7-1

Design of Work Systems

Operations Management

William J. Stevenson

8th edition

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Design of Work Systems

CHAPTER

Design of
Work Systems

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Operations Management, Eighth Edition, by William J. Stevenson

Copyright 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights

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Design of Work Systems

Job Design

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

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Design of Work Systems

Design of Work Systems

Specialization

Behavioral Approaches to Job Design

Teams

Methods Analysis

Motions Study

Working conditions

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Design of Work Systems

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

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Design of Work Systems

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

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Design of Work Systems

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

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Design of Work Systems

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

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Design of Work Systems

Motivation and Trust

Motivation
Influences quality and productivity
Contributes to work environment

Trust

Influences productivity and employeemanagement relations

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Design of Work Systems

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

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Design of Work Systems

Methods Analysis

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

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Design of Work Systems

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 in materials or procedures

Other factors (e.g. accidents, quality

problems)

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Design of Work Systems

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

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Design of Work Systems

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

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

ge
Stor
a

Del

ay

ion
ect

Ins
p

Details of Method

en t

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

vem

FLOW PROCESS CHART

Mo

Figure 7-2

tion

Design of Work Systems

Op
era

7-15

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Design of Work Systems

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

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Design of Work Systems

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

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Design of Work Systems

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

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Design of Work Systems

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

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Design of Work Systems

Working Conditions (contd)

Noise & Vibration

Work Breaks

Safety

Causes of Accidents

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Design of Work Systems

Work Measurement

Standard time

Stopwatch time study

Historical times

Predetermined data

Work Sampling

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Design of Work Systems

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

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Design of Work Systems

Form of Incentive Plan

Accurate

Easy to apply

Consistent

Easy to understand

Fair

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Design of Work Systems

Compensation

Individual Incentive Plans

Group Incentive Plans

Knowledge-Based Pay System

Management Compensation