Work System Design

Chapter 11: Work System Design

Overview

 

This chapter describes the elements and objectives of work system design.  Job design issues and methods analysis are described.  The importance of work measurement is discussed.  This chapter explains how to do a time study, work sampling, develop standard times and use work standards.  Compensation plans and learning curves are described.   

Answers to Discussion Questions in Textbook

Describe the major components of work system design.

 

The major components of work system design are job design, process (methods) analysis and work measurement.  Job design determines the specific work activities of each employee or type of employee.  Process analysis focuses on the detailed steps of doing a particular job.  Work measurement determines how long it should take to do a job.

Visit a local business and describe the jobs to be done, the workers needed for the jobs, and how the workers help achieve the objectives of the business.

 

At a university, we need faculty to teach the classes, janitors to clean the buildings, maintenance staff to repair facilities and equipment, administration staff to manage the university operations and administrative assistants to handle clerical work.  The performance of faculty would be based on student satisfaction, which in turn affects demand.  Janitors are measured on the cleanliness of the buildings.  Clerical staff provides support to the administration and faculty in achieving their objectives.

Describe the objectives of job design.

 

The objectives of job design are support of organizational objectives, technical feasibility, economic feasibility and behavioral feasibility.  The job must be designed to encourage and reward meeting the organizational objectives.

Explain why it is hard to design jobs in a business setting.

 

It is hard to design jobs in a business setting because of the complexity of the environment and variety of factors that must be considered.  We need to ensure that job design supports the organizational goals.  The organization is a complex system of relationships.

Explain what we mean by technical feasibility, economic feasibility, and behavioral feasibility.

 

Technical feasibility means that the job can be performed both physically and mentally.  Economic feasibility means that the value added by the job exceeds its costs.  Behavioral feasibility means that the job provides intrinsic satisfaction to the employee.

Describe cases in which people are preferable to machines.

 

People are preferable to machines when interacting with people, creativity is important, judgements concerning multiple criteria are needed and when complex operations must be performed that may not follow linear logic. People can express compassion or empathy when interacting with customers.

Describe cases in which machines are preferable to people.

 

Machines are preferable to people when precision is needed, a job is dangerous, operations follow simple, linear logic and when tasks and simple and repetitive. 

Describe the advantages and disadvantages of using a high level of job specialization.

 

The advantages of using a high level of specialization for the company are high productivity, readily available labor, lower wages and minimal training.  The advantages for employees are minimal credentials needed, less responsibility, less mental effort and reasonable wages.  The disadvantages for the employee are boredom, less opportunity for growth, little control and little intrinsic satisfaction.  The disadvantages for companies are high absenteeism, turnover rates, scrap levels and grievances filed.

Describe factors affecting the work environment that must be considered in work systems design.

 

The temperature, humidity, ventilation, lighting and noise level are factors that affect the work environment.  The temperature needs to be lower when work is strenuous.  Poor lighting can lead to mistakes.

Describe the alternative workplace approach.

 

The alternative workplace approach moves the work to the worker instead of the worker to the work.  This can de accomplished in a number of ways.  These are telecommuting, using different shifts or schedules, and the sharing of desks and office space and satellite offices.

Create a process flow chart for an activity that you do daily – for example, getting ready for school each day.

 

To get ready to teach class, I need to prepare the lecture notes in PowerPoint.  Then I have to print them up.  After I print them, I check the quality of the printouts before making copies of them to give to students. 

Analyze a daily activity to see whether you can improve the process.

 

Cooking is a good process to evaluate for improvement.  It is important to minimize movements and steps.  For example, it is better to remove several items from the cabinet at one time if they will all be needed.  It is important to consider the order of the work.  For example, items that take longer to cook should be started first.

Compare and contrast the four work measurement techniques.

 

The four work measurement techniques are time study, elemental time data, predetermined time data, and work sampling.  Time study collects times for one worker over time to develop the standard.  Elemental time data uses time study data from the database to estimate the standard by dividing the work into its elements and sums the time study data for each element.  This technique is useful for companies with their own database.  Predetermined time data uses a larger database of work unit times from the many companies that have similar work elements to determine the standard.  Work sampling estimates the proportion of time spent on different work activities to decide what proportions are acceptable.  This method does not provide a standard time.

Explain the difference between time-based and output-based compensation plans.

 

Time-based compensation plans pay employees based on the time worked.  Output-based compensation plans pay employees based on the amount of work completed.

Explain why it makes sense to use time-based compensation systems.

 

It makes sense to use time-based compensation systems when it is not reasonable to measure output per employee.  This would be used for managers, support staff and some direct labor.

Explain why it makes sense to use an output-based compensation system.

 

It makes sense to use an output-based compensation system when we want to reward workers for the level of their output in order to motivate them to be productive.

Workshop, San Antonio, TX, 1997 (videotape JSA-05 from www.goldratt.com)