Facility and Work Design: Operations Management
Facility and Work Design: Operations Management
Facility and Work Design: Operations Management
WORK DESIGN
O P E R AT I O N S M A N A G E M E N T
FACILITY LAYOUT
• Refers to specific arrangement of physical facilities.
• Absolutely necessary
• Especially important
• Important
• Ordinary closeness okay
• Unimportant
• Undesirable
6-4 “Workplace and Job
Design”
•A well-designed workplace should allow for
maximum efficiency and effectiveness as the
work task or activity is performed, and may also
need to facilitate service management skills,
particularly in high-contact, front-office
environments.
6-4a “Workplace Design”
*Key questions that must be addressed in designing the workplace include:
1. Who will use the workplace? Will the workstation be shared? How much space
is required?
2. How will the work be performed? What tasks are required? How much time does each
task take? How much time is required to set up for the workday or for a particular job?
3. What technology is needed?
4. What must the employee be able to see?
5. What must the employee be able to hear?
6. What environmental and safety issues need to be addressed? What protective clothing or
gear should the employee wear? What is an acceptable noise level? Are all employ ees
trained on emergency evacuation procedures and plans?
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6-4a “Workplace Design”
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6-4b “Job Design”
The physical design of a facility and the workplace can influence significantly
how workers perform their jobs as well as their psychological well-being.
• JOB- is the set of tasks an individual performs.
• JOB DESIGN- involves determining the specific job tasks and
responsibilities, the work environment, and the methods by which the tasks
will be carried out to meet the goals of operations.
Two broad objectives must be satisfied in job design.
One is to meet the firm's competitive priorities-cost, efficiency, flexibility,
quality, and so on; the other is to make the job safe, satisfying, and motivating
for the worker.
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6-4b “Job Design”
Since the 1950s, the relationship between the technology of operations and the
social/psychological aspects of work has been understood. This relationship is known as
the SOCIOTECHNICAL APPROACH to job design. It provides useful ideas for
operations managers to design jobs that balance technical and social/psychological
aspects of work. Sociotechnical approaches to work design provide opportunities for
continual learning and personal growth for all employees.
• JOB ENLARGEMENT is the horizontal expansion of the job to give the worker
more variety although not necessarily more responsibility.
• JOB ENRICHMENT is vertical expansion of job duties to give the worker more
responsibility. A highly effective approach to job enrichment is to use teams.
• Some of the more common ones are: natural work teams, which perform entire
jobs, rather than specialized, assembly-line work.
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6-4b “Job Design”
• Virtual teams, in which members communicate
by computer, take turns as leaders, and join
and leave the team as necessary; and
• Self-managed teams (SMTs), which are
empowered work teams that also assume
many traditional management responsibilities.
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6-4c “Safety, Economics, and the Work
Environment”
• Safety is one of the most important aspects of workplace design,
particularly in today's society. To provide safe and healthful
working conditions and reduce hazards in the work environment, the
Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) was passed in 1970.
• Ergonomics is concerned with improving productivity and safety by
designing workplaces, equipment, instruments, computers,
workstations, and so on that take into account the physical
capabilities of people.
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6-4d “Workforce Ethics and Global Supply
Chains”
• Global supply chains bring a host of new issues related to
the design of work, Workers in many countries are
bullied, and forced to work excessive hours, for wages on
which they can barely survive.
• Ethical trade means that retailers, brands, and their
suppliers take responsibility for improving the working
conditions of the people who make the products they sell.
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6-4d “Workforce Ethics and Global Supply Chains”
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TASK: Arrange the jumbled letters below.
A. GOERMICSNO
B. SIDGENNIG OSSPRCE AOUTYL
C. NICALTSCIOHECO PPAAOCHR
D. CIIFALTY DNA KWOR GNEDIS
E. LLLEAUCR YTLAOU
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FOUR MAJOR LAYOUT
PATTERN
1.
2.
3.
4.
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