Definition and Objectives of Any Kinds of Business - Essay Example

Job design, also known as work design, is defined as “work arrangement or rearrangement, the aim of which is to reduce or to resolve job dissatisfaction and to overcome employee alienation arising from repetitive and mechanistic tasks” (BusinessDictionary.com, n.d., n.p.). In other words, it is a process of improving working conditions or job environment for the sake of employee motivation and productivity. Job design helps an organization to determine the tasks that should be done, how these tasks should be done, by whom and in what order and afterward to organize the content of tasks with the maximum benefits to the organization and employees (Allsubjects4you.com, n.d).

Based on the definition of job design it is possible to conclude that there can be many different designs due to the variety of jobs. However, despite the variety of job designs, there can be identified seven key performance objectives of job design (Slack, Chambers, & Johnston 2004). These objectives include the following: quality, speed, dependability, flexibility, cost, health and safety, quality of working life (Slack, Chambers, & Johnston 2004). Quality is one of the critical objectives in any work performed.

Job design can affect the employee’s ability to create or produce high-quality products and to offer high-quality services to the clients (Slack, Chambers, & Johnston 2004). Speed of work or response is also an important objective of job design as some jobs require a prompt and quick reaction to certain situations. A great illustration of this factor in job design can be the jobs of emergency service personnel, where the sequence of activities in procedures, the range of tasks they are trained, etc all play critical roles in terms of timing (Slack, Chambers, & Johnston 2004).

Dependability is the objective of job design as it can be influenced by a dependable supply of services and goods (Slack, Chambers, & Johnston 2004). Job design can also impact the ability of employees to adjust to changes in the working arrangements, including the following flexibilities on new service or product, time, product mix, product/service delivery, product volume, etc.