The Effect of Variations in Task Assignment and Professional-Task Fit on Performance Outcomes

Abstract

How does the fit between professional expertise and work relate to performance? This study explores the nature of task assignment – essentially the division of labor – among professionals as setting the stage for performance outcomes. I construct an interaction model of professional-task fit to test hypotheses on performance as it relates to the professional division of labor, in particular looking at professionals with overlapping expertise: generalists and specialists. Using patient data collected at an academic children’s hospital (n = 4,638), and combining that data with a survey I administered to the generalist and specialist physicians at this field site (44 percent response rate), I explore different task assignment factors. First, how do changes in the professional in charge during the course of work affect performance outcomes? Second, how is performance impacted when the nature of the task changes during the course of work? Third, what are the performance outcomes when a generalist (specialist) should be assigned but actually is not? Results have implications for developing contingency fit theories at the meso-level, and at the practical level, implications for division of labor practices that yield high performance, particularly among professionals with potentially overlapping expertise.