BEHAVIORAL ISSUES IN OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
One of the key issues in the management of the operations is productivity. The operations
must be managed with a technical expertise to improve productivity; there are many quantitative or
heuristic techniques to achieve this objective. We should not rely solely on the technical aspect,
though. We live in a sociotechnical environment rather than a purely technical environment.
Therefore, we can't neglect the human factor and behavioral issues. Behavioral issues such as
motivation can be incorporated into the management of operations as well as technical issues to
enhance productivity.
Human element in operations management can be divided into two categories: physical and
psychological. The science that deals with the physical limitations and capabilities of human beings
is called human factors engineering. The behavioral sciences, on the other hand, deal with
psychological aspects of human beings such motivation.
Human factors engineering is useful in designing machines, equipment, and jobs that are
compatible with human limitations and capabilities and emphasizes machine, equipment, and job
design that would enhance productivity in the management of operations.
On the other hand, behavioral sciences can be useful in designing jobs and work
environments that would incorporate motivation into their design. The motivation would eventually
enhance productivity in managing the operations.
Motivation can be realized by designing a job in such a way so that the job requires more
skill variety and the job has more autonomy. If a job requires more skill, the workers will find such
a job more challanging and meaningful; hence they will be motivated. A job that doesn't require
any skill is likely to be perceived as boring and less meaningful. Also, if a job has more autonomy
and a higher level of responsibility, the workers will feel more motivated and will feel more like
they are part of the organization.
It is also important to identify the abilities of each worker and use the workers in the tasks
that match their abilities best to maximize the motivation and productivity. Such abilities can also
be trained to further improve the productivity.
Motivation can be improved by such techniques as job enrichment and to a smaller extent
by job enlargement and job rotation. Job enrichment involves vertical expansion, i.e., the level of
responsibility increases and in turn motivation increases. Job enlargement involves horizontal
expansion at the same responsibility level by giving the employee a larger piece of the whole job;
for example, a worker may perform a sequence of activities rather than one activity to make the job
more interesting and to reduce boredom. Job rotation may also help reduce boredom because
workers keep exchanging two or more jobs rather than doing the same job all the time. Job rotation
also gives the workers the opportunity to expand their experience and skills by performing more
than one job; this leads to increased job satisfaction and motivation.
Behavioral issues are encountered almost in every aspect of operations management, not
only the job design. For example, during the production process, there are many significant
behavioral aspects. The type of production concept used has direct impact on motivation and
productivity. As an example, when Just-in-Time (JIT) production concept rather than traditional
approach is used, we can expect higher degree of motivation and productivity because of the certain
features JIT has. The JIT concept emphasizes the human element, human ingenuity, multifunctional
employee and team concept; these all increase motivation. Also, the emphasis placed on preventive
maintenance and the total quality control concept results in fewer breakdowns and fewer quality
problems and less frustration on the part of the employee thereby contributing to more positive
worker attitude and motivation.
The type of production concept used is a broad issue; but the behavioral issues are even
encountered in every stage of production. The specifics or details of the production system such as
the type of plant layout design has also direct influence on behavioral aspects. For example,in case
of product layout, there is repetitive production and performing the same jobs that do not require
much skill may be very dull for the workers. This may lead to employee attitude problems and
excessive absenteeism. Also, since all the workstations or machines are in line in this type of layout,
a breakdown in a work station may affect the following work stations causing employee frustration.
Process layouts are not as vulnerable to equipment failures and hence, less employee
frustration would be expected when there are breakdowns. Also, the workers in a process layout
environment perform jobs that require more skill as compared to the product layout environment.
Therefore, the workers may perceive their jobs more challenging and more meaningful and hence
they may be more motivated.
On the other hand, fixed position layouts involves teams of employees assigned to a project;
hence, there is plenty of employee interaction that enhances motivation and productivity.
It is possible to improve motivation in layout design by incorporating the best attributes of
each layout type whenever possible. For example, we can incorporate more skill requirements in a
product layout environment to reduce boredom and absenteeism. We can also design a U-shaped
production line to enhance employee interaction between the different work stations.
Employee involvement is another factor that affects motivation significantly. If employees
are involved in certain decision processes, they will understand the idea behind what they are doing
better, they will feel like they are part of the organization and this will result in increased job
satisfaction. The workers can also be involved in quality control decisions; this can enhance
employee attitude as well as product quality. Participating in quality decisions will also make the
workers feel that they are trying to deliver quality products to the customers and that they are
directly contributing to the customer satisfaction. In some countries, especially in Japan, quality
circles are more popular. A quality circle is a circle or group of workers who periodically gather to
discuss issues pertinent quality and production and to participate in related decisions.
Employee participation can even be extended to managerial levels. Especially, in some
European countries,a concept called participative management finds some application. In
participative management, employees and management work together on broader managerial
decisions that the company faces; such a direct participation in decisions enhances employee
motivation and productivity.
Management commitment is very important in maintaining a high level of motivation
among the workers. The sharing of ideas with the employees, keeping the workers informed about
important company issues, keeping the channels of communication open, rewarding the workers
fairly and providing constructive feedback are some of the key managerial strategies that the
management can use to improve positive employee attitude, motivation, and productivity.
The rewarding of employees can be through increased pay, fringe benefits, job security,
promotion, or improved working conditions. The rewarding would not be a substitute for the
intangible strategies that the management can use to enhance motivation, though. The management
can improve job satisfaction by employee recognition, by providing workers with a sense of
belonging, by setting realistic performance goals to give the successful workers sense of
accomplishment and a feeling of personal worth. A management that provides the workers with
free interaction throughout the company by coordinating expertise rather than exercising formal
authority can contribute to motivation significantly.
Working environment also has a direct effect on employee attitude, motivation, and
productivity. The work space characteristics such as social density and interpersonal distance have
significant behavioral and motivational impacts on the workers.
The social density is the number of workers in a specific work area. if it is too high it means
it is too crowded and this causes a decline in employee satisfaction and may cause more turnovers.
The interpersonal distance is the distance between the workers. If it is too small, the
workers will feel confined and crowded and the motivation would decrease.
There are many other environmental factors that affect employee motivation and
productivity. The factors such as heat, humidity, illumination, and so on also have behavioral
impacts. The optimal levels of heating, humidity, and illumination have a positive impact on
employee attitude, motivation, and efficiency.