Sociology 31, Fall 1998, Prof. Aldrich and Ms. Renzulli

December 1st 1998 Summary

Summary of Worker Participation: Self-managed teams and Open book management

Review Questions:

  

What Makes Bureaucratic control so efficient? (See Web page notes for last class)
  1. standardization
  2. objectivity
  3. pervasiveness
  4. large-scale

 

How/why can offices be organized like factories? (See Web page notes for last class)
  • Rationalize: Think of information as a product to be produced à INFORMATION PRODUCTION
  • Separate conception from execution
  • Mechanize & automate

 

Will new technology improve or degrade work experiences in secretarial work?

Improve:

  • Simple jobs are mechanized
  • Leaves complex and interesting jobs for people

 

Degrade:

  • Deskill work
  • Lost autonomy to technology
  • Lost meaning
  • Technology gains control at people’s expense

Worker Participation: a scale from "most" at top to "least" at bottom. Based on our readings & class discussion this term. See also the reading today from Hodson & Sullivan

Level of wkr part.

Worker ownership/cooperative (similar to Japanese management)

Most

Open book management (today's reading)

Workers’ councils

Self-managed teams (today's reading)

More

Unions

Quality Circles

Suggestion boxes

Scientific management

Least

 

Open book Management:

Self-managed Teams
  • Employees know the financial status of the firm, as well as other essential information about the firm's production & processes (knowing the #’s). The reading called this "critical numbers know-how."
  • Teams directly involved in decision process -- set own goals (within limits of firm's policies)
  • Employees are part of the company – they are owners, participate in gainsharing, receive a group bonus, or otherwise benefit from the direct results of their actions. The reading called this "no-kidding ownership."
  • Team work -- the reading called this the "intensive huddle system." Workers share information, communicate, and receive training as a group.
  • Members elect fire, and hire own members
  • Leadership/mentoring
  • Consequence – concern, contribution, and responsibility toward firm

 
  • Cross-functional teams of people with specialized & complementary skills, 3-30 people
  • Teams arrange own schedule, order materials, take responsibility for their area of production/service

Study question: what affect does it have on the 4 dimensions of worker experience?

Study Question: How are self-managed teams different from open book management?

Study question: Under what conditions are self-managed teams most appropriate? (E.g. when the job entails a high level of complexity or dependency among people)

Compare to the conditions under which we do NOT find technical control!

Study question: what affect does it have on the 4 dimensions of worker experience?

Film: Available at non-print, V-6927, Harmon Company (maker of JBL/Infinity stereo equipment)

  

Management works on the line

Is Harmon a bureaucracy?

Workers set targets and share profit: Sharing Cost Saving

How is cost sharing similar to open book management?

How is it different?

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