CHAPTER 7

Design of
Work Systems

Operations Management, Eighth Edition, by William J. Stevenson

McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights
Major Factors Affecting
Productivity
Technological Development and
Raw Materials
Employees Job Performance
Ability
Motivation
Motivational Theories (Theory X,
Theory Y, and Theory Z)
Technological
Development and Raw
Materials
Technology

Materials
Plant Layout
Job Designs
Employees Job
Performance
Ability
Skills

Training
Experience
Knowledge
Education
Employees Job
Performance
Motivation
Economic Motivators
Individuals Needs
Hierarchy of Needs
Formal Organization
Organization Structure

Leadership Climate
Personnel Policies
Motivation
Informal Leadership
Organization Type of
Size Leadership
Goals
Autocratic
Close
Cohesiveness Supervison
Democratic
General

Supervision
Motivation
Union
Cohesiveness
Goals
Leadership
Maslows Hierarchy of
Needs
Achievement, Creativity,
SELF Development &
FULFILLMENT Advancement
Self-respect,
EGO Recognition,
Prestige, Status
SOCIAL Friendship

Shelter &
SECURITY Protection
Hunger,
PHYSICAL Thirst,
Sex
Theory X
People lack motivation
People are basically lazy
People only work because they
have to
Theory Y
People are interested in goal
accomplishments
People have the potential for
creativity
People have many skills and
potentials
Theory Z
William G. Ouchis
This theory explores the differences
between the Japanese and American
management systems.
Japanese system is designated as J type
American system is designated as A type
U.S. organizations that have some
characteristics of the Japanese
organizations as Z type
Examples: IBM, Eastman-Kodak, Hewlett-Packard
Theory Z
Characteristics of Z type
organizations
Employment must be stabilized
This means employment security
Unions must be involved but not in an
adversary relationship
A system for slow evaluation and
promotion should be developed
Job Design
Job design involves specifying
the content and methods of job
What will be done
Who will do the job
How the job will bob will be done
Where the job will be done
Ergonomics
Design of Work Systems
Specialization
Behavioral Approaches to Job
Design
Teams
Methods Analysis
Motions Study
Working conditions
Job Design Success
Successful Job Design must be:
Carried out by experienced
personnel with the necessary
training and background
Consistent with the goals of the
organization
In written form
Understood and agreed to by both
management and employees
 Specialization in Business:
Advantages

For Management: For Labor:

1. Simplifies training 1. Low education and
skill requirements
2. High productivity
2. Minimum
3. Low wage costs
responsibilities
3. Little mental effort
needed
 Disadvantages
For Management: For Labor:
1. Difficult to motivate 1. Monotonous work
quality 2. Limited opportunities
2. Worker dissatisfaction, for advancement
possibly resulting in 3. Little control over work
absenteeism, high
4. Little opportunity for
turnover, disruptive
self-fulfillment
tactics, poor attention
to quality
Behavioral Approaches to
Job Design
Job Enlargement
Giving a worker a larger portion of the
total task by horizontal loading
Job Rotation
Workers periodically exchange jobs
Job Enrichment
Increasing responsibility for planning and
coordination tasks, by vertical loading
Motivation and Trust
Motivation
Influences quality and productivity
Contributes to work environment
Trust
Influences productivity and employee-
management relations
 Teams
Benefits of teams
Higher quality
Higher productivity
Greater worker satisfaction
Self-directed teams
Groups of empowered to make
certain changes in their work
process
 Methods Analysis
Methods analysis
Analyzing how a job gets done
Begins with overall analysis
Moves to specific details
 Methods Analysis
The need for methods analysis can come
from a number of different sources:
Changes in tools and equipment
Changes in product design
or new products
Changes in materials or procedures
Other factors (e.g. accidents,
quality problems)
 Methods Analysis
Procedure
Identify the operation to be studied
Get employee input
Study and document current method
Analyze the job
Propose new methods
Install new methods
Follow-up to ensure improvements
have been achieved
 Analyzing the Job
Flow process chart
Chart used to examine the overall
sequence of an operation by focusing
on movements of the operator or
flow of materials
Worker-machine chart
Chart used to determine portions of a
work cycle during which an operator
and equipment are busy or idle
 ion
ent
tion
FLOW PROCESS CHART ANALYST PAGE

age
t
vem

pec

ay
Job Requisition of petty cash D. Kolb 1 of 2

era

Stor
De l
Ins
Mo
Op
Details of Method
Requisition made by department head
Put in pick-up basket
To accounting department
Account and signature verified
Amount approved by treasurer
Amount counted by cashier
Amount recorded by bookkeeper
Petty cash sealed in envelope
Petty cash carried to department
Petty cash checked against requisition
Receipt signed
Petty cash stored in safety box
 Motion Study
Motion study is the systematic
study of the human motions
used
to perform an operation.
 Motion Study Techniques
Motion study principles - guidelines for
designing motion-efficient work
procedures
Analysis of therbligs - basic elemental
motions into which a job can be broken
down
Micromotion study - use of motion pictures
and slow motion to study motions that
otherwise would be too rapid to analyze
Charts
 Developing Work Methods
Eliminate unnecessary motions
Combine activities
Reduce fatigue
Improve the arrangement of the
workplace
Improve the design of tools and
equipment
 Working Conditions
T e m p e ra tu re & V e n t ila t io n
H u m id it y

I llu m in a t io n C o lo r
 Working Conditions
(contd)
Noise & Vibration Work Breaks

Safety Causes of Accidents

 Work Measurement

Standard time
Stopwatch time study
Historical times
Predetermined data
Work Sampling
 Compensation
Time-based system
Compensation based on time an
employee has worked during a pay
period
Output-based (incentive) system
Compensation based on the amount
of output an employee produces
during a pay period
 Form of Incentive Plan
Accurate
Easy to apply
Consistent
Easy to understand
Fair
 Compensation
Individual Incentive Plans
Group Incentive Plans
Knowledge-Based Pay System
Management Compensation
Learning Curves
Learning curves: the time
required to perform a task
decreases with increasing
repetitions
 Learning Effect
Time per repetition

Number of repetitions
 Learning with
Improvements
Time per unit

Average Improvements may create a

scallop effect in the curve.

Time
Applications of Learning
Curves
Manpower planning and scheduling
Negotiated purchasing
Pricing new products
Budgeting, purchasing, and
inventory planning
Capacity Planning
 Worker Learning Curves
Time/cycles

A (underqualified)

B (average)
Standard time
C (overqualified)

One week Training time

 Cautions and Criticisms
Learning rates may differ from
organization to organization
Projections based on learning
curves should be viewed as
approximations
Estimates based the first unit
should be checked for valid times
 Cautions and Criticisms
At some point the curve might
level off or even tip upward
Some improvements may be more
apparent than real
For the most part, the concept
does not apply to mass production