Job Design, Legislation and Strategy

1. Job Design, Legislation and Strategy Operations ManagementSession 7

2. Objectives By the end of this session, student will be able to: • Discuss advantages and disadvantages of implementing different types of job enlargement • Appreciate the requirements of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 • Appreciate the importance of understanding the impact of specific pieces of legislation on work practices • Discuss the importance of operations strategy

3. Topics • Job design – current trends • Legislation affecting operations • Health and safety • Environment • Strategy and operations

4. Job Design

5. Labour Specialization • Involves • Breaking jobs into small component parts • Assigning specialists to do each part • First noted by Adam Smith (1876) • Observed how workers in pin factory divided tasks into smaller components • Found in manufacturing & service industries

6. Taylorism • Mechanical pacing – automated assembly line monitors speed of production • Repetitive work processes • Concentration on only a fraction of a product • Prescribing tools and techniques as closely as possible • Limited social interaction • Low skill requirements

7. Labour Specialisation Often Reduces Cost • Greater dexterity & faster learning • Less lost time changing jobs or tools • Use more specialized tools • Pay only for needed skills

8. Job Expansion After WWII limitations of Taylor’s approach became apparent and the trend reversed: • Process of adding more variety to jobs • Intended to reduce boredom associated with labor specialization • Methods • Job enlargement • Job enrichment • Job rotation • Employee empowerment

9. Enriched Job Planning Control Job Expansion/Enrichment Enlarged Job Present Job Task #2 Task #3

10. Job Enlargement • Recombination of what were separate tasks – no re-organisation required • Where this not possible Job Rotation • Herzberg commented that workers often thought that Job Rotation just added one meaningless job to another

11. Job Enrichment • Identity – task is one meaningful piece of work • Significance – task directly affects others • Variety – task employs different skills and abilities • Autonomy – worker can exercise discretion over how job is performed • Feedback – worker receive direct information about how effectively the task has been performed

12. Decision-Making Control Planning Employee Empowerment Employee Empowerment

13. Job Design Continuum Self-directed Teams Increasing reliance on employees contribution and increasing acceptance of responsibility by employee Empowerment Enrichment Enlargement Specialization

14. Limitations toJob Enlargement/Job Enrichment • Higher capital cost • Many individuals prefer simple jobs • Higher wages are required since the worker must utilize a higher level of skill • A smaller labour pool exists of persons able and willing to perform enriched or enlarged jobs • Increased accident rates may occur • Current technology in some industries does not lend itself to job enlargement and enrichment

15. Work Patterns • Empowered work team • Flexible working times • Job sharing • Home working

16. Case Study • Create a schedule for a motor race pit stop

17. Legislation Affecting Operations

18. Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 For the employer: • The Act places a general duty to "ensure so far as is reasonably practicable the health, safety and welfare at work of all their employees".

19. Employer’s Responsibilities • Provide and maintain safety equipment and safe systems of work. • Ensure materials used are properly stored, handled, used and transported. • Provide information, training, instruction and supervision. Ensure staff are aware of instructions provided by manufacturers and suppliers of equipment. • Provide a safe place of employment. • Provide a safe working environment. • Provide a written safety policy/risk assessment. • Look after health and safety of others, example public. • Talk to safety representatives.

20. Employees’ Responsibilities • Take care of their own health and safety and that of other persons. Employees may be liable • Co-operate with their employers • Must not interfere with anything provided in the interest of health and safety

21. Related Legislation - PUWER The Provision & Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) states that all equipment given to employees must be: • Safe and of good standard • For workshops and building contractors, all machinery will need to be tested and regularly maintained. • In a small office, ensure all electrical equipment is tested and certified • Employers have a responsibility to ensure all employees are fully trained to use the equipment they work with • Must have some focus on employee health, such as posture (for chair based workers), eye-strain (when using screens and computers), repetitive strain injury and other work-related health risks

22. Related Legislation - LOLER • The Lifting Operations & Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) • Governs provision and use of lifting equipment and lifting operations in all work places in UK • Regulations are made under the Health and Safety Work Act 1974 • Also builds on requirements of Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER’98) • LOLER provides a single set of modern “goal setting” regulations governing the provision and use of lifting equipment

23. Environment • Energy consumption • Recycling from the process • Recycling of the product at the end of its useful life • Disposal of waste product • Atmospheric pollution • Green reporting

24. Environmental Legislation List of legislation at - http://www.netregs.gov.uk/netregs/ Examples that may affect your organisation:- • Clean Air Act 1993 • Noise Act 1996 • Environment Act 1995 • Environmental Protection Act 1990 • Water Act 2003 • Pollution Prevention and Control Act 1999 • Controlled Waste Regulations 1992, SI 588 • Detergents Regulations 2005, SI 2469

25. Strategy and Operations

26. Four Perspectives Top-down PerspectiveWhat the business wants operations to do OperationsResourcesPerspectiveWhat operationsresources can do MarketRequirementsPerspectiveWhat themarket positionrequires operationsto do OperationsStrategy Bottom-up PerspectiveWhat day-to-day experience suggests operations should do