Ignou MBA Solved Assignment MS 05 2013 Define Job Design. Identify the important factors and their influences in designing the Job.

Question. 2)Define Job Design. Identify the important factors and their influences in designing the Job.  Ans : Job design is the process of organizing work as group of tasks, arranging and defining the job process and structure at the workplace depending on the job analysis performed. The job design takes into account the organizational objectives to be achieved along with trying to minimize on–the-job fatigue, stress and human error. The factors the affect the process of job design are the task characteristics, workflow, ergonomics, work practices, employee abilities and availabilities, social and cultural expectations and feedback. Job design means to decide the contents of a job. It fixes the duties and responsibilities of the job, the methods of doing the job and the relationships between the job holder (manager) and his superiors, subordinates and colleagues. Job design also gives information about the qualifications required for doing the job and the reward (financial and non-financial benefits) for doing the job. Job design is mostly done for managers' jobs. While designing the job, the needs of the organisation and the needs of the individual manager must be balanced. Needs of the organisation include high productivity, quality of work, etc. Needs of individual managers include job satisfaction. That is, they want the job to be interesting and challenging. Jobs must not be made highly specialised because they lead to boredom

Importance of Job Design

Job design is a very important function of staffing. If the jobs are designed properly, then highly efficient managers will join the organisation. They will be motivated to improve the productivity and profitability of the organisation. However, if the jobs are designed badly, then it will result in absenteeism, high labour turnover, conflicts, and other labour problems.

Factors Affecting Job Design

The guidelines influencing or factors affecting job design are depicted below.

1.      Proper scope of job

The scope of the job should be proper. If the scope is narrow (less), then the job will not be challenging. It will not give an opportunity for development. The manager will not get satisfaction after completing an easy job. If the scope of the job is very wide, then the manager will not be able to handle it properly. This will cause stress, frustration and loss of control. Therefore, scope of the job must be balanced and proper.

2.      Full-time challenge of the job

The job should be so challenging that it takes up the full-time and effort of the manager. So, the service of the manager must be fully utilised. If not, the manager will have a lot of free time. He will use this free time to interfere in the work of his subordinates. This will cause problems and conflicts because subordinates do not like unnecessary interference from their superiors.

3.      Managerial skills

The skills of the manager should be considered before designing his job. All managers do not have equal skills. So jobs should be designed after considering the skills of the manager. So, a manager having a high level of skill should be given very challenging jobs while a manager having a low level of skill should be given fewer challenging jobs. Jobs must be made flexible so that it can be changed according to the skills of the manager.

4.      Organisation's requirements

Jobs must be designed according to the requirements of the organisation. We cannot use the same job design for all organisations.

5.      Individual likes and dislikes

People have different likes and dislikes. Some people like to work alone while some people prefer to work in groups. Some people want to do only planning and decision making while other people like to implement these plans and decision. So, individual likes and dislikes must be considered while designing the job.

6.      Organisational structure

Organisational structure also affects the job design. Individual jobs must fit into the organisation's structure.

7.      Technology

The level of technology used by the organisation also affects the job design. An organisation having a high level of technology will have different job designs compared to an organisation having a low level of technology.

What do you mean by Production Planning & Control (PPC)? Explain the role of

aggregate planning in PPC.

Production planning means to fix the production goals and to estimate the resources which are

required to achieve these goals. It prepares a detailed plan for achieving the production goals

economically, efficiently and in time. It forecasts each step in the production process. It

forecasts the problems, which may arise in the production process. It tries to remove these

problems. It also tries to remove the causes of wastage

Production planning provides answers for two major questions, viz.,

1.      What work should be done?

2.      How much time will be taken to perform the work?

So, production planning decides the ways and means of production. It shows the direction. It is based on sales forecasting. It is a pre-requisite of production control.

According to Ray Wild, production planning is defined as follows:

Production Planning is concerned with the determination, acquisition and arrangement of all facilities necessary for future operations." –

Objectives of Production Planning

The need, main functions or objectives of production planning are as follows:

1. Effective utilization of resources.
2. Steady flow of production.
3. Estimate the resources.
4. Ensures optimum inventory.
5. Co-ordinates activities of departments.
6. Minimize wastage of raw materials.
7. Improves the labour productivity.
8. Helps to capture the market.
9. Provides a better work environment.
10. Facilitates quality improvement.
11. Results in consumer satisfaction.
12. Reduces the production costs.

- The main functions of PPC are the coordination of all the activities, which exist during production or manufacturing.

Materials : This function is concerned with ensuring that the Raw material, standard finished parts, finished parts of products must be available while starting the operation within the time.

Methods : This function is concerned with the analysis of all methods of manufacturing and selecting the best appropriate method according to the given set of circumstances and facilities.

Machines and Equipments: It is important that methods of manufacturing should to be related to the available production facilities coupled with a detail study of equipment replacement policy. This function is concerned with the detailed analysis of the production facilities, maintenance procedures and equipment policy.

Routing: It refers to the flow of sequence of operation and processes to be followed in producing a particular finish product. It determines manufacturing operation and their sequence.

Estimating: This function is concerned with estimation of operations time. The operation time can be worked Out once the overall method and sequence of operation is fixed and process sheet for each operation is available.

Loading & Scheduling: It is important that machine should be loaded according to their capabilities performance the given and according to the capacity. It is concerned with preparation of machine loads and fixation of starting and completion dates for a particular operation.

Dispatching: It means the assignment of work to different machines or work places which involve authorities to start of production activities in order of their priority as determined by scheduling.

Expediting: It is also called Follow Up or Progress. Follow up which regulates the progress of materials and parts through the production process. It is closely interrelated with activities of dispatching.

Inspection : It is an important control tool. Its assessment is important in the execution of current program and planning stage of undertaking when the limitations of the processor, method and manpower are known. It forms a basis for future investigations with respect to method, process etc. which is useful for evaluation phase.

Evaluating : This is the integral part of control function. The evaluating function is concerned with providing a feedback mechanism on the long term basis so that the past experience can be evaluated with the aim of improving utilization of method and facilities.

Ignou MBA Solved Assignment MS 05 2013

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