“Power Base” Tactics for Workplace Change – an Interview Study with Industrial Engineers and Ergonomists

• The work activities of Industrial Engineers (IEs) and Ergonomists drive workplace changes. The purpose of this study is to compare the work practices of the two professions and examine 1) how IEs and ergonomists gain influence over workplace changes, and 2) whether there are prevailing types of intentional interaction behaviours called Power Bases (PB), present in the interactiontactics they employ. The study identified key behavioural strategies used by the interviewees to successfully influence workplace changes; these were then mapped to their corresponding PB. Results showed that IEs and Ergonomists were successfully influencing workplace changes using several tactics across the spectrum of power bases, with the exception of Reward and Coercion. The study concludes with a list of recommended workplace change agent tactics, and proposes that a PB “analytical lens” can serve to increase the budding ergonomist’s critical and analytical skills when considering possible workplace change tactics.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Hälso- och sjukvårdsorganisation, hälsopolitik och hälsoekonomi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Health Care Service and Management, Health Policy and Services and Health Economy (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Arbetslivsstudier (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Work Sciences (hsv//eng)

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Annan teknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Other Engineering and Technologies (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Arbetsmedicin och miljömedicin (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Occupational Health and Environmental Health (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Organizational Design and Management

Power bases

Stakeholders

Organizational Ergonomics

Occupational Health

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