Week 1: How to Design Jobs to Enhance Satisfaction and Motivation: Job Characteristics Model
Week 1: How to Design Jobs to Enhance Satisfaction and Motivation: Job Characteristics Model
Each module’s Discussion Forum in this class has two topics–one for the first week and another for the second.
In the Module 1 Discussion Forum be sure to post your responses using the background material, including the reading and video on the Job Characteristics Model. Here is a shorter synopsis of that material:
Louis, D. J. (2016). Notes on the Job Characteristics Model.
In Week 1, consider a job you have held that you did not find motivating. What job characteristics were missing? Look at another student’s post and suggest some ways that a manager could redesign that job to enhance one or more job characteristics and increase the motivating properties of that job. When someone has posted to your original job characteristics, go back and comment on whether or not the suggested changes would have made you fell more motivated. Why or why not?
(Besides the source listed above, bring in and cite at least one other source of information for your initial post.)
Remember, after you submit your answer to the Discussion this week, you also need to respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts.
(In total for this module’s two-part Discussion Forum you should have contributed to at least two Discussion Question posts and four response posts to your classmates.)
You must participate in both Week 1 and Week 2 Discussions to get credit for this module’s Discussion Forum.
Posting early each week will allow for more opportunities for leading the discussions, making substantial contributions, and engaging in meaningful and mutual discussions with others.
Module 1 – Background
Managing Individual Behavior
Note: All Background and Module Home materials are required unless designated as optional or general reference.
Module 1 focuses on the principles of individual behavior so that you can learn to manage people effectively. We are concerned here not only with managing subordinates, but also managing relationships with peers and developing effective relationships with superiors. It is best if you approach this module in three distinct sections. Start with values, attitudes, and perception. The second section will cover motivation and the third section will cover goal setting and job design as tools to maintain motivation.
Values, Attitudes, and Perceptions
Often we assume that the way we perceive and experience the world is the same way other people do. This assumption is false and can lead to ineffective leader and manager behaviors. Understanding how attitudes and perceptions influence individual behavior and performance at work is important to organizational study. Read in Organizations, Management and Leadership how personality, values, perceptions, and attitudes affect work behaviors.
Bauer, T., Erdogan, B., Short, J., and Carpenter, M. Chapter 3: Personality, Attitudes, and Work Behaviors. In Principles of Management. Retrieved from http://scholar.flatworldknowledge.com/books/29741/fwk-127512-ch02/read
Many people believe that a happy worker is a productive worker, but research tells us that people can be highly satisfied with their jobs and still not get much done! Nevertheless, organizations have reasons to care about employees’ satisfaction with their jobs. The following reading is an excellent explanation of the job satisfaction model and why it is important to maintaining a highly productive workforce.
Redmond, B.F. & Bower, C.P. (2015). Job satisfaction. In Work Attitudes and Job Motivation. Retrieved from https://wikispaces.psu.edu/display/PSYCH484/11.+Job+Satisfaction
Motivation and Job Design
With a variety of values, perceptions, and attitudes, people are not motivated by the same things. The following reading summarizes key theories to help you understand what motivates you and those around you. Be sure to watch the 4-minute video at the start of the article.
Motivation and motivation theory (2015). In Reference for Business: Encyclopedia of Business(2nd ed.) Retrieved from http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Mar-No/Motivation-and-Motivation-Theory.html
Learn about the importance of job design in creating and maintaining a work environment that employees will find motivating. See the following talk on the Job Characteristics Model of Motivation:
Theories of Motivation: The Job Characteristics Model (2015). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUWsFHQsbh0
Goal Setting
Since the 1960s, management scholars have touted the effectiveness of setting high, but achievable, goals in attaining high levels of performance from employees. The following article reviews goal-setting theory and how to put it into practice.
Locke’s goal-setting theory: Setting meaningful, challenging goals. (2015). MindTools: Essential Skills for an Excellent Career. Retrieved from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_87.htm
Once we understand the power and potential of goal-setting, it is easy to overdo it. Here is a cautionary tale from the Harvard Business Review:
High goals often improve performance, but they also exacerbate unethical behavior: In one research exercise, the participants given the hardest math problems were 84% likelier to cheat than other participants, on average. The researchers—David T. Welsh, of the University of Washington, and Lisa D. Ordóñez, of the University of Arizona—say that demanding tasks deplete people’s self-regulatory resources over time, and that managers should be aware of the negative organizational consequences of consecutive rigorous goals.
Source: Stat Watch (2014). Harvard Business Review, 92(6), 28
Optional Reading
Early Management Theorists
To gain an understanding of the evolution of management thinking from an historical perspective, see this excellent article:
Wertheim, E.G. (2012) Historical Background of Organizational Behavior. Scribd. Retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/doc/6926402/Historical-Background-of-Organizational-Behavior
The following paper is an overview of four important areas of management theory: Frederick Taylor’s Scientific Management, Elton Mayo’s Hawthorne Works experiments and the human relations movement, Max Weber’s idealized bureaucracy, and Henri Fayol’s views on administration. It will provide a general description of each of these management theories together with observations on the environment in which these theories were applied and the successes that they achieved.
Kerns, D. (n.d.). An overview of management theory. http://www.kernsanalysis.com/sjsu/ise250/history.htm
Management by Objectives (MBO)
1000ventures.com’s e-coach site has a thorough discussion on MBO including hotlinks throughout the discussion for further information. Also on this site are links to case studies, venture financing, and managing.
Management by Objectives (MBO). (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/mgmt_mbo_main.html
Ethical Values in Business
The Society for Business Ethics’ homepage includes the organization’s mission statement, newsletter, annual meeting, ethics links, and access to its journal, Business Ethics Quarterly.
Society for Business Ethics (2015) Retrieved from http://sbeonline.org/
Governing Corporations
Corporate Governance serves as a discussion forum and network for shareholders and stakeholders who believe active participation by concerned shareholders in governing corporations will enhance their ability to create wealth. The site provides news, Internet links, and a small reference library supported by purchases through Amazon.com.
Corporate Governance (2015) Retrieved from http://www.corpgov.net/
General References
The following site is full of useful articles and information on 675 different topics, including leadership, motivation, interpersonal skills supervision, and many more. Be sure to bookmark this site as it will be useful to you throughout the course and many others in the DBA curriculum.
Free Management Library (n.d.) Retrieved from http://managementhelp.org/
Berry’s online glossary of business terms (retrieved from www.bplans.com) is a useful reference.
Berry, T. (n.d.) Business terms glossary. BPlans. Retrieved from http://managementhelp.org/
APA Formatting
APA guide – In-text citations and end referencing. (2015). Trident University International.
If you need additional guidance on the use of APA Style in the proper formatting of papers, visit the Purdue OWL website: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/media/pdf/20090212013008_560.pdf
You also may find the following YouTube video helpful:
APA Formatting: The Basics. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdAfIqRt60c&list=PL8F43A67F38DE3D5D.
Required Reading
Aghina, W., De Smet, A, & Heywood, S. (2014). The past and future of global organizations. McKinsey Quarterly. Retrieved from http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/organization/the_past_and_future_of_global_organizations
Bauer, T., Erdogan, B., Short, J., and Carpenter, M. Chapter 3: Personality, Attitudes, and Work Behaviors. In Principles of Management. Retrieved from http://scholar.flatworldknowledge.com/books/29741/fwk-127512-ch02/read
Bunn, R. (2013) Intro to Organizational Behavior. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2Xv9Am7PWQ
Hay Group (2012). What is Experiential Learning? Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZeAdN4FB5A
Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory. Retrieved from http://www.netmba.com/mgmt/ob/motivation/herzberg/
Humanmetrics: Jung Typology Test. (2013). http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes1.htm
Locke’s goal-setting theory: Setting meaningful, challenging goals. (2015). MindTools: Essential Skills for an Excellent Career. Retrieved from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_87.htm
Louis, D. J. (2015) Notes on the job characteristics model.
Motivation and motivation theory (2015). In Reference for Business: Encyclopedia of Business (2nd ed.) Retrieved from http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Mar-No/Motivation-and-Motivation-Theory.html
Redmond, B. F. & Bower, C. P. (2015). Job satisfaction. In Work Attitudes and Job Motivation. Retrieved from https://wikispaces.psu.edu/display/PSYCH484/11.+Job+Satisfaction
Theories of Motivation: The Job Characteristics Model (2015). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUWsFHQsbh0
Optional Reading
Berry, T. (n.d.) Business terms glossary. BPlans. Retrieved from http://articles.bplans.com/business-term-glossary/
Corporate Governance (2015) Retrieved from http://www.corpgov.net/
Free Management Library (n.d.) Retrieved from http://managementhelp.org/
Kerns, D. (n.d.). An overview of management theory. http://www.kernsanalysis.com/sjsu/ise250/history.htm
Management by Objectives (MBO). (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/mgmt_mbo_main.html
Society for Business Ethics (2013) Retrieved from http://sbeonline.org/
Wertheim, E. G. (2012) Historical Background of Organizational Behavior. Scribd. Retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/doc/6926402/Historical-Background-of-Organizational-Behavior
