THE TECHNOLOGICAL IMPERATIVE FOR FOCUS OF FEEDBACK: INTEGRATING JOB DESIGN AND EXPECTANCY MODELS THROUGH FEEDBACK (TECHNOLOGY, TASK DESIGN, ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION)

Job design theory proposes that enriched jobs result in higher levels of performance and job satisfaction. However, some theorists have suggested that enrichment strategies may inadvertently introduce sources of task uncertainty or interdependence into the work process. Using an Expectancy Theory framework, this study proposed that these sources of uncertainty may actually reduce individual perceptions of the critical contingencies which link individual effort to valued outcomes. This reduction would, in turn, reduce extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, resulting in reduced performance and satisfaction. Furthermore, reviews of research testing job design theory have revealed inconsistencies regarding one job design characteristic--feedback. This study proposed that the operationalization of feedback as knowledge of results in job design theory was inadequate. Therefore, feedback was dimensionalized in this study according to the components of Expectancy Theory, and feedback messages were developed which focus on the contingencies hypothesized to be of interest to workers in situations of high technological uncertainty. Four types of feedback were identified: Directional, Effort-Performance, Performance-Reward, and Non-Content. Hypotheses were presented which stated that, for maximum task performance and satisfaction, people working on tasks high in uncertainty need both Directional and Effort-Performance feedback and that people working on tasks high in interdependence need Performance-Reward feedback. Results of a laboratory experiment testing these hypotheses indicated strong support for the proposition that focused feedback results in better performance. However, results were mixed concerning satisfaction outcomes. In general, individuals were more satisfied with the task being performed when more feedback was provided, whatever the focus, but they were less satisfied with tasks in the highest uncertainty condition, despite the feedback. These findings suggest major implications regarding the possible moderating, versus causal, role of feedback in the job design model, especially under conditions of high task uncertainty. Additionally, subjects apparently inferred positive effort-performance feedback when only performance-reward feedback was offered (and vice versa), which has implications for Expectancy Theory in terms of a possible hierarchical, versus multiplicative, relationship between Expectancy and Instrumentality