WorkDesignTechnology.pptVIP

Chapter 16: Work Design Technology Technology in the workplace affects employee behavior in a variety of ways… Continuous Improvement Processes The goal is to continuously reduce/eliminate variations from a set of standards to lower costs, reduce errors and improve quality. Processes Reengineering Start with a “clean sheet of paper” and re-think/re-design everything in terms of the processes used in operations. Distinctive competencies define what it is that an organization does better than its competition Technology (cont…) Mass Customization Mass production: Using division of labor, standardization, and automated processes to manufacture products in large quantities. Mass customization: Processes that are flexible enough to create products and services that are individually tailored to individual customers (e.g., built to order products) OB in an E-World E-commerce: the sales side of electronic business E-business: the full breadth of activities included in a successful internet-based enterprise E-organization: a profit or Internet: a worldwide network of interconnected computers. Intranets: an organization’s private internet Extranet: extended intranets accessible Selected Implications for Individual Group Behavior Motivation: ex) “cyberloafing” = surfing non-job related sites during formal work hours Ethics: ex) electronic surveillance Decision making (group): ex) team-based e-organizations and decision making Communication: ex) virtual meetings (e.g. WebEx) Politics/networking: ex) cyber-schmoozing Requisite Task Attributes Theory Job complexity (variety, autonomy, responsibility, knowledge skills, required social interaction, optional social interaction) relates to satisfaction and absenteeism. Why is this theory useful? We learned that employees respond differently to different types of jobs, a preliminary set of task attributes can be assessed, and individual differences should be considered in terms of employee reactions to jobs.