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Job Design, Legislation and Strategy

Operations ManagementSession 7

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Objectives

By the end of this session, student will be able to: • Discuss advantages and disadvantages of

implementing different types of job enlargement• Appreciate the requirements of the Health and

Safety at Work Act 1974• Appreciate the importance of understanding the

impact of specific pieces of legislation on work practices

• Discuss the importance of operations strategy

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Topics

• Job design – current trends

• Legislation affecting operations– Health and safety– Environment

• Strategy and operations

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Job Design

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Labour Specialization

• Involves• Breaking jobs into small component parts • Assigning specialists to do each part

• First noted by Adam Smith (1876)• Observed how workers in pin factory

divided tasks into smaller components• Found in manufacturing & service

industries

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Taylorism

• Mechanical pacing – automated assembly line monitors speed of production

• Repetitive work processes• Concentration on only a fraction of a

product• Prescribing tools and techniques as

closely as possible• Limited social interaction• Low skill requirements

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• Greater dexterity & faster learning

• Less lost time changing jobs or tools

• Use more specialized tools

• Pay only for needed skills

Labour Specialisation Often Reduces Cost

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Job Expansion

After WWII limitations of Taylor’s approach became apparent and the trend reversed:

• Process of adding more variety to jobs• Intended to reduce boredom associated with

labor specialization• Methods

– Job enlargement– Job enrichment– Job rotation– Employee empowerment

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Job Expansion/Enrichment

Present Job

Control

Planning

Enriched Job

Task #3Task #2

Enlarged Job

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Job Enlargement

• Recombination of what were separate tasks – no re-organisation required

• Where this not possible Job Rotation

• Herzberg commented that workers often thought that Job Rotation just added one meaningless job to another

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Job Enrichment

• Identity – task is one meaningful piece of work• Significance – task directly affects others• Variety – task employs different skills and

abilities• Autonomy – worker can exercise discretion

over how job is performed• Feedback – worker receive direct information

about how effectively the task has been performed

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Employee Empowerment

Employee Empowerment

ControlControl

Decision-MakingDecision-Making

PlanningPlanning

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Job Design Continuum

Specialization

Enlargement

Enrichment

Empowerment

Self-directed Teams

Increasing reliance on employees contribution and increasing acceptance of responsibility by employee

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• Higher capital cost• Many individuals prefer simple jobs• Higher wages are required since the worker

must utilize a higher level of skill• A smaller labour pool exists of persons able and

willing to perform enriched or enlarged jobs• Increased accident rates may occur• Current technology in some industries does not

lend itself to job enlargement and enrichment

Limitations toJob Enlargement/Job Enrichment

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Work Patterns

• Empowered work team

• Flexible working times

• Job sharing

• Home working

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Case Study

• Create a schedule for a motor race pit stop

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Legislation Affecting Operations

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Health & Safety at Work Act 1974

For the employer:

• The Act places a general duty to "ensure so far as is reasonably practicable the health, safety and welfare at work of all their employees".

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Employer’s Responsibilities

• Provide and maintain safety equipment and safe systems of work.

• Ensure materials used are properly stored, handled, used and transported.

• Provide information, training, instruction and supervision. Ensure staff are aware of instructions provided by manufacturers and suppliers of equipment.

• Provide a safe place of employment. • Provide a safe working environment. • Provide a written safety policy/risk assessment. • Look after health and safety of others, example public. • Talk to safety representatives.

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Employees’ Responsibilities

• Take care of their own health and safety and that of other persons. Employees may be liable

• Co-operate with their employers

• Must not interfere with anything provided in the interest of health and safety

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Related Legislation - PUWER

The Provision & Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) states that all equipment given to employees must be:

• Safe and of good standard• For workshops and building contractors, all machinery

will need to be tested and regularly maintained. • In a small office, ensure all electrical equipment is tested

and certified• Employers have a responsibility to ensure all employees

are fully trained to use the equipment they work with• Must have some focus on employee health, such as

posture (for chair based workers), eye-strain (when using screens and computers), repetitive strain injury and other work-related health risks

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Related Legislation - LOLER

• The Lifting Operations & Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER)

• Governs provision and use of lifting equipment and lifting operations in all work places in UK

• Regulations are made under the Health and Safety Work Act 1974

• Also builds on requirements of Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER’98)

• LOLER provides a single set of modern “goal setting” regulations governing the provision and use of lifting equipment

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Environment

• Energy consumption

• Recycling from the process

• Recycling of the product at the end of its useful life

• Disposal of waste product

• Atmospheric pollution

• Green reporting

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Environmental LegislationList of legislation at -

http://www.netregs.gov.uk/netregs/

Examples that may affect your organisation:-

• Clean Air Act 1993

• Noise Act 1996

• Environment Act 1995

• Environmental Protection Act 1990

• Water Act 2003

• Pollution Prevention and Control Act 1999

• Controlled Waste Regulations 1992, SI 588

• Detergents Regulations 2005, SI 2469

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Strategy and Operations

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Four Perspectives

OperationsStrategy

Bottom-up PerspectiveWhat day-to-day experience

suggests operations should do

Top-down PerspectiveWhat the business wants operations to do

MarketRequirementsPerspective

What themarket position

requires operationsto do

OperationsResourcesPerspective

What operationsresources can do