ABSTRACT
Work design is described as “how jobs, tasks, and roles are structured, enacted, and modied, as well as the impact of these structures, enactments, and modi-cations on individual, group, and organizational outcomes.” (Grant & Parker, 2009, page 319). While previous research has shown that the way jobs, tasks, and roles are designed aects important outcomes such as performance and wellbeing, Grant and Parker (2009) argued that because of changes in the nature of work from delivery of goods to the delivery of services and knowledge work, more research is needed on how work design aects proactivity. The aim of this chapter is to review recent research on work design and proactivity, with a focus on the work characteristics that have been linked to proactivity, on the boundary conditions, and on the underlying mechanisms. In the second part of the chapter, we identify the gaps in previous research by discussing work characteristics and mechanisms that have not received sucient attention. An overview of the concepts and topics in this chapter is depicted in Figure 14.1.
