Part A - Theory
There is no doubt that labour is perhaps our most important asset in our organizations, yet this seems to be a sadly neglected resource. High labour turnover, absenteeism, labour unrest, demand for better rates of pay or working conditions and a multitude of legislation has made life somewhat challenging for managers. To gain a competitive edge, the 21st century Operations manager has to try not only to harness the skills, expertise and knowledge of the workforce, but also to develop and improve these attributes.
Write an essay encompassing each of the following:
1. Factors one should consider when designing a job.
2. Ethical and legal issues in the work environment.
3. How ergonomics and work methods impact on a job.
4. The use of labour standards in determining the size of the work force.
5. How incentive schemes can be used to motivate the workforce.
Introduction
Operations management is often presented as a subject whose main focus is on technology, systems, procedures and facilities – in other words the non-human parts of the organization. This is not true of course. On the contrary, the manner in which an organization’s human resources are managed has a profound impact on the effectiveness of its operations function. I will look at the factors of human resource management which are traditionally seen as been directly within the sphere of operations management. These are the activities which influence the relationship between people, the technology they use, and the work methods employed by the operation. This is usually called job design.
Job design involves deciding what tasks to allocate to eac ...