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Video and Online Lectures #1 and #2: Work Design
What is the Importance of Work Design?
Work design describes how jobs, tasks, and roles are structured, enacted, and modified, as well as the
impact of these structures, enactments, and modifications on individual, group, and organizational
outcomes (Grant & Parker, 2009). Thus, this definition recognizes that both management and workers
play a role in structuring, enacting, and modifying work in terms of jobs, tasks, and roles
When done well, work design or work redesign:
- Coordinates and optimizes work processes to maximize performance (individual, team,
organization) and create value
- Creates 'good work' that motivates, satisfies, commits, and retains employees
- Benefits both employees and their employers
Organisational Behaviour perspective:
Work design with task, knowledge, social and work context characteristics is at the heart of our
Holistic Multilevel Model for Work Design. The set of these four characteristics of work design does
not come out of the blue, of course, but is based on a literature review on work design conducted by
Morgeson and Humphrey (2006; reading for the exam) and has been empirically validated by
Humphrey et al. (2007; also a reading for the exam; paper is mentioned in the manual for lecture #5,
but should also have been mentioned for lecture #1).
Task characteristics are primarily concerned with how the work itself is accomplished and the range
and nature of tasks associated with a particular job.
Knowledge characteristics reflect the kinds of knowledge, skill, and ability demands that are placed on
an individual as a function of what is done on the job. Distinguishing task from knowledge
characteristics acknowledges the fact that jobs can be designed or redesigned to increase the task
demands, knowledge demands, or both.
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Morgeson and Humphrey (2006) developed a questionnaire (WDQ) to assess the four characteristics
(task, knowledge, social, work context) of work design, which we practiced in tutorial #1. The choice
for the combination of the four characteristics is based on historical key developments in the theory
and research on work design that we discuss in video lecture #1 based on the exam reading by Parker
et al. (2017). Guideline for studying the historical overview:
- Know the core features of craft production. Know the core features of scientific management
and understand the basic differences in work design according to craft production and
according to scientific management.
Craft production (Medieval times) produced products in low volumes with high variety to meet the
unique demand of their customers.
a. The workers were highly skilled and self-managed their own work.
b. Apprenticeship system to learn it and worked at home or in small groups
c. Organized themselves into guilds and collectively regulated occupational entry
d. Nowadays, think of jewellery, clockmaking, furniture, yacht construction.
Scientific management (from 1910s) focused on operational performance at low cost, high
dependability, and high speed, but neglected the human factors and effects. This is the first attempt
to apply science to the design of work and management of workers. It originates during the industrial
revolution and its main goal is to find “one best way” of doing things as efficiently as possible.
a. Industry 1.0 (from 1760s), steam was used to mechanize production
b. Industry 2.0 (from 1870s), electricity enabled mass production of goods with assembly
lines. Products in high volume and low variety
Further influence of Scientific Management:
- Influenced quality assurance and quality control (from the 1920s), operations management
(from 1940s), Toyota Production System (TPS) and Lean Production (LP) (from the 1950s), and
Total Quality Management (TQM; from the 1980s)
- TPS/LP/TQM aim to eliminate waste and achieve the best possible efficiency and quality, by:
o Quickly identifying and correcting any issues that could lead to faulty production
(jidoka: continuous improvement)
o Refining and coordinating each production process so that it only produces what is
required by the next process in the sequence (just-in-time)
- Unlike scientific management, TPS/LP/TQM involve and rely on workers to identify and solve
waste and quality issue (e.g., problem solving groups, quality circles)
- Scientific management is still in use today, especially in labour-intensive industries (e.g.,
McDonalds, Amazon warehouses)
Three innovations made mass production possible:
- System of standardized and interchangeable parts
- Scientific management as a mechanistic model of work design
o Vertical division of work: managers and specialists analyze and design work to find
‘one best way’ to perform tasks
o Horizontal division of work: breaking complex tasks down into a series of small, simple,
and routine tasks
- Development of assembly line by Henry Ford (‘Fordism’)
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Know that the theories of job characteristics, sociotechnical systems and autonomous working
groups, and role and job demand theories focus on human factors and effects in work design in
reaction to scientific management; know and understand the core features and principles (mediators,
moderators) of the theories discussed in the historical overview. Understand how the expanded model
of work design developed and tested in the reading by Humphrey et al. (2007) expands the Hackman
and Oldham’s Job Characteristics Model.
1. Job characteristics theories (from 1930s)
a. Human Relations Theory (from 1930s - Elton Mayo) (HRT) sees workers as thinking
beings with needs, who like to be recognized and to receive attention. Attention
motivates employees to perform better for the benefit of the organization.
b. Maslow's (1943) hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory comprising five human
needs, often depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid.
When a lower-level need has been 'more or less' satisfied it will go away, and our
activities become directed towards meeting the next-level need
c. Herzberg’s (1959) Two-Factor Theory tried to understand how companies can
improve employee motivation and satisfaction at work. Management must both
eliminate negative hygiene factors to reduce job dissatisfaction and increase
motivators to increase job satisfaction
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d. McGregor’s (1960) Theory X and Theory Y explains how managers' assumptions about
what motivates their employees can influence their management style and work
design.
In general, Theory Y is viewed superior to Theory X, because Theory X de-motivates
people in the long run. However, the effectiveness of the theories depends on the
work circumstances, the employees in question, the structure of the company, and
managers’ preference of one over the other
e. Job Characteristics Model (from 1975) assumes that workers will be more motivated
and better perform to the extent that jobs contain certain core characteristics
These core job characteristics create the conditions that allow workers to experience
critical psychological states that bring about beneficial personal and work outcomes,
including high work motivation, high-quality work performance, high work
satisfaction, and low absenteeism and turnover.
The higher the five core job characteristics, the stronger the experience of the
following three critical psychological states:
- Experienced meaningfulness - The extent to which the employee experiences
the work as important, valuable, and worthwhile.
- Experienced responsibility - The degree to which the employee feels
personally responsible or accountable for the results of the work.
- Knowledge of results - The degree to which the employee understands on a
regular basis how effectively he or she is performing the job.
Three individual characteristics moderate the effects of Core
Job Dimension on Critical psychological states, and the
effects of Critical Psychological states on Personal and Work
outcomes. These are:
- Knowledge and skills needed to perform the tasks in
the job
- Growth need strength - degree to which people have
a need for personal growth
- Context satisfaction – satisfaction with contextual
factors such as job security, fair pay, and supportive
leaders and co-workers.
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2. Sociotechnical systems and autonomous work groups (from 1950s)
Based on his research, Trist discovered that work systems consist of technical and social aspects and
that suboptimal interactions between those two aspects undermine their functioning and
performance.
- The technical subsystem comprises the devices, tools and techniques needed to transform
inputs into outputs in a way which enhances the economic performance of the organization
- The social subsystem comprises the workers and the knowledge, skills, attitudes, values and
needs they bring to the work environment as well as the reward system and authority
structures that exist in the organization
- A socio-technical system involves a complex interaction between humans, machines and the
environmental aspects of the work system
- The ‘joint optimization’ of technical and social aspects determines the system’s performance.
Trist’s conclusion: organizations have choice to design work systems that allow teams of workers to
have control over technology and self-manage work to enhance results, while also experiencing social
and psychological rewards.
Operations Management perspective:
In video lecture #2 Jos introduces work design from an OM perspective, taking a closer look at the
concept of work: how it can be defined, what it consists of and how it can be evaluated.
Work is defined as an activity in which a person exerts physical and mental effort to accomplish a given
(set of) task or perform a duty (Groover, 2014)
- Task or duty has some useful objective.
- Worker applies skills and knowledge for successful completion
- The activity has commercial value
- The worker is compensated
Task = an amount of work that is assigned to a worker or for which a worker is responsible
- Example: Assembling a chair
Work element = a series of work activities that are logically grouped together because they have a
unified function in the task.
- Example: Assembling a component to a base part using several nuts and bolts
Basic motion elements = Actuations of the limbs and other body parts
- Example: Reaching for an object, Grasping the object, Walking, Eye movement
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Evaluating work with three important questions
1. Have we designed a job that is doable?
2. Have we got the ‘right’ person? Are they able to do the job we expect them to do
a. Physically
b. Mentally
c. Emotionally
3. Have we communicated the expected standard of performance to the worker?
Workers can be regarded as one of the resources performing tasks to transform inputs into outputs
in a transformation process. These tasks and workers form together with technology (machines and
tools) the basic elements of the work system. The work system is situated in a certain production
environment (the workplace at the most detailed level and a production structure at a higher level)
with social and physical characteristics. Finally, the transformation process and its related work
systems are embedded in the larger organization. Work design relates to basic questions of who/what
performs the transformation, and how and where does the transformation take place.
You also need to know how tasks can be analyzed from an OM perspective. Specifically, know the
different types of tasks (executive, preparatory, inspection, and supportive) and the difference
between job enlargement and job enrichment, who performs tasks (workers, machines, customers),
how work can be studied by using method studies and time studies, and how learning effects occur in
task repetitions.
Workplace analyses: Tasks
- Who performs the task?
o Workers, Machines or Customers?
- What kind of tasks are performed?
o Executive tasks: directly add value to the inputs of the process
o Preparatory tasks are linked to an executive task and make it possible that this
executive task can actually be performed (e.g. changeovers, determine task sequence,
etc.).
o Inspection tasks are focused on determining to what extent the executive tasks have
been successful.
o Supportive tasks is not directly linked to the other task types, but make it possible that
the transformation at the workplace can also be carried out in the future (e.g.
maintenance, improvement actions, etc.).
- What/who determines the pace?
o The worker/The machine
Some options to make work more challenging:
- Job rotation = Change workplace: different executive tasks
- Job enlargement = More executive tasks
- Job enrichment = Adding preparatory and inspection tasks
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In addition, Jos explains the role of ergonomics in the workplace.
Ergonomics (or human factors) is the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of
interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies theory,
principles, data and methods to design in order to optimize human well-being and overall system
performance“
Physiology: How the human body functions during
physical exertion
Cognitive Ergonomics are concerned with the
capabilities and limitations of the human brain and
sensory system while performing information processing
activities
Next, Jos explains why the work should be divided or kept in one workplace, the ways in which
different workplaces can be linked to a larger production structure, and how that affects work
characteristics.
Several considerations for dividing work
- Human considerations
o Skills
▪ If too many skills are involved, specialization is required
▪ Trade-off between efficiency & quality versus flexibility
- Special considerations
o If much space is required in the process
o If there are environmental conditions required for certain tasks
- Economic considerations
o In case expensive resources are required (to increase utilization)
Improving work characteristics of a traditional line
- Use a walking-worker line structure (job enlargement)
- Use a U-shaped line (operators tend multiple machines, job enlargement, more social contact
options)
- Use batches in the line (increased autonomy)
Improving work characteristics of a functional structure
- Automation?
- Form production cells (cellular manufacturing) to combine the advantages of a line structure:
o Short throughput times
o Low transport times
o Good preparation of work
o More involvement in the product to be made
o
o
with the advantages of a functional structure:
High product mix flexibility
High resource utilization
You need to understand and know all these aspects of work design, explained from an OM perspective
in the reader WOJD. We practiced with some of the tools in tutorial #2.
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Video and Online Lecture #3: Antecedents of Work Design
A work design with individual workers is part of a transformation process (input-process-output) that
is embedded in an organization that competes in certain markets in an industry at a local, national,
or global level. Thus, a work design is exposed to multilevel influences, which we subdivide into
contextual antecedents (global, national, organizational, workgroup) and individual antecedents
(demographics, competence, learning, personality, and other individual differences).
In addition to knowing these contextual and individual antecedents of work design, consider the
following two points:
1. Antecedents can have direct or indirect influences on work design. An example of a direct
influence is legislation about working hours and health and safety that organizations simply
must comply with. But more often antecedents indirectly influence work design through two
key processes:
a. Formal, top-down decision-making processes in which managers interpret the
antecedents and translate them into a work design.
b. Informal, emergent, bottom-up processes in which employees adapt the design of
work to their capacities, wishes and needs.
Understand and know how contextual and individual antecedents can influence managers and
employees in their motivation, KSAs and opportunities to (re)design work, and that they thus
have a certain amount of choice there.
In his video lectures, Jos discusses some examples of choices that can be made in work design
in response to national unemployment rate, an organization’s strategic context, operational
uncertainty, technology, and workgroup interdependence and workgroup autonomy.
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In online lectures #3, I discuss how organizational competitive strategy in terms of cost leadership,
quality, flexibility, and innovation in combination with operational uncertainty influence employee
involvement in work design via managerial decision-making.
Job crafting addresses the processes by which employees change elements of their jobs and
relationships with others to revise the meaning of the work and the social environment at work
The classical job design perspective puts managers in the role of job crafters. Managers design tasks
and change task features, thereby influencing the motivating potential of the job. Thus, the classical
job design perspective assumes that employee responses such as motivation, satisfaction and
performance derive from the motivating potential of the job designed by the manager
The new perspective of job crafting assumes that
employees also create the motivating potential of
the job by shaping elements that traditionally
compose the design of the job
Our perspective on work design includes both
manager-led work design processes and employeeled work design processes
Another example: three forms of isomorphism (i.e., national antecedent) have been discussed in video
lecture #3B and the accompanying reading by Parker et al. (2017; reading for exam), namely:
Organizational isomorphism=> the similarity among organizations in a population (as organizations
grow, they copy one another’s strategies).
- Coercive isomorphism (=gedwongen). This occurs when firms adopt organizational practices
(e.g., minimum pay level, quality audits, training) that are imposed by governments,
institutions, or organizations, especially when sanctions are applied for noncompliance
- Mimetic isomorphism (=nagebootst) => when organizations intentionally imitate and copy
one another to increase their legitimacy. This occurs when organizations adopt practices (e.g.,
total quality management, high-performance work systems) perceived as successful in other
organizations (copy best practices)
- Normative isomorphism => when organizations come to resemble one another over time
because they directly adopt the norms and vales of other organizations in the environment.
This occurs when occupations (e.g., medical professions) professionalize standards for
membership (via educational qualifications), often through certifying bodies and professional
networks. Such occupational institutions and their norms can influence work design directly or
indirectly via formal managerial and informal employee decision-making processes
*disadvantages of isomorphism:
- Pressure to beat the imitated companies
- Lack of innovation
- The way organizations have learned to operate outdated
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2. As Jos emphasizes in his online lecture #3, you need to understand that work design is both a
process and an outcome. Work design as a process can be seen as making decisions by
managers and employees with respect to the antecedents that result in a work design with
certain characteristics. This resulting work design then forms the outcome of that decisionmaking process. Moreover, in his video lectures #3, Jos explains how technology in different
industrial revolutions has changed work, but has not made human labour obsolete.
Why are there still so many jobs?
- Automation does substitute for labor: currently wider use of robotics and digital technologies
will reduce simple, repetitive tasks, as these activities can be standardized and performed by
machines
- But it also complements labor: labor is required to complement the new technology that
allows producers to generate growth and employment through building new service and
business models
Know and understand how physical aids further decrease the physical workload of workers, how
sensorial and cognitive aids help to manage increasingly complex cognitive tasks (reading by Rauch
et al. 2020)
How does this change the role of the operator?
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And how digital technologies have the potential to both positively and negatively affect job resources
and job demands. (The sign / means negatively affect)
Job autonomy and control – decision making as part of work processes
+ Information from big data & machine learning to support decision making
/ Automated decision-making that replaces human judgement
Job autonomy and control – choice over where & when to work
+ Technology-enabled remote & other forms of flexible work
/ Increased standardisation of tasks
Skill variety & use
+ Replacement of routine cognitive tasks
/ Automation-caused decline in active use of skills with increased monitoring
Job feedback & related
+ Algorithmic management & provision of ‘objective feedback’
/ Algorithmic feedback is punitive, idiosyncratic, biased, etc.
Social & Relational
+ Computers as ‘teammates’
/ Excessively abstract data that reduces shared understanding
Job demands
+ Reduced workload due to labor saving aspects of technology
/ Increased administrative demands
Key takeaways
- Technology in different industrial revolutions has changed work, but has not made human
labour obsolete
- Physical aids further decrease the physical workload of workers › Sensorial and cognitive aids
help to manage increasingly complex cognitive tasks
- Digital technologies have the potential to positively and negatively affect job resources and
job demands
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Moreover, know and understand how the four intervention strategies within work design can help
realize the benefits of digital technologies (reading by Parker and Grote, 2020).
Strategy A:
Strategy B:
Strategy C:
Strategy D:
Proactive design of work roles when implementing technology
Considering human- centred principles in the development, design & procurement of
technology
Policy-level changes to support better work design & human centred approaches
Education & Training (1: Digital skills, agility etc; 2) Work design, job crafting &
human factors)
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Video and Online Lecture #4: Outcomes of Work Design
Organisational Behaviour perspective:
Work design needs to enable, motivate, and facilitate worker and operational performance. As such,
individual work performance can be defined as work behavior that contributes to operational
performance, thus to the production of products or services at desired cost, dependability, flexibility,
quality, and speed.
Know and understand how the integrative model of individual work performance (reading Carpini et
al., 2017) specifies nine different types of performance behavior differentiated by two dimensions:
form of work behavior and level of contribution.
Specifically, the form of work behavior depends on the degree of operational uncertainty. When
uncertainty is low, then workers can follow prescribed work roles (i.e., proficient work behavior) but
as uncertainty increases, employees must react to change (i.e., adaptive work behavior) or initiate
change (i.e., proactive behavior).
The level of contribution depends on interdependence at work and differentiates a worker’s individual
task behavior that contributes to individual task effectiveness (in case of low interdependent tasks),
a worker’s group member behavior that contributes to team effectiveness (in case of high
interdependent tasks), and a worker’s organization member behavior that contributes to
organizational effectiveness (in case of very high interdependent tasks). Understand how the three
forms and the three levels of contribution produce nine different types of work behaviors.
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Carpini et al (2017) categorizes the antecedents of individual work performance into three categories:
- ‘Capacity’ representing the ability to perform
o Proximal antecedents (e.g., task-specific knowledge and skills) are causes that directly
affect work performance
o Distal antecedents (e.g., cognitive abilities such as analytical thinking, reasoning,
problem solving, planning) are causes that indirectly affect work performance via
proximal antecedents (e.g., task-specific knowledge and skills)
- ‘Willingness’ representing the motivation to perform
o Proximal willingness antecedents are mostly motivational states (e.g., work
motivation, job satisfaction, job commitment, work engagement)
o Distal willingness antecedents are mostly personality traits such the big 5 traits of
conscientiousness, agreeableness, extroversion, neuroticism, and openness
- ‘Opportunity’ representing possibility and allowance to perform.
Learn what the differences are between proximal and distal antecedents for both the capacity and
willingness antecedents (hierboven uitgelegd). Moreover, you need to know where to place the
capacity, willingness, and allowance antecedents in the Holistic Multilevel Model of Work Design.
Takeaways for work design
- Workers in complex, dynamic production processes must be able to perform proficient,
adaptive and proactive work behavior at individual, team and organizational level
- Work design characteristics must enable and facilitate workers to:
o Engage in the right type of work behavior in the right production situation
o Switch from one work behavior to another when the production situation calls for it
- Proficient behavior is needed to ensure operational performance at desired cost,
dependability, quality, and speed
- Adaptive and proactive behavior is needed for continuous improvement and innovation in
production processes to enhance and sustain high operational performance
- Adaptive and proactive behavior is needed to deal effectively with operational uncertainty and
ensure flexible operational performance
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Finally, in online lecture #4, I explain how the different competitive strategies of cost leadership,
quality, flexibility, and innovation and operational uncertainty influence operational performance (in
terms of cost, dependability, quality, flexibility and speed) via the design of work and the different
types of work behavior.
Operations Management perspective:
Jos explains the distinction between human effects and system effects in operations systems.
Contribution of Human Factor to Operations Management
- Humans are part of operations systems (OS), as decision makers and system operators
- The application of knowledge of human factors in operation systems by management can
improve results in terms of both operator well-being and overall system performance.
o Design Level (DL) = Long-term goals and relate to design of the system
o Operational Level (OL) = Short-term goals and relate to system use
Key takeaways
- To achieve a certain desired system performance, you need to consider both human effects
(well-being) and the underlying human factors in the design and management of the system.
- Specifically, design level decisions lead to physical, mental, perceptual, and psychosocial
human factor demands on users. You need to understand how those human factor demands
can be managed by operational level decisions and result in both human and system
performance.
- When performance is not yet as desired, further rounds of design and operational decisions
can be made in continuous improvement cycles (reading by Vijayakumar et al. 2021).
Understand the possible trade-offs between human effects and system effects. Specifically,
understand the interaction between human effects and system effects within a lean manufacturing
setting,
The obstacles to ideal performance:
- Muda (waste or non-value-added tasks; Hands)
- Mura (variability or inconsistency; Head)
- Muri (overburden or stress; Heart)
Often there is too much focus on Muda
The interaction between efficiency and motivation in lean systems (reading by Hopp, 2018).
Thus, the first focus of OM is usually on system effects, which may lead to trade-offs between system
effects and human effects. However, try to understand that when paying enough attention to the
human perspective, by preventing overburden and stress (Muri) and incorporating job design
knowledge, a self-sustaining positive (lean) scenario may be realized where system and human effects
are simultaneously optimized.
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Finally, know and understand what a visual workplace is and what the functions of visual management
are (reading by Tezel et al, 2016).
Visual management (VM) is a managerial strategy that emphasizes close-range visual (sensory)
communication and is realized through different visual tools:
- Tools create information fields in the workplace
- Information need is determined ahead of time
- Information display is integrated into process elements
- The communication is simple, no verbal or textual information
A systematic implementation of those tools within the VM strategy at a work setting creates a visual
workplace in which various functions (benefits) of VM can be observed:
- Process transparency
- Discipline
- Continuous improvement
- Job facilitation
- On-the-job training (OJT)
- Creating a shared ownership and a desired image
- Management by facts
- Simplification
- Unification
The underlying functions of the tools:
- will support the management and continuous improvement of the transformation system,
impacting operational performance (system effects)
- will also impact the characteristics of work that lead to human effects.
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Video and Online Lecture #5: Mediators and Moderators of Work Design
Organisational Behaviour perspective:
A mediator explains the relation between an independent and dependent variable. A mediator can be
a process or mechanism through which an independent variable can produce changes on a dependent
variable. Thus, it explains why and how there is a relation between two variables.
The mediator of the Job Characteristics Model and the Expanded Model of Work Design (also
discussed in lecture #1, and in reading by Humphrey et al. (2007)).
- Critical psychological states of experienced meaningfulness of work, experienced
responsibility for work outcomes, and knowledge of results of work activities.
Meaningfulness appears to be the most influential mediator in clarifying the effects of the design of
work characteristics on individual work outcomes. Specifically, research findings suggest that
meaningful work can be an important facilitator of positive work motivations and positive work
attitudes (i.e., job satisfaction, work engagement, and commitment) which in their turn lead to higher
positive performance behaviors and lower negative behaviors such as withdrawal, absenteeism, and
turnover.
Additionally, I discuss the mediators in the Job Demands Resources Model (JDRM):
- This model assumes that the design of work characteristics (i.e., task, knowledge, social, work
context) affect employee perceptions of job demands and job resources, and that demands
and job resources in their turn cause a dual process of strain and motivation, such that
demands primarily give rise to burnout, while resources give rise to work engagement. This
dual process of burnout and engagement mediate (clarify) the effects of demands and
resources on worker and organizational outcomes.
-
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In video lecture #5B-D, I discuss the moderators of work design.
- Work characteristics, Demographics, KSAs, Growth Need Stength (Video Lecture #5B)
- Fundamental Goals, and Personality (Video Lecture #5C)
- Trait activation and situation strength (Video Lecture #5D)
Moderators regulate:
- when (under what condition) a relation between two variables will occur
- the strength and direction of the relation
The moderator role of job control implies a buffer and learning hypothesis:
- The buffer hypothesis predicts that high control buffers the negative impact of high job
demands on stress and well-being
- The learning hypothesis predicts that high control in combination with high job demands may
result in increased motivation in the short run and learning and mastery of tasks in the long
run
If valid, the buffer and learning hypotheses of the Job Demand Control (Support) Model can have
great implications for work design:
- Increase of job control can counteract high strain, whereas high job demands do not
necessarily need to be reduced
- If job demands are increased, job control should also be increased to stimulate learning and
avoid high levels of strain).
Furthermore, regarding the Job Demands Resources Model, resources can moderate the effects of
job demands, such that higher job resources can buffer undesirable effects of job demands on strain
and burnout. In their turn, job demands can moderate the effects of job resources, such that higher
job demands can enhance positive effects of resources on motivation and engagement (i.e., demands
may turn into challenges when resources are high, which may lead to positive effects on work
engagement). Thus, from a work design perspective, increasing job resources in case of high job
demands, can hit two birds by one stone: burnout is prevented, and work engagement is fostered.
Know and understand how the demographics of gender and age moderate effects of task
characteristics (i.e., autonomy, task variety, task identity, task significance, feedback) on individual
work outcomes.
- Workers may differ in their responses to work characteristics due to their demographics
- A study by Indartono and Chen (2010) found that the effects of task characteristics (i.e., task
variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback) on performance were
stronger for men than for women 15
- Women performed better than men at low levels of the task characteristics, while women and
men performed equally well at high levels of task characteristics
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General Mental Ability (GMA) tests are widely used in personnel selection across the world. Tests of
GMA include scales that measure cognitive abilities such as verbal, numerical, social, and spatial ability
The general mental ability (GMA) predicts job performance and training success, and the implications
of GMA for work design are:
- Work high on knowledge characteristics may result in more positive psychological, attitudinal
and performance effects for workers with higher levels of GMAs, because these workers are
more able to learn, understand instructions, and solve problems
- Managers may design more knowledge-intensive work for workers with higher GMA levels
- Workers with higher GMA may tend to craft more knowledge-intensive work that require
higher levels of general cognitive abilities
Job Characteristics Model implications for work design
- Work high on task characteristics (i.e., task variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy,
feedback) may result in more positive psychological, attitudinal and performance effects for
workers with higher knowledge and skills and/or higher growth need strength.
- Managers may design work with high task characteristics for workers with higher knowledge
and skills and/or higher growth need strength
- Workers with higher knowledge and skills and/or higher growth need strength may tend to
craft work with high task characteristics
Regarding the theory of purposeful goal striving discussed in video lecture #5C:
The theory assumes that personality traits drive workers into purposeful goal strivings at work. Four
fundamental goals are differentiated that workers can strive for at work:
- Autonomy striving desire to gain control and understanding of important aspects of the work
environment and to pursue personal growth opportunities
- Achievement striving desire to demonstrate personal competence and a sense of
accomplishment
- Communion striving desire to achieve meaningful contact and to get along with others
- Status striving: desire to gain status and exert power and influence over others within the
organizational hierarchy
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The Theory of Purposeful Goal striving explicates:
- Two functions of personality traits:
o Initiate people to seek and select jobs that fit their personality traits
o Initiate workers to engage in purposeful goal strivings at work
- A moderation mechanism:
o A worker’s goal strivings interact with task and social work characteristics to jointly
influence experiences of meaningfulness of work
- Two mediation mechanisms:
o Striving for purposefulness and striving for meaningfulness; that is, a worker's
personality traits and the task and social work characteristics jointly influence
individual outcomes (i.e., satisfaction, performance, withdrawal) through these two
striving mechanisms
Regarding the theory of situation strength, learn what strong and weak situations are, what the
general interactionism hypothesis is (i.e., relationships of the big five traits with job performance will
be stronger in weaker work situations), and that the design of strong work situations restricts
employees from expressing their personality in work behavior (i.e., reduces the relationship between
personality and work performance), while the design of weak work situations facilitates employees
to express their personality in work behavior (i.e., enlarges the relationship between personality and
work performance).
Situational influences are assumed to have general or specific moderating influences. This distinction
relies on two theoretical perspectives: situational strength theory and trait activation theory
Situation strength reflects general interactionism: a work situation has the same moderating effect
on the relationship of all personality traits and work behavior
Situation strength represents the degree to which situational constraints are present in the
environment
- In a strong situation, situational factors rule our behavior, so that effects of personal
differences (personality traits) between people disappear
o All drivers usually stop in front of a red traffic light
o All factory workers on an assembly line exhibit almost similar work behavior
- In a weak situation, the meaning of the situation is less clear, leaving room to people’s
personality to determine their behavior
o In case a traffic light is orange, one driver accelerates, the other brakes prematurely
o Professors in the same academic work situation highly differ in their work
performance’
Work situations are strong when:
- The work process is highly structured, involves little autonomy and task variety to make own
decision
- The work outcomes highly constrain work behavior due to high impact of decisions,
consequences of errors, responsibility for others, or health/safety regulations
Work situations are weak when:
- The work process is lowly structured, involves high levels of autonomy and task variety to make
own decisions about work schedules, work processes, and work methods
- The work outcomes hardly constrain work behavior because consequences of errors,
responsibility for others, and health/safety regulations are low
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Trait activation reflects specific interactionism: a specific work situation has differential moderating
effects on the relationships of distinct personality traits with work behavior
Trait-activation theory highlights that work situations differ in the extent to which they are traitrelevant (e.g., leadership roles are trait-relevant for extraverted people)
Trait activation is the process by which individuals express their traits in actual behavior when
presented with trait-relevant situational cues
Thus, trait activation theory argues in favor of situational specificity: when specific personality traits
(e.g., extraversion, conscientiousness) are relevant in specific situations (e.g., leadership role, complex
administrative work), trait expression is appropriate and likely
Additionally, learn the taxonomy of trait relevant work situations characterized by 6 specific
situational variables:
- Independence in completing work (i.e., little supervision or guidance)
- Attention to detail requirement (i.e., thoroughness on work tasks)
- Social skills requirement (i.e., working with or communicating with others)
- Competition requirement (i.e., presence of competitive pressures)
- Innovation/creativity requirement (i.e., need for creative or alternative thinking)
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
Understand that trait activation theory assumes specific interactionism hypotheses. That is, when
workers’ personality traits are situationally relevant, then they adapt easily well to the situation which
should increase job performance, have motivational benefits that aid effective job performance, and
are more likely recognized by others because they fit the situation.
Thus, situation strength theory proposes that general situational conditions in terms of strong and
weak work situations moderate the relevance of personality to job performance (general
interactionism), whereas trait activation theory proposes that specific situational conditions with trait
relevant cues (the 6 specific situational variables) moderate the relevance of personality to job
performance (specific interactionism).
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Video and Online Lecture #6: An Example Case
In this final lecture, Sabine discusses an example case focused on the role of digitalization in work
design at GKN Fokker. In the video lectures, she explains why studying work design is so important in
light of its practical implications, introduces the case of GKN Fokker, and explains the impact of
digitalization on work design at GKN Fokker. In online lecture #6, Sabine answers questions regarding
the case and discusses the role of the design process for the quality of work and the influence of the
organizational context on the design process.
Why study work design today?
- Advanced digital technologies forecasted to (re-)shape many aspects of our social and
professional life
- Application of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Big data (IoT) and analytics for predictive maintenance
- Augmented/Virtual reality for maintenance/training/production
The adoption of industry 4.0 technologies introduces many opportunities for:
- Production execution
- Planning
- Control
- Design & Maintenance
- Management
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What are problems with the current way of working?
1. Limited insight into production status & performance
2. Risk of losing the paper (and the data)
3. Reading long instructions
4. Risk of forgetting registrations
5. Limited learning
Digital manufacturing engineering
- Standard library including workflows and templates resulted in
o Simplification and automation of tasks related to configuration and change
management
- Strict task division between different user roles
- Creation of new complex tasks focused on
o Data analysis
o Continuous improvement activities (of processes but also instructions)
o Collaboration
Conclusion
- Digitalization changes the work design of a diverse set of employees. This includes both bluecollar work, and white-collar work.
- In our case, manufacturing engineers took on a key role of work (re-)designer by designing a
digital technology
- The design and adoption of a technology affects multiple types of jobs
- Motivation and knowledge were identified as key factors that influence the work design
process
- Focused on the design of technical system over work design
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