7

Design of Work Systems

McGraw-Hill/IrwinOperations Management, Eighth Edition, by William J. StevensonCopyright © 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights

reserved.

CHAPTER 7

Major Factors Affecting Productivity Technological Development and

Raw Materials Employees’ Job Performance

Ability Motivation

Motivational Theories (Theory X, Theory Y, and Theory Z)

Technological Development and Raw Materials Technology Materials Plant Layout Job Designs

Employees’ Job Performance Ability

Skills Training Experience

Knowledge Education

Employees’ Job Performance Motivation

Economic Motivators Individual’s Needs

Hierarchy of Needs Formal Organization

Organization Structure Leadership Climate Personnel Policies

Motivation Informal

Organization Size Goals Cohesiveness

Leadership Type of

Leadership Autocratic

Close Supervison

Democratic General

Supervision

Motivation Union

Cohesiveness Goals Leadership

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

PHYSICAL

SECURITY

SOCIAL

EGO

SELF

FULFILLMENT

Achievement, Creativity, Development & Advancement

Self-respect, Recognition, Prestige, Status

Friendship

Shelter & Protection

Hunger, Thirst, Sex

Theory X People lack motivation People are basically lazy People only work because they

have to

Theory Y People are interested in goal

accomplishments People have the potential for

creativity People have many skills and

potentials

Theory Z William G. Ouchi’s This theory explores the differences

between the Japanese and American management systems.

Japanese system is designated as J type American system is designated as A type U.S. organizations that have some

characteristics of the Japanese organizations as Z type Examples: IBM, Eastman-Kodak, Hewlett-Packard

Theory Z Characteristics of Z type

organizations Employment must be stabilized

This means employment security Unions must be involved but not in an

adversary relationship A system for slow evaluation and

promotion should be developed

Job design involves specifying the content and methods of job What will be done Who will do the job How the job will bob will be done Where the job will be done Ergonomics

Job Design

Design of Work Systems

Specialization Behavioral Approaches to Job

Design Teams Methods Analysis Motions Study Working conditions

Job Design Success

Successful Job Design must be: Carried out by experienced

personnel with the necessary training and background

Consistent with the goals of the organization

In written form Understood and agreed to by both

management and employees

Specialization in Business: Advantages

For Management:

1. Simplifies training

2. High productivity

3. Low wage costs

For Labor:

1. Low education andskill requirements

2. Minimumresponsibilities

3. Little mental effortneeded

Disadvantages

For Management:

1. Difficult to motivatequality

2. Worker dissatisfaction,possibly resulting inabsenteeism, highturnover, disruptivetactics, poor attentionto quality

For Labor:1. Monotonous work

2. Limited opportunitiesfor advancement

3. Little control over work

4. Little opportunity forself-fulfillment

Behavioral Approaches to Job Design

Job Enlargement Giving a worker a larger portion of the

total task by horizontal loading Job Rotation

Workers periodically exchange jobs Job Enrichment

Increasing responsibility for planning and coordination tasks, by vertical loading

Motivation and Trust Motivation

Influences quality and productivity Contributes to work environment

Trust Influences productivity and employee-

management relations

Teams Benefits of teams

Higher quality Higher productivity Greater worker satisfaction

Self-directed teams Groups of empowered to make

certain changes in their work process

Methods Analysis

Methods analysis Analyzing how a job gets done Begins with overall analysis Moves to specific details

Methods Analysis

Changes in tools and equipment Changes in product design

or new products Changes in materials or procedures Other factors (e.g. accidents,

quality problems)

The need for methods analysis can come from a number of different sources:

Methods Analysis Procedure

Identify the operation to be studied Get employee input Study and document current method Analyze the job Propose new methods Install new methods Follow-up to ensure improvements

have been achieved

Analyzing the Job

Flow process chart Chart used to examine the overall

sequence of an operation by focusing on movements of the operator or flow of materials

Worker-machine chart Chart used to determine portions of

a work cycle during which an operator and equipment are busy or idle

FLOW PROCESS CHARTJob Requisition of petty cash

Details of Method

ANALYST D. Kolb

PAGE1 of 2

Op

erat

ion

M

ove

men

t

Insp

ecti

on

Del

ay

Sto

rag

e

Requisition made by department headPut in “pick-up” basketTo accounting departmentAccount and signature verifiedAmount approved by treasurerAmount counted by cashierAmount recorded by bookkeeperPetty cash sealed in envelopePetty cash carried to departmentPetty cash checked against requisitionReceipt signedPetty cash stored in safety box

Motion Study

Motion study is the systematic study of the human motions

used to perform an operation.

Motion Study Techniques

Motion study principles - guidelines for designing motion-efficient work procedures

Analysis of therbligs - basic elemental motions into which a job can be broken down

Micromotion study - use of motion pictures and slow motion to study motions that otherwise would be too rapid to analyze

Charts

Eliminate unnecessary motions Combine activities Reduce fatigue Improve the arrangement of the

workplace Improve the design of tools and

equipment

Developing Work Methods

Working Conditions

T e m p e r a t u r e &H u m i d i t y

V e n t i l a t i o n

I l l u m i n a t i o n C o l o r

Working Conditions (cont’d)

Noise & Vibration

Causes of AccidentsSafety

Work Breaks

Work Measurement

Standard time

Stopwatch time study

Historical times

Predetermined data

Work Sampling

Compensation

Time-based system Compensation based on time an

employee has worked during a pay period

Output-based (incentive) system Compensation based on the amount

of output an employee produces during a pay period

Form of Incentive Plan

Accurate

Easy to apply

Consistent

Easy to understand

Fair

Compensation

Individual Incentive Plans

Group Incentive Plans

Knowledge-Based Pay System

Management Compensation

Learning curves: the time required to perform a task decreases with increasing repetitions

Learning Curves

Learning EffectT

ime

per

rep

etit

ion

Number of repetitions

Learning with Improvements

Tim

e p

er u

nit

Time

Average Improvements may create ascallop effect in the curve.

Applications of Learning Curves

Manpower planning and scheduling

Negotiated purchasing

Pricing new products

Budgeting, purchasing, and inventory planning

Capacity Planning

Worker Learning Curves

A (underqualified)

B (average)

C (overqualified)

Tim

e/cy

cles

One week

Standard time

Training time

Cautions and Criticisms

Learning rates may differ from organization to organization

Projections based on learning curves should be viewed as approximations

Estimates based the first unit should be checked for valid times

Cautions and Criticisms

At some point the curve might level off or even tip upward

Some improvements may be more apparent than real

For the most part, the concept does not apply to mass production