Psychology 572 Job Design Week 1 Overview

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Psychology 572Job Design Week 1Overview

• David Morrison

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Objectives

• To make students familiar with contemporary
  theories of job design, their promises and
  limitations
• To develop an awareness the difficulties incurred
  by the organisational change process and how to
  cope with them
• To introduce students to the art of evaluating
  change
• To add value to the collective knowledge of the
  group and to make the unit a worthwhile
  experience

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Learning Modes

• Active learning
• Some lecturing
• Lots of open discussion
• Case study analysis
• Class presentations (case workshops)
• Examination (2hrs)

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Case studies

• Select a case for analysis
• Undertake background research for the case
• Brainstorm the case in class (analyst
  responsibility)
• Present a solution at end of semester
• Take responsibility to add value the class
  experience

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Historical Overview

• As early as l776, Smith wrote that specialisation
  increased productivity for 3 reasons
• Increased dexterity with practice
• Reduction in time moving from task to task
• Increasing probability of the invention of labour
  saving machinery.

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The Industrial Revolution

• Babage (l835) explained how specialisation could
  increase profitability by reducing the cost of
  labour -
• "The master manufacturer by dividing the work to
  be executed into different processes, each
  requiring different degrees of skill or force,
  can purchase exactly that precise quantity of
  both which is necessary for each process whereas
  if the whole work were executed by one workman,
  that person must possess sufficient skill to
  perform the most difficult and sufficient
  strength to execute the most laborious". (from
  Kelly l984).

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Scientific Management

• development of a science of production
• selection and training of workers
• bring together the science and the workers i.e.
  match the man to the task
• an equal division of responsibility and
  cooperation between management and workers, i.e.
  workers work and managers manage. (Taylor 1911)

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Taylors Philosophy

• "It is only through enforced standardization of
  methods, enforced adoption of the best implements
  and working conditions, and enforced cooperation
  that this faster work can be ensured. And the
  duty of enforcing this cooperation rests with
  Management alone."

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Taylors 5 Principles

• Find, say, ten or fifteen men (preferably in as
  many separate establishments and different part
  of the country) who are especially skillful in
  doing the particular work to be analysed.
• Study the exact series of elementary operations
  or motions which each of these men uses in doing
  the work which is being investigated, as well as
  the implements each man uses.
• Study with a stopwatch the time required to make
  each of these elementary movements and then
  select the quickest way of doing each element of
  the work.

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5 Principles Contd

• Eliminate all false movements, slow movements and
  useless movements.
• After doing away with all unnecessary movements,
  collect into one series the quickest and best
  movements as well as the best implements.

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Add-ons

• Cinematography (Gilbreth, 1911)
• The production line (Henry Ford, 1914)

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Extent of Adaptation

• Taylors ideas were questioned in the House of
  Reps. But the publicity seemed to lead to wider
  adoption
• Davis, Canter Hoffman (1955) found that
• minimising time required to perform operations
• minimising skill requirements
• minimising training and learning times
• were rated as the most important factors in job
  design by companies.
• The ideas were pervasive 2-3 decades later and
  some argue that JIT is Taylorism applied by
  workers
• While not universal job simplification is the
  reference point against which other forms are
  compared.

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Psychological Consequences

• The Industrial Fatigue Research Board (Industrial
  Health Research Board) (1918) later the
  Institute of Industrial Psychology run by C.S.
  Myers
• Examined horizontal (simplification) rather than
  vertical division (reduction in discretion)
• The Industrial Fatigue Board reported
• 'Boredom has become increasingly prominent as a
  factor in the industrial life of the worker and
  its effects are no less important than those of
  fatigue' (Industrial Research Board, l93l30).

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Well Known Studies

• Fraser (l944) in a study (n3000) found neuroses
  common among those that found work boring, had
  jobs with little variety, were engaged in bench,
  assembly, inspection or performed jobs requiring
  constant attention.
• Kornhauser(l965) looked at mental health in
  factory workers. Mental health was highest among
  those in more skilled work, and lowest for those
  engaged in repetitive routine, machine paced,
  semi-skilled jobs.
• Broadbent(l985) reports high anxiety and
  depression amongst those with low autonomy and
  little control attribution of causal relationship
  is problematic.

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Osterman 1994

• Conventional wisdom is that gains in productivity
  depend on adopting new models of work
  organisation.
• Includes broad job definition, teams, employee
  problem solving groups and quality circles.
• Known as transformed systems, salaried systems,
  flexible specialisation, high commitment
  organisations and high performance work
  organisation.

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Modern DesignAdvanced Manufacturing

• CNC, assembly and robots
• Flexible manufacturing
• Reduced Labour
• Consistent performance
• Increased output
• Computer aided design (CAD)
• Computer aided production management planning and
  control of production resources (Manufacturing
  Resource Planning MRPII)

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Modern Design Cellular Manufacturing

• Grouping of technology and processes
• fewer products
• simpler work
• less set up time
• less planning and set-up
• less WIP
• early cells were single person
• large production sub-units now commonly found
• product based
• factory within a factory

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Modern Design Just in Time vs Just in Case

• Minimises capital tied up in materials,
  components, WIP, stores of finished goods and
  payment from customers/
• Is a pull rather than push system.
• Pull of customer demand
• requires coordination and planning
• manufacturing of smaller batches which puts
  pressure on set up change over times
• Goes hand in hand with AMT

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Modern Design Total Quality Management

• Quality is the competitive edge
• It is integral to production that is the
  responsibility of everybody

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Essential Features of TQM(Legge, 1995)

• Quality defined in terms of meeting customer
  requirements not conformance to standards
• Concept of customers extend to internal customers
• Emphasis on quantitative measurement to analyse
  deviations from quality
• Requires the involvement of all (not just
  inspectors)
• Continuous improvement to eliminate waste
  (non-value adding) (right first time)

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TQMRedesign(variants)

• TQM typically
• gives more responsibility for quality
• puts people in teams
• give more authority for monitoring and problem
  solving to help process improvement and aid
  product design innovation
• Hard approaches emphasise standardisation and
  measurement (seen as expensive)
• Soft approaches emphasise training and
  involvement (seen as less expensive)

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Other Variants in Design

• BPR Radical redesign to eliminate uneccessary
  practices
• Supply -Chain Partnering Vertical Integration
  (strategic alliances)
• Outsourcing Contracting out processes
• Learning Culture Development opportunities for
  all employees
• Empowerment Delegation of responsibility
• Team Based working AWGs
• Total Productive Maintenance Involve operators
  in maintenance
• Concurrent Engineering Simulataneous design and
  manufacture
• Integrated Computer-Based Technology CIM, FMS,
  CADCAM
• Manufacturing Cells Groups of operators complete
  whole product
• JITDirect response to customers (internal or
  external)
• TQM Continuous improvement to quality making all
  staff responsible

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Modern Manufacturing

• Problem Solving demands
• Production Responsibility
• Monitoring Demands
• Timing Control
• Method Control

• Advanced Technology
• Just In Time
• Total Quality Management

Flexibility
Cost Control
Quality
Work Smarter Not Harder
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Opportunity Knocks?

• A re-uniting of conceptual and manual tasks
• beginning of the end of mass production
• demise of the job in favour of flexible roles
• Case studies support these assertions

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Work Design Implications

• The debate is polarised between de-skilling and
  opportunity
• Does AMT take control away?
• Does JIT lead to standardisation and less
  discretion over task design less control over
  time?
• The above is back up by case study observations

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Trends in Change

• This trend away from Taylorism is becoming a
  universal model for organisations, especially
  large ones. (This trend) describes more flexible
  organizations, adaptable to change, with
  relatively levels of formal hierarchy and loose
  boundaries among functions and units, sensitive
  and responsive to the environment concerned with
  stakeholders of all sorts The organizations
  empower people to take action and be
  entrepreneurial , reward them for contributions,
  help them gain in skill and employability
• Kanter, Stein and Jick, (1992).

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Recent trends in Australia

• Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey
  (AWIRS)
• Sheffield Manufacturing Survey

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Who Adopts Change?

• Some (Kabanoff) suggests that forces outside of
  the organisation enforce change
• The type of change depends on the type of
  organisation

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Ostermans (1994) Questions

• How many firms are engaged in work
  re-organisation?
• What differentiates firms that undertake these
  efforts from those that do not?
• The survey was concerned with the extent to which
  the following were used (n875 empsgt50)
• Flexible work organisation Self directed work
  teams, job rotation, employee problem solving
  groups, and TQM.
• Degree of penetration examined

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Predictor Variables

• Markets and strategy (competitiveness and
  internationalisation)
• Competitive Strategy (cost or quality, variety
  service)
• Technology and its complexity (amount of skill
  required)
• Values
• (Human resource practices (Japanese have a
  community or stakeholder view whereas US
  companies do not)
• Work-family benefits and enterprise values
  towards those benefits.
• Firm environment
• Pressure to change.
• Size
• Age
• Unionisation.

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Regression results

• Managerial values comes out strongly employers
  that believe they are responsible for employer
  welfare adopt innovative practices.
• Organisations that compete internationally are
  also more likely Perhaps they learn more quickly
  about alternative forms of work practice.
• Skill level is also a strong predictor As the
  skill level required by the technology increases
  so does the adoption of flexibility.

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Supporting Policies

• seniority versus merit and the importance of
  insider preference vs outside hiring.
• extent to which employees have a financial stake
  in the enterprise success (profit share, and pay
  for skill)
• Does the organisation pay a premium relative to
  other organisations in the same industry
  especially as they require employees to be more
  committed and to exercise more discretion.
• Expect more investment in training.
• Job security is often one of the carrots used to
  create change.Are HRM policies designed to
  increase commitment, skill and or employee
  reductions.
• The extent to which employers use contract labour
  to protect the CORE

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Results

• Payment for skill, profit sharing and training
  (cross functional training, off the job training
  and a commitment to increasing skill) were seen
  to be very important to extent of penetration.
• A high value was placed on attaining higher
  levels of commitment, high use of casual labour
  and a high priority given to HRM in the
  organisation was also characteristic of flexible
  organisations.
• Contrary to expectations it was possible
  introduce innovative work practices without an
  assurance that redundancy would not follow.

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Conclusions

• About 35 of private sector establishments had
  made substantial use of flexible work practices
  in 1992.
• Organisational characteristics do predict
  adoption.
• Operating in the international arena
• Use of high skill technology
• Worker oriented values (emphasising service
  quality, variety of products etc rather than low
  cost)
• Being a part of a larger organisation was also
  indicative
• The presence of unions did not impact on adoption
  nor pressure to get short term profits.

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HRM practice underwrites the innovative work
program

• Innovative pay schemes
• Training
• Efforts to induce commitment
• Neither employment security nor policies that
  emphasise merit as a basis for promotion seem to
  be important.

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Limitations in research on Job Design

• Casual observation of exemplary companies Do the
  successful organisations have the values of the
  successful ones?
• Questions of causality do values lead to
  success for vice versa
• Limitations of cross sectional data and lack of
  longitudinal research
• Retrospective descriptions