Designing jobs : universal principles or strategic choice?

The latter half of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century have seen significant interest in redesigning jobs to stimulate employee motivation and job satisfaction. It has been argued that employees will perform better if they can utilise a variety of skills in performing tasks which have meaning and significance for both the employees and for those who consume the end product, and where the employees have considerable autonomy in carrying out these tasks. This paper examines the literature on job redesign and considers the question as to whether these principles should apply in all cases, or whether other factors such as business strategy and managerial choice should be considered in determining the applicability of job redesign principles.