An investigation of production workers' performance variations and the potential impact of attitudes

Abstract

In most manufacturing systems the contribution of human labour remains a vital element that affects overall performance and output. Workers’ individual performance is known to be a product of personal attitudes towards work. However, in current system design processes, worker performance variability is assumed to be largely insignificant and the potential impact of worker attitudes is ignored. This paper describes a field study that investigated the extent to which workers’ production task cycle times vary and the degree to which such variations are associated with attitude differences. Results show that worker performance varies significantly, much more than is assumed by contemporary manufacturing system designers and that this appears to be due to production task characteristics. The findings of this research and their implications are discussed.

Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-006-0793-y
Divisions: College of Business and Social Sciences > Aston Business School > Operations & Information Management
College of Business and Social Sciences > Aston Business School > Advanced Services Group
Additional Information: The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com
Uncontrolled Keywords: Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
Publication ISSN: 1433-3015
Last Modified: 04 Jan 2024 08:04
Date Deposited: 11 Mar 2019 18:12
Full Text Link: http://www.spri ... 75l5n730331kv2/
Related URLs: http://www.scop ... tnerID=8YFLogxK (Scopus URL)
PURE Output Type: Article
Published Date: 2008-02
Published Online Date: 2006-11-25
Authors: Fletcher, S.R.
Baines, T.S. (ORCID Profile 0000-0002-7518-2967)
Harrison, D.K.

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