consists of the analysis and design of
tasks and jobs involving human work activity
ii. Work measurement, which involves the analysis of the task
to determine the time that should be allowed for a qualified
work to perform it
iii. Work management, which refers to the various
organizational administrative function that must be
accomplished to achieve high productivity of the work
system and effective supervision of the workers
7. What are some of the functions included within the scope of work
management? The functions of work management include:
i. Organizing workers to perform the specialized tasks that
constitute the workload in each department. Organizing
workers to do the tasks that make up the workload of their
given department.
ii.
Motivating workers to perform a given task. Encouraging and
motivating workers to do their job well and get it done!
iii. Evaluating jobs in the organization so that each worker is
paid an appropriate wage or salary commensurate with the
type of work performed. Making sure that people are being
paid according to the work that they’re doing. So if it’s hard
work and it’s difficult they should, in theory, be paid more!
iv.
Appraising the performance of workers to reward betterworking workers. How well are people doing their jobs? Being
able to gauge that is a part of management’s responsibility.
v.
Compensating workers using a rational payment system for
the work they perform. Paying people according to a system
that corresponds to the work they perform.
8. Name 4 broad categories of worker occupation
i. Production worker
ii. Logistics worker
iii. Service worker
iv.
Knowledge worker
9. Define Productivity: Productivity is the ratio of output divided by input
(usually the number of hours). Book Definition: The level of output of a given
process relative to the level of input.
10. Labor is one input factor that determines productivity. What are the other
two factors that are more important than labor in improving productivity.
Define each of these two additional input factors.
i. Capital – the substitution of machines for human labor.
ii. Technology – the fundamental change in the way some
activity or function is accomplished. (Using a brand new type
of machine to replace a previous one.)
Capital and technology, the first refers to switching human labor to machines and the
latter is a framework – changing the way an activity or function is accomplished.
11. Difference between “labor productivity ratio” and “labor productivity index”
The LPR is a ratio that compares the output relative to the input. The LPI is a
comparison of the LPR for a given period of time. Book Definition of LPI: The labor
productivity ratio in some period of interest divided by the labor productivity ratio
in a defined base year.
12. A given task performed by a worker can be considered to consist of the basic
productive work content and excess nonproductive activities. (a) What is
meant by the term “basic productive work content”? (b) What is meant by
the term “excessive nonproductive activities”?
The “basic productive work content” refers to the theoretical minimum amount of
work necessary to accomplish a particular task. “Excessive nonproductive
activities” are extra activities, physical or mental, performed by the worker that do
not add any value to the task, nor does it help in facilitating productive work
content.
13. What are the 3 categories of excess nonproductive activities as defined in the
text?
 Excess activities caused by poor design of the product or service
 Excess activities caused by inefficient methods, poor work layout, and
interruptions
 Excess activities caused by the human factor
Chapter 2 Review Questions
1. In terms of human participation, what are the three basic categories of work
systems?
i. Manual work
ii. Worker-machine systems
iii. Automated systems
2. What is the general characteristic that is common to nearly all pure-manual
work? Moving things
3. What is the best method principle? Of all the possible alternative methods
that can be used to perform a task, there is one optimal method that
minimizes the time and effort required to accomplish it. The method is also
considered to be safe and produces a high quality work unit.
4. What is meant by normal performance? It is the pace of working that can be
maintained throughout an entire work shift by a properly trained average
worker without deleterious short term or long effect son the worker’s health
or physical well-being.
5. What is meant by “normal time” for a task? The normal time for a task is the
time required to accomplish one cycle for the task when working at 100%
performance.
6. What does PFD stand for? Personal time, fatigue, and delays. Its purpose is to
provide a small amount of additional time above the normal time to account
for losses due to personal time, fatigue, and delays that occur periodically
during the work shift.
7. Irregular work element? A work element that is performed less frequently
than once per cycle.