Object Salience in the Division of Labor: Experimental Evidence

When we engage in the process of division of labor, there are typically multiple alternatives, but insufficient knowledge to choose among them. Under such conditions, the authors propose that not all alternatives are equally likely to be pursued. In particular, the authors argue that when we engage in the process of division of labor for novel and non-repetitive production, we display a tendency to perceive and select object-based task partitions over activity-based partitions. The authors experimentally investigate how the salience of objects over activities manifests itself in individuals and groups engaged in division of labor for the assembly of more or less decomposable products. The authors draw implications for organization design as well as the impact of technological change on organizations.