SOC 103 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Speedup, Lean Manufacturing, Scientific Management
Document Summary
Concerns about vulnerability of world economy to failures of a few major businesses: e. g. 2008 financial crisis triggered by lehman brothers. Concerns about sheer power that individual corporations wield. Concerns about collusion among a few companies. Scientific management (taylorism) increasing managerial control over workers to maximize worker output. Fordism a model of intensive production, maximum use of machinery, precise subdivision of labour, joined to high wages which allowed workers to buy the products of manufacturing. Post-fordism shift to more flexible work using information technologies. Lean production: just-in-time production, precarious labour, management by stress, threat of layoffs as worker discipline. Precarious employment limited benefits or entitlements, job insecurity, low wages, high risks of ill health: disproportionately affects young people, women, and immigrants, from 12% of employment in 1975 to at least 33% in 2011. In addition, there are the underemployed people working below their level of training and experience.
