The Effects of Job Enrichment and Group/Individual Task Structure on Productivity, Quality, and Job Satisfaction. A Laboratory Experiment.

摘要

In the face of the all-volunteer force and austere funding, two techniques the military uses to increase worker satisfaction are group task structure and/or job enrichment. This research attempted to determine the effect of enrichment and task structure on job satisfaction, productivity, and work quality. A 2x2 fixed effects matrix with enrichment (enriched/unenriched) and task structure (group/individual) combined to create four different work situations. Each of 122 individuals in the sample participated in construction of an Erector set model in one of the four work situations. Results confirmed that both enrichment and group task structure increased satisfaction. The results also indicate that the work situation that is most conducive to high productivity and quality is an individual unenriched task. The authors conclude that as long as management's interest is focused solely on optimizing productivity and quality, job enrichment and group task structure are not the best techniques to employ. However, when management examines the organization from a systems viewpoint, exactly the opposite may be true. (Author)