Toward a Framework for Structured Job-Collaboration Design

This paper introduces the idea that job design and design of collaboration are inseparable. On this basis, job design is reformulated as job-collaboration design. Combining activity theory and systems approach, the paper introduces several functional-structural models and interprets conventional job design decisions in terms of the modeling operations. It describes a sequence of stages for the first phase of structural job-collaboration design, which uses the introduced models and results in a design of the ideal job-collaboration network, which is supposed to function strictly according to the standards. Structured methodology for designing social support mechanisms, which compensate deviations from the standards experienced by real organizations is on our future agenda.