SASI INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING

Strategic Human Resource Management

2nd Class Test Key

Date: 18-09-09 Branch: M.B.A Max Marks: 40

Answer the following questions:

1q).
Ans).Basically, a Work System refers to “A system in which human participants and / or
machines perform work using information, technology & other resources to produce products or
services for internal as well as external customers.”
 A Work System generally contains 9 elements namely:
1. Human participants (People who perform the work)
2. Processes & Activities(Everything that occurs within the W.S)
3. Products & Services =
a). Physical products & services
b). Information products
c). Intangible products such as enjoyment, peace
of mind, etc
d). Social products such as agreements,
organizations, arrangements, etc.
4. Information( includes codified as well as non codified information)
5. Customers ( people who receive direct & indirect benefits from the products &
services produced in the work system)
6. Technology( includes tools such as cell phones, projectors, etc) and
Techniques( include Management by Objectives, optimization, etc)
7. Environment( includes P, E, S, T, L, factors & also Competitive &
Organizational factors)
8. Infrastructure( includes human, technical, informational & other resources)
9. Strategies( includes the strategies of work system, department & the overall
organization)
 A Work System should be created in such a way that :
1. It supports frequent technological changes
2. It motivates employees & keeps them busy
 A well designed W.S can extract the best out of the employees whereas an improper
W.S can demoralize them.
 The design of a work system involves 3 most important factors that have to be
considered and they are diagrammatically represented as follows:
  What Workers do:

1. Any organization irrespective of its size is generally constituted by many

departments each of which has many workers.
2. Some of the departments include: Sales, Production, Finance, Marketing, H.R,
etc.
3. The worker’s responsibilities & duties would naturally depend on the department
in which he/she is working and even on the nature of task he/she is assigned.
4. A Work System should be designed in such a way that it allows the above
concepts to be followed in the organization:
a. Job Specialization
b. Job Enlargement
c. Job Rotation
d. Job Enrichment
e. Vertical Loading
 Job Specialization refers to
 Job Enlargement refers to
 Job Rotation refers to
 Job Enrichment refers to
 Vertical Loading refers to the process in which the job responsibilities formerly
delegated to the supervisor are re-assigned to the employee.
5. The Job characteristics that have to be considered while designing a work system
include:
a. Skill Variety
b. Task Identity
c. Task Significance
d. Autonomy
e. Feedback
 Skill Variety = Extent to which work allows
employee to use variety of
Skills.
 Task Identity = Extent to which work allows
employee to complete
whole or identifiable piece of work.
 Task Significance = Extent to which employee perceives that work is important
and meaningful to those inside or outside organization.
 Autonomy = Extent to which employee is able to work and determine work
procedure at his/her own discretion.
 Feedback = Extent to which work allows employee to gain sense of how well job
responsibilities are met.

 What Workers need:

1. The needs of workers also should be taken into consideration while designing a
Work system and they include:
a. Changing Demographics & Life styles
b. Employees’ need for Work-Life balance
c. Employees’ need for Safety
d. Employees’ need for Representation(Voice)

 Changing Demographics & Lifestyles = Worker needs vary by age, gender,

race, religion, physical abilities, sexual orientation, and marital and family status.

 Employees need for Work-Life balance = Due to intense competition, the firms
tend to over exploit the available human resources which may result in burnout or
lower performance. So, the firms should take design such a W.S in which, the
employees have enough time to work efficiently as well as spend with their
family happily.

 Employees’ need for Safety = With no regard to high salaries and other benefits,
workers prefer to have safety at the work place. So, the organizational
management should design such a W.S that provides safe & hazard free work
environment.

 Employees’ need for Representation = Workers in any organization want

themselves to be involved in work-related issues and even they expect the
organization to listen to their concerns. They do this in order to gain fame,
reputation & identity in their work group.

 How Jobs interface with other Jobs:

1. This is basically termed as Interdependence among Jobs, which is of 3 types
namely:
a. Pooled Interdependence
b. Sequential Interdependence
 c. Reciprocal Interdependence
 Pooled Interdependence = In this case, there is a very little relationship among
jobs as the work environment is not regulated.
Ex: LIC Insurance agents who work independently but within the
specified guidelines of the organization.
 Sequential Interdependence = In this case, an employee’s work is totally
dependent on the work of his fellow employees i.e., highly related. This kind of
job relationship is linear and follows a definite structure.
Ex: Production Unit’s Assembly line, where the work is done in
sequential manner.
 Reciprocal Interdependence = In this case, the jobs are not at all related as the
work is started at random at various intervals. This kind of job relationship is non-
linear & unstructured.
Ex: R.I is mostly seen in the case of Project teams such as Dam
constructions, flyover constructions, etc.

 Approaches to the Design of Work System:

1. There are 3 approaches in designing the work systems and they are:
a. Specialist approach
b. Generalist approach
c. Strategic approach