Organisational work condition

Question 1

Hawthorne studies

Answer 1

people estimate and perform the expected result
conducted in USA
effect of lighting on productivity
both groups increase performance
experimental group only decreased productivity when very dark
Wickstrom and Bendix

Greenwood
interviewed participants
harsh supervision

Question 2

Zapf

Answer 2

Bullying at work
work-related bullying
physical violence
personal attacks
verbal threats
social isolation

Question 3

Einarsen

Answer 3

managers: more psychological distress
four stages:
aggressive behaviour - bullying - stigmatisation - trauma

Question 4

Oldham and Brass

Answer 4

newspaper office in USA
76/128/140 people
8 weeks before, 8 weeks after, 18 weeks after
confidential
control: pressroom workers, no move
work satisfaction, interpersonal satisfaction, internal work motivation
satisfaction decreased after move to open plan office

Question 5

Pheasant (1991)

Answer 5

rapid rotation shifts: days
slow rotation shifts: weeks
allow circadian rhythms to adapt

Question 6

Knutsson (2003)

Answer 6

medical disorders
mortality rate: UK-no difference; Danish-tiny increase n shift workers
gastrointestinal disease
cardiovascular disease
cancer -- low melatonin but not conclusive
diabetes
pregnancy -- miscarriage
biological processes

Question 7

Gold et al.

Answer 7

687/878 registered nurses
Massachusetts
questionnaire, current week
quality of sleep, use of alcohol, error…
Anchor sleep: 4 or more hours of sleep during the same clock hours every night
anchor sleep: 92% for day/evening, 6.3% for night and rotator
nod off: rotator 3.9 times, night 3.6
accidents: 2 times for rotator

consistent with lab demonstration
sleep deprivation and disruption of circadian rhythm
cognitive error

Question 8

Czeisler et al. (1982)

Answer 8

Advantages of Slow shift rotation
Aim: Investigate the effect of slow shift rotations on self-reports of stress, health, productivity and sleep.
Method: natural experiment
IV: change for a 7 day shift rotation to a 21 day shift rotation
Results: less stress, better quality sleep and increased productivity.

Question 9

Gordon et al (1986)

Answer 9

Changed shift rotation to longer shift. It was reported that there was less sleeping on the job, less accidents and less stress for American Cops.

Question 10

Nagel (1988)

Answer 10

human: operator
machine
interaction might be complex and consequences of “human error” can be catastrophic

Question 11

Chapanis

Answer 11

two way interaction
between man (operator) and machine
interface
controlling
controls
work environment

Question 12

Banhart (1991)

Answer 12

Ski manufacturing company

carpel tunnel syndrome

Question 13

Reason (2000)

Answer 13

types of human error

1. mistakes
2. slips: mistakes despite knowing the correct behaviour
3. violation: deliberate
4. lapse: forgetting or omitting

Question 14

Reason (2000)

Answer 14

Theory A. Person approach

Theory B. System approach

Question 15

Fox et al. (1987)

Answer 15

Two open pit mines in the USA
prior: over 8 times the average for all mines
1 mine: 214 / 2 mine: 501
trading stamps for no injuries

Question 16

Cowpe (1989)

Answer 16

safety promotion campaign
chip-pans
2 60s adverts
regional TV in UK between 1976 and 1984
12% drop in fire and high recall about prevent and put out fire