MITSOM PGRC KHOJ-Management-Journal ISSN-0976-8262

Job Analysis – Relevance And Applicability For Modern Business

Environment

Mrs. Aparna S. Dixit

Assistant Professor
MIT School of Management
Ms. Zahra Jawadwala
Student, MPM –2nd Year
MIT School of Management

Abstract
It is needless to say that modern business not going to be part of tomorrow's economic
organization is continuously undergoing some reality. There still is and will always be an
change. Day by day competition is increasing; enormous amount of work to do, but it is not
product life cycle span is becoming shorter, going to be contained in the familiar envelopes we
organization structure is becoming flatter and jobs call jobs. In fact, many organizations are today
performed by employees are no more static or well along the path toward being "de-jobbed."
within the specified boundaries but becoming very Jobs and job descriptions, until recently, tended to
situational and dynamic. In fact the trend is follow their prescription and to be fairly detailed
towards generalization in jobs rather than and specific.
specialization. By the mid-1900s writers were reacting to what
In view of this changing business organization, they viewed as "dehumanizing" aspects of
this research paper mainly focuses on relevance pigeonholing workings into highly repetitive and
and applicability of traditional job analysis specialized jobs; many proposed solutions like job
concept to modern business organization where enlargement, job rotation, and job enrichment. Job
various innovative ways and practices of doing enlargement means assigning workers additional
certain tasks are identified every now and then. same-level tasks, thus increasing the number of
Paper also considers very important fact that job activities they perform. Job rotation means
analysis is linked with almost every single task of systematically moving workers from one job to
Human Resource Management. Thus one of the another. Psychologist Frederick Herzberg argued
major objectives of this research paper is to find that the best way to motivate workers is to build
out do we really need job analysis anymore? Or it opportunities for challenge and achievement into
is to be completely discarded? or else it is to be their jobs through job enrichment. Job
used in some modified way to make more relevant enrichment means re-designing jobs in a way that
for changing business environment. increases the opportunities for the worker to
experience feelings of responsibility,
Keywords - achievement, growth and recognition. Whether
Job Analysis, Modern Business Organization, enriched, specialized or enlarged, workers still
Relevance, Applicability generally have specific jobs to do, and these jobs
INTRODUCTION AND RELEVANCE OF required job descriptions. In many firms today,
TOPIC however, jobs are becoming more amorphous and
The modern world is on the verge of another huge difficult to define. In other words, the trend is
leap in creativity and productivity, but the job is toward dejobbing.

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Span of product life cycle is changing or provides a description of the job and profiles the
specifically it is becoming shorter. Competition is competencies people need to be successful. Most
increasing. Entire market place is becoming more definitions of job analysis identify three key
customers driven. It is the customer who decides points: Job analysis is not a single methodology -
what he wants and in what way he wants. it is a generic term which refers to a range of
Technology is demanding different skills and techniques, including observation, interview, and
competencies from employees and also level of questionnaire based analysis. Job analysis is
expectations is changed. structured - the exploration of the role is guided
Dejobbing, broadening the responsibilities of the and focused, although the degree of structure
company's jobs, and encouraging employees to varies with the technique used. Job analysis is
not limit themselves to what's on their job analytical. The process attempts to break the job
descriptions, is a result of the changes taking down into its component parts, rather than to
place in business today. Organizations need to describe the job as a whole. Job analysis is the
grapple with trends like rapid product and series of activities undertaken to systematically
technological changes, and a shift to a service obtain, categorize, and document all relevant
economy. This has increased the need for firms to information about a specific job. The goal of this
be responsive, flexible, and generally more process is to secure whatever job data are needed
competitive. In turn, the organizational methods for the specified Human Resource Function, such
managers use to accomplish this have helped as job evaluation
weaken the meaning of JOB as a well-defined and This knowledge about jobs is used for many
clearly delineated set of responsibilities. purposes, certainly in the field of Human
A time has come to ensure that whether existing Resource Management [HRM]. In particular,
traditional methods and process are really relevant where the job is the basis for pay, knowledge of
and are still applicable to such modern business the job is essential either to make comparisons
environment or not. That is either these methods with other jobs in market pricing or as the first
or processes are to be completely abolished or to step in evaluating jobs internally. Thus, failure to
be used with some modifications. Job Analysis is secure complete and accurate job information will
one of such traditional processes of every business result in inaccurate wage setting. Later steps in
organization which is considered as a heart and job evaluation become virtually impossible
base of every single activity of Human Resource without adequate job information. Job knowledge
Management right from the recruitment, selection has many uses in HRM. Organizations use
to compensation fixation and performance information obtained by job analysis for
appraisal of human resources. recruitment, selection, and placement;
In view of this changing environment a need has organization planning and job design; training;
been identified to check applicability and grievance settlement; as well as job evaluation
relevance of traditional Job Analysis to modern and other compensation programs. This centrality
business organizations. of job analysis is illustrated in Figure 1 People
outside the organization also use information
WHAT IS JOB ANALYSIS about jobs. Career placement requires the same
Job analysis is a systematic process of collecting type of person-job matching that organizations do.
and analyzing information about jobs. Job Getting a disabled worker back to work requires
analysis provides information about the work knowledge of jobs in order to determine what jobs
performed and the work environment. It also the worker can do or can be trained to. Lastly, job
identifies the knowledge, skills, abilities and knowledge is needed in a number of regulatory
personal competencies people need to perform situations.
their work well. In short, it is a method that

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AREAS OF HUMAN RESOURCE responsible for ten duties, such as

MANAGEMENT WHERE JOB ANALYSIS production scheduling and raw material
PLAYS A SIGNIFICANT ROLE purchasing. Missing, however, is any
Recruitment and Selection: Job analysis provides reference to managing raw material
information about what the job entails and what inventories? On further study, it is
human characteristics are required in order to revealed that none of the other
perform these activities. This information, in the manufacturing employees are responsible
form of job descriptions and specifications, helps for inventory management, either. From
management officials decide what sort of people review of other jobs like these, it is clear
they need to recruit and hire and select. that someone should be managing raw
1. Recruitment and Selection: Job analysis material inventories. Therefore, an
provides information about what the job essential unassigned duty has been
entails and what human characteristics are revealed.
required in order to perform these 6. Health and Safety Measures- since Job
activities. This information, in the form of Analysis also collects information about
job descriptions and specifications, helps specific health and safety measures a job
management officials decide what sort of demands. Similarly information collected
people they need to recruit and hire and through Job Analysis also helps in
select. identifying amount of risk involved in Job
2. Compensation: Job analysis information is
crucial for estimating the value of each job JOB DESCRIPTION AND JOB
and its appropriate compensation. SPECIFICATION- These are two tangible
Compensation (salary and bonus) usually products of the job analysis process. The job
depends on the job's required skill and description is a written statement that describes
education level, safety hazards, degree of the activities and responsibilities of the job as well
responsibility, etc. -- all factors which can as its important features such as working
be assessed through job analysis. Also, conditions and safety hazards. The job
many employers group jobs into classes. specification summarizes the personal qualities,
Job analysis provides the information to traits, skills, and background required for
determine the relative worth of each job completing a certain job. These two may be
and its appropriate class. completely separate or in the same document.
3. Performance Appraisal: A performance OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH PAPER
appraisal compares each employee's actual In view of considering changing nature of modern
performance with his or her performance business and importance of Job Analysis process,
standards. Managers use job analysis to main objectives of research paper are
determine the job's specific activities and 1. To have an overview of changing business
performance standards. workplace
4. Training: The job description should show 2. To find out whether traditional job
the activities and skills, and therefore analysis is relevant for changing business
training, that the job requires environment
5. Discovering Unassigned Duties: Job 3. To understand whether Job Analysis is still
Analysis can also help reveal unassigned required or it is to be abolish completely or
duties. For example, a company's to continue using Job Analysis with some
production manager says an employee is basic modifications in it

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Figure 1 Centrality of Job Analysis

Source: Adapted from J. Ghorpade (1988). Job analysis: A handbook for the HR director. Englewood cliffs,
NJ: Prentice Hall, p. 6 changes in the nature of work, such as decreased
specialization and shifting or shared work
assignments (Morgan & Smith, 1996). Job
RELEVANCE OF TRADITIONAL JOB analysis forces boundaries to be drawn, which
ANALYSIS IN CHANGING BUSINESS creates a result that is inconsistent with new
ENVIRONMENT management practices, including cross-training
The primary question related job analysis in this assignments, job and task rotation, self-managed
new world of work is whether job analysis is still teams, and increased responsibility at all
relevant as a descriptive tool. Traditionally, job organizational levels (Carson & Stewart, 1996;
analysis provides detailed information regarding Sanchez, 1994). Additionally, given the nature of
tasks and activities performed in a specific job. business today, the assumptions upon which job
Often this information is used to document job analysis was built may no longer hold true
boundaries and assign tasks and responsibilities. (Sanchez, 1994.)
The resulting products, namely job descriptions REASONS WHY TRADITIONAL JOB
and job specifications are then used to inform ANALYSIS IS BECOMING IRRELEVANT
human resource functions such as selection and FOR MODERN BUSINESS-
performance management. Job analysis captures 1. Flatter organizations: Instead of traditional
the content of jobs as they are described at one pyramid-shaped organizations with seven
point in time. What happens to the usefulness of or more management layers, flat
this technique when the content of jobs changes, organizations with only three or four levels
sometimes frequently? are becoming more prevalent. So naturally
The reality is, jobs can change rapidly and number of jobs in the organization are
organizations need maximum flexibility. The reducing
more jobs change, the less value there is to 2. Trend is shifting from being specialised to
gathering data that will need to be collected again generalised- Employees are expected to
in the near future. The shelf-life of job analysis have knowledge of several areas of
results is only as long as the duration of the business rather than having only
current job configurations. Thus, traditional job specialised knowledge of specific area and
analysis practices are found lacking in light of

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similarly they are expected to work on allows for a higher level of analysis than in
several aspects the past.
3. Self Managed Teams - A self-managing 10. It is the customer and technology that
team is a group of employees working decides what is to be done and not the job
together who are accountable for all or description or what the job demands. So to
most aspects of their task. In such teams, limited extend information collected
members will decide what they should do through job analysis will be utilised for
and not that any other person will dictate other Human Resource management
them what should be done. In such case activities
again traditional Job Analysis becomes 11. Exact training needs of employee can be
less relevant. identified through actual performance
4. The Boundaryless Organization: In level of the employee, customer
a boundaryless organization, the expectations and technology requirement
widespread use of teams and similar and no more will be only based on what
structural mechanisms reduces and makes are the duties of job description
more permeable the boundaries that In short traditional Job Analysis is more static and
typically separate departments and not fully suitable for modern business
hierarchical levels. Thess organizations organization.
foster responsiveness by encouraging LITERATURE REVIEW
employees to rid themselves of the 'its not The purpose of job analysis, defined broadly, is to
my job' attitudes that typically create walls collect information about the work performed
between one employee's area and within an organization, and this purpose remains
another's. Instead, the focus is on defining unchanged. The specific uses of job analysis
the project or task at hand in terms of the information, however, are different today. Beyond
overall best interests of the organization, the creation of job descriptions and job
therefore further reducing the idea of a job specifications, job analysis information will be
as a clearly defined set of duties. used to identify future staffing needs (Morgan &
5. Downsizing/ Rightsizing – When Smith, 1996) and enable teams to maximize their
organizations are going for downsizing work process efficiencies (Sanchez, 1994). In his
and when the number of jobs are reduced work on job analysis for the future, Sanchez
work is divided among existing employees (1994The tools commonly employed in analyzing
that time again Job Analysis becomes work (e.g., interviews, observations,
irrelevant questionnaires) will continue to provide us with the
6. Jobs are changing in a way that makes information we need, however, the way in which
them more fluid and flexible. Workers are these tools are utilized is clearly changing. For
required to do "what needs to be done" and example, one methodological enhancement to job
not "what is in the job description." analysis involves including techniques for
7. Job descriptions are becoming more describing the work that will be done in the future.
generic and more like occupational Fogli, Goldberg, and Landis (under review)
descriptions. describe a method for learning about future work
8. Job Design is becoming more complex, by understanding planned changes to jobs, working
where situational responsibilities are with the people planning the change, and working
increasing similarly non observational with people performing similar tasks now in order
activities are also increasing to identify the critical tasks and requisite KSAs of
9. The computer is impacting job analysis by the future.
creating new ways to collect data and

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Another new approach focuses on the attributes team-based. Furthermore, and in all likelihood,
required by the tasks and the organization rather organizations may perceive the creation of jobs
than the tasks themselves. Morgan and Smith strategic plans, and both current information and
(1996) recommend using work analysis or the plans related to the interactions between different
critical incident method to identify attributes that organizational activities."
cut across tasks and specific job assignments, and As opposed to traditional organizations that offer
are required by the broader organizational culture. rigid and stable working environments, modern
Still another approach shifts the focus from and rapidly changing organizations have been
specific tasks performed to clusters of tasks called described as flexible (Dessler, Griffiths, and
work functions (Shankster, Cawley, Olivero-Wolf, Lloyd-Walker, 2004), dynamic, competitive, and
& Landy, 1995). Work functions are more likely to less hierarchical (Brannick and Levine, 2002;
be long-standing units of work, even as the narrow Hammer and Champy, 2001; Sanchez, 1994),
tasks that make up those clusters change. In their multidimensional (Hammer and Champy, 2001),
work, Shankster et. al. start with a traditional work influenced by technological, social, political, and
analysis questionnaire, then factor analyze global changes (Dessler, et. al., 2004), and
responses to identify clusters of co-occurring tasks. boundaryless with tasks and roles that are more
These work functions are then grouped together to fluid and less defined (Nelson, 1997; Hirschhorn
form jobs or to depict the flow of work through the and Gilmore, 1992). Given this work context, the
department or organization. ‘best staff’ to work for modern and dynamic
We are also seeing new tools, such as organizations can be considered as those who are
flowcharting, utilized in the collection of work flexible, open to learning, dynamic, empowered,
information (Sanchez, 1994). Flowcharting enables and self-directed, able to respond to changing
analysts to connect the work performed by demands of the job, and with sound interpersonal
multiple people, rather than limiting their scope to and collaborative skills necessary for team work
within the boundaries of a single job. (Dessler et. al., 2004; Brannick and Levine, 2002;
At the heart of almost every human resources Hammer and Champy, 2001; Hirschhorn and
management program or activity is the need for Gilmore, 1992). Possession of the essential work-
accurate and thorough job information. Job related skills (Palmer and Valet, 2001) and the
analysis is thus a prerequisite activity for the ability to manage complicated tasks (Hammer and
effective management of human resources. Champy, 2001) is also important.
However, many important assumptions that
underlie such fundamental uses of job analysis in Looking at the characteristics of modern
management are becoming questionable in today's organizations, wherein jobs are constantly
business environment. Job analysis is focused on changing, a traditional type of job analysis which
the collection of work-related information for the focuses on specific job descriptors and employee
job as it currently exists and/or has existed in the characteristics to match these may no longer be
past (Palmer & Valet, 2001, Schneider & Konz, relevant (Nelson, 1997; Sanchez, 1994). A more
1989). Further, the procedures are related more to modern type of job analysis that selects staff on the
the situation of a one person-one job situation. Yet, basis of their capability to function in a dynamic
as competition and technological innovations set-up is more appropriate (Sanchez, 1994).
increase and product life cycles get shorter, jobs Consequently, job so long as it is performed in a
are becoming not only less static, but also less pro-active way (Siddique, 2004) and is able to
individually-based. Consequently, the tasks to be accommodate and adapt to fast-changing demands
performed, and the knowledge, skills and abilities (Clifford, 1994).
(KSAs) required for effective job performance are
also becoming more volatile, and sometimes more

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It is worth mentioning however, that there have their in the organization, they will only continue to
also been arguments regarding the applicability of be the ‘best’ if given proper education and training.
job analysis to modern organizations (Sanchez, Education and training are important because in
1994). Several authors (Brannick and Levine, modern organizations, people are expected to be
2002; Sanchez, 1994) for instance discussed the versatile and to attune their skills and knowledge
setbacks of job analysis as being rigid and to organizational changes (Dessler, et. al, 2004;
inconsistent with the fluid nature of modern Hammer and Champy, 2001).
businesses. However, Brannick and Levine (2002)
discussed that problems with job analysis stem There have been arguments regarding the
from its products such as job descriptors and not applicability of job analysis in modern and fast
necessarily on the entire job analysis procedure. changing organizations because it was regarded as
Since jobs keep on changing in modern providing rigid information that is inconsistent the
organizations, identifying work environment with the flexible nature of organizations. On the
characteristics has been seen as more important in contrary, however, literature on job analysis
identifying compatible staff members than specific (Siegel, 1996; Sanchez, 1994) has shown that it is
job descriptors (Nelson, 1997). Job analysis has capable of adapting to the requirements of modern
been discussed to serve this function. For instance, organizations and has evolved to incorporate
Siegel (1996) mentioned the applicability of job methods that enable companies to get the best
analysis in a TQM environment by detailing the staffs that are suitable to its changing needs. Thus,
characteristics of the organizations systems and job analysis, as long as up-to-date, is important in
subsystems to enable staff to work getting the best staff because it still serves its
interdependently. Similarly, job analysis is also primary functions of first, providing relevant
important in ensuring that employees match the information about people and work characteristics
organization culture by operationalising and needed to get the best staff (Siddique, 2004;
providing a framework for an organization’s Nelson, 1997; Sanchez, 1994); second,
culture and the necessary staff characteristics that strengthening the validity of measurement tools
would fit the culture (Dessler et. al, 2004; Nelson, used to identify characteristics of best staff
1994). Clearly, so long as job analysis is up-to- (Kubiszyn and Borich, 1996); and third, providing
date, it can function as a roadmap for companies to relevant information for staff education, training
use in selecting the best staff both from within and (Dessler et. al., 2004; De Cieri and Kramer, 2003),
outside the organization. evaluation (Brannick and Levine, 2002; Palmer
and Valet, 2001) and design of a motivating work
Job and work descriptions and specifications can environment to keep the staff at their best (Dessler
only be effective in getting the best staff if et. al., 2004).
measures used to identify relevant characteristics FINDINGS AND OBSERVATIONS
are valid. Dr. Howard Hane (cited in Palmer, H. 1. Modern business is tremendously under the
and Valet W., 2001) said that job analysis aids in impact of several internal and external
the valid and reliable development of these tools factors
by specifying what needs to be measured for a 2. As such traditional Job Analysis is
given task and at what standards. For instance, Day becoming more irrelevant for these
(1989, p. 27) emphasized the importance of businesses
conducting job analysis in designing a ‘personality 3. Although it is becoming irrelevant, it
inventory’ and providing an accurate measure for cannot be entirely abolished since its
personality traits in selecting employees. Valid importance in certain areas of Human
personality measurements and other competency Resource Management cannot be fully
measures are with employee characteristics. Once, ignored

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4.
Job analysis will continue to be useful if: http://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/xmlui/handle/10
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