ABC Ltdhas a Large Secretarial Pool on the Third Floor of of Company

question 36

Essay

ABC Ltd.has a large secretarial pool on the third floor of company headquarters where professional and lower-level managers have their reports and other documents word-processed.The tasks are received by the secretarial pool coordinator and assigned randomly (on an availability basis) to secretaries in the pool.The secretaries often do not know the managers or professionals for whom the word-processing assignment is being completed.They rarely find out about the quality of their work because revisions are often sent to other secretaries in the pool due to the rotating work assignment system.Some assignments involve simple word-processing while others require complex formatting using more sophisticated word-processing software.Some secretaries don't mind working in the pool, but most are there because it represents the entry-level secretarial position.They resent the lack of control over work assignments and look forward to being transferred to other secretarial jobs in the firm where there is more freedom to schedule their own work activities.Turnover in the pool is much higher than for other support staff at ABC Ltd.Explain whether or not job enlargement (combining tasks) would be an effective job design strategy for employees in ABC's secretarial pool and why.

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Definitions:

Budget Line

A graphical representation that shows all possible combinations of two goods that can be purchased with a given income and prices.

Commodity 1

A generic term for a raw material or primary agricultural product that can be bought and sold, such as copper or coffee.

Commodity 2

Typically refers to a basic good used in commerce that is interchangeable with other goods of the same type.

Budget Line

A graphical representation of all possible combinations of two goods that a consumer can afford given their income and the prices of the goods.