Chapter 06 – Job Design and Performance
Chapter Six: Job Design and Performance
Chapter Synopsis
This chapter focuses on job design, procedures for determining what is involved in a job, job design
and quality of work life, several job characteristics, job rotation, job enlargement, and job
enrichment.
Following a definition of job design, the chapter presents a comprehensive model of job design that
serves as the chapter’s framework for discussion.
Learning Objectives
After completing this chapter, students should be able to:
1. Describe the relationship between job design and quality of work life.
2. Summarize the key components in the general model of job design.
3. Identify the key elements linking job design and performance.
Chapter 06 – Job Design and Performance
Key Terms
job range—The number of operations that a job occupant performs to complete a task.
job depth—The amount of control that an individual has to alter or influence the job and the
surrounding environment.
virtual teams—A geographically distributed, functionally and/or culturally diverse group of
individuals that rely on interactive technology such as e-mail, Webcasts, and video conferencing to
work together.
total quality management—An organization-wide management system that, using statistical
process control and group problem- solving processes, strives for continuous improvement to
achieve high quality.
Lecture Outline
The Chapter outline is organized to correspond with the PowerPoint slides.
The chapter title slide may be used as a background to introduce the class.
Learning objectives
Review the chapter learning objectives. These will be reviewed on the last slide of the pack.
The slide introduces the importance of job design.
While job design specifically refers to the initial determination of job tasks duties and
responsibility, jobs evolve and will redesign. We will look at job design as all managerial
efforts to create jobs whether initially or subsequently.
Quality of Work Life (1 of 2)
Quality of work (QWL) life is an important consideration in job design. It attempts to improve
the physical and psychological well-being of workers.
Quality of Work Life (2 of 2)
Indicators of quality of work life include accident rates, sick leave usage, employee turnover, stress,
and number of grievances filed. In some organizations, QWL programs are intended to increase
employee trust, involvement, and problem solving so as to increase both worker satisfaction and
production, quality, and efficiency through revitalization of business and industry. At present, the
trade-offs between the gains in human terms from improved quality of work life and the gains in
Quality of Work Life and Job Design
Job design attempts (1) to identify the most important needs of employees and the organization and
(2) to remove obstacles in the workplace that frustrate those needs. Managers hope that the results
are jobs that fulfill important individual needs and contribute to individual, group, and organizational
effectiveness. Managers are, in fact, designing jobs for teams and groups. Some studies have reported
that employees who participate in teams get greater satisfaction from their jobs. But other studies
report contrary results. So we’re left with the uncomfortable, but realistic, conclusion that quality of
work life improvements through job design cannot be ensured in specific instances. Obviously,
designing jobs is complex. This chapter reviews the important theories, research, and practices of job
design.
together, these concepts describe the important determinants of job performance and organizational
effectiveness. The model takes into account a number of sources of complexity. It recognizes that
individuals react differently to jobs. While one person may derive positive satisfaction from a job,
another may not. It also recognizes the difficult trade-offs between organizational and individual
needs.
Job Performance Outcomes (1 of 2)
Quantity and quality of output, absenteeism, tardiness, and turnover are objective outcomes that can
account for characteristics of the product, client, or service for which the job holder is responsible. But
job performance includes other outcomes.
Job Performance Outcomes (2 of 2)
Job outcomes include intrinsic and extrinsic work outcomes. The distinction between intrinsic and
extrinsic outcomes is important for understanding people’s reactions to their jobs. In a general sense,
an intrinsic outcome is an object or event that follows from the worker’s own efforts and doesn’t
professional and technical jobs; yet all jobs potentially have opportunities for intrinsic out-comes.
Such outcomes involve feelings of responsibility, challenge, and recognition; they result from such job
characteristics as variety, autonomy, identity, and significance.
Job Satisfaction
Job satisfaction depends on the levels of intrinsic and extrinsic outcomes and how the job holder
views those outcomes. These outcomes have different values for different people. Other important
individual differences include job involvement and commitment to the organization. People differ in
to realize the same satisfaction as those who are. This variable accounts for the fact that two workers
could report different levels of satisfaction for the same performance levels.
Job Designs
Job designs are the results of job analysis. They specify three characteristics of jobs: range,
depth, and relationships.
The Results of Job Design
Job range refers to the number of tasks a jobholder performs. The individual who performs eight tasks
to complete a job has a wider job range than a person performing four tasks. In most instances, the
greater the number of tasks performed, the longer it takes to complete the job.
A second characteristic is job depth, the amount of discretion an individual has to decide job activities
Job range and depth distinguish one job from another not only within the same organization, but also
among different organizations.
EXHIBIT 6.2 Job Depth and Range
To illustrate how jobs differ in range and depth, Exhibit 6.2 depicts the differences for selected
jobs of firms, hospitals, and universities.
Highly specialized jobs are those having few tasks to accomplish by prescribed means. Such jobs are
quite routine; they also tend to be controlled by specified rules and procedures (low depth). A highly
Job Relationships
Job relationships are determined by managers’ decisions regarding departmentalization bases and
spans of control. The resulting groups become the responsibility of a manager to coordinate toward
organization purposes. These decisions also determine the nature and extent of jobholders’
interpersonal relationships, individually and within groups. As we already have seen in the discussion
of groups in organizations, group performance is affected in part by group cohesiveness. And the
degree of group cohesiveness depends upon the quality and kind of interpersonal relationships of job-
holders assigned to a task or command group.
Basis for Departmentalization
The basis for departmentalization that management selects also has important implications for
job relationships. The functional basis places jobs with similar depth and range in the same
groups, while product, territory, and customer bases place jobs with dissimilar depth and range
Taylor’s View on Job Design
The way people do their jobs depends in part on how they perceive and think of their jobs.
Even though Taylor proposed that the way to improve work (that is, to make it more efficient)
is to determine (1) the “best way” to do a task (motion study) and (2) the standard time for
completion of the task (time study), the actual performance of a job goes beyond its technical
description. The belief that job design can be based solely on technical data ignores the very
large role played by the individual who performs the job. Individuals differ profoundly, as we
noted in the chapter on individual differences. They come to work with different backgrounds,
needs, and motivations. Once on the job, they experience the social setting in which the work
is performed in unique ways. It’s not surprising to find that different individuals perceive jobs
differently.
The Way People Perceive Their Jobs
Perceived job content refers to characteristics of a job that define its general nature as perceived by
the jobholder. We must distinguish between a job’s objective properties and its subjective properties
as reflected in the perceptions of people who perform it.
Requisite Task Attribute Index (RTAI)
If management is to understand perceived job content, some method for measuring it must exist.
In response to this need, organization behavior researchers have attempted to measure perceived job
content in a variety of work settings. The methods that researchers use rely upon questionnaires that
jobholders complete and that measure their perceptions of certain job characteristics.
The pioneering effort to measure perceived job content through employee responses to a
questionnaire resulted in the identification of six characteristics: variety, autonomy, required
interaction, optional interaction, knowledge and skill required, and responsibility. The index of these
of job depth; dealing with others and friendship opportunities reflect perceptions of job
relationships. Employees sharing similar perceptions, job designs, and social settings should
different job characteristics of the same job.
Individual Differences
Individual differences “provide filters such that different persons perceive the same objective stimuli
in different manners.” Individual differences in need for strength, particularly the strength of growth
needs, have been shown to influence the perception of task variety. Employees with relatively weak
higher-order needs are less concerned with performing a variety of tasks than are employees with
Social Setting Differences
Differences in social settings of work also affect perceptions of job content. Examples of social setting
differences include leadership style and what other people say about the job.
In addition, as more than one research study has pointed out, how one perceives a job is greatly
Designing Job Range
The earliest attempts to design jobs date to the scientific management era. Efforts at that time
emphasized efficiency criteria. In so doing, the individual tasks that comprise a job are limited,
uniform, and repetitive. This practice leads to narrow job range and, consequently, reported
high levels of job discontent, turnover, absenteeism, and dissatisfaction. Accordingly,
strategies were devised that resulted in wider job range through increasing the requisite
activities of jobs. Two of these approaches are job rotation and job enlargement.
Job Rotation and Job Enlargement
Job rotation involves increasing the range of jobs and the perception of variety in the job content.
Increasing task variety should, according to recent studies, increase employee satisfaction, reduce
Job Enlargement
The concept and practice of job enlargement have become considerably more sophisticated. In recent
years, effective job enlargement involves more than simply in-creasing task variety. In addition, it’s
necessary to design certain other aspects of job range, including providing worker-paced (rather than
machine-paced) control. Each of these changes involves balancing the gains and losses of varying
degrees of division of labor. Contemporary applications of job enlargement involve training individuals
to perform several different jobs, each requiring considerable skill, whether in manufacturing or
service organizations.
Job Enrichment
Job Enrichment: Increasing the core dimensions of a job
Important changes include giving workers greater authority to participate in decisions, to set their
own goals, and to evaluate their (and their work groups’) performance. Job enrichment also involves
changing the nature and style of managers’ behavior. Managers must be willing and able to delegate
authority. Given employees’ ability to carry out enriched jobs and managers’ willingness to delegate
authority, gains in performance can be expected. These positive outcomes are the result of increasing
employees’ expectations that efforts lead to performance, that performance leads to intrinsic and
EXHIBIT 6.3 The Job Characteristics Model
Implementing the job characteristics model in a particular situation begins with a study of
existing job perceptions by means of the job diagnostic survey. Hackman and Oldham have
reported numerous applications of the model in a variety of organizations. They have also
compiled normative data for a variety of job categories so that managers and practitioners can
compare the responses of their own employees to those of a larger population. Although the
track record of job design efforts is generally positive, some caveats are warranted. The
Problems Associated With Job Design
Problems associated with job design include:
1. Unless lower-level needs are satisfied, people will not respond to opportunities to satisfy upper-
level needs. And even though our society has been rather successful in providing food and shelter,
these needs regain importance when the economy moves through periods of recession and high
inflation.
4. Job design efforts may not produce tangible performance improvements for some time after the
beginning of the effort. One study indicated that significant improvements in effectiveness couldn’t
be seen until four years after the beginning of the job design program.
Self-Managed Teams (1 of 2)
Self-managed teams (SMTs) represent a job enrichment approach to redesign at the group level. An
venture teams.
Self-Managed Teams (2 of 2)
The difficulty of switching from a traditional hierarchical structure to one in which work teams assume
responsibility for their own decisions is not easy. Two notable barriers to SMTs are resistance and
misunderstanding. SMTs require not only a new workflow and set of processes, but also new attitudes
and behaviors. Team members may not like being responsible for goals that others on the team have
not helped to achieve. Managers often fear loss of control and status.
The implementation of SMTs causes changes in thinking about “yourself,” leadership, and
organization. It is hard for employees to understand how SMTs apply to themselves. Also, managers
are needed.
Alternative Work Arrangements
Enriching the content of a job is not the only way to provide enrichment. Enrichment can also be
achieved within the context of a job. One aspect of job context relates to when the job is performed,
or the work schedule. Giving employees decision-making control over when they perform their work
is an increasingly popular approach to job redesign. It has led to a variety of innovations we will
collectively refer to as alternative work arrangements.
Benefits of Flexible Work Programs
Employees like alternative work arrangements because they give them the flexibility to balance their
these alternatives during hard times.
EXHIBIT 6.4 Two Possible Flextime Schedules
An arrangement that provides employees even greater individual control over work scheduling is
flextime. In a flextime arrangement, employees can determine, within some limits, when they work at
the office and when they work from home or the office. As is shown in the two examples in Exhibit
6.4, employees are required to be present during the “common core” hours. They may make up the
rest of their workday in any combination during flextime hours. Employees like alternative work
arrangements because they give them the flexibility to balance their work–life demands.
Virtual Teams (1 of 2)
As organizations aggressively pursue ways in which to cut costs, decrease product cycle times,
increase customer responsiveness, and integrate more fully with suppliers, many are creating and
Virtual Teams (2 of 2)
To successfully manage virtual teams, organizations may want to consider several factors. First, the
technology should fit the purpose of the collaboration. If all members of the group need to receive the
same information quickly, then a bulletin board or group e-mail is appropriate. If training needs to be
done, then a Web conference with real-time whiteboard and data sharing may be more suitable.
Second, virtual team members must be carefully selected. Choosing members who have the necessary
Total Quality Management (TQM) (1 of 2)
Total quality management (TQM) refers to an organizational culture that is dedicated to continuous
improvement and the production of high-quality products and services, ultimately resulting in higher
levels of customer satisfaction. TQM, according to those who espouse and practice it, combines
technical knowledge and human knowledge. To deal with the inherent complexity and variability of
production and service delivery technology, people must be empowered with the authority to make
necessary decisions and must be enabled with the knowledge to know when to exercise that
authority.
Total Quality Management (TQM) (2 of 2)
Job design strategy focuses on jobs in the context of individuals’ needs for economic well-being and
In Review, Can You…
Instructors may wish to refer to the learning objectives to facilitate a review of the chapter concepts.
Chapter 06 – Job Design and Performance
Summary of Key Points
• Job design involves managerial decisions and actions that specify objective job depth, range,
and relationships to satisfy organizational requirements as well as the social and personal
requirements of jobholders.
• During the 1960s, job enrichment became a widely recognized strategy for improving quality
of work life factors. This strategy is based upon Herzberg’s motivation theory and involves
increasing jobs’ depth through greater delegation of authority to jobholders. Despite some
major successes, job enrichment isn’t universally applicable because it doesn’t consider
individual differences.
• Many organizations including Volvo, Citibank, General Motors, and General Foods have
attempted job design with varying degrees of success. The current state of research
knowledge is inadequate for making broad generalizations regarding exact causes of success
and failure in applications of job design. Managers must diagnose their own situations to
determine the applicability of job design in their organizations.
• Sociotechnical theory combines technological and social issues in job design practice.
Sociotechnical theory is compatible with job design strategy and emphasizes the practical
necessity to design jobs that provide autonomy, feedback, significance, identity, and variety.
Review and Discussion Questions
1. Explain the differences between job enlargement and job enrichment and analyze the
relative advantages of these two approaches in organizations you have worked for.
Ans: The difference between job enlargement and job enrichment:
(1) Job enlargement increases the number of tasks an employee performs. For example, rather than
merely measuring and cutting the materials needed for the work and passing those materials onto the
2. What is the significance of the idea of quality of life work (QWL)? In particular, what
would seem to be the trade-offs between meaningful jobs and productive jobs during periods
of declining economic activity and unemployment?
Ans: QWL embodies the theories and ideas of the human relations movement of the 1950s and the
job enrichment efforts of the 60s and 70s. It was also partially responsible for the research and
interest in work-family conflict issues from the 1980s to today. Some believe that QWL must be
3. There is a distinct move away from a ‘job’ emphasis in some industries. Why is this
occurring?
Ans: There is a shift from a “job” emphasis in some industries because the American economy is no
longer dominated by manufacturing jobs. The new knowledge-based economy is characterized by
4. Assume that you are a restaurant supervisor in charge of 10 servers. You notice that they
appear bored with their jobs and that customer service is starting to decline. How can you
redesign their jobs to make their work more interesting and more meaningful? Would you
enrich or enlarge their jobs? Explain.
Ans: Student answers will vary. Ideally, answers will include some combination of job enrichment
and job rotation. For instance, dishwashers could rotate with the table cleaning crew on a regular
5. Describe the most meaningful job that you have ever had. Why was it meaningful? Do you
agree with that part of job characteristics theory that posits that meaningful jobs tend to be
more motivational?
Ans: Student answers will vary based on their prior job experience.
6. Job enrichment is realized through changes to job depth. What changes can managers
make to existing jobs that will provide employees with greater opportunities to exercise
discretion?
Ans: Managers can provide employees with greater opportunities to exercise discretion by:
1. Giving workers direct feedback.
2. Allowing continuous opportunities for new learning.
3. Allowing workers to schedule at least some part of their work.
7. The core dimensions in the job characteristics model are: skill variety, task identity, task
significance, autonomy, and feedback. Which dimension do you value most highly now, and
why?
Ans: Because people perceive these job characteristics differently, and they have differing levels of
need, student answers will vary.
Chapter 06 – Job Design and Performance
8. Employees are increasingly interested in jobs with flexible work schedules. What factors are
driving this interest?
Ans: Flexible work schedules are the number-one most desired benefit in job surveys. This is likely
9. As you understand the idea and practice of total quality management, do you believe that
it’s the wave of the future in U.S. organizations? Explain.
Ans: Total quality management (TQM) refers to an organizational culture that is dedicated to
continuous improvement and the production of high-quality products and services, ultimately
10. Why do you think Six Sigma helps many organizations improve quality, customer
satisfaction, and efficiency? Explain.
Ans: Six Sigma is a quality standard and management process that specifies a goal of no more
than 3.4 defects per million opportunities. At six sigma, a product or process has reached a high level
of quality meaning that is defect-free over 99 percent of the time. Six sigma can be used to analyze
Exercise 6.1: Job Design Preferences
Purpose
To facilitate student understanding of how jobs are designed and how people feel about their jobs.
The Exercise in Class
This exercise is an involved activity which will require substantial time and effort for students to
complete and the cooperation of local organizations. As such, it’s useful to assign the exercise as a
In discussing student profiles and redesign strategies, it is useful to select two or three profiled
jobs within the class (very different jobs) and pose these questions:
1. How did employees (or student job holders and peers) react to the job? Can you link these
reactions to certain job characteristics?
Case 6.1: The Hovery and Beard Company Case
❑ Part 1 Questions
• Assume that the training period for the new job setup has just begun. What change do
you predict in the level of output of the painters? Why? (increase, decrease, stay the
same)
− Student answers will vary. Some may feel that production will decrease during the
initial training period because it is a new, unfamiliar process. Others will believe
• What other predictions regarding the behavior of these painters do you make, based
upon the situation described so far?
− Student answers will vary, but should touch on such things as discontent over
❑ Part 3 Questions
• What changes do you now expect in the level of output of the painters? Increase,
decrease, stay the same? Why?
− Student answers will vary. Whatever choice they make should be backed up with
reasoning. Example: I expect output to increase because the painters are now more
• What changes do you expect in the feelings of the painters toward their work situation?
More positive, more negative, or no change? Why?
− Student answers will vary, depending on their perspective of the situation.
• What other predictions do you make about the behavior of the painters?
− Student answers will vary, depending on their perspective. Example: I expect that
❑ Part 4 Questions
• How do you feel about the situation at this point?
− Student answers will vary.
• Suppose you were the supervisor. What would you expect to happen next? Why?
❑ Part 5 Questions
• Once it was understood that painters’ earnings were going to be higher than expected, what
(if anything) should management have done to prevent the inevitable complaints by other
workers in the plant?
• Student answers will vary. The concepts of fairness and QWL may be introduced.
Teaching Hints and Tips
Lecture Ideas
1. With the proliferation of pagers, laptop computers, voice mail messaging, cellular telephones,
electronic mail, facsimile machines, and other new technologies, jobs are being redesigned as
we work at them. Among other results of these new technologies, we are seeing increasing
pressure for turnaround on communications; extended workdays; blurring of boundaries
between home life and work life; and pressure to develop new skills. To illustrate the effects
these new technologies are having on the way people work:
A. Invite a manager from a communications technology company to visit class and talk with
students about new technologies and how they are changing the way people work.
2. Is job enrichment an over-sold concept in organizations? Its critics think so, and you can
address this issue by having students, as a class exercise, list the pros and cons of job
enrichment. To aid class discussion, here are some points frequently made by job enrichment
critics:
A. Job enrichment is limited in its effectiveness simply because many U.S. workers
don’t seek or positively respond to the concept—Mitchell Fein, a prominent critic of
B. The successes of job enrichment are overstated because job enrichment failures
aren’t reported in the media or in research journals—Job enrichment advocates
produce almost all of the job enrichment literature, and they include job enrichment
C. Few longitudinal studies have examined whether the successes of job enrichment are
long-term or short-lived.
3. To enhance student understanding of job depth and job range, select a particular type of job
Project Ideas and Suggested Class Speakers
1. Invite a human resources professional to class to discuss the job classifications systems in a
local organization. Encourage the speaker to talk about how job design and classification is
influenced by factors like these: health and safety regulations, worker preparedness, the need
2. Invite a union official to speak about job design from the union perspective. How have unions
dealt with this issue historically? Why? What concerns do they have today? Are there different
job design issues in different kinds of situations, e.g., high tech vs. low-tech jobs?
3. As an individual project, have students develop a written report on enriching a job with which
they are familiar. In their reports, students should:
1) Assess a job’s task variety, task identify, feedback autonomy, and friendship opportunities;
Term Paper Topics
1. How is New Technology Changing the Way We Work and Think?
2. Flextime, Job Sharing, and Telecommuting: How Do They Work? Where Do They Work?
Why Do They Work?
3. How Essential Are Team Management Skills for Managers Today?
4. Self-Managed Work Teams and Self-Leadership: How Do the Two Concepts Relate?