Operations Management

Chapter 10 : Job Design

Design fundamentals
Objectives of Job Design
Technical Feasibility
Economic Feasibility
Behavioral Feasibility
Considerations in Job Design
Job Content
Specialization -Work Environment
Tools and Equipment
Atmosphere
Worker Motivation
Uses of Job Design -Job Analysis
Job Description

Chapter Summary

Productivity is vital for any organization. However, operations managers should take care that the process of productivity improvement does not dehumanize jobs. Dehumanization of jobs could lead to degradation of workers'performance in the long-term.

The objective of job design is to develop work assignments that satisfy the needs and requirements of both the organization and its workers. Managers try to design jobs in such a way that they are technically, behaviorally and economically feasible for workers as well as the organization.

Job design decisions are based on elements like job content, degree of specialization required, and work environment in the organization. Job design helps managers carry out job analysis and develop job specifications.

These in turn help managers conduct activities like recruitment and selection, orientation and training, and job evaluation. They also help in setting performance standards and designing performance appraisal systems. In this chapter, the various concepts of job design and its potential areas of application were discussed in detail.

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