14.2 Theories Of Work And Economic Life Flashcards
Corporations
Business firms or companies
4 Stages in the Development of Business Corporations
- Family Capitalism
- Managerial Capitalism
- Welfare Capitalism
- Institutional Capitalism
Family Capitalism
Capitalistic enterprise owned and administered by entrepreneurial families
Entrepreneur
The owner/founder of a business firm
Managerial capitalism
Capitalistic enterprises administered by managerial executives rather than by owners
The corporation thus emerged as a more defines economic entity, with professional management
Welfare Capitalism
The practice by which large corporations protect their employees from the fluctuations of the economy
Institutional Capitalism
Consolidated networks of business leadership in which corporations hold stock shares in one another, resulting in increased concentration of corporate power
Interlocking Directorates
Linkages amoung corporations created by individuals who sit on 2 or more corporate boards
One Reason For The spread of Institutional Capitalism
Is the shift to investing individually in money market, trust, insurance, and pension funds controlled by large financial organizations
Global Capitalism
The current transnational phase of capitalism, characterized by global markets, production, finances
a transnational capitalist class whose business concerns are global rather than national
And a transnational system of governances that promote global business interests
Fordism
The system of production pioneered by Henry Ford, in which the assembly line was introduced
Taylorism
À set of ideas, also referred to as «scientific management», developed by Frederick Winslow Taylor, involving simple coordinated operations in industry
Low-Trust Systems
Organizational or work settings in which people are allowed little responsibility for, or control over, the work task
Fordism and Taylorism involve low-trust systems, as jobs are set by management and are geared to machines
High-Trust Systems
Organizational or work settings in which individuals are permitted a great deal of autonomy and control over the work task
Typically concentrated at the higher levels of industrial organizations
Aliénation
The sense that our own abilities as human beings are taken over by others
The term was originally used by Karl Marx to refer to the projection of human powers onto gods
Marx used this term to refer to the loss of workers’ control over the nature and products of their labour
Post-Fordism
The periods characterized by the transition from mass industrial production, using Fordist methods, to more flexible forms of production favouring innovation and aimed at meeting market demands for customized products.
This can be confusing because it is used to refer to a set of overlapping changes that are occurring not only in the realm of work and economic life but also throughout society as a whole
Mass Customization
Modern businesses must cater to their customers’ ever-changing demands, which are shaped by a constant flow of media advertising
Mass Customization combines large-volume production with the flexibility required to tailor products to consumers’ neeeds
Mass Customization + Taylorism and Fordism
Taylorism and Fordism successfully produced mass products but they were unable to produce small orders of goods, or goods specifically made for an individual customer
Flexible Production
À manufacturing system involving a complex network of contract factories that enable both the process of production and the product itself to be quickly modified in order to meet changing demand and market conditions
Outsourcing
À business practice that sends production of materials to factories around the world
Job Insecurity
To keep jobs in the US, many workers have to accept pay cuts and reduced benefits packages
Many workers have lost their jobs to overseas competition
Informal Economy
Economic transactions carried on outside the sphere of orthodox paid employment
