Summary Chapter 4
1. Work-Flow Analysis and Organization Structure
- Work-flow design: is the process of analyzing the tasks necessary for the
production of a product or service, prior to allocating and assigning these tasks
to a particular job category or person.
- Organization structure: refers to the relatively stable and formal network of
vertical and horizontal interconnections among jobs that constitute the
organization.
1.1 Work-flow analysis:
All organizations need to identify the outputs of work, to specify the quality and
quantity standards for those outputs, and to analyze the processes and inputs
necessary for producing outputs that meet the quality standards.
- Analyzing Work Outputs: Once these outputs have been identified, it is
necessary to specify standards for the quantity or quality of these outputs.
- Analyzing Work Processes: Once the outputs of the work unit have been
identified, it is possible to examine the work processes used to generate the
output.
- Analyzing Work Inputs: The final stage in work-flow analysis is to identify
the inputs used in the development of the work unit’s product.
1.2 Organization structure:
Organization structure is typically displayed via organizational charts that convey
both vertical reporting relationships and horizontal functional responsibilities.
- Dimensions of Structure: Two of the most critical dimensions of organization
structure are
centralization (refers to the degree to which decision-making authority resides
at the top of the organizational chart as opposed to being distributed throughout
lower levels) and departmentalization (refers to the degree to which work units
are grouped based on functional similarity or similarity of work flow)
- Structural Configurations: two common configurations of organization
structure tend to emerge in organizations: functional structure (implies,
employs a functional departmentalization scheme with relatively high levels of
centralization). And divisional structure (combine a divisional
departmentalization scheme with relatively low levels of centralization)
- Job Analysis: refers to the process of getting detailed information about jobs.
- Work Redesign: To redesign the work, detailed information about the existing
job(s) must be available. In addition, redesigning a job will, in fact, be similar
to analyzing a job that does not yet exist.
- Human Resource Planning: In human resource planning, managers analyze
an organization’s human resource needs in a dynamic environment and
develop activities that enable a firm to adapt to change.
- Selection: Human resource selection identifies the most qualified applicants
for employment.
- Training and Development. Almost every employee hired by an organization
will require training.
- Performance Appraisal: performance appraisal deals with getting information
about how well each employee is performing in order to reward those who are
effective, improve the performance of those who are ineffective, or provide a
written justification for why the poor performer should be disciplined.
- Career Planning: Career planning entails matching an individual’s skills and
aspirations with opportunities that are or may become available in the
organization.
- Job Evaluation: The process of job evaluation involves assessing the relative
dollar value of each job to the organization to set up internally equitable pay
structures.
2. Job analysis information
- Nature of Information: Two types of information are most useful in job
analysis: job descriptions (a list of the tasks, duties, and responsibilities
(TDRs) that a job entails) and job specifications (is a list of the knowledge,
skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs) that an individual must have
to perform the job).
- There are two jobs analysis methods: Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)
and The Occupational Information Network (O*NET)
- Job Design: is the process of defining how work will be performed and the
tasks that will be required in a given job
- Job redesign: refers to changing the tasks or the way work is performed in an
existing job.
Four basic approaches that have been used among the various disciplines that have
dealt with job design issues: mechanistic approach, motivational approach, biological
approach, perceptual-motor approach
