Scoping Job Enlargement with the Cultural Dimension of Individualism: An Industrial

Abstract

Job satisfaction and sustainable job performance require managers to find the right balance between job enlargement and the division of labor in designing the optimum scope of work toward a continuum of employee engagement. This dissertation explores the cultural dimension of “Individualism” and its’ implication in this balance. If a manufacturing line is transferred from the United States (91 mean individualism score) to China (20 mean individualism score) does the scope of the work need to change to ensure that a greater population of workers is engaged and that they have work passion toward sustained performance (Hofstede, n.d.)? Does the statement of work need to increase in detail and prescriptiveness or conversely in autonomy and diversity of tasks to match the mean cultural dimension of individualism corresponding with the target culture of the workforce? This study builds on the theory of job enlargement, and considers a cultural implication of individualism in international business