Busy Bee Ltd

question 95

Essay

Busy Bee 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 Busy Bee Ltd. Would job enlargement (combining tasks) be an effective job design strategy for employees in Busy Bee's secretarial pool?

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Definitions:

Independent

Not influenced or controlled by others in matters of opinion, conduct, etc.; thinking or acting for oneself.

Treatment

In experimental design, the condition applied to subjects or objects to assess its effect on some outcome.

Reaction

The process of responding to a stimulus or an action, seen in various contexts including chemistry, physiology, and psychology.

Headaches

Pain or discomfort in the head, scalp, or neck, which can vary in severity and duration.