ABSTRACT
Work design can be defined as the way that jobs are structured. It includes the types, duration, sequences, and methods of tasks that workers are asked to perform; the available technology for completing such tasks; and the social and physical contexts surrounding them. Although work/job design has been associated with a variety of labels (e.g., job design, lean production, quality of life, job engineering; Garg & Rastogi, 2005; Morgeson & Campion, 2003), a recent trend in the literature uses the term work design rather than job design as a way of acknowledging the idea that jobs cannot be designed in isolation and instead must be designed with consideration of the broader organizational context (Humphrey, Nahrgang, & Morgeson, 2007). Within this chapter, the terms work design and job design are used interchangeably; however, it should be noted that organizational context is greatly important to the design of work.
