Work Design Flashcards
Beyond task characteristics from JCM, what are some other work characteristics that might influence work outcomes?
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.
What are some outcomes of effective, positive work design?
Attitudes: Job Satisfaction, commitment
Behavior: efficiency, productivity, OCB, turnover
Cognitive: role ambiguity, turnover intentions
Well-Being: stress, burnout, overload, work-family, health
(Morgeson, 2013)
What are some moderating individual difference influences between work design and outcomes?
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).
What are mediating mechanisms through which work design influences employee outcomes?
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.
How does autonomy improve work outcomes when redesigning jobs?
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).
What are the 5 job characteristics in the JCM (describe each and cite)?
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.
What are work design characteristics?
Work design characteristics are attributes of the task, job, and social and organizational environment (Humphrey et al., 2007).
Name two job stress theories relevant to work design.
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.
Define job complexity.
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).
What are the three meaningful states and what model is that?
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)
What outcomes are part of the JCM?
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).
What is a moderator in the JCM?
Growth need strength - the strength of a person’s need for personal accomplishment, learning, and development (Hackman and Oldman, 1975)
Name and describe two work design theories.
Job Characteristics Theory
Job Demands Support Model
Job Demands Resources Model
Broad history of work design
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)
Within the job characteristics theory/model, which characteristics map onto which critical states?
Feedback maps onto knowledge of results
Task identity, task significance, and skill variety map onto meaningfulness
Autonomy maps onto responsibility
Hackman and Oldham, 1975