Chapter 13
Nelson & Quick
Jobs & the Design of Work
Copyright ©2005 by South-Western, a division of Thomson Learning. All rights reserved.
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
A - value comes from
personal
affect &
identity
C - profit
accrues to
others by
work
D - physical
performance
activity
directed by
others and
E - generally
performed
unpleasant;
in a
physically &
workplace
mentally
strenuous
activity
F - activity constrained
to specific time periods;
no positive affect through
its performance
performance;
accountability
is important
Six
Patterns
of Work
B - provides
Scientific
Management
Job
Characteristics
Theory
Traditional
Approaches to
Job Design
Job
Enrichment
Job Enlargement/
Job Rotation
Scientific
Management
Emphasizes work simplification
(standardization and the narrow,
explicit specification of task
activities for workers)
+ Allows diverse groups
to work together
+ Leads to production
efficiency and higher
profits
- Undervalues the human
capacity for thought and
ingenuity
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 Enlargement/
Job Rotation
Job Enrichment - designing or redesigning
jobs by incorporating motivational factors
into them
Job
Enrichment
Emphasis is on recognition,
responsibility, and
advancement opportunity
Job
Characteristics
Theory
Job Characteristics Model a framework for understanding person–job fit
through the interaction 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
Job Characteristics Model
Core job
dimensions
Skill variety
Task identity
Task significance
Autonomy
Feedback
Critical
psychological
states
Experienced work’s
meaningfulness
Experienced
responsibility
for work’s outcomes
Knowledge of work
activities’ results
Employee
growth, need,
strength
Personal and
work outcomes
High internal
work motivation
High-quality
work performance
High satisfaction
with the work
Low absenteeism
and turnover
J.R. Hackman and G.R. Oldham, “The Relationship Among Core Job Dimensions, the
Critical Psychological States, and On-the-Job Outcomes,” The Job Diagnostic Survey: An
Instrument for the Diagnosis of Jobs and the Evaluation of Job Redesign Projects, 1974.
Reprinted by permission of Greg R. Oldham.
Five Core Job Characteristics
Motivating Potential Score
Skill + Task + Task
variety identity significance
MPS =
3
x [Autonomy] x [Feedback]
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 premises
1) people provide cues to understanding
the work environment
2) people help us judge our jobs
3) people tell us how they see our jobs
4) people’s positive & negative feedback
help us understand our feelings about our jobs
Interdisciplinary
Approach
Motivational
Mechanistic
Perceptual/
motor
Biological
No one approach can solve all
performance problems caused by
poorly designed jobs
Outcomes of Various Job Design Approaches
Decreased training time
Higher utilization levels
Lower error likelihood
Less mental overload
Lower stress levels
Higher job satisfaction
Higher motivation
Greater job involvement
Higher job performance
Lower absenteeism
+
+
Mechanistic
Approach
-
Lower job satisfaction
Lower motivation
Higher absenteeism
Motivational
Approach
-
Increased training time
Lower personnel utilization
Greater chance of errors
Greater chance of mental
overload and stress
Outcomes of Various Job Design Approaches
Less physical effort
Less physical fatigue
Fewer health complaints
Fewer medical incidents
Lower absenteeism
Higher job satisfaction
+
Lower error likelihood
Lower accident likelihood
Less mental stress
Decreased training time
Higher utilization levels
+
Biological
Approach
Perceptual Motor
Approach
Higher financial costs
because of changes
in equipment or
job environment
Lower job satisfaction
Lower motivation
-
-
International Perspectives on
the Design of Work
The Japanese Approach
 Emphasizes strategic level
 Encourages collective and
cooperative working arrangements
 Emphasizes lean
leanproduction
production
Lean Production
Using committed employees with everexpanding responsibilities to achieve
zero waste, 100% good product,
delivered on time, every time
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
Scientific approaches Levels of
of labor sciences
evaluation
of human
work
View
from
natural
science
Primarily
oriented
to
individuals
View
from
cultural
studies
Primarily
oriented
to groups
Problem areas &
assignment to
disciplines
Technical, anthropoPracticability metric, & psychophysical
problems
Technical, physiological,
Endurability & medical problems
Economical &
sociological
Acceptability problems
Sociopsychological &
Satisfaction economic problems
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.): American
Psychological 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 that
enables employees to 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
Performance Consequences of Role Behaviors
Role
Characteristics
Standard
Role
Behavior
Extra Role
Behavior
Counter-Role
Behavior
Correctly Specified Role
Ordinary good
performance
Excellent performance
(organizational
citizenship and prosocial
behavior)
Poor performance
(deviance, dissent, and
grievance)
Incorrectly Specified
Role
Poor performance
Very poor
performance
(bureaucratic zeal)
Excellent performance
(task revision and
redirection, role
innovation)
Counter-Role Behavior - deviant behavior in either a correctly or
incorrectly defined job or role
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 Distinguishing Feature of Job
Design in the Future