Sociology, Work and Organisation

Transcription

1 Sociology, Work and Organisation Tony J.Watson Routledge Taylor & Francis Group LONDON AND NEW YORK

2 List of figures, tables and snapshots xiii Introduction I 1 Studying work, society and organisation 5 Key issues 5 People, work and society 5 Social organisation, work organisations and thinking about work sociologically 7 Choices, constraints and opportunities in work and society 9 Work and the sociological imagination I I Sociology, critique and the democratic debate about work 12 Sociology and the historical coming to terms with industrialisation 12 Contemporary sociology and the informing of democratic choices about work 14 The continuing challenge 17 Sociology and the future of work 18 Researching and theorising work patterns and experiences 20 Sociology as science 20 Theory, work and society 21 Concepts, definitions and theories 21 A range of research methods 22 Methodological assumptions 24 Summary 29 2 Analysing work and organisation: scientific management, human relations and negotiated orders 32 Key issues 32 Strands of thought and key theoretical perspectives in the sociology of work and organisation 32 The managerial-psychologistic strand 34 Scientific management 34

3 , CONTENTS- Psychological humanism 36 Discussion 39 The Durkheim-human-relations-systems strand 40 Emile Durkheim 41 Human relations and the Hawthorne studies 43 Systems thinking in the sociology of work and organisation 47 Corporate cultures 48 Discussion 49 The interactionist-negotiated-order strand 50 The Chicago school and symbolic interactionism 51 Organisations as negotiated orders 52 Ethnomethodology 53 Discussion 55 Summary 56 3 Analysing work and organisation: institutionalism, labour process and discourse analysis 57 Key issues 57 The Weber-social-action-institutional strand 57 Max Weber 58 Orientations to work 61 Institutional theories of organisation and the social construction of reality 62 Discussion 66 The Marxian-labour-process strand 66 Marx and Engels 67 Marxian industrial sociology and labour process analysis 68 Discussion 70 The post-structuralist strand and postmodernism 72 Postmodernism 73 Post-structuralist labour process thinking, Foucault, discourse and human subjectivity 74 Discussion 75 Sociology, discourses and working lives 77 Summary 79 4 Work, organisation and globalisation 80 Key issues 80 The nature of modern societies 80 The emergence of industrial capitalism 83 From feudalism to capitalism 83 Protestantism and the spirit of capitalism 85 Social groups and the rise of industrialism 87 Industrialisation and the changing division of labour 89 Technology, science and social change 92

4 CONTENTS Industrial capitalist social organisation: change and transition 95 Post-industrialism and the information society 96 Post-Fordism 97 Flexible specialisation 100 Postmodemity 100 McDonaldisation and the blurring of the manufacturing-service distinction 101 Globalisation in perspective 104 Summary I I I 5 Work organisations 112 Key issues I 12 The organisational principle of work structuring I 12 The nature of work organisations I 14 Official and unofficial aspects of organisations I 18 Organisational structures and cultures 120 Official structure and culture: basic organisational design principles 124 Bureaucracy 125 Classical administrative principles 127 Taylorism and Fordism 128 The limits of bureaucracy and the paradox of consequences 129 The virtues of bureaucracy and the fantasy of the post-bureaucratic organisation 133 Bureaucratic and market logics: an inevitable tension 135 Contingency and choice in the shaping of organisational structures and cultures 136 Micropolitics, careers and unofficial management practices 140 Vertical aspects of micropolitics 141 Horizontal aspects of micropolitics 144 Unofficial practices and bureaucratic dysfunctions 146 Ambiguity and decision processes 148 Summary The changing organisation and control of work 152 Key issues 152 Work restructuring and the logic of corporate management 152 The restructuring of work in established economies 153 Financialisation, crisis and instability I 54 The logic of corporate management 155 Choice and circumstance in the shaping of employment or 'human resourcing'practices 158 Labour processes and employment practice options 159 HRM and 'high commitment' and low commitment' options 160 The pursuit of flexibility and direct and indirect managerial control options 165

5 CONTENTS Flexibility and new work control practices 167 Teamworking and control 168 Lean production, downsizing and delayering 171 Information and communication technologies (ICTs) and control 173 Culture management and worker subjectivity 176 Summary The occupational principle and the social organisation of work 181 Key issues 181 The occupational principle of work structuring 181 Occupational structure, class, status and inequality 184 Occupations in a changing class structure 186 Labour market segmentation and non-standard employment 188 Part-time and temporary work 189 Home and teleworking 190 Work outside employment 192 Self-employment 192 Paid work in the informal economy 194 Domestic work 195 Voluntary work 198 Women, men and work 199 Explaining patterns of gender inequality 204 Ethnicity and work 206 Summary Aspects of occupations 208 Key issues 208 Managers, ownership and control 208 Supervisors, 'first line managers' and team leaders 210 Knowledge, creative and cultural workers 21 I Dirty work and lowly occupations 21 3 Occupational recruitment and socialisation 213 Occupational careers 216 Occupational identity, culture and ideology 218 Occupational communities 221 Professionalisation and occupational strategies 222 Summary Culture, work orientations and the experience of working 229 Key issues 229 Work, meaning and culture 229 Entering work 233 Choice and opportunity structures 233 Class, family and educational influences 234

6 CONTENTS Work and satisfaction 236 Technology, work experience and alienation 238 Work orientations: variations, dynamics and the negotiation of implicit contracts 241 Dynamic work orientations and changing worker priorities 243 Dynamic work orientations and the negotiation of implicit contracts 246 Patterns of work orientation and experience within the organisational hierarchy 249 Women's preferences, choices and work orientations 250 Summary Identity, narrative and emotion in and out of work 255 Key issues 255 Identity, self-identities and social-identities 255 Identity work 256 Narratives and the link between culture and identity 259 Masculinity and identity 260 Moulding human subjects and 'the enterprising self 261 Identity tensions, ambiguities and occupational circumstances 262 Portfolio and 'boundaryless' careers or 'one dead-end job after another' 263 Managerial work, identities and experiences 266 Anxiety and the human condition 268 Angst and managerial work 268 The rise of the stress discourse 269 Emotions and feelings 270 Emotional labour and emotion management 271 Aesthetic labour 273 Sexuality and the workplace 274 Work and non-working lives 275 Work and leisure 276 Work-life balance 276 Unemployment 279 Summary Conflict, mobilisation and regulation at work 282 Key issues 282 Conflict and co-operation at work 282 Industrial relations and the sociology of work and industry 284 Analysing conflict at work 286 Frames of reference 286 Free market thinking 287 Unitary thinking 287 Pluralist analyses 288 Radical I critical perspectives 289

7 ;,_ CONTENTS. Contradictions and conflicts 290 Effort bargains, fragile implicit contracts and the inevitability of grievances 295 The mobilisation of interests 298 Coalitions and interests 298 Trade unions and collective bargaining 298 Changing patterns of employer-union relations 301 Shop stewards and workplace representation 304 Summary Resistance, mischief, humour and the defence of self 306 Key issues 306 Resistance and organisational mischief 306 Job control strategies and 'making out' 308 Accommodation, subjectivity and values 310 Withdrawal, instrumentalism and the management of boredom 31 I Humour at work 314 Sexual harassment and bullying 317 Cheating, fiddling and breaking things ' 320 Rule manipulation 322 Service work and defence of self 323 Summary 325 Concept guide and glossary 326 Bibliography 345 Author index 396 Subject index 402 xii