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 &
C - profit
accrues to identity
others by
work
performance
D - physical
activity
directed by
others and
performed
in a
E - generally
workplace
unpleasant
physically &
mentally
strenuous
F - activity constrained
activity
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
Corejob
job
dimensions
dimensions
Skill variety
Task identity
Task significance

Autonomy
Feedback

Critical
Critical
psychological
psychological
states
states

Personal
Personaland
and
work
workoutcomes
outcomes

Experienced works
meaningfulness
Experienced
responsibility
for works outcomes
Knowledge of work
activities results

High internal
work motivation
High-quality
work performance
High satisfaction
with the work
Low absenteeism
and turnover

Employee
growth,need,
strength

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 =

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) peoples 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
companys 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