Socio-technical systems
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224111458
2008-07-07T10:45:14Z
Raghavachari
7425128
/* Motivation */
{{mergeto|Sociotechnical systems theory|date=July 2008}}
In [[organizational development]], '''socio-technical systems''' (or STS) is an approach to complex organizational [[work design]] that recognizes the interaction between [[people]] and [[technology]] in [[workplace]]s.
The term also refers to the interaction between society's complex infrastructures and human behaviour. In this sense, society itself, and most of its sub-structures, are complex socio-technical systems.
The term sociotechnical systems was coined in the [[1960]]s by [[Eric Trist]] and [[Fred Emery]], who were working as consultants at the [[Tavistock Institute]] in [[London]].
== Some topics ==
Major topics in social-technical systems are [[job design]], job enrichment, job enlargement, job rotation, motivation, process improvement, [[satisfaction]], task analysis, and self-managing [[team]]s.
=== Work design ===
[[Work design]] or job design in organizational development is the application of [[socio-technical systems]] principles and techniques to the humanization of work. The aims of work design to improved job satisfaction, to improved through-put, to improved quality and to reduced employee problems, e.g., grievances, absenteeism.
=== Job enrichment ===
[[Job enrichment]] in organizational development, human resources management, and [[organizational behavior]], is the process of giving the employee a wider and higher level scope of responsibilitiy with increased decision making authority. This is the opposite of job enlargement, which simply would not involve greater authority. Instead, it will only have an increased number of duties.<ref> Richard M. Steers and Lyman W. Porte, ''Motivation and Work Behavior'', 1991. pages 215, 322, 357, 411-413, 423, 428-441 and 576.</ref>
=== Job enlargement ===
[[Job enlargement]] means increasing the scope of a [[job]] through extending the range of its job duties and [[responsibilities]]. This contradicts the principles of [[specialisation]] and the [[division of labour]] whereby work is divided into small units, each of which is performed repetitively by an individual worker. Some motivational theories suggest that the boredom and alienation caused by the division of labour can actually cause efficiency to fall.
=== Job rotation ===
[[Job rotation]] is an approach to management development, where an individual is moved through a schedule of assignments designed to give him or her a breadth of exposure to the entire operation. Job rotation is also practiced to allow qualified employees to gain more insights into the processes of a company and to increase job satisfaction through job variation. The term job rotation can also mean the scheduled exchange of persons in offices, especially in public offices, prior to the end of incumbency or the legislative period. This has been practiced by the [[German green party]] for some time but has been discontinued
=== Motivation ===
[[Motivation]] in psychology refers to the initiation, direction, intensity and persistence of behavior.<ref>Geen, R. G. (1995), Human motivation: A social psychological approach. Belmont, CA: Cole.</ref> Motivation is a temporal and dynamic state that should not be confused with personality or emotion. Motivation is having the desire and willingness to do something. A motivated person can be reaching for a long-term goal such as becoming a professional writer or a more short-term goal like learning how to spell a particular word. Personality invariably refers to more or less permanent characteristics of an individual's state of being (e.g., shy,extrovert, conscientious. As opposed to motivation, emotion refers to temporal states that do not immediately link to behavior (e.g, anger, grief, happiness).
=== Process improvement ===
[[Process improvement]] in organizational development is a series of actions taken to identify, analyze and improve existing [[process]]es within an [[organization]] to meet new [[Objective (goal)|goal]]s and objectives. These actions often follow a specific [[methodology]] or [[strategy]] to create successful results.
=== Task analysis ===
[[Task analysis]] is the analysis of how a [[task]] is accomplished, including a detailed description of both manual and mental activities, task and element durations, task frequency, task allocation, task complexity, environmental conditions, necessary clothing and equipment, and any other unique factors involved in or required for one or more people to perform a given task. This information can then be used for many purposes, such as [[personnel selection]] and [[training]], tool or equipment design, [[procedure]] design (e.g., design of [[checklist| checklists]] or [[decision support systems]]) and [[automation]].
=== Example ===
An [[information system]] is a communication system using artefacts in support of a given human activity system. Hence, it could be considered as a classic example of a socio-technical system in that it bridges between a human activity system and an ICT system. An information system is fundamentally concerned with communication in support of human activity using artefacts to represent, store, manipulate and transmit data. The essence of an information system therefore lies not purely in the technology or in the activity: it lies in the way in which technology is used in support of purposeful action<ref>Beynon-Davies P. (2002). Information Systems: an introduction to informatics in Organisations. Palgrave, Basingstoke, UK. ISBN 0-333-96390-3</ref>.
==See also==
*[[List of management topics]]
*[[Human factors]]
*[[Sociotechnical systems theory]]
==References==
<references />
[[Category:Organizational studies and human resource management]]
[[Category:Social systems]]
[[Category:Systems psychology]]
[[de:Soziotechnisches System]]
[[he:ארגונים וטכנולוגיה]]