Swedish experiments in job reform

Abstract

Is job design necessary for increasing employee motivation and reducing alienation and mono tony? Or, as some argue, are the benefits of major changes and job design and restructuring of the work organization doubtful? The number of American firms experimenting with job design is ~owing. Among the most widely known experiments are the job enrichment programs at AT&T, the Topeka Pet Foods Plant, Corning Glass and Travelers Insurance. Ted Mills, in a recent article in the Harvard Business Review, says that much more experimentation is going on in this country than has been reported due to the desire of many firms to maintain their results as proprietary in nature. 1 Many organizations prefer to sit on the fence for a while and wait to see whether the experiments are successful in other firms before committing their own psychic energy and resources to job and organizational restructuring. The dilemma is that many firms