ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the subdiscipline of human factors or ergonomics that has come to be known as macroergonomics. Macroergonomics is concerned with the analysis, design, and evaluation of work systems. The term work is used herein to refer to any form of human effort or activity, including recreation and leisure pursuits. As used herein, system refers to sociotechnical systems. These systems may be as simple as a single individual using a hand tool or as complex as a multinational organization. A work system consists of two or more persons interacting with some form of (1) job design, (2) hardware and/or software, (3) internal environment, (4) external environment, and (5) an organizational design (i.e., the work system’s structure and processes). Job design includes work modules, tasks, knowledge and skill requirements, and such factors as the degree of autonomy, identity, variety, meaningfulness, feedback, and opportunity for social interaction. The hardware typically consists of machines or tools. The internal environment consists of various physical parameters, such as temperature, humidity, illumination, noise, temperature, humidity, air quality, and vibration. It also includes psychosocial factors (see Chapter 3). The external environment consists of those elements that
permeate the organization to which the organization must be responsive to be successful. Included are political, cultural, and economic factors (e.g., materials and parts resources, customers, available labor pool, and educational resources). Of particular importance is the degree of stability or change of these external environment factors and, taken together for a given work system, the degree of environmental complexity they present to the organization. The organizational design of a work system consists of its organizational structure and the processes by which the work system accomplishes its functions.
