Managing Research, Development, and Innovation: Managing the Unmanageable, Third Edition

4.7. JOB DESIGN AND CONFLICT

Sometimes the design of jobs increases the chances of conflict in organizations. This is particularly true because the goals of scientists are sometimes not the same as those of the organization. The goals of scientists are more likely to reflect scientific values, while the goals of the organization often reflect concern for profitability (Keenan, 1980; Souder and Chakrabarti, 1980).

An important attribute of job design is the degree of autonomy that is allowed on the job. There are two kinds of autonomy (Bailyn, 1984): strategic autonomy, the freedom to set one's own research agenda, and operational autonomy, the freedom to implement the agenda in different ways. Bailyn discovered through empirical studies that ...