Week 12 : Discussion board - Essay Example

MANAGEMENT Discussion questions What should managers learn from the traditional approaches to the design of work used in the United States?There are traditional approaches to the design of work namely; scientific management, job characteristics, job enrichment and job enlargement. Scientific management emphasizes on work simplification. This allows diverse groups to work together which leads to production efficiency and higher profits (Nelson & Campbell, 2010). Job characteristics model is frame work that understands the core dimensions with imperative psychological states within a person.

This element can be measured by the use of job Diagnostic surveys. Job enrichment is known as the designing or the redesigning of jobs by incorporating motivational factors into them. Much emphasis is put on responsibility, recognition and advancement opportunity. Job enlargement is a method designed to increase the number of activities undertaken in a job to overcome boredom of overspecialized work. This can be changed through job rotation and cross training. Is it possible for American companies to apply approaches to the design of work that were developed in other countries?

Since these approaches have proven to be very effective, it is highly recommended that American companies should apply some of them that were developed in other countries. Assimilation will be easier as people from different cultures or countries will be able to work together (Nelson & Campbell, 2010). This means that they will be able to increase their interactions with other companies that are situated in other countries. What is the most important emerging issue in the design of work?Technological advances and more specifically, telecommunication have drastically reduced the need for travelling to work stations (Nelson & Campbell, 2010).

People will opt to creating virtual offices. In order to reduce conflicts that can arise between work and home, alternative work patterns have been tabulated in the work schedule. The phenomenon of contemporary technology known as Technostress should be minimized in any job redesign effort. For employees who will try their best to reduce the gap between skill demanded by new technologies and capabilities of the workers, skill development will be a vital requirement. Memo It is imperative that student should understand the advantages and disadvantages of a flexible time arrangement for m both the employees and the organization’s perspective.

The advantages are the free employees from the hurdles of rigid work hours. This means he is able to work at the time which suits him best. This strategy increases employee’s job satisfaction (Nelson & Campbell, 2010). The drawback of this approach is that it can be ineffective depending on the company’s size and its operational hours. Being able to schedule meetings with flexible employees will be cumbersome. This method hinders proper communication methods. If it is a small company that does not require constant availability, I would prefer to work under a flextime arrangement.

It would encourage job satisfaction. ReferencesNelson, D. L., & Campbell, J. (2010). Organizational Behavior:Science, the Real World, and You. New York : Cengage Learning.