Advanced manufacturing technology, work design, and performance: a change study

Article Abstract:

Two alternative work designs are identified for operators of stand-alone advanced manufacturing technology (AMT). In the case of specialist control, operators are limited to running and monitoring the technology, with operating problems handled by specialists, such as engineers. In the case of operator control, operators are given much broader responsibilities and deal directly with the majority of operating problems encountered. The hypothesis that operator control would promote better performance and psychological well-being than would specialist control (which is more prevalent) was tested in a longitudinal field study involving work redesign for operators of computer-controlled assembly machines. Change from specialist to operator control reduced downtime, especially for high-variance systems, and was associated with greater intrinsic job satisfaction and less perceived work pressure. The implications of these findings for both small and large-scale applications of AMT are discussed. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Human-machine systems, Work design

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Psychological mechanisms of process-control effects

Article Abstract:

The psychological mechanisms underlaying process-control effects - the tendency to evaluate a decision-making process more favorably when given an opportunity to express one's views before the decision is made - were examined. The hypothesis was that process-control effects would disappear for the favorable component of an outcome. This pattern was confirmed in a survey of Hong Kong citizens who were affected by a new subway-fare scheme. Several critical conditions that may qualify process-control effects were also tested. For perceived procedural fairness, the belief that citizens' views were considered and that the subway authority acted in good faith were found to be critical factors. For distributive fairness and reactions to the new fare scheme, the perceived favorableness of the new fare scheme was the critical factor. Implications of these finding for theories of procedural justice are discussed. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

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Personnel decision making: the impact of missing information

Article Abstract:

Introductory psychology students evaluated hypothetical employees for promotion to a supervisory position in a computer-systems department. Employees were described in terms of management and computer-programming test scores; some employees were missing one test score. The correlation between employees' test scores was varied across groups of subject (-.85, .00, .85). In general, subjects penalized employees with missing test scores, though the pattern varied by correlation condition. The results were consistent with the hypothesis that subjects would predict the missing test score from the correlation between the test scores, make an evaluation, and then apply a penalty. The fact that subjects did not ignore the missing score invalidates a procedure commonly used to distinguish adding and averaging models: comparing the missing-data slope to complete-data slopes. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Management, Human resource management, Employee selection

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