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Chapter 9 People, jobs and
organization
Key questions
➤ Why are people issues so important
in operations management?
➤ How do operations managers
contribute to human resource
strategy?
➤ What forms can organization
designs take?
➤ How do we go about designing
jobs?
➤ How are work times allocated?
Introduction
Operations management is often presented as a subject the
main focus of which is on technology, systems, procedures and
facilities – in other words the non-human parts of the organization.
This is not true of course. On the contrary, the manner in which
an organization’s human resources are managed has a profound
impact on the effectiveness of its operations function. In this
chapter we look especially at the elements of human resource
management which are traditionally seen as being directly within
the sphere of operations management. These are, how operations
managers contribute to human resource strategy, organization
design, designing the working environment, job design, and
the allocation of ‘work times’ to operations activities. The more
detailed (and traditional) aspects of these last two elements are
discussed further in the supplement to this chapter on Work
Study. Figure 9.1 shows how this chapter fits into the overall
model of operations activities.
Figure 9.1 This chapter examines people, jobs and organization
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