Abstract

A model is proposed that specifies the conditions under which individuals will become internally motivated to perform effectively on their jobs. The model focuses on the interaction among three classes of variables: (a) the psychological states of employees that must be present for internally motivated work behavior to develop; (b) the characteristics of jobs that can create these psychological states; and (c) the attributes of individuals that determine how positively a person will respond to a complex and challenging job. The model was tested for 658 employees who work on 62 different jobs in seven organizations, and results support its validity. A number of special features of the model are discussed (including its use as a basis for the diagnosis of jobs and the evaluation of job redesign projects), and the model is compared to other theories of job design. Work redesign is becoming increasingly prominent as a strategy for attempting to improve simultaneously the productivity and the quality of the work experience of employees in contemporary organizations. Although the benefits of work redesign (or "job enrichment" or "job enlargement") are widely touted in the management literature, in fact little is known about the reasons why "enriched" work sometimes leads to positive outcomes for workers and for their employing organizations. Even less is known about the relative effectiveness of various strategies for carrying out the redesign of work One reason for this state of affairs is that existing theories of work The authors express great appreciation to members of the consulting firm that helped us gain access to the organizations where this research was conducted; to Kenneth Brousseau, Daniel Feldman, and Linda Frank for assistance in data collection and analysis; and to Gerrit Wolf for help in analytic planning. This report was prepared in connection with research supported by the Office of Naval Research (Organizational Effectiveness Research Program,, and by the Manpower Administration, U. S. Department of Labor . Since grantees conducting research under government sponsorship are encouraged to express their own judgment freely, this report does not necessarily represent the official opinion or policy of the government. redesign are not fully adequate to meet the problems encountered in their application. Especially troublesome is the paucity of conceptual tools that are directly useful in guiding the implementation and evaluation of work redesign projects. In the paragraphs to follow, we examine several existing theoretical approaches to work redesign, with a special eye toward the measurability of the concepts employed and the action implications of the theorizing (cf. Porter, Lawler, & Hackman, 1975, Chap. 10). We then propose and report a test of a theory of work redesign that focuses specifically on how the characteristics of jobs and the characteristics of people interact to determine when an "enriched" job will lead to beneficial outcomes, and when it will not. Theoretical Approaches to Work Redesign Motivation-hygiene theory. By far the most influential theory relevant to work redesign has been the Herzberg two-factor theory of satisfaction and motivation It is to the credit of the Herzberg theory that it has prompted a great deal of research, and inspired several successful change projects involving the redesign of work (e.g., For one, a number of researchers have been unable to provide empirical support for the major tenets of the two-factor theory itself (see, for example, Moreover, the theory does not provide for differences among people in how responsive they are likely to be to "enriched" jobs. In the AT&T 252 HACKMAN AND OLDHAM studies based on the theory Finally, the theory in its present form does not specify how the presence or absence of motivating factors can be measured for existing jobs. At the least, this increases the difficulty of testing the theory in on-going organizations. It also limits the degree to which the theory can be used to diagnose jobs prior to planned change, or to evaluate the effects of work redesign activities after changes have been carried out. Activation theory. While psychologists have for many years studied the antecedents and consequences of heightened and depressed levels of psychological and physiological activation in organisms While activation theory clearly has considerable relevance to both the theory and practice of job design, two thorny problems must be dealt with before the theory can be fully applied to real-world job design problems. First, means must be developed for measuring current levels of activation of individuals in actual work settings (cf. Thayer, 1967), and for assessing the "optimal level" of activation for different individuals. Until such methodologies are developed, it will remain impractical to use activation theory in predicting or changing employee reactions to their jobs except in a very gross fashion; e.g., in situations where it is clear that most employees are enormously over-or understimulated by their jobs. A second problem has to do with ambiguities regarding the processes by which individuals adapt to changing levels in stimulation. Individuals' levels of activation decrease markedly as a function of familiarity with a given stimulus situation. However, after a period of rest, re-presentation of the same stimulus situation will once again raise the level of activation MOTIVATION THROUGH DESIGN OF WORK 253 (Scott, 1966). More complete understanding of the waxing and waning of activation in various circumstances could have many implications for job design practices; for example, the practice of "job rotation." Those who advocate job rotation claim that work motivation can be kept reasonably high by rotating individuals through several different jobs, even though each of the jobs would become monotonous and boring if one were to remain on it for a long period of time. If future research can identify ways to maintain activation at near-optimal levels through planned stimulus change, then the theory can contribute substantially to increasing the usefulness of job rotation as a motivational technique. If, however, it turns out that there are general and inevitable decreases in activation over time regardless of how different tasks and rest periods are cycled, then the long-term usefulness of the technique would seem to be limited. In either case, the potential for applying activation theory to the design of jobs may be limited mainly to those cases in which there are actively dysfunctional affective and behavioral outcomes associated with routine, repetitive jobs. The theory offers less guidance for the design of work that will elicit and maintain positive and self-reinforcing work motivation. Socio-technical systems theory. The socio-technical systems approach to work redesign provides significant insight into the interdependencies between technical aspects of the work itself and the broader social milieu in which the work is done Yet for all its merit, the socio-technical systems approach provides few explicit specifications of how (and under what circumstances) the work itself and the social surroundings affect one another. It is, therefore, difficult to test the adequacy of the theory qua theory. Moreover, the approach provides little specific guidance about how (and how not to) proceed in carrying out work redesign activities, other than the general dictum to attend to both the technical and social aspects of the work 254 HACKMAN AND OLDHAM setting and the device of the autonomous work group. Absent from the approach, for example, are explicit means for diagnosing a work system prior to change (to ascertain what "should" be changed, and how), or for evaluating in systematic terms the outcomes of changes that have been completed. For these reasons, the major value of socio-technical systems theory appears to be its considerable usefulness as a way of thinking about work systems and their redesign. In its present form, it has only limited use in generating new understanding through quantitative tests of theoryspecified propositions, or in providing explicit and concrete guidance about what organizational changes to make under what circumstances. Jobs and individual differences: An interactive approach. Research on work design that focuses on the objective characteristics of jobs is rooted in the work of Expected positive relationships between the RTA Index and employee satisfaction and attendance were found only for workers from factories located in small towns. For employees in urban work settings, satisfaction was inversely related to the scores of jobs on the RTA Index, and absenteeism was unrelated to the Index. The investigators concluded that reactions to jobs high on the RTA Index were moderated by differences in the cultural backgrounds of employees. Subsequent research by A study by Results of the study generally supported the hypothesis that employees who work on jobs high on the core dimensions show high work motivation, satisfaction, performance, and attendance. Also, Hackman and Lawler found that a number of dependent measures were moderated as MOTIVATION THROUGH DESIGN OF WORK 255 predicted by growth need strength: That is, employees with high measured needs for growth responded more positively to complex jobs than did employees low in growth need strength. The appropriate conceptualization and measurement of the differences among people that moderate how they respond to complex jobs has been the subject of a number of recent studies. Findings similar to those reported by Hackman and Lawler have been reported by In sum, there is now substantial evidence that differences among people do moderate how they react to the complexity and challenge of their work, and studies using direct measures of individual needs seem to provide more consistent and strong support for this finding than do measures of subcultural background or of generalized work values. THE JOB CHARACTERISTICS MODEL The model presented and tested in this paper is an attempt to extend, refine, and systematize the relationships described above between job characteristics and individual responses to the work. The basic job characteristics model is presented in Psychological States The three psychological states (experienced meaningfulness of the work, experienced responsibility for the outcomes of the work and knowledge of the results of the work activities) are the causal core of the model. Following It should be noted that self-generated motivation should be highest when all three of the psychological states are present. If the performer feels fully responsible for work outcomes on a meaningful task, but never finds out how well he is performing, it is doubtful that he will experience the internal rewards that can prompt self-generated motivation. Similarly, if he has full knowledge of the results of the work, but experiences the task as trivial (or feels no personal responsibility for the results of the work), internal motivation will not be high. The three psychological states are defined as follows: Experienced Meaningfulness of the Work. The degree to which the individual experiences the job as one which is generally meaningful, valuable, and worthwhile; Experienced Responsibility for Work Outcomes. The degree to which the individual feels personally accountable and responsible for the results of the work he or she does; MOTIVATION THROUGH DESIGN OF WORK 257 Knowledge of Results. The degree to which the individual knows and understands, on a continuous basis, how effectively he or she is performing the job. Job Dimensions Of the five characteristics of jobs shown in