Operations & Project Management Discussion

In Chapter 5A, read the Behavioral Considerations in Job Design focusing on the Task Identity principle found on page 142 and ponder how important the aspect of a "job title" is. When you meet someone new, after learning each other’s name the next thing you ask is "What do you do?" Several companies, Wal-Mart being the largest, have eliminated job titles and most everyone is called an "associate". The question I ask you to consider; how important is a job title in your current, or past, position? How would your role in the workforce change if all employees were considered associates?

Make sure you check out the Week 2 Web Links before you attempt to answer this question.

When reading over this week discussion, I began to ponder on how I really viewed “job titles” and its evolution from my past and present experiences. Before I discuss my previous experiences, I want to start off by saying that I’m a firm believer that a title is just a title and the person that stand behind that title generates how others perceive you. With that being said, in my experiences in working in the public/private sectors “titles” have been utilized to show a hierarchy of job task/scope and/or responsibilities assumed. It provides what I call a “path of motivation” for me to achieve my personal as well as professional goals. For example, when I received my undergraduate degree, I began working for Chrysler with an aspiration of becoming a Systems Analyst working in the IT field. Once I began working there, I was introduced to the so called “corporate politics” in which I had to start from the bottom and work my way up. One of the variables that motivated me was the steps or “job titles” and had to assume to achieve my goal. I observed and studied the roles and responsibilities that came with each job title and positioned myself to acquire those skills via training and education. One other variable I learned was that often, there was a deviation from the norm and one could...