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

S.R. Fletcher, T.S. Baines, D.K. Harrison

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1113-1123
Number of pages11
JournalInternational Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology
Volume35
Issue number11-12
Early online date25 Nov 2006
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2008

Bibliographical note

The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com

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