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Work System

This document discusses key concepts for designing work systems including job design, specialization, behavioral approaches, methods analysis, motion study, and working conditions. It explains that job design involves specifying the content, methods, location, and ergonomics of a job. Methods analysis and motion study are techniques used to analyze jobs and improve efficiency. The goals of work design are to benefit both management through increased productivity and employees through job satisfaction.

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osmaida
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
47 views

Work System

This document discusses key concepts for designing work systems including job design, specialization, behavioral approaches, methods analysis, motion study, and working conditions. It explains that job design involves specifying the content, methods, location, and ergonomics of a job. Methods analysis and motion study are techniques used to analyze jobs and improve efficiency. The goals of work design are to benefit both management through increased productivity and employees through job satisfaction.

Uploaded by

osmaida
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Design of

Work Systems

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Explain the importance of work design.


Briefly describe the two basic approaches to job
design.
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of
specialization.
Explain the term knowledge-based pay.
Explain the purpose of methods analysis and
describe how methods studies are performed.
Describe four commonly used techniques for
motion study.

JOB DESIGN

Job design involves specifying the content and


methods of a job

What will be done


Who will do the job
How the job will be done
Where the job will be done
Ergonomics: Incorporation of human factors in the
design of the workplace

DESIGN OF WORK SYSTEMS

Specialization

Behavioral approaches to job design

Motivations

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
Table 7.1
For Management:

For Labor:
1. Simplifies training 1. Low education and
2. High productivity
3. Low wage costs

skill requirements

2. Minimum
responsibilities
3. Little mental effort
needed

SPECIALIZATION IN BUSINESS:
DISADVANTAGES
Table 7.1

For Management:

For Labor:

1. Difficult to motivate
quality

1. Monotonous work

2. Limited opportunities
for advancement
2. Worker dissatisfaction,
possibly resulting in
3. Little control over work
absenteeism, high
4. Little opportunity for
turnover, disruptive
self-fulfillment
tactics, poor attention
to quality

BEHAVIORAL APPROACHES TO
JOB
DESIGN
Job Enlargement

Job Rotation

Giving a worker a larger portion of the total task by


horizontal loading
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 are 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

The need for methods analysis can come


from a number of different sources:
Changes

in tools and equipment

Changes

in product design
or new products

Changes
Other

in materials or procedures

factors (e.g. accidents, quality problems)

METHODS ANALYSIS PROCEDURE


1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

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

SELECTING AN OPERATION

Selecting a job to study:


High labor content
Done frequently
Unsafe
Tiring
Unpleasant
Noisy
Designated problem

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

Details of Method
Requisition made by department head
Put in pick-up basket
To accounting department
Account and signature verified
Amount approved by treasurer
Amount counted by cashier
Amount recorded by bookkeeper
Petty cash sealed in envelope
Petty cash carried to department
Petty cash checked against requisition
Receipt signed
Petty cash stored in safety box

age

ANALYST PAGE
Job Requisition of petty cash D. Kolb
1 of 2

Stor

FLOW PROCESS CHART

Op
era
tion
Mo
vem
ent
Ins
pec
tion
Del
ay

Figure 7.2

MOTION STUDY
Motion study is the systematic
study of the human motions used
to perform an operation.

MOTION STUDY TECHNIQUES


study principles: guidelines for
designing motion-efficient work procedures

Motion

of therbligs: basic elemental


motions into which a job can be broken
down

Analysis

study: use of motion pictures


and slow motion to study motions that
otherwise would be too rapid to analyze

Micromotion

Charts
Therbligs

DEVELOPING WORK METHODS


1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Eliminate unnecessary motions


Combine activities
Reduce fatigue
Improve the arrangement of the workplace
Improve the design of tools and equipment

THERBLIGS

Therbligs: Basic elemental motions that make


up a job.
Search
Select
Grasp
Hold
Transport load
Release load

WORKING CONDITIONS

T e m p e ra tu re &
H u m id it y

I llu m in a t io n

V e n t ila t io n

C o lo r

WORKING CONDITIONS

Noise & Vibration

Work Breaks

Safety

Causes of Accidents

WORK MEASUREMENT

Work measurement: Determining how long it


should take to do a job.

Standard time

Stopwatch time study

Historical times

Predetermined data

Work sampling

STANDARD TIME
Standard time:
The amount of time it should take a qualified
worker to complete a specific task, working at a
sustainable rate, using given methods, tools and
equipment, raw materials, and workplace
arrangement.

STOPWATCH TIME STUDY

Stopwatch time study: Development of a time


standard based on observations of one worker
taken over a number of cycles.
The basic steps in a time study:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Define the task to be studied


Determine the number of cycles to observe
Time the job
Compute the standard time

STANDARD ELEMENTAL TIMES

Standard elemental times: Time standards


derived from a firms historical data.
Steps for standard elemental times
1.
2.
3.
4.

Analyze the job


Check file for historical times
Modify file times if necessary
Sum elemental times to get normal time

PREDETERMINED TIME
STANDARDS

Predetermined time standards: Published


data based on extensive research to determine
standard elemental times.
Advantages:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Based on large number of workers under


controlled conditions
Analyst not requires to rate performance
No disruption of the operation
Standards can be established

WORK SAMPLING
Work sampling: technique for estimating the
proportion of time that a worker or machine
spends on various activities and idle time.
Work sampling involves making brief
observations of a worker or machine at random
intervals
Work sampling does not require

timing an activity
continuous observation of an activity

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

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