Ch. 12- Work and the Economy Flashcards
Division of labor
the specialization of tasks required to produce goods.
Economy
the social institution primarily concerned with production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
Capitalistic economic system
a type of modern economic system in which people and organizations invest capital in the production of goods and services to make a profit.
Socialistic economic system
a type of modern economic system in which the capital invested and the profits from production and supply of goods and services are vested in the state.
Mixed economic system
a type of modern economic system in which elements of socialism (e.g., state ownership of utilities) are introduced into an otherwise capitalist society.
Industrial economy
an economy characterized by the employment of large numbers of workers in the mass production of manufactured goods.
Service economy
an economy devoted to supplying services, such as information processing, teaching, nursing, advertising, marketing, or food.
Professionals
workers characterized by control of a large body of abstract, formal knowledge; substantial autonomy from supervision; authority over clients as well as subordinate occupational groups; and the claim that they will use their knowledge for the benefit if their clients, putting their clients’ interests above their own when necessary.
Craft workers
Employees who combine and intense pride in their work with a broad knowledge of tools, materials, and processes as wells as manual skills acquired by long training and experience.
Taylorism
a system of “scientific management” developed by industrial engineer Frederick Taylor who believed that there was one best way to perform every task, and that this way could be discovered by observing workers and then developing a more efficient means of accomplishing their work.
Formal organization
a cooperative system that serves to integrate the contributions of individual participants.
De-skill
refers to the process by which worker’s skills are built into machines, thus removing the necessity and value of the workers themselves.
Making out
Introduced by Michael Burowoy, a term referring to workers’ willingness to consent to labor conditions inasmuch as they have the freedom to resist management pressures and still come out ahead.
Outsourcing
the process by which corporations and businesses send work to off-site contractors (often outside the country) in order to avoid paying high wages or providing expensive benefits.
Free agent
An individual who does not seek jobs but, rather, is on the lookout for new projects, new knowledge and information, and connectedness through the World Wide Web. They have project contracts, not jobs, and run their own business operations.
