Technology and Work

Question 1

Is the UK labour market well regulated?

Answer 1

no

it is one of the most lightly regulated labour markets in the world

Question 2

What is a consequence of low regulation in labour markets?

Answer 2

workers have less rights and are more open to exploitation

Question 3

How is HRM involved with inequality and company responsibility?

Answer 3

HRM has inherent responsibilities to ensure the company complies with all laws, legislations, and regulations

Question 4

What has diversity management led to?

Answer 4

increase in migrant workers
feminisation of the workforce
shift from full-time to part-time and temporary work

Question 5

Define Fordism.

Answer 5

a single, low-skill task, repeated many times with no control over personal output

Question 6

What is a consequence of Fordism?

Answer 6

abundance of low-skilled and semi-skilled workers

Question 7

What has been caused by the move to the service industry?

Answer 7

lower trade unionisation
lower wages for female workers
lower employee control
more non-standard jobs

Question 8

Define non-standard jobs.

Answer 8

zero-hours
temporary
part-time
seasonal

Question 9

Name three issues with service production.

Answer 9

quantity is measure of performance
pressure to work quickly
targets for predictable outcome

Question 10

What are the four aspects of Fordism and McDonaldisation?

Answer 10

efficiency
calculability
predictability
control

Question 11

What are the factors HRM uses to sell service industry jobs?

Answer 11

flexible hours
team work
employee involvement
soft social skills

Question 12

What can Fordist and MacDonaldised jobs lead to?

Answer 12

emotional exhaustion

high-staff turnover

Question 13

What is emotional labour?

Answer 13

the regulation of employees emotions towards customers to enhance their experience

Question 14

What can emotional labour lead to?

Answer 14

work intensification
role overload
stress
emotional exhaustion

Question 15

What is the largest conflict for HRM?

Answer 15

they are supposed to protect the employees, but they work by the company’s rules

Question 16

What is a service triangle?

Answer 16

where the employer and the customer are both in control of the employee

Question 17

According to Babbage (1832), why is manufacturing divided into different parts?

Answer 17

if it wasn’t, the person conducting the work would need to be multiskilled

Question 18

What are the two reasons technology is introduced?

Answer 18

increase efficiency of production

decrease reliance on high-skilled human labour

Question 19

What is the main principle of Taylorism?

Answer 19

every skill can be reduced to a set of tasks independent of the skills of the person

Question 20

How does Taylorism affect the worker?

Answer 20

removes discretion over their performance

Question 21

What is the crucial aspect of Taylorism?

Answer 21

all planning is conducted by management and efficiency experts, framed as specialists in workplace planning

Question 22

Define mechanisation.

Answer 22

process of introducing a tool to do what was done by hand

Question 23

Define automation.

Answer 23

adding machines with the ability for perception, reasoning, and task-planning to a mechanised process

Question 24

Define computerisation.

Answer 24

adding specific hardware and software to automated processes

Question 25

Define digitalisation.

Answer 25

converting material or information into digitally processed artefacts

Question 26

What are the four effects of technology on the labour market?

Answer 26

job destruction
job creation
job change
job shift

Question 27

What is an issue with job destruction and creation?

Answer 27

created jobs are not always accessible to those whose jobs were destroyed

Question 28

What are the 3 C’s?

Answer 28

gendered occupations: cooking, cleaning, caring