Interdisciplinary approaches to job design: a constructive replication with extensions

Article Abstract:

This study replicated Campion and Thayer's (1985) research, which drew from many disciplines (e.g., psychology, engineering, human factors, physiology) to demonstrate four approaches to job design and their corresponding outcomes: motivational approach with satisfaction outcomes, mechanistic approach with efficiency outcomes, biological approach with comfort outcomes, and perceptual-motor approach with reliability outcomes. This study extended the research in five ways. First, it used an expanded sample of 92 jobs and 1,024 respondents from a different industry. Second, a self-report measure was developed and evaluated, because many jobs cannot be analyzed observationally. Third, method bias was addressed by not finding evidence of priming effects, by demonstrating strong relationships even when within-subject bias was avoided, and by relating job design to independent opinion survey data. Fourth, reliability of aggregate responses was demonstrated, and relationships at the job level of analysis were larger than at the individual level. Fifth, neither individual differences in terms of preferences-tolerances for types of work nor demographics moderated job design-outcome relationships. It was concluded that different approaches to job design influence different outcomes, each approach has costs as well as benefits, trade-offs may by needed, and both theory and practice must be interdisciplinary in perspective. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

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Interdisciplinary examination of the costs and benefits of enlarged jobs: a job design quasi-experiment

Article Abstract:

Costs and benefits of job enlargement were examined in an interdisciplinary framework (Campion, 1988, 1989; Campion & Thayer, 1985). A quasi experiment was conducted with multiple comparison groups, dependent variables, and replications in a financial services organization. Enlargement involved combining jobs and adding ancillary duties to jobs. Data on 11 clerical jobs were collected from incumbents (n = 377), managers (n = 80), and analysts (n = 90). Enlarged jobs had better motivational design and worse mechanistic (i.e., engineering) design. They had the benefits of more employee satisfaction, less mental underload, greater chances of catching errors, and better customer service, but they also had the costs of higher training requirements, higher basic skills, and higher compensable factors. Biological (i.e., physical) aspects were unaffected. All potential costs of enlarged jobs were not always observed, suggesting that it may be possible to gain benefits through redesign without incurring every cost. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Psychological aspects, Job enrichment

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Development and test of a task level model of motivational job design

Article Abstract:

The motivational value of jobs was predicted from the motivational value of tasks, task interdependence, and task similarity. This model was tested on 67 jobs (188 incumbents); analysts provided task measures and incumbents provided job measures. Task design had positive relationships, task interdependence had inverted-U relationships, and task similarity has scattered negative relationships with motivational job design. Results suggest that, to design motivating jobs, the motivational value of tasks should be increased, as should task interdependence (up to a moderate point); low to moderate amounts of task similarity do not matter. Increasing similarity and interdependence beyond a moderate point may lead to overly focused and specialized jobs that are less motivating. Also, job design mediated relations between task design and affective outcomes, but task design and interdependence effects on ability requirements. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Models, Employee motivation, Task analysis

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