Job design一般分四種：scientific management, job enrichment, the Japanese model and re-engineering.

1 Scientific Management（科學管理）

Frederick Taylor developed management as a science by focusing on "one best way" of doing a given job through the standardisation of best practices.

2 Job Enrichment（工作充實多樣化）

The human relations approach was more concerned with the welfare of staff because most western workers by the 1920s were employed doing unskilled, boring, repetitive jobs.

At this stage, awareness of social and individual psychology became a fundamental aspect of management technique, with an emphasis on measures such as employee counselling and the satisfaction of social needs. There was also an understanding that financial reward alone would be unlikely to motivate workers to high levels of output.

3 The Japanese Model（日本工作模式）

Japanese industry has had enormous influence on western manufacturing practice. Lean production or ‘the Toyota system’ have been widely adopted and developed in an attempt to achieve Japanese levels of productivity and quality. Bratton suggests that three notable elements of the Japanese production model contribute to its influence on job design.

4 Re-engineering（工作再造）

Problems with business process re-engineering (BPR) from an human resource management (HRM) perspective:

It has been associated with narrow targets such as reducing staff numbers;

It is a type of scientific management and does not take into account groups, teams or coaching;

When a job has been completely devised from new, the redesign may remove desirable features such as segregation of duties and supervision.