Performance obstacles for direct and indirect labour in high technology manufacturing

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Abstract
Performance obstacles are factors in the work environment that restrict productivity by inhibiting employees in the execution of task responsibilities. In spite of their apparent importance, little research has been done to describe, categorize, or assess these obstacles. A research project carried out in 12 United States electronics firms demonstrates that employees in two groups (circuit board assemblers and manufacturing engineers) view performance obstacles as having a significant influence on their performance. Materials and information obstacles emerged as being the most important to the circuit board assemblers. For the engineers, information and control/authority were the most important obstacle categories. Managers tended to agree with circuit board assemblers about the importance of obstacles for that employee group. However, managers tended to disagree with the engineers, giving lower ratings of importance than the engineers did in several categories. The research provides a step toward a typology of performance obstacles, demonstrating similarities and differences between employee groups and it suggests that at least in some areas managers may not be as accurate as they could be in assessing the influence of performance obstacles on their employees. The findings indicate that the themes that have prevailed in the research on operations management (i.e. materials, quality, scheduling) are viewed by employees as being predominant factors in the productivity equation.

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