Human-machine interface : a case study to investigate the effect of a newly introduced system on the work morale of the people who interact with it

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:This study aims to investigate a work environment into which a new workflow system,that automates the work process, has recently been introduced. The study will focuson the level of work morale displayed by the people active in this new environment,as well as their perception of their work.The study takes the form of a case study carried out in the Nedcor Home LoansApplication Processing Centre. This centre is the central area in which all home loanapplications for the entire Gauteng, North West, Orange Free State, Mpumalangaand Limpopo regions are collated and processed. The applications from theseregions translate into a total of between 9 and 13 thousand applications each month.The home loan application process is the most complex of the banking applicationprocesses as it involves a number of interfaces with external parties and systems.The workflow system was introduced in order to simplify, co-ordinate and acceleratethis process.The study was conducted using D. A. De Vaus's Surveys in Social Research, FourthEdition, a methodology for surveys in social research, as a guideline. A structuredquestionnaire was constructed in order to collect data regarding the opinions andbehaviour of the sample members.A pilot study was conducted with 10 of the sample members in order to test andrefine the survey instrument. Following this, the updated survey instrument wasdistributed to the sample group. The population of the case study environmentconsisted of less than 100 people all situated in one location. For this reason theentire survey population was selected as the sample population.The data collected described the sample members' attitudes towards work, theirrelationships with their colleagues, as well as their perceptions of their opportunitiesfor personal growth, as a measure of their level of work morale. Informationdescribing the employees perceived type of work was also collected. This was doneby accumulating information regarding the level of thinking, responsibility and monotony that characterised their work, as well as the proportion of time that staffmembers spent interacting directly with the system.After the survey implementation, the data was collated and analysed. The reliabilityof the data was tested using Cronbach's alpha. Data that originated from conceptswith Cronbach's alpha scores of below 0,6 were deemed to be unreliable and wereremoved from the dataset.A correlation analysis, using Spearman's rank correlation, was conducted on theremaining data. This analysis was aimed at establishing whether any correlationsbetween the type of work carried out by an employee and his or her associated levelof work morale exist.It was established that the level of work morale that characterised the case studyenvironment was relatively low, as will be discussed in detail in Chapter 5.Furthermore, it was ascertained that the introduction of the system had a significantinfluence on the nature of the work carried out by the staff in the case studyenvironment, and that a strong correlation existed between the type of work carriedout by an employee and his or her associated level of work morale. From this it wasconcluded that the introduction of the system influenced the level of work moralefound to characterise the case study environment.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University