Job design

About: Job design is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 9218 publications have been published within this topic receiving 426180 citations.

Specialization and Variety in Repetitive Tasks: Evidence from a Japanese Bank

Abstract: Sustaining operational productivity in the completion of repetitive tasks is critical to many organizations’ success. Yet research points to two different work-design related strategies for accomplishing this goal: specialization to capture the benefits of repetition or variety to keep workers motivated and allow them to learn. In this paper, we investigate how these two strategies may bring different benefits within the same day and across days. Additionally, we examine the impact of these strategies on both worker productivity and workers’ likelihood of staying at a firm. For our empirical analyses, we use two and a half years of transaction data from a Japanese bank’s home loan application processing line. We find that over the course of a single day, specialization, as compared to variety, is related to improved worker productivity. However, when we examine workers’ experience across days we find that variety, or working on different tasks, helps improve worker productivity. We also find that workers with higher variety are more likely to stay at the firm. Our results identify new ways to improve operational performance through the effective allocation of work.

Job demands–resources model in the context of recovery: Testing recovery experiences as mediators

Abstract: The aim of the present study was to extend the original Job Demands– Resources (JD-R) model by taking into account recovery as an important mediation mechanism between work characteristics and well-being/ill-health. Specifically, we examined whether recovery experiences—strategies promoting recovery—might have a mediating role in the JD-R model among 527 employees from a variety of different jobs. The results showed that psychological detachment fully mediated the effects of job demands on fatigue at work and mastery partially mediated the effects of job resources on work engagement. Altogether, the results suggest that recovery merits consideration as a mediating mechanism in the JD-R model.

Does TQM influence employees' job satisfaction? An empirical case analysis

Abstract: Purpose – This paper seeks to examine employees' perceptions of TQM practices and its impact on job satisfaction within a large Malaysian outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) organization. Despite extensive research on TQM practices, none examines this scope of investigative study. Therefore, the proposed model was developed with the intention of examining this relationship.Design/methodology/approach – Original research using self‐completed questionnaires, distributed to all staff within this organization, is thoroughly reported. The study sample consisted of 230 employees, resulting in a response rate of 76.6 percent. A questionnaire developed by Wright and Cropanzana was used for ascertaining the level of overall job satisfaction. Data were analyzed by employing correlation and multiple regression analysis.Findings – The results revealed that teamwork, organizational trust, organizational culture and customer focus are positively associated with employees' job satisfaction. It is also foun...

The Influence of Individual, Job, and Organizational Characteristics on Correctional Staff Job Stress, Job Satisfaction, and Organizational Commitment

Abstract: As staff performance is vital to the survival of correctional institutions, much empirical attention has been paid to studying the causes and consequences of their attitudes and behaviors. The current study adds to this body of knowledge by examining the factors that explain three central occupational attitudes—job stress, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. More specifically, using survey data collected from a large county correctional system in Orlando, Florida, this research assesses the impact of key demographic, job, and organizational characteristics within and across jail staff attitudes toward job stress, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. This article finds that the more powerful predictors of each of these attitudes are job and organizational characteristics. Among the dependent variables, job stress has an inverse relationship with job satisfaction, and job satisfaction had a powerful positive association with organizational commitment.

Exploring the exit, voice, loyalty, and neglect typology: The influence of job satisfaction, quality of alternatives, and investment size

Abstract: The current theory proposes that responses to dissatisfaction differ in constructiveness versus destructiveness and activity versus passivity, defining four categories of response: exit, voice, loyalty, and neglect. The manner in which employees react to job dissatisfaction is determined by three variables: overall job satisfaction; quality of job alternatives, and magnitude of investments in the job. This article presents a meta-analysis of the results of five studies in a program of research designed to test the current theory. Ten of 12 theory predictions received good support: Greater job satisfaction was associated with greater tendencies toward voice and loyalty, and with lesser exit and neglect. Superior alternatives were associated with greater tendencies toward exit and voice, and with lesser neglect. Greater investment size was associated with greater tendencies toward voice and loyalty, and with lesser neglect.