Core Job Characteristics Research Articles

MEASURING JOB CHARACTERISTICS OF AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION CENTERS' PERSONNEL IN ASSIUT GOVERNORATE USING HACKMAN AND OLDHAM’S MODEL

The purpose of this study is to measure the job characteristics of agricultural extension centers' personnel in Assiut governorate using Hackman and Oldham’s Model, and to examine the model fit with the current study. The job diagnostic survey was used as the assessment tool to measure the components of the job characteristics model. Data were collected from all of the agricultural extension centers' personnel in Assiut governorate (84 personnel) by questionnaire. The job characteristics model’s overall fit with the data was evaluated using common model goodness of fit measures estimated by AMOS. The results showed that dealing with others and feedback received the highest ratings; autonomy and skill variety received the lowest ratings from the core job characteristics. The moderate feelings towards the core job dimensions yielded a low motivating potential score. Knowledge of results yielded the highest rating and experienced responsibility yielded the lowest rating from the psychological states. Internal work motivation received the highest rating and growth satisfaction received the lowest rating from the personal/work outcomes. Stimulating work environment yielded the highest rating and pay satisfaction yielded the lowest rating from the moderators of the model. The various indices of overall goodness of fit for the model lent sufficient support for the results to be an acceptable representation of the job characteristics model.

Linking Job Characteristics and Mental Health among Middle Level Indian Managers: Testing the Mediating Role of Psychological Empowerment

The present study examined the relationship between job characteristics and mental health by testing the mediating role of psychological empowerment. Data were obtained on a sample of middle level Indian managers (n=290) from two manufacturing organizations of North India. Results of the hierarchical regression analyses revealed that all the core job characteristics significantly positively predicted psychological empowerment and mental health after controlling for the effects of demographic variables. The results also showed that psychological empowerment significantly positively predicted mental health over and above the demographic variables. The mediated regression analyses procedure developed by Baron and Kenny (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 51:1173–1182, 1986) was used to test the mediating effect of psychological empowerment. Results of mediated regression analyses indicated that psychological empowerment significantly mediated the relationship between overall job characteristics and mental health. Further it partially mediated the relationship between core job characteristics (skill variety, task identity, task significance, feedback from work) and mental health. In addition the Sobel test for mediation confirmed the statistical significance of the mediated relationships. The implications of the findings are discussed in order to confirm the importance of core job characteristics to empower employees.

Developing a Conceptual Framework for Measuring Future Career Intention of Hotel Interns

Many hotel management students show negative attitudes toward entering the hotel industry. Such attitudes are likely the result of a negative internship experience that may cause a young person to quickly turn away from the industry. At present, work–life balance is recognized as one of the top five important challenges in human resource management. Additionally, different hotel job characteristics would lead to different internship experiences. This article aims to establish a conceptual framework by reviewing the extensive literature on the study of the interrelationship of internship core job characteristics and work–life balance toward general job satisfaction and future career intention of hotel interns.

자원봉사활동 직무특성이 활동만족도와 지속의지에 미치는 효과

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of the volunteer`s job characteristics in university student on their volunteering satisfaction and continuance will. Based on Hackman and Oldham`s theory of core job characteristics, this study analyzed 261 university students in Gangwon-do by survey. The results of this study are summarized as follows: The volunteering participation ratio of university student is 71.6%. volunteer`s job characteristics, volunteering satisfaction and continuance will is showed lower level. And skill variety, task identity and feedback among Hackman and Oldham`s 5 core job characteristics show positive influence on volunteering satisfaction, and skill variety, task indentity, task significance and feedback show positive influence on continuance will. As a result, volunteer`s satisfaction and continuance will depended on the job characteristics. Therefore, to assure volunteer`s satisfaction and continuance will, redesign for volunteer`s job characteristics.

Ethical Leadership

Ethical Leadership

The relationship between college students' choice of part-time work, commitment, and job-search goal setting: The role of core self-evaluation and job characteristics

Part-time work has been a popular activity among students in Japan. This study investigates college students' choice of jobs in their part-time work, which influences their commitment in the workplace and job-search goal setting. The results of a survey, with a sample of 123 undergraduate students in Japanese national universities, revealed that students with positive core self-evaluation were more likely to engage in jobs with high levels of skill variety in their part-time work. It was also found that high levels of skill variety and job autonomy in parttime work lead to stronger commitment in the workplace, which in turn leads to setting higher goals for future job search. Implications and future research directions are discussed.

소상공인의 핵심직무특성과 태도의 관계

For certify job characteristic affecting attitude of employee, this study is to examine the relationship between core job characteristics(skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, feedback) and attitude(job satisfaction, organizational commitment, turnover intention) of small business from a `human resource management` point of view. Concretely, it is confirmed whether how influence of ore job characteristics on attitude and whether there is a moderating effect of growth needs of strength between core job characteristics and attitude of small business. The results of regression analysis using 315 domestic employees are as followings. First, it is confirmed that the skill variety and task significance has influence on job satisfaction positively, skill variety and feedback has influence on organizational commitment positively, and skill variety and feedback has influence on turnover intention negatively. Second, there is moderating effect only the relationship between task significance and turnover intention. On the basis of these study results, it suggested strategic implications to job design and business strategy for heightening attitude of small business employees.

The relationship between ethical leadership and core job characteristics

AbstractIn the current study, we draw on the original job characteristics model (JCM) and on an elaborated model of work design to examine relationships between ethical leadership, task significance, job autonomy, effort, and job performance. We suggest that leaders with strong ethical commitments who regularly demonstrate ethically normative behavior can have an impact on the JCM elements of task significance and autonomy, thereby affecting an employee's motivation (willingness to exert effort), which in turn will be evidenced by indications of enhanced task performance and organizational citizenship behavior. We conducted a field study by surveying pairs of co‐workers in a diverse set of organizations. Results provide support for a fully mediated model whereby task significance and effort fully mediate relationships between ethical leadership and subordinates' job performance. Implications for future research on job design are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Job design and the psychological status of Taiwanese pharmacists on job outcomes: an application of the job characteristics model

For decades, job design and redesign have been viewed by the field of organisational behaviour as factors that influence employees' job psychological statuses and job outcomes. As such, this study thoroughly examines the job characteristics model (JCM) – including the constructs of core job characteristics, psychological statuses, individual growth needs and work outcomes – with regard to pharmacists, based on the theoretical framework of JCM. Two hundred ninety-eight pharmacists responded to mailed surveys. Applying structural equation modelling (SEM), the results partially verified JCM especially with respect to the pathway of job content – characterised as task variety, integrity and significance – to the experienced meaningfulness of work, as well as to their work outcomes, including higher internal work motivation, work performance quality, work satisfaction and reduced intentions/desires to quit. We anticipate that pharmacy managers could appropriately manipulate the job tasks of pharmacists, as well as to assist and identify possible adverse side effects derived from pharmacists' work climates, as a means to generate more favourable and effective work outcomes.

Antecedents and consequences of work-family enrichment among Indian managers

The present study identifies core self-evaluations, family support, supervisor support and job characteristics as the antecedents of work-to-family enrichment and family satisfaction, job satisfaction, affective commitment and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) as its outcomes. The participants (n= 245) were employees from four organizations in India from manufacturing and information technology sectors. The results show that job characteristics and supervisor support were the predictors of work-to-family enrichment and core self-evaluations, family support and supervisor support emerged as the predictors of family-to-work enrichment. On outcomes, work-to-family enrichment are the predicator of job satisfaction, affective commitment and OCB and family-to-work enrichment as the predictor of family satisfaction, job satisfaction, affective commitment and OCB. The implications of the findings are discussed.

Entrepreneurial Job Characteristics: An Examination of Their Effect on Entrepreneurial Satisfaction

The present study examined the effect of four core job characteristics on job satisfaction for entrepreneurs and a comparison group of nonfounding top managers. Significant mean differences were found between the entrepreneurs and nonfounding top managers on job satisfaction and all four job characteristics. Moreover, the results showed similar patterns of significant associations between the job characteristics and job satisfaction for the entrepreneurs and nonfounding top managers. Yet, the regression lines were found to be significantly different. Lastly, the results showed the following job characteristics were significant predictors of entrepreneurial job satisfaction: autonomy, variety, and feedback.

Work system design to improve the economic performance of the firm

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to look at job design, motivation and teamwork. As the market gets more competitive, companies must change their plan of attack on almost a daily basis. They need to answer the question: what is the best way to do business? As employers look at job design they will find that it is not the only factor that indicates how productive employees are in the workplace. Motivation also determines how much energy employees will expend, as well as what tasks will be accomplished, and in what amount of time it will be completed.Design/methodology/approachIncreasing productivity among employees is the key to a successful work group and firm. This paper will look at job design, motivation in the workplace and teamwork as they continue to be the major factors that determine the amount of work an individual does within a firm. Job design includes three main categories: job enlargement, job rotation, and job enrichment. The job characteristics model, a more recent approach to job design, includes five core job characteristics that include skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and job feedback.FindingsThe paper presents plenty of evidence that organizations are increasingly relying on teams to handle work once taken on by one person. Self‐managed teams are given the authority to make decisions that were once reserved for managers. Cross‐functional teams are used to improve coordination among different departments involved in carrying out a joint project. Many organizations are implementing these teams successfully into their structure. The result is that they are finding them to be more productive and prosperous than the work of single individuals.Practical implicationsWork teams such as self‐directed teams and cross‐functional teams are becoming increasingly popular among firms in today's work environment. Teams can work together in a dynamic business world to gain an edge over the competition.Originality/valueOverall, job design, motivation, and teamwork tie together and create a work environment that can either help or hurt an organization. If a proper plan is implemented, then the firm should be more productively successful.

Transformational Leadership and Job Behaviors: The Mediating Role of Core Job Characteristics

Although the effects of transformational leadership on task performance and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) are well-documented, the mechanisms that explain those effects remain unclear. We propose that transformational leadership is associated with the way followers view their jobs, in terms of Hackman and Oldham’s (1976) core job characteristics. Results of our study support a structural model whereby indirect effects supplement the direct effects of transformational leadership on task performance and OCB through the mechanisms of job characteristics, intrinsic motivation, and goal commitment. Additional analyses revealed that transformational leadership relationships were significantly stronger for followers who perceived highquality leader-member exchange.

Are oportunities equal for women in the IT workplace?

Despite the growing literature on women in the information technology (IT) industry, knowledge about gender discrimination within employing organizations is inadequate. This article fills the gap by testing four hypotheses that explore whether work opportunities are equal for women in India. The study did not find any support for the delineated hypotheses and concluded the following: women software workers do not perform low-skilled activities; they experience the same as men on core job characteristics, they do not feel marginalized in work teams; and work hours do not differ for men and women. Conclusions support the view that structural constraints outside the IT organizations need to be removed to increase the participation of women in IT

Using the job characteristics model to compare patient care assignment methods of nurses

The aim of this study was to use Hackman and Oldman's job characteristics model to compare 2 methods of patient care assignment as perceived by nurses in 12 inpatient units of Alexandria Main University Hospital. The job diagnostic survey was used to determine nurses' perceptions toward the components of the model in relation to their performance in utilizing the case and functional methods of patient care assignment. The jobs of intensive care unit nurses who utilized the case method were more enriched than those who utilized the functional method of assignment in the general care units, in terms of their perception scores towards all parts of the model (core job characteristics, critical psychological states, affective and personal outcomes, context satisfaction and individual growth-need strength).

Virtuality in human supervisory control: assessing the effects of psychological and social remoteness

Virtuality would seem to offer certain advantages for human supervisory control. First, it could provide a physical analogue of the 'real world' environment. Second, it does not require control room engineers to be in the same place as each other. In order to investigate these issues, a low-fidelity simulation of an energy distribution network was developed. The main aims of the research were to assess some of the psychological concerns associated with virtual environments. First, it may result in the social isolation of the people, and it may have dramatic effects upon the nature of the work. Second, a direct physical correspondence with the 'real world' may not best support human supervisory control activities. Experimental teams were asked to control an energy distribution network. Measures of team performance, group identity and core job characteristics were taken. In general terms, the results showed that teams working in the same location performed better than teams who were remote from one another.

Course Enrichment and the Job Characteristics Model

This article describes how the job characteristics model, used by industrial-organizational psychologists to enhance the motivating potential of jobs in industry, can be applied to enhance the motivating potential of psychology courses. The job characteristics model describes the relation among the core job characteristics of skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, feedback, and employee intrinsic job motivation. Empirical support for the job characteristics model has been established in organizational research. Application of this model to course design provides a framework for enriching course design to increase student motivation. This conceptual framework can be used to strengthen teaching methods, evaluation methods, policies, and other aspects of how a course is structured.

Creating a satisfying practice setting for physicians. The experience of a hospital-based group practice.

Medical groups are challenged to develop a satisfying context for physicians to deliver patient care. This article reports on the efforts of the Lovelace Medical Center and the Lovelace Clinic, P.C. (professional corporation), in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to create a distinctive environment for its medical staff members. A job-design model is examined wherein core job characteristics and physician growth-need strength influence critical psychological states and satisfaction. The results of this longitudinal study suggest that from the perspective of primary care physicians, the practice setting at Lovelace has improved markedly between 1984 and 1990. In addition, fewer changes were observed for specialists, ostensibly due to extremely favorable perceptions of the practice setting at Lovelace during this time period. The implications of these results point primarily to the value of consciously designing and periodically monitoring the practice environment within medical groups.

Growth Need Strength and Context Satisfactions as Moderators of the Relations of the Job Characteristics Model

Empirical investigations of the job characteristics model (JCM; Hackman & Oldham, 1980) have failed to systematically explore the moderating effects of growth need strength (GNS) and context satisfactions (viz., pay, job security, co-worker, and supervision) on the relations among the core job characteristics, critical psychological states, and work outcomes. Previous studies also are criticized for the use of subgroup analytic techniques, low statistical power resulting from small sample sizes (i.e, often less than 200) and/or samples consisting of individuals of relatively homogeneous jobs/occupations. As an attempt to address these deficiencies in the literature, this study examined the moderating effects of GNS and each of the four context satisfactions using a large sample (N = 6405) of employees from a variety of jobs and occupations. Overall, the results of univariate and multivariate hierarchical moderated multiple regression analyses suggest that none of thefive individual difference factors appeared to be viable moderators of any of the relations among job characteristics, psychological states, and three work outcomes (viz., growth satisfaction, overall job satisfaction, and internal motivation). Also, there was no supportive evidence for potential joint moderating effects between GNS and each context satisfaction on the relations of the JCM.

Training and experience as predictors of job satisfaction and work motivation when using computers: a correlational study

Abstract This paper examines the extent to which the previous work experience and method of training to use computer systems augment the predictability of the motivation and satisfaction of computer users. A sample of 154 computer users are studied, utilizing a version of the Job Diagnostic Survey questionnaire (Hackman and Oldham 1975). The job characteristics model upon which the questionnaire is based contends that the internal work motivation and general job satisfaction of job holders can be predicted from core job characteristics (task identity, task significance, skill variety, autonomy, and feedback from the job itself)- Results show that type of training and previous experience add little more to the job-holder's job satisfaction and internal work motivation than is predicted by the job characteristics model. The implications of the results for the management and staffing of computer-based systems are noted. Limitations of the data are recognized.