Work Design

Question 1

Beyond task characteristics from JCM, what are some other work characteristics that might influence work outcomes?

Answer 1

Morgeson et al. (2013) note that work design characteristics such as task characteristics (e.g., autonomy, variety, significance, feedback), knowledge characteristics (e.g., complexity, problem solving, specialization), social characteristics (e.g., social support, interdependence), and contextual characteristics (e.g, ergonomics, physical demands, work conditions) influence employees’ attitudinal, behavioral, cognitive, and well-being outcomes.

Question 2

What are some outcomes of effective, positive work design?

Answer 2

Attitudes: Job Satisfaction, commitment

Behavior: efficiency, productivity, OCB, turnover

Cognitive: role ambiguity, turnover intentions

Well-Being: stress, burnout, overload, work-family, health

(Morgeson, 2013)

Question 3

What are some moderating individual difference influences between work design and outcomes?

Answer 3

A number of individual differences moderate the relationship between work design and its outcomes, including cognitive ability, conscientiousness, positive affectivity, psychological flexibility, and future focus (Morgeson et al., 2013).

Question 4

What are mediating mechanisms through which work design influences employee outcomes?

Answer 4

Morgeson et al. (2013) identify a number of mediating mechanisms through which work design influences employee outcomes, such as experienced measningfulness, experienced responsibility, knowledge of results, empowerment, and knowledge level/skill utilization.

Question 5

How does autonomy improve work outcomes when redesigning jobs?

Answer 5

Increasing autonomy increases role-breadth self-efficacy, which increases proactive behaviors. So enriching people’s jobs by increasing autonomy can help promote proactive behaviors by increasing their confidence in taking on a broader set of responsibilities (Morgeson et al., 2013).

Question 6

What are the 5 job characteristics in the JCM (describe each and cite)?

Answer 6

Hackman and Oldham (1975) suggested that 5 work characteristics make jobs more satisfying for employees:

1) Feedback from the job: the degree to which a job imparts info about an individual’s performance
2) Autonomy: the freedom an individual has in carrying out the work
3) Task identity: the extent to which an individual can complete a whole piece of work (from front to back)
4) Task significance: the extent to which a job impacts others’ lives
5) Skill variety: the extent to which an individual must use different skills to perform their job.

Question 7

What are work design characteristics?

Answer 7

Work design characteristics are attributes of the task, job, and social and organizational environment (Humphrey et al., 2007).

Question 8

Name two job stress theories relevant to work design.

Answer 8

Job Demands Control Support Model (Karasek, 1979) holds that strain is greatest when demands are high and control is low. Job control and employee support can buffer the impact of job demands, reducing stress or the likelihood of strain.

Job Demands Resources Model (Demerouti et al., 2001) holds that all jobs come with demands and resources; demands can lead to strain and resources support motivation, but demands can drain/reduce the impact of resources on motivation. Resources buffer the impact of demands on strain, however, so a balance is important to preserve worker well-being and org outcomes.

Question 9

Define job complexity.

Answer 9

The extent to which jobs are significant and identifiable, provide employees with autonomy and feedback, and provide the employees with opportunities to use a variety of skills (Hackman and Oldham, 1980).

Question 10

What are the three meaningful states and what model is that?

Answer 10

JCM (Hackman and Oldham, 1975)
Five job characteristics lead to three critical psychological states (which then lead to work outcomes):
1) Experienced meaningfulness: the degree to which an employee feels the job has value and importance (impacted by skill variety, task identity, and task significance)
2) Experienced responsibility: the degree to which an employee feels liable and accountable for job results (impacted by autonomy)
3) Knowledge of results: the degree to which an employee is aware of their level of performance (impacted by feedback)

Question 11

What outcomes are part of the JCM?

Answer 11

Job Characteristics Model (JCM) - Hackman and Oldham, 1975

MAPSS or IRPSS
Internal Motivation (+)
Job Satisfaction (+)
Growth Satisfaction (+)
Performance (+)
Absenteeism (-)

Research found strong relationships with job satisfaction, growth satisfaction and motivation (attitudes), and weaker relationships with job performance and absenteeism (performance).

Question 12

What is a moderator in the JCM?

Answer 12

Growth need strength - the strength of a person’s need for personal accomplishment, learning, and development (Hackman and Oldman, 1975)

Question 13

Name and describe two work design theories.

Answer 13

Job Characteristics Theory

Job Demands Support Model

Job Demands Resources Model

Question 14

Broad history of work design

Answer 14

Historically: division of labor (1700-1800s, tracing to Adam Smith). “Scientific Mgmt” to ease staffing and reduce training needs.

Then came job enrichment. Recognition that division of labor made jobs repetitive and tedious. Job Characteristics theory/model (Hackman and Oldham) - certain characteristics lead to increased meaningfulness and other states that led to better results.

Around that time, Social Information Processing perspective started happening which was a focus on the importance of CONTEXT in work characteristics and their impact.

Job Demands Control-Support model and JDR came about, which emphasized the role of resources. Both are job stress models.

JDC-S (Karasek, 1979)
JCR (Demerouti et al., 2001)

Question 15

Within the job characteristics theory/model, which characteristics map onto which critical states?

Answer 15

Feedback maps onto knowledge of results

Task identity, task significance, and skill variety map onto meaningfulness

Autonomy maps onto responsibility

Hackman and Oldham, 1975

Question 16

What is role theory?

Answer 16

Katz and Kahn (1966) state that the assignment of work-roles prescribes the behavior that employees are expected to comply with so that they are able to perform their specified tasks and duties effectively.

Question 17

What is role conflict and what are its effects?

Answer 17

Role conflict occurs when there are incompatible demands placed upon a person relating to their job or position. Persons experience role conflict when they find themselves pulled in various directions as they try to respond to the many statuses they hold.

Role conflict and ambiguity lead to turnover, decreased commitment, and job strain (Kahn et al., 1964)

Question 18

What is role ambiguity and what are its effects?

Answer 18

Role ambiguity is the extent to which one’s work responsibilities and degree of authority are unclear. Role conflict and ambiguity lead to turnover, decreased commitment, and job strain (Kahn et al., 1964)

Question 19

Empirical support that work characteristics/work design matter for outcomes?

Answer 19

Humphrey et al (2007) meta-analysis found that 14 work design characteristics explained 43% of the variance in 19 worker attitudes and behaviors.

Question 20

Within the JCM, which mediator is the most important?

Answer 20

Humphrey et al. (2007) tested all three critical states as mediators, and found that the primary mediator in this relationship was experienced meaning. This shouldn’t be surprising given three of the five job characteristics were thought by Hackman and Oldham were to predict this critical state (experienced meaningfulness). Additionally, Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 2001) holds that the ultimate goal of humans is to pursue meaning in our lives.

Question 21

How did Humphrey et al (2007) extend JCM?

Answer 21

Humphrey et al. (2007) extended Hackman & Oldham’s (1980) Job Characteristics Model by testing additional motivational characteristics and found that task variety, job complexity, and information processing (having to focus on and manage information) impact a variety of work outcomes such as job satisfaction and overload.

Question 22

What role do work conditions play in workplace stress, according to Humphrey et al (2007) meta?

Answer 22

Humphrey et al (2007) found that work conditions explained an incremental 16% of the variance in stress, which was larger than the variance explained by either of the five motivational characteristics or three social characteristics.

Question 23

What is work design and how is it different from job design?

Answer 23

Parker et al (2014) defined work design as the content and organization of one’s work tasks, activities, relationships, and responsibilities. “Jobs” are more narrowly focused on the tasks assigned to a worker.

The broader definition of work design recognizes that individuals can also help shape their work.

Question 24

What are outcomes of work design?

Answer 24

Past research indicates work design affects health and economic outcomes for individuals, teams and organizations (Parker et al 2017).

Question 25

How are group dynamics relevant to work design?

Answer 25

Parker et al (2017) note that group dynamics are relevant to work design – for example, employees who are part of autonomous work groups may report higher job satisfaction, but that may not translate to higher performance and they may report their behavior is heavily influenced by teammates.

Question 26

What is the most popular theory/model of work design and why?

Answer 26

As noted by Parker et al (2017), The JCM (Hackman & Oldham, 1976) is by far the most influential model of work design and among most cited JAP article of all time. Well-deserved because the characteristics in the model are related to a host of outcomes, even though the full model has received only limited support. Specifically, the specific mediational mechanisms (critical states) have received limited support; research suggests experienced meaningfulness is the KEY psych state (Humphrey et al, 2007). There is also minimal support for the moderator of growth needs strength.

Question 27

How can work design mitigate negative effects of technological and social change?

Answer 27

Parker et al (2017) propose work design as a powerful tool to mitigate potential negative effects and enhance potential positive effects of technological and social change. For example, research shows that downsizing, temp work, and lean production effects can be improved with good work design.

Question 28

What are some health and well-being outcomes of work design?

Answer 28

Crawford et al (2010) found that there is a positive association between job demands and stress and burnout.

Ganster and Rosen (2013) found that there is a positive association between stress and compromised physical health.

Excess job demands or low control damage health and well-being because they lower individuals’ daily experiences of work recovery (Sonnentag et al., 2006).

Question 29

What is the difference between challenge and hindrance demands and what does research say about their impact on outcomes?

Answer 29

Cavanaugh et al (2000) distinguishes between hindrance demands (“bad stressors” such as org politics, role ambiguity and role conflict) and challenge demands (“good stressors” such as time pressure, work load and responsibility.

Challenge demands can contribute to career success and personal development, but hindrance demands constrain them.

The degree to which a person appraises a demand as a challenge versus a hindrance is important, because one person’s demand could be another’s hindrance.

Podsakoff et al. (2007) found that challenge demands are positively related to job attitudes and performance and negatively related to turnover, whereas the reverse applies to hindrance demands.

Crawford et al. (2010) found that although both challenge and hindrance demands are positively related to burnout, hindrance effects are stronger.

Question 30

What is job crafting?

Answer 30

Job crafting is one way individuals can respond to the needs demanded by the current workplace, such as being flexible and requiring personal initiative and adaptation (Grant & Parker, 2009) or cite Dierdorff et al (2018)

Question 31

What are some positive outcomes of job crafting?

Answer 31

Research indicates that job crafting is associated with individual benefits such as higher levels of job satisfaction, work engagement, and psychological capital, as well as lower levels of burnout and boredom (as cited by Dierdorff et al., 2018). This is because it helps enhance a sense of meaning for employees. Job crafting is also associated with higher levels of performance (Bakker et al., 2012).

Question 32

What are some potential negative consequences of job crafting?

Answer 32

What is good for the individual employee may not always be good for the organization. Some research has found that job crafting is related to decreased workload, lowered engagement, and increased exhaustion, and lower task performance (Demerouti et al., 2015).

Dierdorff et al (2018) found a curvilinear relationship between job crafting and OCBs and job proficiency, where moderate levels of job crafting yielded less of both, possibly because they’re not yet integrated and accepted by others, so the crafting changes are not functional.

Question 33

What are two types of planning individuals can engage in?

Answer 33

Time management planning (TMP) - creating task lists, prioritizing tasks, and determining how and when to perform them

Contingent planning (CP) - anticipating possible interruptions in their work and planning for them

Parke et al., 2017

Question 34

What type of daily planning was most impacted daily performance and why/how?

Answer 34

Parke et al. (2017) found that both time management planning (TMP) and contingent planning (CP) positively and uniquely influence daily performance by enhancing work engagement.

This means that workers can use both types of planning to enhance engagement and performance.

Time management planning’s positive effects were weaker when employees had more interruptions. In contrast, interruptions had no influence on CP’s effects.

Because contingency planning is resistant to interruptions, it makes it a good strategy in dynamic work environments to maintain high levels of performance and engagement.

Question 35

What work design interventions have been done and what were their effects?

Answer 35

Parker et al (2013) investigated the impact of a work redesign intervention that enhanced structural support. They found that relational work redesign that enhances structural support can be helpful in increasing performance, skill utilization and proactive behaviors, and reducing overload.

However, effects were dependent on the individual’s understanding of others’ work roles as well as their level of negative work affect.

Those with high negative affect were likely to protect their resources by lowering their role overload, whereas those with low negative affect were likely to accumulate new resources through increasing their skill utilization and proactive work behavior.

Question 36

What is the relational architecture of jobs?

Answer 36

The relational architecture of jobs refers to the structural properties of work that shape employees’ opportunities to connect and interact with other people (Grant, 2007)

Grant (2007) describes (in his theory paper) how improving the relational job design of jobs - increasing employees’ ability to affect and connect with others - can increase employees’ motivation to make a prosocial difference, and how, in turn, such motivation positively affects employees’ actions and identities.

Question 37

What is job impact on beneficiaries?

Answer 37

Job impact on beneficiaries is the degree to which a job provides opportunities for employees to affect the lives of beneficiaries. This should motivate employees at the level of the job rather than at the level of the single task. (Grant, 2007)

Grant (2007) describes (in his theory paper) how improving the relational job design of jobs - increasing employees’ ability to affect and connect with others - can increase employees’ motivation to make a prosocial difference, and how, in turn, such motivation positively affects employees’ actions and identities.

Question 38

In what way did the Job Demands Resources Model expand the JCM?

Answer 38

Job Demands Resources Model (Demerouti et al., 2001) offered two advances over JCM (Karasek, 1979).

1) It recognized that other work features may act as resources for employees to counter demands besides control and support.
2) it actively incorporated both strain and motivation into the model. In fact, a key feature of the model is that demands impair health via strain and burnout and that resources lead to high levels of performance via engagement.