Organizational Design, Diagnosis, and Development

Session 21

Techno-structural Interventions, IV

Work Design

• To review the application of Socio-technical systems to job design

• To review the Demand -Control model of job strain• To review Action Theory approach to job design• To understand the implications of the demands of

modern manufacturing for job design• To understand the implications of information

technologies & teleworking on job design

Objectives

Sociotechnical System Model

Environmental Forces

Technical

Production process

Work settingTechnology dimensions

Moderators

Work rolesGoals

Skills &Abilities

Social

Organizational Culture

Leadership styles

Motivationalpractices

Communication

Socio-technical Principles

• Innovativeness

• Human resource development

• Environmental agility

• Cooperation

• Commitment/energy

• Joint optimization

Self-Managed Work Groups

• Team task design– Task differentiation: Responsibility for product

or service– Task control: Control of task behaviors– Boundary control: Decision latitude

• Group process

• Organizational support

Demand -Control Model of Job Strain

• Decision latitude and psychological demands

• Job strain level and activity level

• Interaction of demands and decision making

• Social support

Decision Latitude and Psychological Demands

• Decision latitudes - Combination of decision making authority and opportunity to use and develop skills on the job

• Psychological demands - The mental workload or intellectual requirements of the job

Job Strain Level and Activity Level

• Job strain level - level of stress derived from the workplace. Job strain relates positively to feelings of passivity and helplessness on the job

• Activity level - Level of job demands in relation to decision latitude.– High activity - lawyers, engineers, teachers, nurses

– Low activity - clerks, janitors

Interaction of Demands & Decision Making

Interaction of Demands & Decision Making

Job demandsHigh Low

JobDecisionLatitude

High

Low

Low Strain

High Strain

Active

PassiveRisk of psychologicalstrain & illness

Activelearning, etc.

Social Support

• Buffering effect of social support

• Social isolation carries risks

• Social isolation combined with high strain carries higher risk factors for ill health

Goal Development Plan generation Decision

Execution & monitoringFeedback

The Action Process

Goal Development

• Goal is most important concept in action theory

• Goal attributes– difficulty– specificity– hierarchy– time range– valence

Plan Generation

• Detailedness

• Inclusiveness

Execution & Monitoring

• Flexibility

• Speed

• Monitoring

Feedback

• Concurrent vs terminal

• Extrinsic vs intrinsic

• Immediate vs delayed

• Verbal vs non-verbal

Levels of Action Regulation

• Sensori-motor

• Flexible action plans

• Intellectual level

• Heuristic level

Implications for Work Design

• Employees should choose own strategy

• Work should have complete actions

• Minimize obstacles

• Design for activity

• Design for control & complexity

• Emphasis on selection

• Design for feedback

• Design for job expansion

Advanced Manufacturing Technology

• CAD - Computer aided design uses computers to aid in the design of a product

• CAM - Computer aided manufacturing links computers to manufacturing equipment so that the equipment is controlled via computer

• CAPR - Computer aided production management is the planning & control of production resources

• CIM - Computer integrated manufacturing uses the computer as the spine for all aspects of design, manufacturing, assembly and inspection

Cellular Manufacturing

• Traditional factories - all machines of one type grouped together, e.g. all drills, all borers, etc.

• Cell technology - groups all machines required for producing a product into a cell– Advantage is simpler flow of work– Group people and machinery around the

product, may include engineering, purchasing, etc

Just - In - Time Production

• JIT is an inventory control process which minimizes stockpiling parts and finished products

• Inventories typically a control system to handle fluctuations in demand and unexpected problems - Just- In- Case

• Lower inventories require coordination between suppliers and producers

Work Content

• AMT leads to deskilling - – concern stems from machines taking over

decision process and skills to concern with statistical numerical control

– JIT takes buffers out of the system– TQM pressures workers

• AMT leads to enrichment and enhanced skills

Contingency Approach

• Contingency approach says, It depends.– Management commitment to initiative– Environmental uncertainty– Cognitive demands and the non-routine– Interdependence or collaboration needed– Production responsibility and error cost– Performance visibility– Workload

Supporting Job Designs

• Uncertainty in production– High uncertainty - enriched job designs &

autonomy– Low uncertainty - standard job design and level

of autonomy– Uncertainty and needs for performance-related

knowledge

Office Technologies

• Word processing

• Presentation packages

• Data bases

• Spreadsheets

• Information storage and retrieval

• Internet capability (information search strategies)

CommunicationTechnologies

• E-mail

• Audio teleconferencing

• Video conferencing

• Electronic conferencing– Asynchronous– Anytime– Anywhere

Design Implications

• Job design– Initially some de-skilling

– Ability to develop multiple skills in applications

– Task lines blur between skill areas

– Flexible job descriptions

• Organizational design– Flatter

– Decentralized

Teleworking

• A definition: Trips to work are substituted with a home-based or telecenter based work-site.

• Benefits: Productivity,Reduction of absenteeism, Retention, Employee safety, Disaster Mitigation, Environmental benefits

• Costs: Isolation, Reduced corporate culture, loyalty, Added effort, Perceived inequitable treatment

Implications for Design

• Goal setting

• Complete tasks

• Minimize obstacles

• Feedback

• Emphasis on selection

Backwards & Forwards

• Summing up: Today’s session covered work design from the perspective of socio-technical theory, demand-control model, and action theory. Implications of advanced manufacturing and information technologies were explored for work design.

• Looking ahead: Next time we examine human resource interventions, particularly performance management