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Showing papers on "Job design published in 1991"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a principal-agent model that can explain why employment is sometimes superior to independent contracting even when there are no productive advantages to specific physical or human capital and no financial market imperfections to limit the agent's borrowings is presented.
Abstract: Introduction In the standard economic treatment of the principal–agent problem, compensation systems serve the dual function of allocating risks and rewarding productive work. A tension between these two functions arises when the agent is risk averse, for providing the agent with effective work incentives often forces him to bear unwanted risk. Existing formal models that have analyzed this tension, however, have produced only limited results. It remains a puzzle for this theory that employment contracts so often specify fixed wages and more generally that incentives within firms appear to be so muted, especially compared to those of the market. Also, the models have remained too intractable to effectively address broader organizational issues such as asset ownership, job design, and allocation of authority. In this article, we will analyze a principal–agent model that (i) can account for paying fixed wages even when good, objective output measures are available and agents are highly responsive to incentive pay; (ii) can make recommendations and predictions about ownership patterns even when contracts can take full account of all observable variables and court enforcement is perfect; (iii) can explain why employment is sometimes superior to independent contracting even when there are no productive advantages to specific physical or human capital and no financial market imperfections to limit the agent's borrowings; (iv) can explain bureaucratic constraints; and (v) can shed light on how tasks get allocated to different jobs.

5,678 citations



Book
01 Feb 1991
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the personal experiences of job insecurity for individual employees and the variety of ways in which people cope with their feelings of uncertainty and ambiguity, and explore the relationship between organizational effectiveness and job insecurity, and outline a number of strategies that organizations can adopt to address its potentially destructive impact.
Abstract: This book, which is concerned with the impact of job insecurity on individuals, organizations and industrial relations, is a major contribution to an increasingly important topic in an era of continued organizational restructuring and change. The authors explore the personal experiences of job insecurity for individual employees and the variety of ways in which people cope with their feelings of uncertainty and ambiguity. They examine collective behaviour through the impact of job insecurity on union activities and union-management relations. They also explore the relationship between organizational effectiveness and job insecurity, and outline a number of strategies that organizations can adopt to address its potentially destructive impact. Finally, they argue that the issue requires positive action taken by government, employers and unions.

474 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a new approach to selection in which employees are hired to fit the characteristics of an organization, not just the requirements of a particular job, is examined, and a case description of a manufacturing company that used the model in hiring employees to work in its high-involvement organization is presented.
Abstract: Executive Overview This article examines a new approach to selection in which employees are hired to fit the characteristics of an organization, not just the requirements of a particular job. Diverse firms—high and low-tech, U.S. and Japanese-owned—are using the approach to build cultures that rely heavily on self-motivated, committed people for corporate success. New, often expensive, hiring practices are changing the traditional selection model. An organizational analysis supplements a job analysis, and personality attributes are screened in addition to skills, knowledge, and abilities. We outline the basic steps of the new selection model and present a case description of a manufacturing company that used the model in hiring employees to work in its high-involvement organization. The new model works to its fullest advantage in organizations that allow employees enough freedom to use their unique attributes to influence job performance.

448 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the relationship between integrated manufacturing, a new manufacturing paradigm comprising advanced technology, just-in-time inventory control, and total quality management, and found that integrated manufacturing can improve the quality of products.
Abstract: This study investigated the relationship between integrated manufacturing, a new manufacturing paradigm comprising advanced technology, just-in-time inventory control, and total quality management,...

410 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Organizational citizenship is defined as "supra-role behavior", that is, behavior which goes beyond formal job descriptions but which is desired by an organization (Organ, 1988a).
Abstract: Organizational citizenship was recently proposed as a form of job performance which may be more strongly related to job satisfaction than performance measures employed in previous job satisfaction-job performance research. However organizational citizenship holds more promise for organizational behavior research than merely its relationship to job satisfaction. Organ (1988a) argues that organizational citizenship, in the aggregate, promotes the effective functioning of the organization. Citizenship is defined as "supra-role behavior," that is, behavior which goes beyond formal job descriptions but which is desired by an organization (Organ, 1988a). Examples include helping co-workers who fall behind in task performance, keeping a work area clean, accepting temporary assignments without complaint, volunteering for tasks that are not assigned, and making suggestions which will improve the department (Bateman & Organ, 1983; Smith, Organ & Near, 1983). This paper presents the results of the studies which have...

391 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
Joan Arches1
TL;DR: A focus on the effects of the organizational structure as it contributes to burnout and job satisfaction is suggested for policy, practice, and professional decisions.
Abstract: Two hundred and seventy five randomly selected social workers who were practicing in Massachusetts in 1988 were studied to better understand burnout and job satisfaction. The findings from hierarchical multiple regressions revealed that perceived lack of autonomy and the influence of the funding sources are major contributors to burnout, and perceived autonomy and bureaucratization are major contributors to job satisfaction. The findings challenge the assumption that bureaucracy is the most efficient form of organization and question the ideological and social control functions of organizations. A focus on the effects of the organizational structure as it contributes to burnout and job satisfaction is suggested for policy, practice, and professional decisions.

320 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the effects of introducing just-in-time (JIT) inventory and standardized work on levels of autonomy in different operations and find that the introduction of process controls can diminish individual autonomy.
Abstract: Individual and/or group autonomy have long been considered critical dimensions of job design in participative work settings. Autonomy has typically been defined as discretion over pace of work and work methods (Hackman & Oldham, 1980), and in an effort to provide autonomy, buffers have traditionally been inserted into the work flow to break task interdependencies. The use of such buffers, however, runs counter to today's new manufacturing practices of just-in-time (JIT) inventory and standardized work. This paper, therefore, examines the effects of introducing such practices on levels of autonomy in different operations. In mature sociotechnical plants where employees have become accustomed to independent decision making, the introduction of process controls can diminish individual autonomy. But, there is an opportunity to exchange individual decision making with a form of collective autonomy which is limited to task design as opposed to task execution. Furthermore, individuals can still retain autonomy i...

228 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify through hypothesis testing how Herzberg's theory of job satisfaction applied to two different working populations using a questionnaire based on the Herzberg theory, using two different groups of workers.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to identify through hypothesis testing how Herzberg's theory of job satisfaction applied to two different working populations using a questionnaire based on Herzberg's...

220 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that three types of networks are likely to affect job satisfaction: dense networks, social circles composed of co-workers, and kin-centered networks.
Abstract: This paper tests the proposition that social networks serve as a social resource which affects job satisfaction through the provision of social support. Drawing from the literature on job satisfaction and social support, the author argues that three types of networks are likely to affect job satisfaction: dense networks, social circles composed of co-workers, and kin-centered networks. Data from the 1985 General Social Survey, indicates that co-worker social circles and kin-centered networks positively affect job satisfaction and that certain of these network effects vary by contextual factors.

143 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Campion et al. as mentioned in this paper examined the costs and benefits of job enlargement in an interdisciplinary framework and found that enlarged jobs had better motivational design and worse mechanistic design.
Abstract: Costs and benefits of job enlargement were examined in an interdisciplinary framework (Campion, 1988,1989; Campion & Thayer, 1985). A quasi experiment was conducted with multiple comparison groups, dependent variables, and replications in a financial services organization. Enlargement involved combining jobs and adding ancillary duties to jobs. Dataonl 1 clerical jobs were collected from incumbents (n = 377), managers (n = 80), and analysts (n = 90). Enlarged jobs had better motivational design and worse mechanistic (i.e., engineering) design. They had the benefits of more employee satisfaction, less mental underload, greater chances of catching errors, and better customer service, but they also had the costs of higher training requirements, higher basic skills, and higher compensable factors. Biological (i.e., physical) aspects were unaffected. All potential costs of enlarged jobs were not always observed, suggesting that it may be possible to gain benefits through redesign without incurring every cost. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate one of the most popular job redesign interventions in the organizational behavior literature—job enlargement. This intervention is inspired by the psychology-based motivational models of job design (e.g., Hackman & Oldham, 1980; Herzberg, 1966). These models focus on such job attributes as variety, autonomy, and task significance. Evaluations of these interventions are usually concerned only with beneficial outcomes of such models (e.g., job satisfaction).

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, an exploratory path analysis was performed using LISREL VI to identify the primary paths affecting equity perceptions and those leading to the outcomes of job performance and voluntary turnover.
Abstract: Data were collected on 365 managers representing five managerial levels in order to provide an initial field test of an equity model based on Adams (1963) and Lawler (1971). Exploratory path analysis was performed using LISREL VI to identify the primary paths affecting equity perceptions and those leading to the outcomes of job performance and voluntary turnover. The primary variables influencing pay equity were salary level, job level, pay valence, and prior job performance. The data suggested that pay equity perceptions have an impact on voluntary turnover but not necessarily on job performance. The impact on turnover, however, was indirect, through its influence on pay satisfaction, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and intent to leave. The major predictors of job performance were prior job performance and salary level.


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article found that nurses who worked routine shifts perceived higher levels of quality of working life compared to those on non-routine shifts, while those who experienced high routinization in job content perceived lower levels of QoL compared with those nurses who experienced low job content.
Abstract: The literature on routinization of work is both ambiguous and equivocal when its impact on quality of working life is considered. The classical management literature suggests that routinization of work has a positive influence on individual performance and by implication on the quality of working life resulting from the overall prosperity generated. However, more recent literature on job characteristics and job design argues that routinization of work has a negative impact on individual performance as it suppresses creative expression on the job. This paper suggests that these mixed findings are due to an inadequate theoretical grasp of the concept of routinization and presents empirical evidence which attempts to clarify the ambiguity. Data were collected from 1148 nurses working in anglophone hospitals in the greater Montreal area in the form of a field survey questionnaire. The results indicated that nurses who worked routine shifts perceived higher levels of quality of working life compared to those on non-routine shifts. The results also indicated that nurses who experienced high routinization in job content perceived lower levels of quality of working life compared to those nurses who experienced low routinization in job content. Implications of these findings for future research are discussed.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the negative relationship between personal alienation and organizational identification was explained through a set of mediating variables involving need deprivation, job satisfaction, and job involvement, and moderate support for the quality-of-work-life model.
Abstract: It was hypothesized that personal alienation has a negative impact on organizational identification. The negative relationship between alienation and organizational identification was explained through a set of mediating variables involving need deprivation, job satisfaction, and job involvement. More specifically, it was hypothesized that alienation increases need deprivation, which in turn decreases job satisfaction, which in turn decreases job involvement, which ultimately decreases organizational identification. A study was conducted involving 219 service deliverers to the elderly. Self-report measures were administered. The data was subjected to a path analysis. The results provided moderate support for the quality-of-work-life model. Management implications are discussed.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a study of 198 older workers who had begun new, mostly part-time jobs was conducted, and it was found that the intrinsic indicators for skill and autonomy had a positive effect on job satisfaction.
Abstract: Older workers re-entering the workforce and those changing jobs are coming to play an increasingly important role in the labor force, especially as part-time workers. Yet the work orientation and job satisfaction of these workers has not been studied. Do ‘situational’ factors such as skill and pay matter for this subgroup of workers, and if so, which ones? If significant factors exist, can their effect be explained by the mediating influence of ‘dispositional’ factors like work values? This paper explores these questions in a study of 198 older workers who had begun new, mostly part-time jobs. Regression analysis shows that the intrinsic indicators for skill and autonomy have a positive effect on job satisfaction. No extrinsic factor was significantly related to satisfaction, indicating that these workers are more than ‘instrumentally’ oriented. This support for a ‘situational’ interpretation of the impact of work, especially intrinsic features, was sustained in analyses which incorporated work values. To the extent that the growing number of part-time jobs are relatively low-skilled, and to the extent that older workers in new jobs are influenced most by intrinsically rewarding work, there appears to be a growing mismatch between an occupational niche and those who are being sought to fill it.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined whether perceived threats to the security of employees' jobs can have deleterious effects on their health and found that perceived threats can have negative effects on health.
Abstract: This study extends previous work that has shown that perceived threats to the security of employees' jobs can have deleterious effects on their health. The study examined (a) whether intrinsic work...

Book
30 Apr 1991
TL;DR: Work Education and Critical Pedagogy Strategies for Critical Reflection in Work Education Exploring Technical Relations Working Knowledge: What It Takes to Do the Job Skills and Work Design Teachers Working with Employers: Developing the Learning Potential of Work Sites Exploring Social Relations Working through Social Relations Occupational Health and Safety: A Critical Look Time On and Off the Job: The Interrelation of Work, Desire, and Leisure Unions: Solving Problems by Sticking Together Exploring Work as an Exchange Relation Self-Assessment: Changing Circumstances, Changing Selves Speaking
Abstract: Preface Introduction Work Education and Critical Pedagogy Strategies for Critical Reflection in Work Education Exploring Technical Relations Working Knowledge: What It Takes to Do the Job Skills and Work Design Teachers Working with Employers: Developing the Learning Potential of Work Sites Exploring Social Relations Working through Social Relations Occupational Health and Safety: A Critical Look Time On and Off the Job: The Interrelation of Work, Desire, and Leisure Unions: Solving Problems by Sticking Together Exploring Work as an Exchange Relation Self-Assessment: Changing Circumstances, Changing Selves Speaking Out about Pay Getting a Job Future Work Index

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors predict the motivational value of jobs from task, task interdependence, and task similarity, and find that the task similarity does not correlate well with job satisfaction.
Abstract: The motivational value of jobs was predicted from the motivational value of tasks, task interdependence, and task similarity. This model was tested on 67 jobs (188 incumbents); analysts provided task measures and incumbents provided job measures. Results suggest that, to design motivating jobs, the motivational values of tasks should be increased, as should task interdependence (up to a moderate point); low to moderate amounts of task similarity do not matter.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined whether employee age moderates the relation between job satisfaction and perceived work alternatives among blue-collar workers and found that a weaker, negative relationship exists among older workers relative to younger workers, while the impact of experience in work and non-work settings on employee values and need fulfillment.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results indicate that work overload is the major source of perceived is work stress, followed by role conflict, job-induced anxiety, and then role ambiguity.
Abstract: A field study of 109 information systems (is) managers explores the relationship among organizational characteristics, job satisfaction, and work stress. The results indicate that work overload is the major source of perceived is work stress, followed by role conflict, job-induced anxiety, and then role ambiguity. Four organizational contextual factors—Is climate, clarity and sharing of organizational mission, quality of work life, and flexibility of organizational processes—were found to influence signiftcantly work stress and job satisfaction as perceived by is managers. As expected, job satisfaction was signiftcantly related to is work stress while is technological sophistication was not related to is stress or job satisfaction factors. Contrary to predictions, neither the clarity and awareness of organizational policies nor the quality of is resources were found to have impact on any is stressor.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the feasibility of adopting groups in a manufacturing setting and identifying the potential obstacles to their adoption is discussed. But, the authors do not consider the role of the human resources in the success of a manufacturing company.
Abstract: After many years of controversy and uncertainty, participative management and work design issues are becoming the focus of attention in the 1990s. There is ample evidence to suggest that the success of some foreign and domestic manufacturers may be attributed to the management of their human resources. This article discusses the trends that are encouraging the reassessment of the traditional and widely applied principles of job design, which makes the case for organizing manufacturing jobs into groups. Based on a normative model proposed by Hackman and on the workgroup activities in the United States, Japan, and Sweden, this article evaluates the feasibility of adopting groups in a manufacturing setting and identifies the potential obstacles to their adoption. Many of the conditions required for the success of groups can be created through deliberate managerial decisions.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, managers from 120 organizations from four major Canadian urban centers were surveyed about their job satisfaction, and seven aspects of job satisfaction were evaluated: satisfaction with the firm, pay, promotional opportunities, the job itself, other managers at the same level, immediate supervisor, and subordinates.
Abstract: Managers from 120 organizations (183 men and 27 women) from four major Canadian urban centers were surveyed about their job satisfaction. Seven aspects of job satisfaction were evaluated: satisfaction with the firm, pay, promotional opportunities, the job itself, other managers at the same level, immediate supervisor, and subordinates. Overall, managers at the highest level reported the most job satisfaction. For presidents, satisfaction was related to the organization's structure and context, as well as to its climate, whereas for middle managers and vice presidents, job satisfaction was related more frequently to the organization's climate and less frequently to its structure and context.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used a sample of 138 salespersons drawn from a variety of companies to explore whether gender and performance do moderate the relationship between job satisfaction and intent to leave.

Journal ArticleDOI
Magid Igbaria1
TL;DR: In this article, the antecedents and consequences of job performance among management information systems (MIS) employees are examined and the results obtained show that job performance is affected by perceived job characteristics and that job success displays a number of positive effects on career advancement prospects, career satisfaction, organizational commitment, and intention to stay.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is proposed that influencing supervisor support is the most effective way to affect a person's job satisfaction and level of psychosomatic symptomology, and the implications of this model for prevention strategies at the workplace are discussed.
Abstract: To extend current models of psychosocial work stress research into organizational structure, technology is introduced. An exploratory model is developed combining research from ergonomics, epidemiology, and organizational science. It is hypothesized that technology influences a worker's health by structuring the job, and the relationship between the job and a worker's health is mediated by attitudes at work. To test the model, data are used from a 1978 NIOSH survey of postal workers sorting mail (N= 4903). Path analysis shows technology is indirectly associated with job satisfaction and psychosomatic symptoms by how it structured the job. A machine-paced technological system of work is associated with greater job demands, less control in the job, and less co-worker support but not with supervisor support. The implications of this model for prevention strategies at the workplace are discussed suggesting that influencing supervisor support is the most effective way to affect a person's job satisfac...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored the relationship between job dissatisfaction and the decision to leave paid employment in favor of business ownership and found that dissatisfaction with promotion and a number of issues associated with superior-subordinate relations appear to be related to the move.
Abstract: The relationship between job dissatisfaction and the decision to leave paid employment in favour of business ownership is explored. Particular attention is paid to the level of job satisfaction enjoyed by the sample studied prior to founding a new business ‐ the job satisfaction of male and female respondents; the specific causes of satisfaction or dissatisfaction; the satisfaction reported following business ownership. It is concluded that dissatisfaction with promotion and a number of issues associated with superior‐subordinate relations appear to be related to the move. Significantly, potential business founders may be people with entrepreneurial talent who, if they could be retained in an employee role, might make a valuable contribution to the success of their employing organisation. The human resource manager must identify such people and redefine their role in such a way that they will be more satisfied with the status of employee and make an effective contribution to organisational performance.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the role of scripts as a job design tool, and the functional and dysfunctional impacts of mindlessness that can result from the habitual and repetitive performance of scripts is examined from a service perspective.
Abstract: The role of scripts as a job design tool, and the functional and dysfunctional impacts of mindlessness that can result from the habitual and repetitive performance of scripts is examined from a service perspective. Five dimensions of scripts are then proposed: script complexity – the degree to which scripts require cognition during their performance; script intensity – the degree to which the script permits variation and adlibbing in its performance; number of scripts – an absolute measure of the number of scripts that must be learned to perform the job; percentage of time in script – the percentage of work time spent in scripted behaviour; and percentage of scripted duties – the percentage of a worker′s job duties or tasks that are scripted. These dimensions are then examined in the context of the degree of customer‐induced uncertainty experienced by service organisations. Finally, a model is proposed that relates the five script dimensions to high, medium, and low levels of customer‐induced uncertainty.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the effects of TQC on employees' perceived participation in the program and concomitant job satisfaction are discussed. But, the results obtained from this study show that job satisfaction is related to employee participation, but to varying degrees at different job levels.
Abstract: The outcome of the implementation of a Total Quality Control (TQC) programme in a large manufacturing enterprise in Australia is described. Emphasis is given to the effects of TQC on employees′ perceived participation in the programme and concomitant employees′ job satisfaction. An extensive discussion of the relationships between these variables and TQC is contained in the preceding article. The results obtained from this study show that job satisfaction is related to employee participation, but to varying degrees at different job levels. Surprisingly, it was also found that there was a low increase in perceived employee participation following the implementation of TQC. The need for further research in the area is clearly shown. Future research should be based on more comprehensive research designs that incorporate longitudinal studies and investigate the differential effects of TQC at various job levels within an organisation. This approach will facilitate a better understanding of the complex dynamics within organisations when such programmes are implemented.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a sample of certified public accountants was surveyed using modified versions of the Job Descriptive Index (Smith, Kendall, and Hulin, 1969) and the Downs and Hazen (1977) communication satisfaction questionnaire.
Abstract: A sample (N = 310) of certified public accountants (CPAs) was surveyed using modified versions of the Job Descriptive Index (Smith, Kendall, and Hulin, 1969) and the Downs and Hazen (1977) communication satisfaction questionnaire. Many past researchers have found communication related to job satisfaction. However, past researchers apparently have never investigated the possibility that employees may view communication to be inseparable from job satisfaction. The items that comprise the Job Descriptive Index and the communication satisfaction questionnaire were factor analyzed jointly in order to ascertain whether the respondents viewed communication and job satisfaction to be separate constructs.