Changing Jobs (Scenario)
Marty sat in his favourite chair at home and pondered his work situation. The funding in his division had been cut by 25 percent, but the production goals were 10 percent higher! Something had to change, and he knew it was his job to figure out how to make the goals achievable. He decided to try to improve the way that tasks are combined into each job. First, he needed to know how many tasks there were to each job and how frequently each task was repeated. He also knew that because of the funding cut, people were going to be asked to expand their jobs horizontally. But he also felt that to balance this he should expand the jobs vertically by adding planning and evaluating responsibilities. Together, even though the employees were clearly being asked to contribute more, he felt they would have a greater degree of control over their work. Neither managers nor employees looked forward to this coming year, but it was "do or die" situation!
-Asking people to expand their jobs horizontally is a design strategy known as job ________.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Job enlargement refers to expanding employees' jobs horizontally, by adding more tasks of a similar nature to their current job. This is what Marty is proposing in order to cope with the funding cut and increased production goals. Job scope refers to the range of tasks and responsibilities that make up a job, and while related, is not the best choice for this scenario. Job enrichment involves giving employees more responsibility and autonomy in their job, which is something that Marty also proposes by adding planning and evaluating responsibilities vertically. Job extension is not a commonly used term in relation to job design strategies.

Changing Jobs (Scenario) Marty Sat in His Favourite Chair at Home and Pondered