Introduction to work design and its importance in modern business
The notion of work design has gained a substantial amount of prominence within the framework of the modern business world and falls under the category of the work or the job roles of the human resource management team of a particular organization (Pheasant 2014). The concept of work design mainly consists of the activities or tasks that the HRM team of a particular organization is required to perform, namely, tasks, activities, interactions among the employees, responsibilities and others so as to integrate as well as organize the job roles of the employees with the organization (Endsley 2016). Recent researches have suggested that the concept of work design is directly related to the individual as well as the overall organizational performance or productivity and this is one of the major reasons for the extensive usage of this concept by the diverse organizations (Mislevy et al. 2017). Furthermore, in the recent times, it is seen that extensive research work has been performed on the concept of work design by various scholars (Greenbaum 2017). More importantly, it is seen that the tool of statistics is being for the analysis of not only this concept but also the past literatures which have been written on it (Konz 2017).
The article “One Hundred Years of Work Design Research: Looking Back and Looking Forward” by the authors Sharon K. Parker, Frederick P. Morgeson and Gary Johns in the year intends to provide a detailed overview of the concept of work design (Parker, Morgeson and Johns 2017). The article not only undertakes not only a detailed analysis of the concept of work design and the also the manner in which the various organizations as well as the HRM teams related to them can enhance its effectiveness to get better kind of results (Parker, Morgeson and Johns 2017). Furthermore, the authors at the same time have segregated or categorized the historical development of the concept under discussion here into five genres so as to provide a much better understanding to the readers (Parker, Morgeson and Johns 2017). The article, at the same time, undertakes a detailed analysis of the role of the Journal of Applied Psychology (JAP) in not only helping to develop the notion of work design but also in enhancing its popularity as well (Parker, Morgeson and Johns 2017). Finally, the authors conclude the article with a discussion of the manner in which the concept under discussion here has impacted the topics of applied psychology, management thinking, management practices, work practice and others (Parker, Morgeson and Johns 2017).
Overview of the article
The primary aim of the authors in the article under discussion here is to show the prominence or the significance of the concept of work design (Parker, Morgeson and Johns 2017). Furthermore, the authors, at the same time, try to show the manner in which the concept of work design has undergone transformation over the past 100 years. The authors also try to show the manner in which the effectiveness as well as the efficiency of the construct of work design can be enhanced and thereby provide the maximum amount of benefit to the organization which is utilizing it (Parker, Morgeson and Johns 2017). It is pertinent to note that for this particular purpose the authors take the help of diverse kinds of statistical as well as analytical tools to not only analyze the concept under discussion here but at the same time to show the metamorphosis that it has undergone over the years. Thus, it would be apt to say that the authors have been able to achieve the aim with which they set out to write the article to a great extent. The strength of the article lies in the fact that unlike the other literatures which have been written on the topic of work design this article uses analytical tools and also the tool of statistics to critique the concept. Furthermore, by categorizing the concept into five sections on the basis of the historical development that the concept has undergone over the years the article adds to the body of literature related to the topic in a substantial manner. In addition to these, the impact of the concept under discussion here, on the aspects of work practices, management thinking, applied psychology and others has also significantly added to the body of knowledge related to the topic (Parker, Morgeson and Johns 2017).
The article under discussion not only overcomes the limitations of the earlier articles or the research works which have been conducted on the topic of work design but at the same time has enhanced the literature on the topic as well. Furthermore, the article banks on the views or the concepts propounded by the earlier research works or the body of literature to present the concept of work design in a much more effective manner. The weakness of the article is the fact that the article takes the help of the various analytical tools and statistics to explain the concept of work design. This can be seen as a problem with the article since it is seen that not all the readers of the article have the required kind of expertise or knowledge regarding statistics and other analytical tools to understand the views of the authors. However, at the same time, it needs to be said that this is not much of a problem since the article was primarily intended for the readers who have a thorough knowledge regarding statistics.
Historical development of work design
The authors for the composition of this article took the help of the past literature as well as research works which have been performed on the concept of work design. These articles or sources were analyzed by the authors using the various analytical tools of statistics to get a thorough knowledge regarding the concept of work design. Furthermore, using the secondary data that the authors have collected, they segregated the diverse perspective of the concept of work design into five categories. These categories were “socio-technical systems and autonomous work groups, job characteristics model, job demands-control model, job demands-resources model, and role theory” (Parker, Morgeson and Johns 2017). It can be said that the approach followed by the authors for the collection of the required data for the article was a biased one since by banking solely on the past literature regarding the notion of work design they just analyzed the past literature related to the topic and not the actual topic. The authors of the past wrote about the topic in the manner in which they felt about and thus it can be said that they were the individual personal reflections of those authors. To gain a thorough knowledge regarding the concept of work design the authors should have collected primary data from the various organizations which are actually following this particular concept within their organization. The use of both primary as well as secondary for the purpose of the analysis of the concept would have not only enhanced the effectiveness of the topic but would also have enriched the content of the article as well.
The results that the authors have obtained in the article are completely depended on the results of the past articles that they have reviewed for the purpose of the composition of the article under discussion here. Thus, to give credibility to the results that the authors derived from the review of the past 100 years of literature on the topic the authors took the help of the various statistical analytical tools. In this regard, it can be said that the results derived by the authors are valid and reliable on the basis of the secondary data that they have used. The analytical tool of scientific mapping was used by the authors for the process of the analysis of the data on the topic work design. It is to be noted that analytical tool used by the authors is more complex than the other standard ones used by the various authors for the analysis of the same topic.
Role of Journal of Applied Psychology in developing work design concept
The article under discussion here does consist of a clear clear problem, statement or hypothesis. The hypothesis that the authors use in the article under discussion here is “work design acts as a moderator, as a mediator, and as an outcome of top-down forces (e.g., technology, leadership) or bottom-up processes initiated by the incumbent (e.g., proactivity, crafting)” (Parker, Morgeson and Johns 2017). The claim that the authors in the article makes is “work design affects health and economic outcomes for individuals, teams, and organizations…..work design matters, and we must keep it front and center in the field of applied psychology. We hope the current article helps with this endeavor” (Parker, Morgeson and Johns 2017). Furthermore, through the article it is seen that the authors are consistent with this claim and they also take the help of the past literature to lend credibility to the claim. The authors rely on the past 100 years of literature which have been composed on the topic of work design (Parker, Morgeson and Johns 2017). The evidence that the authors use for the article are derived from peer-review articles and also from the various research works and thus it can be said that they are to a great extent valid. The evidences from the past literature that the authors use for the process of the composition of the article are completely effective since they took the help of various kinds of primary as well as secondary for their composition. The conclusion that the author draws is that the effective use of the concept of work design can help the various organization in the process of their growth in a substantial manner. The conclusion that the authors draw are completely supported by the evidences presented by the authors in the article.
The authors have presumed that the readers would be having a thorough knowledge regarding the concepts of statistical analysis and its related aspects. Thus, it can be said that the authors have written the article keeping in view the expert or academic readers and have adopted a professional writing style which would suit them. The authors use a complex writing pattern which could have been easily simplified to suit the reading taste of the general readers.
Conclusion
To conclude, the article under discussion here clearly indicates that the concept of work design is an important one from the perspective of the business world. The effective use of this concept helps the various organizations to not only enhance the level of the individual employee productivity but also of the entire organization in-turn. However, at the same time, it needs to be noted that the concept has undergone a significant amount of change in the recent times keeping in view the changing requirements of the organizations. It is precisely here that the article by showing the metamorphosis that the notion has undergone over the years becomes important.
References
Endsley, M.R., 2016. Designing for situation awareness: An approach to user-centered design. CRC press.
Greenbaum, J., 2017. A design of one’s own: towards participatory design in the United States. In Participatory Design (pp. 27-37). CRC Press.
Konz, S., 2017. Work design: occupational ergonomics. CRC Press.
Mislevy, R.J., Haertel, G., Riconscente, M., Rutstein, D.W. and Ziker, C., 2017. Evidence-centered assessment design. In Assessing Model-Based Reasoning using Evidence-Centered Design (pp. 19-24). Springer, Cham.
Parker, S.K., Morgeson, F.P. and Johns, G., 2017. One hundred years of work design research: Looking back and looking forward. Journal of applied psychology, 102(3), p.403.
Pheasant, S., 2014. Bodyspace: Anthropometry, Ergonomics And The Design Of Work: Anthropometry, Ergonomics And The Design Of Work. CRC Press.
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