J. Richard Hackman

Motivation through the design of work: test of a theory

Abstract A model is proposed that specifies the conditions under which individuals will become internally motivated to perform effectively on their jobs. The model focuses on the interaction among three classes of variables: (a) the psychological states of employees that must be present for internally motivated work behavior to develop; (b) the characteristics of jobs that can create these psychological states; and (c) the attributes of individuals that determine how positively a person will respond to a complex and challenging job. The model was tested for 658 employees who work on 62 different jobs in seven organizations, and results support its validity. A number of special features of the model are discussed (including its use as a basis for the diagnosis of jobs and the evaluation of job redesign projects), and the model is compared to other theories of job design.

Total Quality Management: Empirical, Conceptual, and Practical Issues

In recent years, Total Quality Management has become something of a social movement in the United States. This commentary returns to the writings of the movements founders--W. Edwards Deming, Joseph Juran, and Kaoru Ishikawa--to assess the coherence, distinctiveness, and likely perseverance of this provocative management philosophy. We identify a number of gaps in what is known about TQM processes and outcomes, and explore the congruence between TQM practices and behavioral science knowledge about motivation, learning, and change in social systems. The commentary concludes with a prognosis about the future of TQM--including some speculations about what will be needed if TQM is to take root and prosper in the years to come.

Group Tasks, Group Interaction Process, and Group Performance Effectiveness: A Review and Proposed Integration

Publisher Summary This chapter reviews existing research and thought on the role of group interaction in task-oriented groups, and provides suggestion that part of the difficulty in understanding the relationship between group interaction and group effectiveness has to do with the nature of existing methodological and conceptual tools. It proposes an alternative framework for research on group effectiveness. The major functions group interaction serves in enhancing and depressing group effectiveness have been explored in the chapter and a set of strategies for influencing group interaction and group performance by alteration of “input” factors has been proposed within the new framework. The chapter presents an argument for a return to action-oriented research as a way to improve simultaneously the understanding of the determinants of group effectiveness and the capability to change and improve it. Implications for research and for action have been drawn and explored.

Habitual routines in task-performing groups

Groups, like individuals, often develop habitual routines for dealing with frequently encountered stimuli. Although such routines are consequential for group life and work, little is known about them. This paper reconnoiters the territory of habitual behavior in groups that perform work within organizations. We offer a definition of group habits, identify their functions and dysfunctions, suggest how they develop and are maintained, and identify the circumstances when they are likely to be altered or abandoned. Throughout, we give special attention to the social nature of habitual routines in groups, to the interaction between habitual behavior and group life cycle phenomena, and to the role of the organizational context in prompting, shaping, and terminating habitual routines.

Team Diagnostic Survey: Development of an Instrument

This article describes the development of the Team Diagnostic Survey (TDS), an instrument intended for use both for the diagnosis of the strengths and weaknesses of work teams and for research on team behavior and performance. The TDS is based explicitly on existing research and theory about the conditions that foster team effectiveness. It provides an assessment of how well a team is structured, supported, and led as well as several indicators of members’ work processes and their affective reactions to the team and its work. The psychometric properties of the TDS are satisfactory, based on analyses of data from 2,474 members of 321 teams in a diversity of organizations. Appropriate uses of the instrument are discussed.

Conditions Under Which Employees Respond Positively to Enriched Work.

Abstract : The research tests the moderating effects of (1) employee growth need strength and (2) level of satisfaction with the work context on employee responses to enriched work. Data were collected from 201 employees who work on 25 jobs in a bank. Results show that employees who have strong growth needs and also are satisfied with the work context (i.e., with their pay, job security, co-workers and supervisors) respond more positively to enriched jobs than do employees who have weak needs for growth and/or who are dissatisfied with the work context. Implications for the practice of work redesign are discussed.

Toward understanding the role of tasks in behavioral research.

Abstract Tasks play an important role in much research on human behavior, and differences in tasks and task characteristics have been shown to mediate differences in individual and social behavior. Thus, it is unfortunate that we know relatively little about the nature of tasks and their behavioral implications. This paper attempts to lay the ground work for furthering our understanding of the differences among tasks and the ways in which tasks influence behavior. Three general ‘problem areas’ are reviewed and evaluated in the paper: (a) problems in defining the concept ‘task’ — i.e., what are the components and characteristics of an adequate task definition; (b) problems relevant to the description of tasks — i.e., what are the most useful and appropriate bases for making task descriptions and comparisons; and (c) problems relevant to understanding task effects — i.e., how do task factors make differences in the ways people think and act. After evaluating several issues relevant to the problems of task definition and description, one working definition of the concept is proposed, and one general approach to task description is suggested as likely to be most useful in understanding the behavioral impact of tasks. Finally, a framework is proposed which outlines the diversity of effects which may be attributable to task factors in a performance situation, and suggests how these effects may be conceptualized and related.

Why Teams Don’t Work

A few years ago, Paul Osterman, an economist at MIT, did a careful national survey of innovative work practices in U.S. manufacturing firms. He found that more than half the companies surveyed were using teams—and that some 40% of these companies reported having more than half the organization working in teams (Osterman, 1994). How well do all these teams perform? To judge from books and articles written for a managerial audience, the answer is clear: Teams markedly outperform individuals, and self-managing (or self-regulating, or self-directed, or empowered) teams do best of all. Here are some reports from the field, cited by Osburn, Moran, Musselwhite, and Zenger (1990) in Self-Directed Work Teams: The New American Challenge. At Xerox, the authors report,

Work Design as an Approach to Person-Environment Fit.

Abstract Job characteristics theory may be conceptualized as a model of person-environment fit which focuses on matching the characteristics of jobs to the abilities and needs of jobholders. In this paper, we explore the potential costs and benefits of person-job congruence, and use recent developments in the person-environment fit literature to suggest ways in which characteristics of jobs and characteristics of individuals may influence one another. Implications for future research in the work design area are discussed.

The interaction of task design and group performance strategies in determining group effectiveness

Abstract Norms controlling how members deal with performance strategies were altered experimentally in small task-oriented groups. The basic task required assembly of small electrical components. In one task condition (equal information) all task-relevant information was provided to each group member; in another (unequal information) it was spread unevenly among members, requiring exchange of information for optimum group performance. In the unequal information condition, an intervention inducing explicit discussion of task performance strategies improved group performance. In the equal information condition, effectiveness was increased by an intervention that reinforced existing norms against explicit discussion of performance strategies. Spontaneous discussion of strategy did not take place in control groups for either task condition, and control groups were lowest in performance effectiveness. Measures of interaction process and of member reactions to the group were affected substantially by the experimental interventions.