Search results

1 – 10 of over 13000
Book part
Publication date: 25 July 2008

Frederick P. Morgeson and Stephen E. Humphrey

The design of work has been shown to influence a host of attitudinal, behavioral, cognitive, well-being, and organizational outcomes. Despite its clear importance, scholarly…

Abstract

The design of work has been shown to influence a host of attitudinal, behavioral, cognitive, well-being, and organizational outcomes. Despite its clear importance, scholarly interest in the topic has diminished over the past 20 years. Fortunately, a recent body of research has sought to reenergize research into work design by expanding our view of work design from a narrow set of motivational work features to one that incorporates broader social and contextual elements. In this chapter we seek to review the literature on work design and develop a framework that integrates both job and team design research. We begin by briefly reviewing the history of work design in order to provide needed historical context and illustrate the evolution of job and team design. We then define work design, particularly as it relates to incorporating job and team design elements and transitioning from a view of jobs to one of roles. Following this, we identify a comprehensive set of work design outcomes that provide the basis for understanding the impact that different work characteristics can have on individuals and teams. We then offer an extended discussion of our integrative model of work design, which includes three sources of work characteristics (task, social, and contextual) and the worker characteristics implied by these characteristics. Having defined the range of work and worker characteristics, we then discuss some of the fit and composition issues that arise when designing work, as well as discuss the mechanisms through which the work characteristics have their impact on outcomes. Finally, we discuss research into informal forms of work design.

Details

Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84855-004-9

Book part
Publication date: 1 August 2017

Franco Fraccaroli, Sara Zaniboni and Donald Truxillo

In this chapter the relationship between job design and older workers is considered. Starting from a conceptual definition of what the concept job and work design is, we consider…

Abstract

In this chapter the relationship between job design and older workers is considered. Starting from a conceptual definition of what the concept job and work design is, we consider theoretic approaches to the study of job design over the last decades, including recent frameworks, measurement, and research. We follow this with a specific focus on the topic of job design for older workers. We argue that the rules of “good job design” are not applicable to all workers, focusing specifically on the issues of age and career stage. We next show through a theoretical model and some empirical research that some job characteristics may be more suitable or beneficial for people in older age groups or later stages of their careers (e.g., Truxillo, Cadiz, Rineer, Zaniboni, & Fraccaroli, 2012). Empirical support for the role of age in job design is considered. We conclude by defining some avenues for future research, including the identification of additional factors that may determine how age and job characteristics affect worker behavior, attitudes, and well-being.

Details

Age Diversity in the Workplace
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78743-073-0

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 9 August 2017

Milou Habraken and Tanya Bondarouk

This chapter aims to encourage and guide smart industry HRM-related research by addressing upcoming challenges developed using a job design lens.

Abstract

Purpose

This chapter aims to encourage and guide smart industry HRM-related research by addressing upcoming challenges developed using a job design lens.

Methodology/approach

The challenges are constructed based on a developed overview of the existing body of work related to job design and a description of smart industry.

Research implications

The challenges are meant as an indication of the issues that arise within job design due to smart industry and, in so doing, suggest directions for future research in this specific field. Additionally, through laying out challenges for this particular example, the chapter encourages scholars to consider the possible impact of smart industry within other HRM areas.

Details

Electronic HRM in the Smart Era
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-315-9

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 30 December 2004

Toon W. Taris and Michiel A.J. Kompier

This chapter examines employee learning behavior as a function of work characteristics. Karasek’s Demand-Control (DC) model proposes that high job demands and high job control are…

Abstract

This chapter examines employee learning behavior as a function of work characteristics. Karasek’s Demand-Control (DC) model proposes that high job demands and high job control are conducive to employee learning behavior. A review of 18 studies revealed that whereas most of these supported these predictions, methodological and conceptual shortcomings necessitate further study. Perhaps the most important weakness of the DC-based research on learning is that the conceptual foundations of the DC model regarding employee learning behavior are quite rudimentary, while the role of interpersonal differences in the learning process is largely neglected. The second part of this chapter explores the relationship between work characteristics and learning behavior from the perspective of German Action Theory (AT). AT explicitly discusses how work characteristics affect learning behavior and assigns a role to interpersonal differences. We conclude by presenting a model that integrates action-theoretical insights on learning with DC-based empirical results.

Details

Exploring Interpersonal Dynamics
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-76231-153-8

Book part
Publication date: 11 May 2017

Seamus McGuinness and Konstantinos Pouliakas

This paper uses data from the Cedefop European Skills and Jobs survey (ESJS) (Cedefop, 2014, ESJS microdata are Cedefop copyright and are reproduced with the permission of…

Abstract

This paper uses data from the Cedefop European Skills and Jobs survey (ESJS) (Cedefop, 2014, ESJS microdata are Cedefop copyright and are reproduced with the permission of Cedefop. Further information is available at Cedefop, 2015), a new international dataset on skill mismatch of adult workers in 28 EU countries, to decompose the wage penalty of overeducated workers. The ESJ survey allows for integration of a rich set of variables in the estimation of the effect of overeducation on earnings, such as individuals’ job search motives and the skill needs of their jobs. Oaxaca decomposition techniques are employed to uncover the extent to which the earnings penalties of overeducated workers can be attributed to either (i) individual human capital attributes, (ii) job characteristics, (iii) information asymmetries, (iv) compensating job attributes, or (iv) assignment to jobs with different skill needs. Differences in human capital and job-skill requirements are important factors in explaining the wage premium. It is found that asymmetry of information accounts for a significant part of the overeducation wage penalty of tertiary education graduates, whereas job characteristics and the low skill content of their jobs can explain most of the wage gap for medium-qualified employees. Little evidence is found in favor of equilibrium theories of compensating wage differentials and career mobility. Accepting that much remains to be learned with regards to the drivers of overeducation, this paper provides evidence in support of the need for customized policy responses to tackle overeducation.

Details

Skill Mismatch in Labor Markets
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-377-7

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 2 October 2003

Connie R Wanberg, Elizabeth T Welsh and Sarah A Hezlett

Organizations have become increasingly interested in developing their human resources. One tool that has been explored in this quest is mentoring. This has led to a surge in…

Abstract

Organizations have become increasingly interested in developing their human resources. One tool that has been explored in this quest is mentoring. This has led to a surge in mentoring research and an increase in the number of formal mentoring programs implemented in organizations. This review provides a survey of the empirical work on mentoring that is organized around the major questions that have been investigated. Then a conceptual model, focused on formal mentoring relationships, is developed to help understand the mentoring process. The model draws upon research from a diverse body of literature, including interpersonal relationships, career success, training and development, and informal mentoring. Finally, a discussion of critical next steps for research in the mentoring domain is presented.

Details

Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-174-3

Book part
Publication date: 14 May 2013

Anja Van den Broeck, Joris Van Ruysseveldt, Els Vanbelle and Hans De Witte

Several job characteristics have been suggested to influence workers’ well-being. For example, Herzberg (1968) differentiated job characteristics that offset dissatisfaction such…

Abstract

Several job characteristics have been suggested to influence workers’ well-being. For example, Herzberg (1968) differentiated job characteristics that offset dissatisfaction such as social relations from job aspects that foster job satisfaction such as opportunities for advancement. While Hackman and Oldham (1976) focused on the motivational potential of job characteristics such as task identity and feedback, Karasek (1979) accentuated time pressure as a pivotal job demand. Together these models point out that various job characteristics may influence workers’ functioning.

Details

Advances in Positive Organizational Psychology
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78052-000-1

Book part
Publication date: 12 April 2014

Henrich R. Greve

This chapter tests whether adolescent counter-normative behaviors increase voluntary and involuntary job exits in young adults. This prediction extends the social sorting view of…

Abstract

Purpose

This chapter tests whether adolescent counter-normative behaviors increase voluntary and involuntary job exits in young adults. This prediction extends the social sorting view of employment outcomes to cover concealable background characteristics, which has implications for involuntary mobility after entering the job.

Methodology

The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) 1997 data are analyzed through survey-weighted Cox models of involuntary and voluntary job change. The key variables are adolescent use of alcohol and illegal drugs, and early sexual debut.

Findings

The findings show that sex and use of drugs in the early teens increase involuntary job exits, controlling for current behaviors, but do not have discernible effects on voluntary job exits. The effects of adolescent behavior appear stronger in multi-establishment firms and for Hispanic and black individuals.

Social implications

The findings indicate that employee sorting of individuals based on background does not end at the point of hiring, but continues through post-hiring rates of job exit. The findings indicate differential treatment of employees as a function of stigmatized behaviors in the past, and thus reveal a form of discrimination that has not been investigated earlier.

Value of the chapter

The findings in the chapter provide support for a theoretical view of social sorting by the employer as a driver of job exits. It extends the scope of characteristics that may result in social sorting to those who are concealable at the point of hiring, and with consequences after hiring. Because these include adolescent behaviors that are stigmatized, it shows a new mechanism linking adolescent experiences with adult work outcomes.

Details

Adolescent Experiences and Adult Work Outcomes: Connections and Causes
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78350-572-2

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 28 August 2007

Michael C. Sturman

This article reviews the extensive history of dynamic performance research, with the goal of providing a clear picture of where the field has been, where it is now, and where it…

Abstract

This article reviews the extensive history of dynamic performance research, with the goal of providing a clear picture of where the field has been, where it is now, and where it needs to go. Past research has established that job performance does indeed change, but the implications of this dynamism and the predictability of performance trends remain unresolved. Theories are available to help explain dynamic performance, and although far from providing an unambiguous understanding of the phenomenon, they offer direction for future theoretical development. Dynamic performance research does suffer from a number of methodological difficulties, but new techniques have emerged that present even more opportunities to advance knowledge in this area. From this review, I propose research questions to bridge the theoretical and methodological gaps of this area. Answering these questions can advance both research involving job performance prediction and our understanding of the effects of human resource interventions.

Details

Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-7623-1432-4

Book part
Publication date: 21 May 2007

Michael J. Handel

A leading explanation for the growth of wage inequality is that greater use of information technology increased the demand for human capital. This paper identifies four different…

Abstract

A leading explanation for the growth of wage inequality is that greater use of information technology increased the demand for human capital. This paper identifies four different explanations for the relationships between computers, skills, and wages: computer-specific human capital, greater general human capital among computer users, greater general human capital for both users and nonusers due to contextual effects, and skill-biased changes in the job composition of the workforce. The paper tests the first three explanations and finds little support for them once pre-computer and other job characteristics are adequately controlled. This conclusion receives further support from a comparison of the timing of inequality growth and computer diffusion and from analyses of the contribution of computer use to overall inequality growth using DiNardo, Fortin, and Lemieux's (1996) reweighting standardization technique.

Details

Aspects of Worker Well-Being
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-473-7

1 – 10 of over 13000