Lecture 1A: Introduction 2
Lecture 1B: Historical Overview - Craft Production and Scientific Management 2
Lecture 1C: Historical Overview - Job Characteristics Theories 4
Lecture 1D: Historical Overview - Sociotechnical Systems and Autonomous Workgroups 10
Lecture 2A: Work design in OM 11
Lecture 2B: Defining work 11
Lecture 2C: Describing the role of a worker in the transformation process 12
Lecture 2D: Distinguishing different tasks 13
Lecture 2E: Understanding the importance of ergonomics 13
Lecture 2F: Describing and applying different method analysis 14
Lecture 2G: Describing and applying different ways to measure work 15
Lecture 2H: Learning effects 16
Lecture 2I: Reasons to divide work and describing ways to link workplace 16
Lecture 3A: Formal and Informal Decision-Making on Work Design 17
Lecture 3B: Contextual and Individual Influences 19
Lecture 3C: Employee Job Crafting 25
Lecture 3D: Which forces affect work design from an OM perspective? 29
Lecture 4A: Integrative Model of Individual Work Performance 29
Lecture 4B - Antecedents and Outcomes of Individual Work Performance 32
Lecture 4C: A distinction between human effects and system effects 37
Lecture 4D: Trade offs between human effects and system effects 39
Lecture 4E: Visual Management 40
Lecture 5A: Mediators of Work Design 40
Lecture 5B: Moderators of Work Design 43
Lecture 5C: Fundamental Goals and Personality as Moderator 47
Lecture 5D: Situation Strength and Trait Activation as Moderators of Work Design 50
1
,Lecture 1A: Introduction
Work can be defined as an activity in which a person exerts a physical or mental effort to
accomplish tasks or perform duties
● Task: an activity related to the completion of a person's work
● Duty: an action or task required by a person’s job
● Role: expected patterns of work behaviours that arise from a job
● Job: an aggregation of tasks assigned to a worker
Job design refers to the content and organization of work task.
Work design describes how jobs, tasks and roles are structured, enacted and modified, as well as
the impact of these structures, enactments, and modification on individual, group and
organizational outcomes.
When done well, work design:
● Coordinates and optimizes work processes to maximize performance and create value
● Creates good work that motivates, satisfies, commits and retains employees
● Benefits both employees and their employers
Historical overview of work design
1. Craft production (medieval times)
2. Scientific management (industrial revolution)
3. Job characteristics theories (from 1940s)
4. Sociotechnical systems and autonomous world groups (from 1950s)
5. Role and job demand theories (from 1960s)
Lecture 1B: Historical Overview - Craft Production and Scientific
Management
Craft production: making products by hand or with a few tools. Products were produced in low
volumes with high variety to meet the unique demands of their customers.
● Highly skilled and self-managed
● Used an apprenticeship system to learn craftsmanship
● Usually worked at home or in small workshops
● Organized themselves into guilds an collectively regulated occupational entry
Scientific management: the first attempt to apply science to the design of work and management
of workers. Its main goal is to improve economic efficiency, especially in labour productivity. It
originated during the industrial revolution.
● Industry 1.0 (from 1760s): steam was used to mechanize production
● Industry 2.0 (from 1870s): electricity enabled mass production with assembly lines)
● Manual → mechanic
2
,Mass production
1. System of standardized an interchangeable parts
2. Scientific management as a mechanical model of work design (Taylor)
a. Vertical division of work: finding one best way
b. Horizontal division of work: breaking complex tasks into smaller series of simple,
routine tasks
3. Development of assembly line (Henry Ford)
Five Scientific Management Principles
1. Science: using scientific method to determine one best way
2. Scientifically select and train employees: asses which workers are most capable of
doing a particular job and train them to work at peak efficiency
3. Ensure that most efficient ways of working are used: monitor and cooperate with
workers. Managers are needed.
4. Divide work between managers and workers: properly divide the workload.
5. Pay is based on performance, money motivates workers: establish fair levels of
performance and pay a premium for higher performance (piece-rate pay)
Evaluation Scientific Management
● Impressive productivity effects
○ Cheaper, constant output, mass production
● Simplified jobs had detrimental psychological effects
● Often seen as dehumanizing
○ Workers treated as objects
Influenced:
- Quality assurance and quality control
- Operations management
- Toyota production systems
- Lean product
- Total quality management
Jidoka: quickly identifying and correcting any issues that could lead to faulty production,
continuous improvement
Just-in-Time: refining and coordinating production processes so that it only produces what is
required by the next process in the sequence
TPS, LP and TQM involve and rely on workers to identify and solve waste and quality issues,
whereas in scientific management, workers did not have any say in the process.
Examples scientific management: mcdonalds, amazon warehouses etc.
3
, Lecture 1C: Historical Overview - Job Characteristics Theories
Job characteristics theories
● Human relations theory
● Maslows hierarchy of needs
● Herzbergs two factor theory
● Mcregorgs x and y theory
Human Relations Theory: sees workers as thinking beings with needs. Attention motivates
employees to perform better.
● Hawthorne studies: examined how working conditions affect productivity. Concluding,
giving recognition and attention to employees and their wellbeing resulted in improved
performance.
● Treating workers as an extension of machines, is a flawed conceptual framework
● Workers form informal groups that influence performance.
● Interpersonal relationships are more impactful than salary or physical conditions
● Managers must understand the needs of their employees.
Critics:
- Lacks external validity
- Insufficient attention to formal relationships.
- Neglected the economic dimension of work
- Did not control for different types of work
- Did not explode multidimensionality of human motivation
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: a motivational theory comprising five human needs, often
depocted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid
Must first satisfact a lower level of need, before satisfying a higher level of needs.
4
Lecture 1B: Historical Overview - Craft Production and Scientific Management 2
Lecture 1C: Historical Overview - Job Characteristics Theories 4
Lecture 1D: Historical Overview - Sociotechnical Systems and Autonomous Workgroups 10
Lecture 2A: Work design in OM 11
Lecture 2B: Defining work 11
Lecture 2C: Describing the role of a worker in the transformation process 12
Lecture 2D: Distinguishing different tasks 13
Lecture 2E: Understanding the importance of ergonomics 13
Lecture 2F: Describing and applying different method analysis 14
Lecture 2G: Describing and applying different ways to measure work 15
Lecture 2H: Learning effects 16
Lecture 2I: Reasons to divide work and describing ways to link workplace 16
Lecture 3A: Formal and Informal Decision-Making on Work Design 17
Lecture 3B: Contextual and Individual Influences 19
Lecture 3C: Employee Job Crafting 25
Lecture 3D: Which forces affect work design from an OM perspective? 29
Lecture 4A: Integrative Model of Individual Work Performance 29
Lecture 4B - Antecedents and Outcomes of Individual Work Performance 32
Lecture 4C: A distinction between human effects and system effects 37
Lecture 4D: Trade offs between human effects and system effects 39
Lecture 4E: Visual Management 40
Lecture 5A: Mediators of Work Design 40
Lecture 5B: Moderators of Work Design 43
Lecture 5C: Fundamental Goals and Personality as Moderator 47
Lecture 5D: Situation Strength and Trait Activation as Moderators of Work Design 50
1
,Lecture 1A: Introduction
Work can be defined as an activity in which a person exerts a physical or mental effort to
accomplish tasks or perform duties
● Task: an activity related to the completion of a person's work
● Duty: an action or task required by a person’s job
● Role: expected patterns of work behaviours that arise from a job
● Job: an aggregation of tasks assigned to a worker
Job design refers to the content and organization of work task.
Work design describes how jobs, tasks and roles are structured, enacted and modified, as well as
the impact of these structures, enactments, and modification on individual, group and
organizational outcomes.
When done well, work design:
● Coordinates and optimizes work processes to maximize performance and create value
● Creates good work that motivates, satisfies, commits and retains employees
● Benefits both employees and their employers
Historical overview of work design
1. Craft production (medieval times)
2. Scientific management (industrial revolution)
3. Job characteristics theories (from 1940s)
4. Sociotechnical systems and autonomous world groups (from 1950s)
5. Role and job demand theories (from 1960s)
Lecture 1B: Historical Overview - Craft Production and Scientific
Management
Craft production: making products by hand or with a few tools. Products were produced in low
volumes with high variety to meet the unique demands of their customers.
● Highly skilled and self-managed
● Used an apprenticeship system to learn craftsmanship
● Usually worked at home or in small workshops
● Organized themselves into guilds an collectively regulated occupational entry
Scientific management: the first attempt to apply science to the design of work and management
of workers. Its main goal is to improve economic efficiency, especially in labour productivity. It
originated during the industrial revolution.
● Industry 1.0 (from 1760s): steam was used to mechanize production
● Industry 2.0 (from 1870s): electricity enabled mass production with assembly lines)
● Manual → mechanic
2
,Mass production
1. System of standardized an interchangeable parts
2. Scientific management as a mechanical model of work design (Taylor)
a. Vertical division of work: finding one best way
b. Horizontal division of work: breaking complex tasks into smaller series of simple,
routine tasks
3. Development of assembly line (Henry Ford)
Five Scientific Management Principles
1. Science: using scientific method to determine one best way
2. Scientifically select and train employees: asses which workers are most capable of
doing a particular job and train them to work at peak efficiency
3. Ensure that most efficient ways of working are used: monitor and cooperate with
workers. Managers are needed.
4. Divide work between managers and workers: properly divide the workload.
5. Pay is based on performance, money motivates workers: establish fair levels of
performance and pay a premium for higher performance (piece-rate pay)
Evaluation Scientific Management
● Impressive productivity effects
○ Cheaper, constant output, mass production
● Simplified jobs had detrimental psychological effects
● Often seen as dehumanizing
○ Workers treated as objects
Influenced:
- Quality assurance and quality control
- Operations management
- Toyota production systems
- Lean product
- Total quality management
Jidoka: quickly identifying and correcting any issues that could lead to faulty production,
continuous improvement
Just-in-Time: refining and coordinating production processes so that it only produces what is
required by the next process in the sequence
TPS, LP and TQM involve and rely on workers to identify and solve waste and quality issues,
whereas in scientific management, workers did not have any say in the process.
Examples scientific management: mcdonalds, amazon warehouses etc.
3
, Lecture 1C: Historical Overview - Job Characteristics Theories
Job characteristics theories
● Human relations theory
● Maslows hierarchy of needs
● Herzbergs two factor theory
● Mcregorgs x and y theory
Human Relations Theory: sees workers as thinking beings with needs. Attention motivates
employees to perform better.
● Hawthorne studies: examined how working conditions affect productivity. Concluding,
giving recognition and attention to employees and their wellbeing resulted in improved
performance.
● Treating workers as an extension of machines, is a flawed conceptual framework
● Workers form informal groups that influence performance.
● Interpersonal relationships are more impactful than salary or physical conditions
● Managers must understand the needs of their employees.
Critics:
- Lacks external validity
- Insufficient attention to formal relationships.
- Neglected the economic dimension of work
- Did not control for different types of work
- Did not explode multidimensionality of human motivation
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: a motivational theory comprising five human needs, often
depocted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid
Must first satisfact a lower level of need, before satisfying a higher level of needs.
4
