C hapter 9

1. Chapter 9 Jobdesign and work organization Source: Bettman/Corbis

2. Job design Process design Operations strategy Supply network design Layout and flow Operations management Improvement Design Process technology Job design Planning and control Product/service design

3. The elements of job design

4. quality speed dependability impacts on flexibility cost health and safety quality of working life The objectives of job design Job design

5. Division of labour Flexible working Scientific management Team working Ergonomics Behavioural approaches Empowerment Some influences on job design and work organization Job design

6. Division of labour Dividing the total task into smaller parts, each of which is accomplished by a single person or team Promotes faster learning Advantages Makes automation easier Ensures that non-productive work is reduced Leads to monotony Can result in physical injury Disadvantages Not particularly robust Can reduce flexibility

7. Work measurement Method study The systematic recording and critical examination of existing and proposed methods of doing work, as a means of developing and applying easier and more effective methods and reducing costs The application of techniques designed to establish the time for a qualified worker to carry out a specified job at a defined level of performance Work study Work study A generic term for those techniques, particularly method study and work measurement, which are used in the examination of human work in all its contexts, and which lead systematically to the investigation of all the factors which affect the efficiency and economy of the situations being reviewed in order to effect improvement

8. Standard performance is the rate of output which qualified workers will achieve without over-exertion as an average over the working day, provided they are motivated to apply themselves to their work. Source: Getty Images/Photographers Choice

9. A qualified worker is one who is accepted as having the necessary physical attributes, intelligence, skill, education and knowledge to perform the task to satisfactory standards of safety, quality and quantity. Source: Getty Images/Photographers Choice

10. Process charting Activity Oper-ation Move-ment Inspec-tion Storage Delay D D D D D D D D D D D

11. Description of activity Report arrives 1 Wait for processing 2 3 Check expenses report 4 Stamp and date report 5 Send cash to receipt desk 6 Wait for processing Check advance payment 7 8 Send to accounts receivable 9 Wait for processing 10 Check employee record 11 Send to account payable Attach payment voucher 12 Description of activity Log report 13 Report arrives 1 14 Check against rules Stamp and date report 2 15 Wait for batching 3 Check expenses report Collect retorts into batch 16 4 Attach payment voucher Batch to audit desk 17 5 Wait for batching Wait for processing 18 6 Collect retorts into batch 19 Batch of reports logged Batch to audit desk 7 20 Check payment voucher 8 Wait for processing 21 Reports to batch control 9 Check reports and vouchers Batch control number 22 Reports to batch control 10 23 Copy of reports to filing 11 Batch control number 24 Reports filed Copy of reports to filing 12 Payment voucher to keying 25 Reports filed 13 26 Confirm payment 14 Payment voucher to keying 8 7 Totals 5 1 5 Confirm payment 15 Totals 5 5 2 1 2 Flow process charts for processing expense reports at Intel before and after improving the process

12. Method study: SREDIM Method study seeks to improve methods of production. It embraces layout, environment, material and labour usage: Select the task to be studied Record present method, using 5 charting symbols Examine the facts critically Develop the best method Install the new method Maintain by regular checks Resources and flow: job design

13. Standard times are the building blocks of process design. They represent the time needed for a qualified worker to carry out specific jobs at defined levels of performance. Basic time + allowances = standard time Resources and flow: job designWork measurement

14. Rating scales Standard performance 100 80 ‘Incentive’ ‘Normal’ 75 60 British Standard I.L.O. American Standard

15. Basic time Observed time Rating Standard rating = × Basic time for element Observed time for element ‘Rating’ to adjust for effort The stages in work measurement

16. Standard time Basic time Allowances = + Basic time for element Standard time for element ‘Allowances’ for relaxation, etc. Standard time for job The stages in work measurement

17. Build-up of standard times Basic time Standard time Element Allowances % mins A 0.6 17 0.10 0.70 B 0.4 12 0.05 0.45 0.8 10 0.08 0.88 C 0.3 17 0.05 0.35 D 2.1 0.28 2.38 Basic time 2.10 Allowance 0.28 Standard time = 2.38

18. A standard unit of work, e.g. 1 standard minute Average job 84% work 16% relaxation Light job 90% work 10% relaxation Heavy job 68% work 32% relaxation The ‘standard’ unit of work

19. Ergonomics approach How the person interfaces with the environmental conditions prevalent in his or her immediate working area How the person interfaces with the physical aspects of his or her workplace Ergonomicsis concerned primarily with the physiological aspects of job design – that is, with the human body and how it fits into its surroundings

20. Ergonomics – How the person interfaces with the physical aspects of his or her workplace

21. Forearms approximately horizontal Seat back adjustability Good lumbar support Seat height adjustability Leg room and clearance to allow postural changes Foot support if needed No excess pressure on underside of thighs and backs of knees Space for postural change, no obstacles under desk Ergonomics in the office environment

22. Screen: stable image, adjustable, readable, glare and reflection free Adequate lighting Adequate contrast, no glare or distracting reflections Keyboard usable, adjustable, detachable, legible Window covering Distracting noise minimized Work surfaces: allow flexible arrangements, spacious, glare free Software appropriate to task, adapted to user, no undisclosed monitoring Ergonomics in the office environment

23. For example, people workingin extreme conditions Ergonomics – How the person interfaces with the environmental conditions prevalent in his or her immediate working area Source: Tibbett and Britten

24. Performance and personal outcomes Techniques of job design Core job characteristics Mental states Combining Skill variety Experienced meaningfulness of the work High internal work motivation tasks Forming natural Task identity work units High quality work performance Experienced responsibility for outcomes of the work Establishing Task significance client relationships High satisfaction with the work Autonomy Vertical loading Knowledge of the actual results of the work activity Low absenteeism and turnover Opening Feedback feedback channels Behavioural approaches – Hackman and Oldham’s model of job design

25. Job enrichment Job enlargement Behavioural approaches – Job enlargement and enrichment More tasks which give increased responsibility, autonomy or decision-making Original job tasks More tasks of the same type

26. Team working – where staff, often with overlapping skills, collectively perform a defined task and have a high degree of discretionover how they actually perform the task For example, a team of nurses sharing the responsibility to care for patients

27. Empowerment means more than autonomy. It means giving staff the ability to change how they do their jobs and the authority to make changes to the job itself, as well as how it is performed.

28. Empowerment – McDonald’s lets families share jobs.McDonald’s allows family members to cover each other’s jobs. Members of the same family working in the same outlet can workeach other’s shifts without giving any prior notice or getting a manager’s permission. Source: Corbis/Reuters

29. Flexible working – Increasingly, some people are expected to do their jobs while travelling, with only occasional visits to their ‘home’ location.

30. Staff treated as a cost Division of labour Self-managed method study Scientific management Ergonomics Behavioural approaches Empowerment Team working Staff treated as a resource Flexible working Emphasis on commitment and engagement of staff Emphasis on managerial control

31. Job design The way in which we structure the content and environment of the jobs of individual staff members within the workplace and the interface with the technology or facilities that they use. Ergonomics A branch of job design that is primarily concerned with the physiological aspects of job design, with how the human body fits with process facilities and the environment; can also be referred to as human factors, or human factors engineering. Human factors engineering An alternative term for ergonomics. Key Terms Test

32. Repetitive strain injury (RSI) Damage to the body because of repetition of activities. Anthropometric data Data that relates to people’s size, shape and other physical abilities, used in the design of jobs and physical facilities. Division of labour An approach to job design that involves dividing a task into relatively small parts, each of which is accomplished by a single person. Key Terms Test

33. Scientific management A school of management theory dating from the early twentieth century; more analytical and systematic than ‘scientific’ as such, sometimes referred to (pejoratively) as Taylorism, after Frederick Taylor who was influential in founding its principles. Method study The analytical study of methods of doing jobs with the aim of finding the ‘best’ or an improved job method. Work measurement A branch of work study that is concerned with measuring the time that should be taken for performing jobs. Key Terms Test

34. Work study The term generally used to encompass method study and work measurement, derived from the scientific management school. Principles of motion economy A checklist used to develop new methods in work study that is intended to eliminate elements of the job, combine elements together, simplify the activity or change the sequence of events so as to improve efficiency. Qualified worker The term used in work study to denote a person who is accepted as having the necessary physical attributes, intelligence, skill, education and knowledge to perform the task. Key Terms Test

35. Standard performance The term used in work measurement to indicate the rate of output that qualified workers will achieve without over-exertion as an average over the working day, provided they are motivated to apply themselves, now generally accepted as a very vague concept. Basic time The time taken to do a job without any extra allowances for recovery. Time study A term used in work measurement to indicate the process of timing (usually with a stopwatch) and rating jobs. It involves observing times, adjusting or normalizing each observed time (rating) and averaging the adjusted times. Key Terms Test

36. Rating A work study technique that attempts to assess a worker’s rate of working relative to the observer’s concept of standard performance. It is controversial and now accepted as being an ambiguous process. Standard time A term used in work measurement that indicates the total time taken to do a job, including allowances for recovery and relaxation. Allowances The term used in work study to indicate the extra time allowed for rest, relaxation and personal needs. Key Terms Test

37. Synthesis from elemental data A work measurement technique for building up a time from previously timed elements. Predetermined motion–time systems (PMTS) A work measurement technique in which standard elemental times obtained from published tables are used to construct a time estimate for a whole job. Job rotation The practice of encouraging the movement of individuals between different aspects of a job in order to increase motivation. Key Terms Test

38. Job enlargement A term used in job design to indicate increasing the amount of work given to individuals in order to make the job less monotonous. Job enrichment A term used in job design to indicate increasing the variety and number of tasks within an individual’s job. This may include increased decision making and autonomy. Empowerment A term used in job design to indicate increasing the authority given to people to make decisions within the job or changes to the job itself. Key Terms Test

39. Multi-skilling Increasing the range of skills of individuals in order to increase motivation and/or improve flexibility. Flexi-time working Increasing the possibility of individuals varying the times during which they work. Annual hours A type of flexi-time working that controls the amount of time worked by individuals on an annual rather than a shorter basis. Teleworking The ability to work from home using telecommunications and/or computer technology. Key Terms Test