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In presenting a new strategy for redesigning jobs to increase the work motivation and satisfaction of employees, the paper examines a basic theory of job motivation, a group of core dimensions of jobs which create the conditions for such internal motivation to develop on the job, a set of diagnostic tools for evaluating jobs and people's reaction to them, for pinpointing exactly what aspects of specific jobs are most critical to a successful change attempt, and a set of five action steps to increase employee motivation, satisfaction, and productivity. The five implementing concepts are: (1) forming natural work units, (2) combining tasks, (3) establishing client relationships, (4) vertical loading, and (5) opening feedback channels. A job enrichment project conducted at The Travelers Insurance Companies is summarized to illustrate practical applications of the change procedures. (MW)

The report describes the Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS), an instrument designed to measure the following classes of variables: (1) objective job characteristics, particularly the degree to which jobs are designed so that they enhance work motivation and job satisfaction; (2) personnel affective reactions of individuals to their jobs and work setting; (3) the readiness of individuals to respond positively to "enriched" jobs--jobs with high potential for generating internal work motivation. Based on a specific theory of how jobs affect employee motivation, the JDS is intended to: (1) diagnose existing jobs to determine if (and how) redesigning could improve employee productivity and satisfaction; and (2) evaluate the effect of job changes on employees--whether the changes derive from deliberate "job enrichment" projects or from naturally occurring modifications of technology or work systems. The JDS has gone through three cycles of revision and pre-testing. Reliability and validity data are summarized for 658 employees in 62 different jobs in seven organizations who have responded to the revised instrument. Two supplementary instruments are also described: (1) a rating form for assessing "target" jobs; and (2) a short form of the JDS. All instruments and scoring keys are appended. (Author/MW)

Job enrichment rapidly is becoming one of the most widely used behavioral science strategies for organizational change. And there is scattered but compelling evidence that, under certain conditions, the technique can lead simultaneously to both improved productivity and an increase in the quality of employee work experiences. Yet observations of on-going job enrichment projects in a number of organizations suggest that the approach is failing in practice at least as often as it is succeeding--and that its future as a strategy for personal and organizational change may be bleak. The report (1) explores a number of frequently-observed errors in implementing job enrichment that can lead to "failures" of the technique, and (2) identifies a number of ingredients found to be common to most of the "successful" job enrichment projects that were observed. (Author)

Total quality management (TQM) has become a U.S. social movement. This commentary analyzes the writings of W. Edwards Deming, Joseph Juran, and Kaoru Ishikawa to assess TQM's coherence, distinctiveness, and likely perseverance. Rhetoric is winning over substance, unrelated interventions are being herded under the TQM banner, and research is not exercising a corrective function. (77 references) (MLH)

Cockpit crews always operate in an organizational context, and the transactions between the crew and representatives of that context (e.g., organizational managers, air traffic controllers) are consequential for any crew's performance. For a complete understanding of crew performance a look beyond the traditional focus on individual pilots is provided to see how team- and organization-level factors can enhance (or impede) the ability of even well-trained individuals to work together effectively. This way of thinking about cockpit crews (that is, viewing them as teams that operate in organizations) offers some potentially useful avenues for thinking about next steps in the development of CRM training programs. Those possibilities are explored, emphasizing how they can enrich (not replace) individually-focussed CRM training.