Division of labor

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phanish Puranam
Keyword(s):  
Division Of Labor ◽  
Task Allocation ◽  
Task Structure ◽  
Heuristic Approaches ◽  
Object Based ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Task Division ◽  
And Task

Division of labor involves task division and task allocation. An extremely important consequence of task division and allocation is the creation of interdependence between agents. In fact, division of labor can be seen as a process that converts interdependence between tasks into interdependence between agents. While there are many ways in which the task structure can be chunked and divided among agents, two important heuristic approaches involve division of labor by activity vs. object. I show that a choice between these two forms of division of labor only arises when the task structure is non-decomposable, but the product itself is decomposable. When the choice arises, a key criterion for selection between activity vs. object-based division of labor is the gain from specialization relative to the gain from customization.

scholarly journals Job Turf or Variety: Task Structure as a Source of Organizational Inequality

2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 1018-1057
Author(s):  
Nathan Wilmers
Keyword(s):  
Panel Data ◽  
Division Of Labor ◽  
Labor Unions ◽  
Organizational Theory ◽  
Task Allocation ◽  
Task Structure ◽  
Organizational Influence ◽  
Work Tasks ◽  
Annual Reporting ◽  
Task Variety

What explains pay inequality among coworkers? Theories of organizational influence on inequality emphasize the effects of formal hierarchy. But restructuring, firm flattening, and individualized pay setting have challenged the relevance of these structuralist theories. I propose a new organizational theory of differences in pay, focused on task structure and the horizontal division of labor across jobs. When organizations specialize jobs, they reduce the variety of tasks performed by some workers. In doing so they leave exclusive job turf to other coworkers, who capture the learning and discretion associated with performing a distinct task. The division of labor thus erodes pay premiums for some workers while advantaging others through job turf. I test this theory with linked employer–employee panel data from U.S. labor unions, which include a type of data that is rarely collected: annual reporting on work tasks. Results show that reducing task variety lowers workers’ earnings, while increasing job turf raises earnings. When organizations reduce task variety for some workers, they increase job turf for others. Without assuming fixed job hierarchies and pay rates, interdependencies in organizational task allocation yield unequal pay premiums among coworkers.

Learning from feedback: Effects of task information and task structure

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben R. Newell ◽  
Nicola J. Weston ◽  
Richard Tunney ◽  
David R. Shanks
Keyword(s):  
Task Structure ◽  
Feedback Effects ◽  
And Task

scholarly journals Effects of stimulus and task structure on temporal perceptual learning

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rannie Xu ◽  
Russell M. Church ◽  
Yuka Sasaki ◽  
Takeo Watanabe
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Discrimination ◽  
Discrimination Performance ◽  
Task Structure ◽  
Comparison Task ◽  
Interval Representation ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Temporal Intervals ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
Temporal Learning ◽  
And Task

AbstractOur ability to discriminate temporal intervals can be improved with practice. This learning is generally thought to reflect an enhancement in the representation of a trained interval, which leads to interval-specific improvements in temporal discrimination. In the present study, we asked whether temporal learning is further constrained by context-specific factors dictated through the trained stimulus and task structure. Two groups of participants were trained using a single-interval auditory discrimination task over 5 days. Training intervals were either one of eight predetermined values (FI group), or random from trial to trial (RI group). Before and after the training period, we measured discrimination performance using an untrained two-interval temporal comparison task. Our results revealed a selective improvement in the FI group, but not the RI group. However, this learning did not generalize between the trained and untrained tasks. These results highlight the sensitivity of TPL to stimulus and task structure, suggesting that mechanisms of temporal learning rely on processes beyond changes in interval representation.

The Formation of the Soviet Bloc's Council for Mutual Economic Assistance: Romania's Involvement

2012 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Dragomir
Keyword(s):  
Division Of Labor ◽  
Soviet Bloc ◽  
Economic Assistance ◽  
Mutual Economic ◽  
Mutual Economic Assistance ◽  
The Creation ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
The 1960S

This article discusses Romania's role in the creation of the Soviet bloc's Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) in January 1949. The article explains why Romanian leaders, with Soviet approval, proposed the creation of the CMEA and why the proposal was adopted. An analysis of Romania's support for the creation of the CMEA sheds interesting light on the stance taken by Romania in the 1960s and 1970s against the Soviet Union's attempts to use the CMEA in forging a supranational division of labor in the Soviet bloc. Romania's opposition was largely in accord with the objectives originally envisaged by Romanian leaders when the CMEA was formed.

Provider selection and task allocation issues in networks with different QoS levels and all you can send pricing

2007 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 375-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nihat Kasap ◽  
Haldun Aytug ◽  
S. Selcuk Erenguc
Keyword(s):  
Task Allocation ◽  
And Task

The Effect of Processing Code, Response Modality and Task Difficulty on Dual Task Performance and Subjective Workload in a Manual System

1987 ◽  
Vol 31 (7) ◽  
pp. 847-851 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yili Liu ◽  
Christopher D. Wickens
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Task Structure ◽  
Time Sharing ◽  
Multiple Resources ◽  
Response Modality ◽  
Dual Task Performance ◽  
Processing Resources ◽  
And Task

We report here the first experiment of a series studying the effect of task structure and difficulty demand on time-sharing performance and workload in both automated and corresponding manual systems. The experimental task involves manual control time-shared with spatial and verbal decisions tasks of two levels of difficulty and two modes of response (voice or manual). The results provide strong evidence that tasks and processes competing for common processing resources are time shared less effectively and have higher workload than tasks competing for separate resources. Subjective measures and the structure of multiple resources are used in conjunction to predict dual task performance. The evidence comes from both single task and from dual task performance.

scholarly journals Context-dependent expression of the foraging gene in field colonies of ants: the interacting roles of age, environment and task

2016 ◽  
Vol 283 (1837) ◽  
pp. 20160841 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krista K. Ingram ◽  
Deborah M. Gordon ◽  
Daniel A. Friedman ◽  
Michael Greene ◽  
John Kahler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Task Allocation ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Light Exposure ◽  
Genetic Regulation ◽  
Behavioural Plasticity ◽  
Harvester Ants ◽  
Ontogenetic Changes ◽  
Context Dependent ◽  
And Task

Task allocation among social insect workers is an ideal framework for studying the molecular mechanisms underlying behavioural plasticity because workers of similar genotype adopt different behavioural phenotypes. Elegant laboratory studies have pioneered this effort, but field studies involving the genetic regulation of task allocation are rare. Here, we investigate the expression of the foraging gene in harvester ant workers from five age- and task-related groups in a natural population, and we experimentally test how exposure to light affects foraging expression in brood workers and foragers. Results from our field study show that the regulation of the foraging gene in harvester ants occurs at two time scales: levels of foraging mRNA are associated with ontogenetic changes over weeks in worker age, location and task, and there are significant daily oscillations in foraging expression in foragers. The temporal dissection of foraging expression reveals that gene expression changes in foragers occur across a scale of hours and the level of expression is predicted by activity rhythms: foragers have high levels of foraging mRNA during daylight hours when they are most active outside the nests. In the experimental study, we find complex interactions in foraging expression between task behaviour and light exposure. Oscillations occur in foragers following experimental exposure to 13 L : 11 D (LD) conditions, but not in brood workers under similar conditions. No significant differences were seen in foraging expression over time in either task in 24 h dark (DD) conditions. Interestingly, the expression of foraging in both undisturbed field and experimentally treated foragers is also significantly correlated with the expression of the circadian clock gene, cycle . Our results provide evidence that the regulation of this gene is context-dependent and associated with both ontogenetic and daily behavioural plasticity in field colonies of harvester ants. Our results underscore the importance of assaying temporal patterns in behavioural gene expression and suggest that gene regulation is an integral mechanism associated with behavioural plasticity in harvester ants.

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