Abstract
Flexible work assignment has great potential to increase productivity. When bottlenecks develop, for example, downstream operations may halt for lack of materials. A flexible worker can prevent this by moving in and increasing capacity temporarily, thereby avoiding work stoppages. In practice, it is not that simple. This paper identifies several “negative side effects” that occur in systems that rely on worker flexibility, effects that may partially or totally offset the advantages. Research has shown that performance feedback and work interruptions are factors that may explain some of these effects. Behavioral theories about those two factors lead to a series of hypotheses and two experiments. The results show that productivity loss due to these behavioral effects can be significant, in both the statistical and managerial sense of the word. Implications for the design and operation of flexible work environments are discussed, including methods for mitigating or eliminating the negative side effects, resulting in a meaningful productivity gain.
Published Version
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