Cross training in production systems with human learning and forgetting

Organizations have been making use of workforce cross training, also known as job rotation, job flexibility, and worker multifunctionality, for a considerable time. A number of related concepts have been widely recognized by both researchers and practitioners in a variety of theoretical models and organizational designs. In relating to these systems, in which workers are trained on alternate tasks in addition to their primary tasks, much of the

question of how much cross training should be given to each worker, i.e., how many different tasks each worker should master under certain assumptions (e.g., Bokhorst and Slomp, 2000; Slomp and Molleman, 2000; Cesani and Steudel, 2000a, 2000b; and Russell et al., 1991). A key difficulty in determining the appropriate number of tasks is the fact that there is significant heterogeneity within many organizations with respect to human performance and capabilities (see, for example, Buzzacott, 2002). Specifically, levels of human learning and forgetting play an important role in productivity outcomes (Shafer et al., 2001).