Question:

Answer:

Does the piecework system succeed, according to Roy?

Yes: For the Workers

• Incentive to work or rebel
• Game playing to reach quota
• Increases self-involvement, social integration, and autonomy and control

Yes: for the Employers

• Workers did – at least – meat the quotas
• Subtle control of workers – piecework gives ee the idea that they have control and may not unionize

No: For the Employer

• Company does not get as much productivity from the work as potentially possible.

What evidence is most supportive of Roy’s proposition that workers respond to other than economic motives?

• Workers lay off when they could otherwise be working and gaining more $

What other motives are there?

• Peer pressure
• Gaming
• Tactics to increase self-involvement, autonomy and control, social integration, and meaning

Did the workers studied by Roy behave "rationally"? Is it rational to lay off?

Yes:

• EE’s used other criteria than economic motives to decide behavior (i.e. peer pressure)
• If they worked harder the money they would make would not be enough to make them rich

No:

• EE’s did not work has hard as they could to make as much money as possible

What would happen if "gain-sharing," as described by Welbourne were introduced into the shop studied by Roy? Why?

Successful:

• EE’s would have another incetive to work harder (i.e. if company was more productive they would reap the benefit)
• Could work with a different group of workers, the workers Roy studied would not be able to change their routines

Unsuccessful:

• The ee’s were motivated by individual incentives the team approach would not work
• Technology in Roy’s shop would not foster gain-sharing