Deck 14: Organizations and Work

Question 1

According to Weber, every ________ whether a church or a political party shares these common characteristics: specialization and a division of labour, hierarchy of authority, rules and regulations, impersonality, technical competence, and formal communications.

Answer 1

bureaucracy

Question 2

Corporations, schools, government agencies, and even political parties are examples of ________ organizations.

Answer 2

formal

Question 3

Goldthorpe found in his classic studies that some workers respond to the alienating aspects of the work situation in a/an ________ fashion, in which people think that if they have to work under monotonous and undesirable conditions, then they had better be paid well so they can enjoy their leisure time.

Answer 3

instrumentalist

Question 4

________ exists alongside formal organization and consists of the activities that people engage in that are not explicitly expected of them but that they find necessary to carry out their day-to-day tasks.

Question 5

The common trend driving organization change in recent years called ________, describes capitalist societies' preoccupation with constantly increasing efficiency. One form of this trend has adopted terminology from a popular fast-food restaurant, claiming that a 'fast-food' type of mentality is being seen across other sectors.

Question 6

In the nineteenth century Marx warned that one effect of the shift to an industrialized society would be social discontent, which in turn would lead to the ________ class taking control of the entire social system.

Question 7

According to Marx, industrialization was leading to a situation in which workers were increasingly directed on how and when to do what task. This leads to ________, in which workers have no say in the decisions of how to employ their abilities, and thus, the purposive and conceptual nature of human work is lost.

Question 8

The term ________ describes the process by which a firm reduces the number of employees, while trying to keep returns on invested capital at the same level or, preferably higher.

Question 9

The example of early hunter-gatherer societies in which women often gathered food and needed material daily, while men left for longer periods on hunting trips, and older adults cared for the children demonstrate the ________ by gender and age.

Question 10

Human work is different from animal work in two ways. To begin with, humans conceptualize the end product before they even pick up a tool. Secondly, human work is purposive and ________.

Question 11

Marx wrote in his Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 that a detailed division of labour would destroy the ________ of work.

Question 12

Michels argued that a/an ________ exists such that even in democratic organizations, be they socialist or capitalist, rule by the many will inevitably become rule by the few.

Question 13

________ describes the situation in which people in different social categories tend to do different kinds of work.

Question 14

Weber spent a great deal of energy trying to understand organizations and particularly something he called ________, a special type of complex organization characterized by an explicit set of rules and a hierarchy of authority.

A) oligarchy
B) capitalism
C) socialism
D) bureaucracy
E) hierarchy

Question 15

The theory that assumes organizational structures emerge from the meaningful interactions of persons who are negotiating and navigating among each other is known as:

A) navigational theory
B) personal relevance theory
C) charting theory
D) symbolic disequilibrium theory
E) negotiated order theory

Question 16

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of human work?

A) purposeful
B) conscious
C) instinctual
D) involves conceptualization prior to action
E) may involve activity that makes physical materials more useful

Question 17

Corporations, schools, and government agencies are examples of what type of organizations?

A) oligarchic
B) formal
C) informal
D) despotic
E) capitalist

Question 18

Taylor stated in his book, The Principles of Scientific Management, that all "brainwork" must be removed from the shop floor and placed in the hands of ________.

Question 19

In his book, Political Parties, Michels argued that an iron law of oligarchy exists such that even in democratic organizations, be they socialist or capitalist, rule by the many will inevitably become rule by the:

A) rich
B) bureaucrats
C) few
D) poor
E) dictators.

Question 20

Durkheim studied the division of labour and wrote that it would lead to ________, a special problem where people would feel atomized and experience a sense of normlessness.

Question 21

The system of work organization, which was not interested in the well-being of those who did the work, but was aimed at achieving maximum output, is referred to as:

A) anomism
B) detailed organic solidarity
C) social division of labour
D) scientific management
E) Marxism

Question 22

Name and briefly describe any three characteristics of bureaucracies, according to Weber.

Question 23

What is McDonaldization? What are the benefits vs. risks of McDonaldization to a society such as Canada's?

Question 24

The phenomenon whereby companies now look worldwide for the most profitable place to set up production is known as:

A) profit taking
B) downsizing
C) globalization
D) bond-rating
E) nationalism

Question 25

What factors are creating higher than necessary levels of unemployment in Canada?

Question 26

In the earliest human societies, hunters and gatherers' families divided jobs, with women typically gathering (primarily because of child-raising requirements), and men hunting (as they had more mobility). This is what we call the:

A) sexism
B) social division of labour
C) transitional task sharing
D) primitive task sharing
E) natural dichotomy

Question 27

What does Marx mean by alienation? How does alienation occur?

Question 28

What is meant by the "globalization of production"?

Question 29

Which of the following is NOT associated with unemployment?

A) relatively high economic cost to society
B) lost contribution to the work force
C) higher propensity for alcohol and drug abuse among unemployed persons
D) higher health care costs among unemployed persons
E) decrease occurrence of family violence among unemployed persons

Question 30

In post-World War II society, particularly in Canada and the United States, an understanding developed among those who owned business and industry, those who worked in those businesses and industries, and the State (government). Essentially, the contract, or socially accepted understanding, was that if you work hard and produce more goods and services each year, the economy willgrow. This social contract was based on the economics of:

A) Marx
B) Durkheim
C) Weber
D) Hitler
E) Keynes

Question 31

In 1895, Durkheim studied the division of labour and wrote that it would lead to ________, a social problem where people feel atomized and experience a sense of normlessness.

A) anarchy
B) oligarchy
C) bureaucracy
D) impersonality
E) anomie

Question 32

Goldthorpe found in his classic studies that some workers respond to the alienating aspects of our work situation in a/an ________ fashion. People often think that if they have to work under monotonous and undesirable conditions then they had better be paid well, so they can enjoy their leisure time. According to Goldthorpe, this is referred to as:

A) segregating
B) instrumentalist
C) resistant
D) conceptualist
E) organized resistant

Question 33

Which of the following statements associated with the concept of downsizing is NOT true?

A) The job security that comes with working hard is no longer a reality
B) Canadian workers are productive
C) Companies want to increase profits by outsourcing jobs to 'cheaper' labour sources
D) Since the 1990s downsizing has been very rare
E) Mutual fund managers invest more heavily in companies that downsize, despite the fact the lack of firm evidence that downsizing is profitable

Question 34

According to Marx, the phenomenon whereby workers were separated from the decisions concerning how and when to work, what to make, and how to relate to other workers involved in the production is known as:

A) anomie
B) normlessness
C) segregation
D) alienation
E) sabotage

Question 35

According to your text, which of the following is NOT a method that would reduce resistance in the workplace?

A) offering workers a stake in the work
B) reducing job insecurity
C) ensuring workers understand what is happening in the workplace
D) engaging in scientific management
E) increasing worker education

Question 36

Which of the following is NOT an example of resistance in the workplace?

A) procrastination
B) absenteeism
C) gossip
D) petty theft
E) punctuality

Question 37

The system of work organization leading to mass production for a mass market using assembly-line methods is known as:

A) anomie
B) Marxism
C) Fordism
D) formulae
E) downsizing

Question 38

The division of a single job into many parts is called the:

A) integral separation
B) social dichotomy
C) detailed division of labour
D) natural division of labour
E) compartmentalization

Question 39

Consider occupational segregation. In your own experience have you noticed occupational segregation based on sex? Race? Using an example, describe how and why occupational segregation may occur.

Question 40

In every work relationship, those who carry out the tasks have consented in one way or another to be there and do their job. Yet, except in the most ideal circumstances, these same workers will harbour some level of discontent with the safety conditions, the pay, the supervision, or a thousand other things and will act on that discontent in minor or major ways. We call this:

A) discontent
B) alienation
C) segregation
D) resistance
E) consent

Question 41

Formal organizations have a division of labour and are set up to achieve a goal or goals. Corporations, schools, government agencies, and even political parties are examples of informal organizations.

Question 42

In the nineteenth century, Durkheim warned continued industrialization would create social discontent, which in turn would lead to the working class taking control of the entire social system.

Question 43

The turn into the twentieth century brought even further changes in the work process, related to two responses referred to as scientific management (Taylorism) and Fordism.

Question 44

In his book, Political Parties, Michels argued that an iron law of oligarchy exists such that even in democratic organizations, be they socialist or capitalist, rule by the many will inevitably become rule by the few.

Question 45

Approaches such as Total Quality Management and Continuous Quality Improvement claim to give more power to the people who do the work.

Question 46

The detailed division of labour that has developed in the modern, industrial era is often viewed as very beneficial to workers since they will learn to do lots of small tasks instead of having to see an entire project through from start to finish.

Question 47

The term bond-rating describes the process by which a firm reduces the number of employees while trying to keep returns on invested capital at the same level, or preferably higher.

Question 48

By the end of the nineteenth century, workers, in general, often accepted scientific management because acceptance of the scientific method in academia was increasing.

Question 49

In his classic studies, Goldthorpe found that some workers respond to the alienating aspects of the work situation in an instrumentalist fashion.

Question 50

As Braverman notes, human work is different from animal work in two ways. To begin with, humans conceptualize the end product before they even pick up a tool. Secondly, human work is purposive and conscious.

Question 51

In contrast to Japanese society, there is a long tradition of mistrust between management and labour in North American society.

Question 52

Taylor stated in his book The Principles of Scientific Management that all "brainwork" must be removed from the shop floor and placed in the hands of the union.

Question 53

The division of labour may be defined as changing physical materials (manual work) or mental constructs/ideas (intellectual work) so as to make these materials and/or ideas more useful to the producer.

Question 54

In the earliest human societies, hunters and gatherers' families divided jobs, with women typically gathering and men hunting. This is what we call the natural dichotomy.

Question 55

Although occupational segregation existed in the 1950s, after the women's movement and other types of activism, it is no longer an issue in the modern workplace.