Work design from an OB perspective
Introduction
Organizational behaviour = the study of human behaviour in organizational settings
Work = activity in which a person exerts physical and/or mental effort to accomplish tasks or perform
duties
- Task = amount of work assigned to a worker
- Duty = action required by a workers job
- Role is expected patterns of work behaviours that arise from a job
- Job is an aggregation of tasks and roles assigned to a worker
Work design is breeder dan job designs. Job design alleen taken die ze moeten doen maar ze doen ook
taken uit zichzelf en dat is de work designs.
Job design refers to the content and organization of work tasks dus,
Work design = describes how jobs, tasks and roles are structured, enacted and modified, as well as the
impact of these structures, enactments and modifications on individual group and organizational
outcomes
Per video nu ingegaan op vereschillende perspectieven van work designs: Historical overview
1. Craft production (medieval, middeleeuwen)
2. Scientific management (1910)
3. Job characteristics theories
4. Sociotechnical systems and autonomous work groups
5. Role and job demand theories
Craft production
Het maken van producten met hand of paar tools = craft production
- Ze waren high skilled en self managed (hoge controle)
- Used an apprenticeship system to learn craftmanship
- Usually worked at home or in small workshops
- Organized themselves into guilds and collectively regulated occupational entry
Scientific management
Scientific management is the first attempt to apply science tot the design of work. During industrial
revoluition and its main goal is to improve economic efficiency, especially labor productivity
- Industry 1.0 : Steam was used to mechanize production
- Industry 2.0: Electricity enables mass production of goods. Oppositite of craft production
Mass production; 3 innovaties zorgde hiervoor:
- System of standardized and interchangeable parts
- Mechanistic model of work design (Taylor)
, o Vertical division of work: managers en specialisten analyze and design work to find ‘one
best way’ to perform tasks. Werkers voeren alleen maar uit
o Horizontal division of work: Breaking complex task down into a series of small, simple
and routine tasks
- Development of assembly line by Henry Ford
Winslow Taylor (mechanistic model of work design)
- American mechanical engineer who lived from 1856 to 1915
- Engineer’s viewpoint, applied engingeering pricinciples to work design
- First management consultant, looked at work and producitivaly scientifficaly
Five scientific management principles:
- Science, not rules of thumb: replace working by rule of thumb (zo doen we t altijd) instead use
the scientific method to determine the one best way to perform specific tasks
- Scientifically select and train employees: instead of randomly assigning workers to any job,
assess and select which ones are most capable of each job and train them to work at peak
efficiency
- Ensure the most efficient ways of working are used: monitor and cooperate with workers.
- Divide work between managers and workers: properly divide the workload. Managers should
design work and train
- Pay is based on performance, money motivates workers
Evaluation scientific management; outcomes
- Impressive productivity effects
- Simplified jobs had detrimental psychological effects (slechte pyschollogische _==)
➔ Scientific management is often seen as dehumanizing; workers do not think for themselves maar
moeten doen wat wordt opgelegd
Job characteristics theories
Door scientific management ging de moraal enzo van de werknemers onderuit. Hierdoor meer naar
gevoel werknemers kijken
Human relations theory:
, - HRT sees workers as thinking beings with needs. Attention motivates employees to perform
better not only money
- Elton mayo is the founder of HRT
- Hawthorne studies: how working conditions (change in light, duration of breaks and working
hours) affect productivity in female workgroups. Experimental workgroups that worked under
improved conditions were compared with control workgroups. Producitvy was higher for
experimental workgroups
- Licht en pauzes etc heeft geen invloed op de improved perfomances alleen the giving recognition
and attention zorgde hiervoor
HRT concluseis: treating workers as appendage to the machine is a flawed conceptual framework
(scientific management). Je moet mensen anders behandelen (job characteristics)
- Interpersonal relations, supervisor attitudes and other social and psychological factors are more
impactful for workers’ morale and productivity than salary and work physical conditions
Mayo’s HRT highilight the productivity depends not on money maar persoonlijkereijke dingen
Criticism of HRT:
- Research lack external validitay. Worker behaviour during experiments was not natural. The
awareness of being observed produces the hawthorne effect
- It neglected the economic dimension of work and did not control for different types of work. So
the results are not generalizable
- It did not explore the multidimensionality of human motivation; motivation is a complex
construct that can refer to internal or external motivation and be related to different needs
(needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness)
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
Mensen zijn motivated bij 5 needs.
Wnnr je een need more or les dus zo goed als hebt dan ga je door.
Criticism:
- Minimal emprical evidence to sugggest that maslow’s needs are in a hierarchical order
, - Lack of direct cause and effect relationships between need and behaviour (soms zijn mensen
nieteens zelf beuwst van de eigen needs)
- Needs are culture-bond; some cultures put social needs above other needs
Herzberg’s two factor theory
- Herzberg tried to understand how companies can improve employee motivation and satisfaction
at work
- Research: 200 engineers and accountants from different firms in Pittsburgh, USA, where
interviewed to identify the causes of motivation. Interviewees were asked what made them
satisfied and happy vs dissatisfied and unhappy in their jobs
Mensen worden eigl ontevreden als de hygiene factors niet goed zijn. Mensen worden tevreden door
motivator factors.
Geen correlatie tussen job satisfaction en job dissatisfaction. Alleen negatieve hygiene factors weghalen
leidt niet tot job satisfaction maar tot minder job dissatisfaction
➔ Dus, management moet BOTH eliminiate hygiene factors and increase motivator factors
There are four states employees can find themselves in when it comes to two factor theories:
Critism
- No real theory of motivation that can clarify differential effects of hygiene factors and motivators
factors: mixed empirical evidence
Introduction
Organizational behaviour = the study of human behaviour in organizational settings
Work = activity in which a person exerts physical and/or mental effort to accomplish tasks or perform
duties
- Task = amount of work assigned to a worker
- Duty = action required by a workers job
- Role is expected patterns of work behaviours that arise from a job
- Job is an aggregation of tasks and roles assigned to a worker
Work design is breeder dan job designs. Job design alleen taken die ze moeten doen maar ze doen ook
taken uit zichzelf en dat is de work designs.
Job design refers to the content and organization of work tasks dus,
Work design = describes how jobs, tasks and roles are structured, enacted and modified, as well as the
impact of these structures, enactments and modifications on individual group and organizational
outcomes
Per video nu ingegaan op vereschillende perspectieven van work designs: Historical overview
1. Craft production (medieval, middeleeuwen)
2. Scientific management (1910)
3. Job characteristics theories
4. Sociotechnical systems and autonomous work groups
5. Role and job demand theories
Craft production
Het maken van producten met hand of paar tools = craft production
- Ze waren high skilled en self managed (hoge controle)
- Used an apprenticeship system to learn craftmanship
- Usually worked at home or in small workshops
- Organized themselves into guilds and collectively regulated occupational entry
Scientific management
Scientific management is the first attempt to apply science tot the design of work. During industrial
revoluition and its main goal is to improve economic efficiency, especially labor productivity
- Industry 1.0 : Steam was used to mechanize production
- Industry 2.0: Electricity enables mass production of goods. Oppositite of craft production
Mass production; 3 innovaties zorgde hiervoor:
- System of standardized and interchangeable parts
- Mechanistic model of work design (Taylor)
, o Vertical division of work: managers en specialisten analyze and design work to find ‘one
best way’ to perform tasks. Werkers voeren alleen maar uit
o Horizontal division of work: Breaking complex task down into a series of small, simple
and routine tasks
- Development of assembly line by Henry Ford
Winslow Taylor (mechanistic model of work design)
- American mechanical engineer who lived from 1856 to 1915
- Engineer’s viewpoint, applied engingeering pricinciples to work design
- First management consultant, looked at work and producitivaly scientifficaly
Five scientific management principles:
- Science, not rules of thumb: replace working by rule of thumb (zo doen we t altijd) instead use
the scientific method to determine the one best way to perform specific tasks
- Scientifically select and train employees: instead of randomly assigning workers to any job,
assess and select which ones are most capable of each job and train them to work at peak
efficiency
- Ensure the most efficient ways of working are used: monitor and cooperate with workers.
- Divide work between managers and workers: properly divide the workload. Managers should
design work and train
- Pay is based on performance, money motivates workers
Evaluation scientific management; outcomes
- Impressive productivity effects
- Simplified jobs had detrimental psychological effects (slechte pyschollogische _==)
➔ Scientific management is often seen as dehumanizing; workers do not think for themselves maar
moeten doen wat wordt opgelegd
Job characteristics theories
Door scientific management ging de moraal enzo van de werknemers onderuit. Hierdoor meer naar
gevoel werknemers kijken
Human relations theory:
, - HRT sees workers as thinking beings with needs. Attention motivates employees to perform
better not only money
- Elton mayo is the founder of HRT
- Hawthorne studies: how working conditions (change in light, duration of breaks and working
hours) affect productivity in female workgroups. Experimental workgroups that worked under
improved conditions were compared with control workgroups. Producitvy was higher for
experimental workgroups
- Licht en pauzes etc heeft geen invloed op de improved perfomances alleen the giving recognition
and attention zorgde hiervoor
HRT concluseis: treating workers as appendage to the machine is a flawed conceptual framework
(scientific management). Je moet mensen anders behandelen (job characteristics)
- Interpersonal relations, supervisor attitudes and other social and psychological factors are more
impactful for workers’ morale and productivity than salary and work physical conditions
Mayo’s HRT highilight the productivity depends not on money maar persoonlijkereijke dingen
Criticism of HRT:
- Research lack external validitay. Worker behaviour during experiments was not natural. The
awareness of being observed produces the hawthorne effect
- It neglected the economic dimension of work and did not control for different types of work. So
the results are not generalizable
- It did not explore the multidimensionality of human motivation; motivation is a complex
construct that can refer to internal or external motivation and be related to different needs
(needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness)
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
Mensen zijn motivated bij 5 needs.
Wnnr je een need more or les dus zo goed als hebt dan ga je door.
Criticism:
- Minimal emprical evidence to sugggest that maslow’s needs are in a hierarchical order
, - Lack of direct cause and effect relationships between need and behaviour (soms zijn mensen
nieteens zelf beuwst van de eigen needs)
- Needs are culture-bond; some cultures put social needs above other needs
Herzberg’s two factor theory
- Herzberg tried to understand how companies can improve employee motivation and satisfaction
at work
- Research: 200 engineers and accountants from different firms in Pittsburgh, USA, where
interviewed to identify the causes of motivation. Interviewees were asked what made them
satisfied and happy vs dissatisfied and unhappy in their jobs
Mensen worden eigl ontevreden als de hygiene factors niet goed zijn. Mensen worden tevreden door
motivator factors.
Geen correlatie tussen job satisfaction en job dissatisfaction. Alleen negatieve hygiene factors weghalen
leidt niet tot job satisfaction maar tot minder job dissatisfaction
➔ Dus, management moet BOTH eliminiate hygiene factors and increase motivator factors
There are four states employees can find themselves in when it comes to two factor theories:
Critism
- No real theory of motivation that can clarify differential effects of hygiene factors and motivators
factors: mixed empirical evidence
