MBA 635 chapter 14

©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
14
©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in
part.
Jobs and the
Design of Work

Learning Objectives
1 Define the term job and identify six
patterns of defining work.
2 Discuss the four traditional approaches to
job design.
3 Describe the Job Characteristics Model.
4 Compare the social information processing
(SIP) model with traditional job design
approaches.
2

Learning Objectives continued
5 Explain ergonomics and the
interdisciplinary framework for the design
of work.
6 Compare Japanese, German, and
Scandinavian approaches to work.
7 Explain how job control, uncertainty, and
conflict can be managed for employee well-
being.
8 Discuss five contemporary issues in the
design of work.
3

©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
^
^
Job: an employee’s specific work and task
activities in an organization
Work: effortful, productive activity resulting in
a product or a service
The meaning of work differs from person to
person, from culture to culture, and from
profession to profession
Work in Organizations
4

^
^
Six Patterns Used to Define Work
A
• An activity in
which value
comes from
performance
and for
which a
person is
accountable
B
• An activity
that provides
a person
with positive
personal
affect and
identity
C
• An activity
from which
profit
accrues to
others and
that may be
done in
various
settings
5

^
^
Six Patterns Used to Define Work
D
• A physical
activity that
is directed
by others
and
generally
performed
in a working
place
E
• A physically
and
mentally
strenuous
activity that
is generally
unpleasant
F
• An activity
constrained
to specific
time
periods that
does not
bring
positive
affect
6

^
^
7

^
^
Jobs in Organizations
• Task and authority relationships define an
organization’s structure
• Jobs are the basic building blocks of this
task-authority structure
• Jobs in organizations are
• Interdependent
• Designed to make a contribution to the
organization’s mission and goals
8

^
^
Traditional Approaches to Job Design
Scientific
management
Job
enlargement
and rotation
Job
enrichment
Job
characteristics
9

^
^
Scientific Management
• Work simplification: the standardization and
the narrow, explicit specification of task
activities for workers
• The role of management and the industrial
engineer is to calibrate and define each task
carefully
• The role of the worker is to execute the task
• Undervalues the human capacity for thought
and ingenuity
10

^
^
Job Enlargement and Job Rotation
• Job enlargement: a method of job design
that increases the number of tasks in a job
• Job rotation: a variation of job enlargement,
exposes a worker to a variety of specialized
job tasks over time
• Sought to address the problems resulting
from overspecialized work and increase
worker satisfaction
11

^
^
Job Enrichment
• Job enrichment: a job design or redesign
method aimed at increasing the
motivational factors in a job
• Increases the amount of responsibility ,
recognition, and opportunity for
achievement
• Builds on Herzberg’s two-factor theory of
motivation
12

^
^
Job Characteristics Theory
• Emphasizes the fit between the individual
and specific attributes of the job
• Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) measures five
core job characteristics:
• Skill variety
• Task identity
• Task significance
• Autonomy
• Feedback from the job
13

^
^
14

^
^
Job Characteristics Model
• The five core job characteristics interact to
determine an overall Motivating Potential
Score (MPS) for a specific job
• The MPS indicates a job’s potential for
motivating incumbents
15
MPS =
Skill
variety
Task
identity
Task
significance
x [Autonomy] x [Feedback]
3
+ +

^
^
Engagement
• Engagement is the harnessing of
organizational members to their work roles
• When engaged, people employ and express
themselves physically, cognitively, and
emotionally as they perform their jobs and
work roles
• Full engagement requires the strategic
management of energy
16

^
^
Social Information Processing
• The social information processing model (SIP
model) emphasizes the interpersonal aspects of
work design
• Four basic premises
• Other people provide cues we use to understand
the work environment
• Other people help us judge what is important in our
jobs
• Other people tell us how they see our jobs
• Other people’s positive and negative feedback helps
us understand our feelings about our jobs
17

^
^
Ergonomics and Interdisciplinary Framework
Ergonomics: the science of adapting work and
working conditions to the employee or worker
18
Mechanistic Motivational
Biological Perceptual/motor
Job Design

^
^
19

^
^
The Japanese Approach
• Lean production—using committed
employees with ever-expanding
responsibilities to achieve zero waste, 100%
good product, delivered on time, every time
• Sociotechnical systems—giving equal
attention to technical and social
considerations in job design
20

^
^
The German Approach
• Value hierarchy and authority relationships
21
Technocentric
• Placing
technology
and
engineering at
the center of
job decisions
Anthropocentric
• Placing human
considerations
at the center
of job design
decisions

^
^
22

^
^
The Scandinavian Approach
• Encourage a high degree of worker control
and good social support systems
• Focus on enhancing worker well-being
“Work should be safe both physically and
mentally but also provide opportunities for
involvement, job satisfaction, and personal
development.”
23

^
^
Work Design and Well-Being
To design jobs that are healthy and productive:
• Increase worker control
• Reduce worker uncertainty
• Manage conflict
• Improve task-job design
24

^
^
Increasing Worker Control
• Give workers the opportunity to control
several aspects of the work and the
workplace
• Design machines and tasks with optimal
response times and/or ranges
• Implement performance monitoring systems
as a source of relevant feedback to workers
25

^
^
Reducing Uncertainty
• Provide employees with timely and
complete information needed for their work
• Make clear and unambiguous work
assignments
• Improve communication at shift change time
• Increase employee access to information
sources
26

^
^
Managing Conflict
• Use participative decision making to reduce
conflict
• Use supportive supervisory styles to resolve
conflict
• Have sufficient resources available to meet
work demands, thus preventing conflict
27

^
^
Improving Task-Job Design
• Enhance core job characteristics
• Do not pattern service work after assembly-
line work
28

^
^
Contemporary Issues in the Design of Work
• Telecommuting
• Employees work in a separate location
• Alternative work patterns
• Job sharing, four-day workweek, flextime
• Technostress
• Stress caused by new and advancing technologies
• Task revision
• Modifying an incorrectly specified role or job
• Skill development
• Addressing technical and nontechnical skill gaps
29

^
^
30

^
^
The Changing Nature of Work
• The two central needs in human nature
• To engage in productive work
• To form healthy relationships
• Work means different things to different
people
• Job design must be sensitive to cultural values
and beliefs
• Job design must be flexible
31

^
^
^
Chapter 14: Reflect & Discuss
Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girl Video Clip
 This chapter opened with a discussion of “job” and
“work.” Apply that discussion to the film sequence.
Include in your analysis the pattern of social interaction
between Monty and Julia.
 Apply the job characteristics theory to the film sequence.
What is the level of each core job characteristic for
Monty’s job? Calculate his Motivating Potential Score
using the formula that appears earlier in this chapter.
 Estimate the levels of each critical psychological state for
Monty. Use Figure 14.1, “The Jobs Characteristic Model,”
as a guide to our estimate. Use “low,” “middle,” or “high”
for your estimate.
32

MBA 635 chapter 14

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MBA 635 chapter 14