Multitask Learning and the Reorganization of Work: From Tayloristic to Holistic Organization

• Published in: Journal of labor economics Vol. 18; no. 3; pp. 353 - 376
• Main Authors: Lindbeck, Assar, Snower, Dennis J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago The University of Chicago Press 01-07-2000; University of Chicago, acting through its Press
• Subjects: Capital stock; Comparative advantage; Decentralization; Decision making; Employee efficiency; Employees; Employment; Human capital; Information technology; Job rotation; Labor; Manufacturing; Multitasking; Productivity; Profit analysis; Quality circles; Skills; Teams; Total quality; Wages; Workers
• ISSN: 0734-306X; 1537-5307
• DOI: 10.1086/209962

This article analyzes an important aspect of the contemporary reorganization of work within firms: the shift from “Tayloristic” organization (characterized by specialization by tasks) to “holistic” organization (featuring job rotation, integration of tasks, and learning across tasks). We examine four driving forces behind this restructuring process: advances in production technologies promoting technological task complementarities, advances in information technologies promoting informational task complementarities, changes in worker preferences in favor of versatile work, and advances in human capital that make workers more versatile. Our analysis also helps explain the recent widening of wage differentials and disparities in job opportunities within narrowly defined groups.