week 3

Question 1

What is bureaucracy?

Answer 1

“Official aspects of an organization, such as the hierarchical structure, rules, procedures, and paperwork which allow control to be exerted over the whole organization.”​

Question 2

What are the 5 features of Weber’s (1968) ideal type of bureaucracy

Answer 2

Hierarchical chain of command​

Functional division of labour​

Rules, policies and procedures​

Unbiased decision-making​

Impersonality – separation of working and personal life

Question 3

Personal control is easy with…

Answer 3

A small group of people to manage

Question 4

Personal control is difficult when…

Answer 4

An organisation grows in size

Question 5

what are Fayols 5 functions of management

Answer 5

Planning/forecasting, organising, coordinating, commanding, controlling

Question 6

What are Spaulding’s 8 necessities of management

Answer 6

Cooperation and teamwork
authority and responsibility
division of labour
adequate staffing
adequate capital
feasibility analysis
advertising budget
conflict resolution

Question 7

What are the features of bureaucratic hierarchy

Answer 7

levels of management hierarchy
control delegated through hierarchy
manageable span of control at each level
personal face to face control at each level

Question 8

How do you standardise behaviour?

Answer 8

Rules, policies and procedures

Question 9

what are examples of rules policies and procedures

Answer 9

Grievance, finance, equal opportunities, appraisal and promotion, recruitment and selection

Question 10

bureaucratic records are…

Answer 10

information needed to facilitate bureaucratic rules and procedures

Question 11

Pro-forma is…

Answer 11

standardising information about employees

Question 12

Standardised records means…

Answer 12

more efficient recording and retrieval of information

Question 13

Bureaucratic records involves also…

Answer 13

control and surveillance over stored info and enhanced power and control from computerised records

Question 14

What did Zuboff say about the informed organisation

Answer 14

organisations have become databases

Question 15

What is big data?

Answer 15

masses of data stored about processes, customers, employees etc

Question 16

What did Weber say were the problems with bureaucracy and rationality

Answer 16

technical efficiency vs ethics and responsibility of certain individuals following rules in large organisations

Question 17

What did Weber say about disenchantment in bureaucracy and rationality

Answer 17

loss of magical elements
dehumanisations - rules and monotonous routines rather than independent individuals acting accordingly

Question 18

what is red tape in bureaucracy?

Answer 18

bureaucracy gets in the way rather than making things efficient

Question 19

what are the benefits of bureaucracy

Answer 19

efficient means of keeping order and control
creates clear roles and responsibilites
information easily stores and retrieved
rules and policies create impersonal fairness

Question 20

what are the disadvantages of bureaucracy

Answer 20

technical efficiency not ethically desirable
negative effects on humans
inflexible
impersonal

Question 21

What are the 5 features of the contemporary environment

Answer 21

fluid, dynamic, changeable, turbulent and uncertain

Question 22

what does VUCA stand for

Answer 22

Volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity

Question 23

What does the PEST model stand for in an organisation

Answer 23

political, economic, social and technological

Question 24

What is contingency theory

Answer 24

there is no best way, design organisations to fit the environment

Question 25

What are matrix structures?

Answer 25

structures away from rigid hierarchies and central command

Question 26

post bureaucratic structureless organisations have what characteristics

Answer 26

minimal rules and structures to promote creativity and innovation

Question 27

What are post bureaucratic structureless organisations

Answer 27

Oticon, Google and Virgin UK

Question 28

What did Blackler say about digitalisation of organisations?

Answer 28

organisations are imploding into code and 'exploding' into computer networks

Question 29

What is a gig economy?

Answer 29

an issue of control and coordination over a large scale, control at a distance and use of big data and algorithms

Question 30

What is the time and motion study?

Answer 30

with division of labour in place, tasks are measured and timed to calculate the optimum way to perform a task

Question 31

What are ergonomics?

Answer 31

Designing the working environment to be efficient and convenient for workers

Question 32

What were Taylor's problems of control over labour

Answer 32

Non-standard and unpredictable labour Craft knowledge and expert power Soldiering Labour organized in gangs Labour ‘inherently lazy and unmotivated’

Question 33

what are the 4 principles of the one best way of scientific management

Answer 33

Principle 1: Division of labour and scientific design of work Principle 2: Scientific selection of employees Principle 3: Workers work, managers manage Principle 4: Workers and managers co-operate

Question 34

what are the 5 different controls of workers through Taylorism

Answer 34

Standardization of movements Individualization of tasks Facilitates surveillance Knowledge resides with management Removal of craft skill

Question 35

what is an example of time and motion study today?

Answer 35

sports science - tracking and modelling movements

Question 36

What is workflow?

Answer 36

a sequence of tasks with efficiency and precision at each stage - needed for supply chains

Question 37

what are the critiques of fordism

Answer 37

Dehumanizing work Intense control due to the speed of the line $5 day to motivate workers to cope with intensified conditions Workers reduced to cogs in a machine

Question 38

what is surplus value as a marxist critique

Answer 38

workers work efficiently to increase profits, capitalists enjoy this profit

Question 39

what are the 4 things workers are alienated from (marxist critique)

Answer 39

the product the production process the human species/human essence other humans

Question 40

What did braverman say about organisational deskilling

Answer 40

overall knowledge of productions process is held by management

Question 41

What is technological deskilling?

Answer 41

the need for workers' skills removed

Question 42

What is deskilling?

Answer 42

a degradation of work

Question 43

What did Marx sat about inequality in the capitalist working relationship leads to

Answer 43

Formation of trade unions Collective action Conflict, e.g. strikes

Question 44

what did Morgan (2006) say about rational work today

Answer 44

rational work design works well with a straight forward task performs well in a stable environment

Question 45

rational work design is difficult for...

Answer 45

coping with uncertain, changeable environments with a wide variety of tasks

Question 46

What is Japanese management?

Answer 46

an emphasis on shop-floor knowledge and innovation

Question 47

Neo-fordism means

Answer 47

Drive for efficiency, but computer technology allows more flexible, specialised production Workflow which combines mass production with flexibility

Question 48

What are examples of Neo fordism today?

Answer 48

Lean management Just-in-time management

Question 49

On the fordism chart table what is Wide variety of work and low discretion in work

Answer 49

generalised work (neo-fordism)

Question 50

On the fordism chart table what is narrow variety of work and low discretion in work

Answer 50

specialised work (fordism/taylorism)

Question 51

On the fordism chart table what is Wide variety of work and high discretion in work

Answer 51

Generalist work (post-fordism)

Question 52

On the fordism chart table what is narrow variety of work and high discretion in work

Answer 52

craft/artisan work (pre-fordism)

Question 53

What are examples of fordism and Taylorism in contemporary warehouses?

Answer 53

Warehouses – mass processing of orders Neo-Fordist – flexibility for each order to be different in an assembly-line system Control of workers through GPS and computer algorithms, a ‘time and motion utopia’ (Spicer and Cederström, 2015) Control through wearable technology Worker resistance to extreme control in warehouses