Job Design
- LAST REVIEWED: 19 October 2016
- LAST MODIFIED: 28 January 2013
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199846740-0044
- LAST REVIEWED: 19 October 2016
- LAST MODIFIED: 28 January 2013
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199846740-0044
Introduction
Job design, as a key contributor to individual attitudes, motivation, and work performance, has generated substantial interest in the scientific community. Much research has been conducted in the area of job design, leading to a better understanding of the attitudes and behaviors of employees at work. This article is a review of some key readings on job design theories and research. Job design refers to the processes and outcomes of how work is structured, organized, experienced, and enacted. Unlike other changes at work, such as those associated with managerial practices, training programs, or reward systems, job design focuses solely on the work itself—namely, the tasks or activities that individuals pursue in their organizations. The popularity of job design as a research topic and managerial strategy is based on its focus on the work itself. Individuals can avoid dealing with many aspects of their work context, but they cannot avoid dealing with their jobs. Individuals at work spend their time primarily performing their jobs. Therefore, jobs represent the key contact between the employee and the organization. This suggests that the way in which jobs are designed and structured plays a major role in affecting how people react in their employing organization. Job design, which has attracted tremendous attention in the 20th century, continues to be highly relevant in the 21st century. Key historical approaches in job design will be reviewed first, followed by a discussion of future directions in this area.
Historical Perspective
Interest in the area of job design spans over one hundred years. Theorists have developed a number of key approaches, which are discussed below.
Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on this page. Please subscribe or login.
How to Subscribe
Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here.
Article
- Abusive Supervision
- Adverse Impact and Equal Employment Opportunity Analytics
- Applied Political Risk Analysis
- Approaches to Social Responsibility
- Assessment Centers: Theory, Practice and Research
- Attitudes
- Attributions
- Authentic Leadership
- Bayesian Statistics
- Behavior, Organizational
- Behavioral Approach to Leadership
- Behavioral Theory of the Firm
- Benefits
- Between Organizations, Social Networks in and
- Brokerage in Networks
- Career Studies
- Charismatic and Innovative Team Leadership By and For Mill...
- Computational Modeling
- Conflict Management
- Corporate Social Performance
- Counterproductive Work Behavior (CWB)
- Creativity
- Cross-Cultural Communication
- Cross-Cultural Management
- Cultural Intelligence
- Culture, Organization
- Data Analytic Methods
- Decision Making
- Diversity
- Emotional Labor
- Employee Aging
- Employee Engagement
- Employee Voice
- Empowerment, Psychological
- Entrepreneurship
- Entrepreneurship, Corporate
- Entrepreneurship, Women's
- Equal Employment Opportunity
- Ethics
- Faking in Personnel Selection
- Family Business, Managing
- Feedback
- Financial Markets in Organization Theory and Economic Soci...
- Findings, Reporting Research
- Fit, Person-Environment
- Forecasting
- Goal Setting
- Hofstedes Cultural Dimensions
- Human Capital Pipelines
- Human Resource Management
- Human Resource Management, Strategic
- Human Resources, Global
- Human Rights
- Humanitarian Work Psychology
- Humility in Management
- Impression Management at Work
- Imprinting
- Innovative Behavior
- Intelligence, Emotional
- International Economic Development and SMEs
- International Economic Systems
- International Strategic Alliances
- Job Analysis and Competency Modeling
- Job Crafting
- Job Design
- Job Satisfaction
- Leader-Member Exchange
- Leadership Development
- Leadership Development and Organizational Change, Coaching...
- Leadership, Ethical
- Leadership, Global and Comparative
- Leadership, Strategic
- Licensing
- Management History
- Management In Antiquity
- Meaningful Work
- Mentoring
- Multinational Corporations and Emerging Markets
- Neo-institutional Theory
- Neuroscience, Organizational
- Organization Design, Global
- Organization Development and Change
- Organization Theory
- Organizational Adaptation
- Organizational Behavior, Emotions in
- Organizational Citizenship Behaviors (OCBs)
- Organizational Corruption
- Organizational Identity
- Organizational Justice
- Organizational Legitimacy
- Organizational Networks
- Organizational Performance, Personality Theory and
- Organizational Responsibility
- Organizational Surveys, Driving Change Through
- Organizations, Big Data in
- Organizations, Political Ideology in
- Organizations, Social Identity Processes in
- Overqualification
- Passion
- Pay for Skills, Knowledge, and Competencies
- People Analytics
- Performance Appraisal
- Planning And Goal Setting
- Psychological Contracts
- Psychological Safety
- Recruitment
- Regional Entrepreneurship
- Reputation, Organizational Image and
- Research, Ethics in
- Research, Longitudinal
- Research Methods
- Research Methods, Qualitative
- Resource-Dependence Theory
- Response Surface Analysis, Polynomial Regression and
- Role of Time in Organizational Studies
- Safety, Work Place
- Selection
- Selection, Applicant Reactions to
- Self-Efficacy
- Self-Fulfilling Prophecy In Management
- Self-Management and Personal Agency
- Service Management
- Shared Team Leadership
- Socialization
- Stakeholders
- Status in Organizations
- Strategic Human Capital
- Strategy
- Strategy and Cognition
- Stress
- Structural Contingency Theory/Information Processing Theor...
- Team Conflict
- Team Newcomers
- Teams, Global
- Technology and Innovation Management
- Technology, Organizational Assessment and
- the Workplace, Millennials in
- Theory X and Theory Y
- Time and Motion Studies
- Training and Development
- Training Evaluation
- Turnover
- Unobtrusive Measures
- Validity
- Virtual Teams
- Whistle-Blowing
- Work and Family: An Organizational Science Overview
- Work Contexts, Nonverbal Communication in
- Work, Mindfulness at
- Workplace Commitment
- Workplace Gossip
- Workplace Meetings
- Workplace, Spiritual Leadership in the
- World War II, Management Research during