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What are the trade offs Bagby faces between specialized and broad task assignments?

The tradeoffs between specialized and broad tasks assignments include comparative advantages, costs, and incentive issues. Specialized tasking allows matching employees with jobs based on their skills, reducing the need for training and producing a higher output. (Brickley, Smith, & Zimmerman, 2009). Broad task assignment employees are completing more than one job function, costing more money to train and hire, but allowing coverage if employees call in sick. Bagby would benefit in bringing in specialized employees for hiring requirements, as well. Bagby could hire different levels of education based on job requirement; if the tasks are bundled Bagby would have to hire the highest education for the most complex job. Bagby being a copy machine company specialized tasking and bundling would both be appropriate. Specialized would be needed based on liability of working with electrical systems and testing those systems. Specialized tasking would make employees limited to one task and unable to perform other tasks if an employee were to quit or call in sick. Bundling would be effective because the jobs are closely related. Producing a wire harness is closely related to testing the harness; individuals creating the harnesses should know how to properly test them to finish the project.

What are the trade-offs between these two methods of grouping wire harness makers into subgroups?

Bagby Copy Company can choose to group jobs by function, product or geographic location. Grouping according to the unitary form “places each primary function into one major subunit” (Brickley, Smith, & Zimmerman, 2009).This helps provide increased communication within the subgroup, making performance appraisals and compensation more efficient for management. Employees have increased working

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