1. The document discusses job design, work measurement, and time studies. It defines job design as determining the contents and structure of a job and discusses key decisions involved. 2. Work measurement is defined as analyzing jobs to set time standards and involves methods like stopwatch time studies, predetermined time standards, and work sampling. Important terms in work measurement like observed time, normal time, and standard time are explained. 3. The document provides an example of performing a time study, including setting up an observation sheet and calculating normal time and standard time based on observed performance times. Formulas for determining the needed number of observations in a time study are also presented.

1. CHAPTER 7
Job Design and Work Measurement
Kahsu Mebrahtu (Asst. Prof.)
Mekelle University
College of Business and Economics
Department of Management
Postgraduate Program(MBA)
ninth edition

2. Job Design and Work Measurement
Job Design Defined
Job Design Decisions
Trends in Job Design
Work Measurement
Basic Compensation Systems
Financial Incentive Plans

3. What is Job Design?
Defined-It determines the contents of a job.
• Job design is the function of specifying the work
activities of an individual or group in an
organizational setting.
• The objective of job design is to develop jobs
that meet the requirements of the organization
and its technology and that satisfy the
jobholder’s personal and individual
requirements.

4. Job Design Decisions
How
Why
When
Where
What
Who
Mental and
physical
characteristics
of the
work force
Tasks to be
performed
Geographic
locale of the
organization;
location of
work areas
Time of day;
time of
occurrence in
the work flow
Organizational
rationale for
the job; object-
ives and mot-
ivation of the
worker
Method of
performance
and
motivation
Ultimate
Job
Structure

5. Trends in Job Design
 Quality control as part of the worker's job.
 Cross-training workers to perform multiskilled
jobs.
 Employee involvement and team approaches
to designing and organizing work.
 "Informating" ordinary workers through
telecommunication networks and computers.

6. Trends in Job Design (Continued)
 Extensive use of temporary workers.
 Automation of heavy manual work.
 Organizational commitment to providing
meaningful and rewarding jobs for all
employees.

7. Approaches to Job Design
• Mechanistic approach
– cater for jobs that are simple, routine, repetitive tasks such as assembly
jobs, packing processes.
• Motivational approach
– cater for jobs that deal with services, tasks that involve much movements,
variety of works
– fulfills 5 core job dimensions: use skills variety, tasks variety, task identity,
task autonomy and feedback
• Biological approach
– consider ergonomics factors: to design a job that fits the worker’s
physiological nature, and not to fit the worker to the job
• Perceptual approach
– consider mental factors and demands that do not exceed the mental
capabilities of the worker
7

8. Job Design Feasibility Issues
• Technical feasibility:
– Whether the job is within physical & mental
capabilities of the workforce
• Economic feasibility:
– Whether the cost of performing the job is less than
its added value
• Behavioral feasibility:
– Whether the job is intrinsically satisfying

9. Workplace Changes
• Labor/organizational changes.
– More technology, fewer workers and organizational
layers.
• Increased employee involvement.
• Composition (gender/ethnic diversity).
• Thus, managers have different roles.
– Mentors or coaches rather than “bosses.”

10. Employee Empowerment
• Assume roles once owned by managers.
• Increases employee motivation and hence
productivity.
• Managers must share:
– Organizational performance information.
– Rewards (based on organizational performance).
– Knowledge/expertise needed to enhance organizational
performance.
– Decision-making power.

11. Involvement
• Increases trust and commitment
• Improves employee communications and
attitudes
• Involved employees are more likely to generate
new ideas
• Involved employees achieve a higher quality of
work life which generates higher levels of
commitment leading to higher productivity

12. Work Methods –How a job is to be performed ?
• Work methods deals with a better ways of
performing jobs and/tasks
• This can be undertaken using: operation
charts , worker-machine charts , activity charts
, etc
• The end result may be: improved labour
utilization, machine utilization, material
utilization, reducing operating cost, and
standardization of operations and products .

13. Con…
• Process Flowchart- is used to analyze how the
steps of a job or how a set of jobs fit into the
over all flow of the production process.
• Eg. The flow of a product through a
manufacturing assembly process.
• Worker-machine Chart –shows the amount of
time a worker and a machine are working or
idle in a job.

14. Work Methods Studies
• Individual/group operations: use charting
(operations charts, worker-machine charts,
simultaneous motion charts, activity charts)
with time studies or standard time data to
analyze/evaluate work efficiency.
• Overall operations: identify non-value-adding
(waste) and inefficient activities for
process/productivity improvement

15. Cont.. Work Methods Design Aids
Activity Objective of Study Study
Techniques
1 Production
process
Eliminate or combine steps;
shorten transport distance
;identify delays
Flow charts
,service blue
prints ,process
charts
2 Worker at fixed
workplace
Simplify method; minimize
motions
Operations
charts , simo
charts ,
3 Worker’s
interaction with
equipment
Minimize idle time; find number
or combination of machines to
balance cost of worker and
machine idle time
Activity chart,
worker-machine
charts
4 Worker’s
interaction with
other workers
Maximize productivity ; minimize
interference
Activity charts,
process charts

16. Study the Job
1. Picks up wire in left hand and
moves it to the terminal
2. Simultaneously picks up
solder iron in right hand and
moves to the terminal
3. Solders wire to terminal and
replaces solder iron in holder
4. Solders terminal #1, then
#2 - #6, going right to left

17. Flowchart the Process

18. Summary: Work Methods
In developing work methods that are motion
efficient , the analyst tries to:
1. Eliminate unnecessary motions
2. Combine activities
3. Reduce fatigue
4. Improve the arrangement of the workplace
5. Improve the design of tools and equipment

19. Work Measurement
Defined
• Work measurement is a process of analyzing
jobs for the purpose of setting time standards.
•It determines the length of time to complete a job
• Why use it?
– Schedule work and allocate capacity
– Motivate and measure work performance
– Evaluate performance
– Provide benchmarks

20. Methods of Work Measurement
1. Stopwatch Time Study- development of a time standard
based on observations of one worker taken over a number of
cycles
2. Standard Elemental Times –time standards derived from a
firm’s historical time data
3. Predetermined Time Standards – Published data based on
extensive research to determine standard elemental times
4. Work Sampling – Technique for estimating the proportion of
time that a worker or machine spends on various activities

21. Important Terms
1. Observed Time (OT)= the average of the
recorded times . OT=∑xi/n n=No observations.
 It is the length of time a worker should take to perform a
job if there are no delays or interruptions
1. Normal Time(NT) = OT adjusted for worker performance
i.e , NT=OT x PR PR=performance rating PR= is used to
adjust OT to “average “pace
2. Standard Time(ST) =Normal time plus an allowance for
delays i.e, ST= NTxAF

22. Work Measurement
• Standard time:
– The length of time a qualified worker, using
appropriate tools & procedures, will take to
complete a job
• Standard time is used in:
– Costing the labor component of products
– Tracking employee performance
– Scheduling & planning required resources

23. Setting Standard Times
• Step 1: Choose the specific job to be studied
• Step 2: Inform the worker of the study
• Step 3: Break the job into distinguishable elements
• Step 4: Calculate the number of cycles to observe
• Step 5: Time each element, record data & rate the
worker’s performance
• Step 6: Compute the standard time

24. Con…
Compute normal time
Compute standard time
Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Supplement 8-24
Normal Cycle Time = NT = Nt
Normal Time = (Elemental average) x (rating factor)
Nt = (t )(RF)
ST = (NT)(1 + AF)
Standard Time = (normal cycle time) x (1 + allowance factor)

25. Con….
• Performance Rating
The performance of the worker should be
rated by the person doing the study.
• Hence a performance rating factor of :
 100% reflects normal work performance
Below 100% represents a below average performance
 above 100% indicates performance better than normal
Usually rating range between 80% and 120%

26. Time Study Normal Time Formulas
• Normal time (NT) = Observed performance time per unit
x (1+Performance rating)
• NT = Time worked x (1+Performance rating)
Number of units produced

27. Time Study Standard Time Formulas
• Standard time = Normal time
+ (Allowances x Normal times)
• Standard time = NT(1 + Allowances)
• Standard time = NT .
1 - Allowances

28. Cont..
• Allowances includes: Personal needs
(washroom and coffee breaks), unavoidable
work delays( equipment break down or lack of
materials ) and worker fatigue (physical or
mental).

29. Doing a Time Study
• When making a time study several
decisions are made to assure
desired results:
– # of observations to make
– Desired level of accuracy
– Desired level of confidence for
the estimated standard time
• Desired accuracy level is typically
expressed as a % of the mean
observed times
• In next column is a formula for
determining the number of
observations needed
2



















x
s
a
z
n
• n: number of observations
• z: provides desired statistical
confidence (e.g.: 1.96 for 95%)
• s: observed standard deviation in
time required to complete the task
element
• a: desired accuracy or precision
• x-bar: the mean observed time to
complete the task

30. Performing a Time Study
Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Supplement 8-30
Time Study Observation Sheet
Identification of operation Sandwich Assembly Date 5/17
Operator Approval Observer
Smith Jones Russell
Cycles Summary
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 t Nt
RF
t
Place ham, cheese,
and lettuce on bread
1
2
3
4
Grasp and lay
out bread slices
Spread mayonnaise
on both slices
Place top on sandwich,
Slice, and stack
t
t
t
t
R
R
R
R
.11 .44 .79 1.13 1.47 1.83 2.21 2.60 2.98 3.37
.04 .05 .05 .04 .06 .05 .06 .06 .07 .05 .53 .053 1.05 .056
.04 .38 .72 1.05 1.40 1.76 2.13 2.50 2.89 3.29
.07 .06 .07 .08 .08 .08
.07 .07 .10 .09 .77 .077 .077
1.00
.11
.12 .14 .12 .12
.13
.13
.13 .14 .14 1.28 1.28 1.10 .141
.93
.23 .55 1.25 1.60 1.96 2.34 2.72 3.12 3.51
.12
.10 .08 .09 .12 .10
.11 .11 .10
.10 1.03 1.03 1.10 .113
.33 .67 1.01 1.34 1.71 2.07 2.44 2.82 3.24 3.61

31. Performing a Time Study
(cont.)
Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Supplement 8-31
Normal time = (Elemental average)(rating factor)
Nt = ( t )(RF) = (0.053)(1.05) = 0.056
Normal Cycle Time = NT = Nt = 0.387
ST = (NT) (1 + AF) = (0.387)(1+0.15) = 0.445 min
Average element time = t = = = 0.053
t
10
0.53
10

32. Performing a Time Study
(cont.)
Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Supplement 8-32
Example 17.3
How many sandwiches can be made in 2 hours?
= 269.7 or 270 sandwiches
120 min
0.445 min/sandwich

33. Reading Assignment
• Read on Work Sampling as method for work
Measurement

34. Worker Compensation Systems
• Compensation is the third part of work system design
• Time-based plans (day pay) versus output-based systems
(incentive pay)
• Group incentive plans: profit sharing & gain sharing
– Plans put part of a worker’s salary at risk
– Does the compensation system undermine teamwork?
– Does plan prevent free-riders not doing their fair share?
– Does the incentive plan encourage workers to support the long-term
health of the organization?
• Pay –for-performance

35. Chapter :Summary
• Work system design involves job design, work measurements,
and worker compensation.
• Relevant job design issues include design feasibility, the choice
of human or machine, the use of teams, and the location
where the work is to be done.
• Methods or process analysis is concerned with how the
employee does the job and is used to make improvements.
• Work measurement is used to determine standard times and
are usually based on time studies. Standard times are used for
product costing, process evaluations, and for planning
workloads and staffing.

36. Chapter :Summary (Continued)
• Doing a time study requires breaking the job into work
elements and determining the number of observations.
• Work sampling involves random observations of a worker to
determine the proportion of time spent on each activity.
• Standard times are developed with time studies, elemental
time data, and predetermined time data.
• Worker compensation systems are time-based or out-put
based and can be based on individual or group performance.
• Learning curves show the rate of learning that occurs when an
employee repeats the same task over time.

37. Work Study
37
METHOD ANALYSIS
- to determine how to do a job
- to study work method
- to develop best,
standard
operating procedure(SOP))
WORK MEASUREMENT
- to determine how long
to do a job
- to determine standard
time
- to establish labor
standard
- relative worth of a job