Production and Operations Management, 3/e

Kanishka Bedi

Chapter 12
Work Design

Case Study 1: Taj Hotels

Hints to Case Questions

1. Yes, it is akin to methods analysis with the difference that methods analysis is a
collaborative activity for the improvement of a job design or in designing a new
job from scratch. Though, the tools and techniques of method analysis can be
utilized by individual employees in the STARS programme to achieve similar
objectives.
2. The STARS programme is a structured programme which has been fine-tuned to
the requirements of Taj Hotels, but it has its genesis in the kaizen programme
implemented by them initially. Of course, TPM is very different from STARS as
TPM requires implementation of its 8 pillars. It is always better to religiously
follow any one of these improvement philosophies to keep the people focussed
and motivated rather than confusing them with the implementation of these
philosophies simultaneously.
3. Indeed it is comparatively difficult to measure the productivity levels of
employees in service-set ups like hotels compared to manufacturing
organizations. Nevertheless, it is imperative to measure the productivity levels to
keep the efficient employees motivated and to identify the ones requiring training
support to improve their performance. The productivity should be measured on

Copyright @ Oxford University Press, 2013

Production and Operations Management, 3/e

Kanishka Bedi

two counts: one on the quantity of work done e.g. number of rooms cleaned in a
day by an employee and two on the promptness and quality of work performed in
certain type of tasks e.g. time taken a bell boy to respond to a call from a room
(stop-watch time study would be helpful in this regard to establish standard
times, which may form the basis of creating some benchmarks). The customer
feedback forms (if designed on SIT techniques explained in chapter 2) may
also help in gauging the quality aspect of services executed by employees. It
should be emphasised here that quality and quantity are intertwined in
productivity measurements of service tasks.

Case Study 2: Volvo Truck Corporation

Hints to Case Questions

1. The foundry department is the only one amongst the three departments, which is
based upon JIT production. It is highly automated production and quick
maintenance of the breakdowns in machines is the key operation. Thus, a lot of
coordination is required between operators and quality responsibility is upon the
supervisors rather than on operators. The employee-supervisor ration 50:1 is
also high. Job rotation of workers takes place but job enrichment is confined to
formation of teams though even the teams do not have much of responsibility.
The system works fine because of much less number of workers compared to
manufacturing department due to foundry being a capital intensive operation
rather than labour intensive.

Copyright @ Oxford University Press, 2013

Production and Operations Management, 3/e

Kanishka Bedi

On the other hand, we find that in the manufacturing department workers are
involved in decision making, quality improvements, even materials management
etc. in the form of teams. This is made possible by automatic machines which run
themselves and operators may be involved in other activities for job enrichment.

In the assembly department, the main flowline is completely automated. Only at

the end of the automated flowline, the operators have to perform manual fittings
according to the customized requirements. Again the number of operators are
lesser compared to the manufacturing department. The work responsibilities are
loose enough to meet the customized requirements of the customers.

2. Undoubtedly, the job design in the manufacturing department is the most

contemporary and best amongst the three departments.
3. Appointing a team leader may be suitable for a short duration of time especially
as a precursor for implementing the concept of self-directed teams. In the long
run, allowing the teams to select their team leader at regular intervals of time is a
much better form of job enrichment. Also, there is no harm in a rotating ninth
worker concept especially if it helps to reduce the number of supervisors. The
ninth worker may perform dual duties that of a plain worker as well as that of a
supervisor. Workers will definitely take his word more seriously than that of an
appointed supervisor.

Copyright @ Oxford University Press, 2013