Operations Management: An Integrated Approach, 5th Edition

Chapter Highlights

Work system design involves job design, methods or process analysis, and work measurement. Job design specifies the work activities of an individual or group in support of organizational objectives.

Relevant job design issues include design feasibility, the choice of human or machine, the use of teams, and the location where the work is to be done. Technical feasibility is the degree to which an individual or a group of individuals is physically and mentally able to do the job. Economic feasibility is the degree to which the value a job adds and the cost of having the job done are profitable for the company. Behavioral feasibility is the degree to which an employee derives intrinsic satisfaction from doing the job. Another job design issue concerns whether the job should be done by people or by machines. If a person does the job, you need to decide on the level of specialization. If jobs are extremely specialized, you will probably need a way to reduce boredom. Rather than individual job design, an organization can use team approaches. These include problem-solving teams, special-purpose teams, and self-directed teams. An additional consideration is the location where the work is done. Many employees may work in alternative workplaces in the future.

Methods or ...