Chapter 19: Social factors The social and organizational context on the performance of the individual Team and group characteristics and the requirements for success Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) Macroergonomics and effective interventions

Heart disease and job characteristics

Social and organizational context Cultural influences Organizational influences Social influences Cognitive influences Country Company Group/Team Individual

Team and group characteristics Every team is a group, but not every group is a team Group Limited role differentiation Task performance depends on individual contributions Group performance better than average member, but not better than best member, less than the sum of individuals Team Interdependence that requires coordination Roles highly differentiated, specific responsibilities Complementary skills

Effective teamwork Common vision and meaningful purpose Perception of interdependence Commitment to work together Coordination to effectively use team member skills Team shares accountability Groups of 5 are best for discussions Taskwork skills and Teamwork skills

Teamwork skills Communication, cooperation, coordination, critique, compensation Shared mental model supports implicit coordination Use of downtime to tune shared mental model

Characteristics of highly reliable organizations Maintain constant awareness of possibility of accidents Constant search for improvement in safety and reliability Decision making is dispersed and not dependent on a central authority Reporting of errors and faults are rewarded not punished

Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) General trend to computerization requires consideration of group work Three dimensions define groups/teams and the requirements for computer support (groupware): Degree of role differentiation Degree of external control/synchronization Local/remote location

Group types and groupware requirements Low differentiation/Low synchronization Advisory groups Decision support Low differentiation/ High synchronization Production groups Task support High differentiation/Low synchronization Development teams Collaboration support High differentiation/ High synchronization Action teams Coordination support

Macroergonomics and industrial interventions Macroergonomics takes a broad perspective, addressing social and organizational factors Unit of analysis goes beyond person-machine system Top-down approach that considers organizational characteristics Programs consider company-wide factors and includes: Education Incentive programs Job redesign

Interventions and participatory ergonomics Participatory ergonomics= workers actively define the ergonomics solution Succeeds because: Workers know a lot about their jobs Workers “ownership” enhances enthusiasm with implementation Workers involvement supports flexible problem solving that considers the operational constraints

Barriers to interventions Cost and stockholder pressure (e.g., demonstrated return on investment) Change can undermine power and authority of managers Powerful traditions and culture Tendency to resist change (not broken don’t fix)

Key aspects of social factors Social and organizational context matters Groups are not necessarily teams Degree of role differentiation and synchronization defines types of teams Task training is not the same as team training Effective computer support depends on team type Macroergonomics helps define the success of microergonomics