Sociology, Work and Organization
Chapter 2. Scientific management, human relations and
negotiated orders
Strands of thought and key theoretical perspectives in the sociology
of work and organization
Notion of strands of thought = recognizes that some sociologists might work with just one of
these strands in doing their research whilst others may pull together 2 or perhaps more
strands to create a conceptual rope to take the weight of their analytical endeavor.
dit zijn denkpatronen die sociologen hebben
The managerial-psychologistic strand
Scientific management and psychological humanism are diametrically opposed in
underlying sentiment and assumptions about human nature.
They are both individualistic styles of thinking about work and are both concerned to
prescribe to managers how they should relate to their employees and should
organize workers’ jobs.
Both concentrate on questions of human nature and fail to recognize the range of
possibilities for work organization and orientation that people may choose to adopt,
depending on their priorities in life.
Psychologism = a tendency to explain social behavior solely in terms of the psychological
characteristics of individuals
1. Scientific management
Talorism = encouraged a view of the industrial worker as an economic animal who
could be encouraged to act as a self-seeking hired hand and who would allow
managers to do their job-related thinking for them.
If this could be achieved, especially through the use of output-based and potentially
high-level rewards, the management would work out the most efficient way of
organizing work, tying the monetary rewards of the work to the level of output
achieved by the individual.
Soldiering in Taylor’s sense is: the natural instinct and tendency of men to take it
easy. combined with people’s economic interests and the failure of managers to
1
, design, allocate and reward work on a scientific basis leads employees to get
together and rationally conspire to hold production down.
They do this to maximize their reward without tempting the incompetent
management to come back and tighten the rate = systematic soldiering
Systematic soldiering can be tackled if the management relate directly to each
individual and satisfy their personal self-interest, then they will get full co-operation =
a proper understanding of human nature.
Scientific management involves:
- Scientific analysis by management of all the tasks which need to be done in order to
make the workshop as efficient as possible
- The design of the jobs by managers to achieve the maximum technical division of
labour through advanced job fragmentation
- The separation of the planning of work from its extinction
- The reduction of skill requirements and job-learning times to the minimum
- The minimizing of materials-handling by operators and the separation of indirect or
preparatory tasks from direct or productive ones
- The use of such devices as time-study and monitoring systems to co-ordinate these
fragmented elements and the work of the deskilled workers
- The use of incentive payment systems both to stabilize and intensify worker effort;
and
- The conduct of manager-worker relationships at ‘arms-length’ following a ‘minimum
interaction model’.
Contra indications:
Braverman claimed that scientific management and its associated deskilling, because
of its association with the logic of capital accumulation, will continue to dominate the
capitalist working world
2. Psychological humanism
Psychological humanists argue for achieving organizational efficiency not through the
exclusion of workers from task-related decision-making but by encouraging their
participation in it with for example:
Non-managerial workers becoming involved in setting their own objectives
Jobs being ‘enriched’ by reducing the extent to which they are supervised and
monitored and
More open and authentic colleague relationships being developed particularly in
‘teams’.
Bases its approach on human work behavior on a theory of human nature
McGregor stated that scientific management (Theory X) and psychological humanism
(Theory Y) are each others opposites:
Theory X (scientific management) = sees human beings as naturally disliking work and
therefore as avoiding it if they can.
- People prefer to avoid responsibility and like to be given direction, they have limited
ambitions and see security as a priority.
2
, Theory Y (psychological humanism) = social science research was said to support, states
that people are not at all like in Theory X, but would generally prefer to exercise self-control
and self-discipline at work.
- Would occur employees were allowed to contribute creatively to organizational
problems in a way which enabled them to meet their need for self-actualisation.
Self-actualisation = to become self-actualised is ‘to become more and more what one is to
become everything that one is capable of becoming.
Pyramid of Maslow (hierarchy needs):
1 First level = physiological needs = food, drink, sex and sensory satisfaction
2 Second level = safety needs = which motivate people to avoid danger
3 Third level = love needs = include need to belong and to affiliate with others in both
giving and receiving sense
4 Fourth level = esteem needs = cover prestige, status and appreciation of confidence,
achievement, strength, adequacy and independence
5 Fifth level = self actualization = which desire to realise one’s ultimate potential
Herzberg’s needs based type of motivational thinking = Motivation-Hygiene. Or 2 factor
theory of work motivation
Hezberg suggested that the factors which made them feel good when they were present
were different from those which made them feel bad when they were absent:
Contextual of hygiene factors like salary, status, security, working conditions,
supervision and company policy which can lead to dissatisfaction if ‘wrong’ but which
not lead to satisfaction if ‘right’ and
Content of motivation factors such as achievement, advancement, recognition,
growth, responsibility and ‘the work itself’.
These have to be present, in addition to the hygiene factors, before satisfaction can
be produced and people motivated to perform well
Discussion
In evaluating scientific management and psychological humanism, we confront a paradox.
Both are right and both are wrong. To make sense of this statement, we must add:
depending on the circumstances: can be structural and cultural factors that are central
concerns of a sociological approach to analysis.
Circumstances on societal level:
If a society of a part of society has a culture which puts major value on money and it
has an industry structured on the basis of mechanization and minute task-
specialisation, it is possible that people in that social/cultural situation would
deliberately choose to dos such work and will happily accept close supervision and a
degree of boredom in return for cash.
If there is a wider culture which places central value on personal autonomy and sees
work as a key to identity, then we might expect the scientific managers to lose out
the self-actualisers as guides to appropriate managerial policy.
The Durkheim-human-relations-strand
We see an emphasis on the social system of which individuals are a part.
3
