Work redesign: Eight obstacles and opportunities

Successful work‐design initiatives must overcome many obstacles in order to have their intended impact.This article outlines eight obstacles to work redesign: (1) influences on multiple outcomes, (2) trade‐offs between different approaches, (3) difficulty in choosing appropriate units of analysis, (...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Human resource management 2005-12, Vol.44 (4), p.367-390
Main Authors: Campion, Michael A., Mumford, Troy V., Morgeson, Frederick P., Nahrgang, Jennifer D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Human resource management
Job design
Job enrichment
Studies
Work environment
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Successful work‐design initiatives must overcome many obstacles in order to have their intended impact.This article outlines eight obstacles to work redesign: (1) influences on multiple outcomes, (2) trade‐offs between different approaches, (3) difficulty in choosing appropriate units of analysis, (4) difficulty in predicting the nature of the job, (5) complications from individual differences, (6) job enlargement occurring without job enrichment, (7) creating new jobs as part of growth or downsizing, and (8) differences between longterm and short‐ term effects. This article examines the nature of these eight obstacles, reviews prior research on this topic, and outlines suggestions for managing these obstacles in practice. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
ISSN:0090-4848
1099-050X
DOI:10.1002/hrm.20080