HR - Organisational and Job Design

Question 1

What is the organisation structure?

Answer 1

• shows the roles, responsibilities and relationships of each member of the business.
• shows communication flows, lines of authority and layers of hierarchy.

Question 2

What is the levels in the hierarchy?

Answer 2

• number of levels of managers/workers shown from the top to the bottom of the chart.

Question 3

What is span of control?

Answer 3

• the number of people directly under the supervision of one manager.
• Narrow span of control - small number of staff reporting to one manager.
• Wide span of control - a large number of staff reporting to one manager.

Question 4

Give an advantage and a disadvantage of a narrow span of control.

Answer 4

Advantage:

• excellent communication.

Disadvantage:

• workers may feel over-supervised.

Question 5

What is chain of command?

Answer 5

• reporting system from the top to the bottom of the hierarchy.
• the route through which information and orders are carried.

Question 6

What is delegation?

Answer 6

• passing authority down the hierarchy

* giving responsibility to junior manager or staff, empowering and motivating them.

Question 7

What is centralisation?

Answer 7

When decision-making powers remain i the hands of the top management.

Question 8

What is decentralisation?

Answer 8

When decision-making power is delegated to workers lower down the hierarchy.

Question 9

What is delayering?

Answer 9

Removing a management level from the organisational structure.

Question 10

What is the Matrix Design?

Answer 10

Where staff work on project teams, in addition to their responsibilities within their own department.

Question 11

Give an advantage of the Matrix design.

Answer 11

Can allow individuals to use particular skills within a variety of contexts.

Question 12

Give a disadvantage of the Matrix Design.

Answer 12

It can put project team members under a heavy pressure of work.

Question 13

What is job design?

Answer 13

• about the tasks and responsibilities that are grouped into a specific job.
• can have significant influence on labour productivity through the link with motivation.

Question 14

What are the three sections of the Heckman and Oldham Model by Herzberg?

Answer 14

• core job characteristics
• psychological states
• outcomes (of the job)

Question 15

Describe the ‘core job characteristics’ section.

Answer 15

Involves:

• skill variety
• task identity
• task significance
• autonomy (personal independence)
• feedback

Question 16

Describe the ‘psychological states’ section.

Answer 16

Focuses on people rather than job.

Looks at what affects the worker’s psychological state:

• meaningfulness of work
• responsibility for work outcomes
• knowledge of results of work