Managerial Capitalism and US Model

Question 1

Taylorism (scientific management)

Answer 1

• “one best way”
• productivity of individual worker
• fair day’s work (max. work without injuring health, at a pace sustained throughout lifetime)
• conception vs. execution
• specialization
  1. Divide into simple tasks
  2. select appropriate cheapest worker to each task
  3. integrate task and worker though surveillance
  4. separation execution from conception and planning

Question 2

Ideas on Management before Taylorism

Answer 2

• supervision of workers
• rules against distractions
• setting of production minimums
• dictation of the length of the working day

Question 3

Consequences of Taylorism

Answer 3

• separation of mental and manual labor
• division of labor
• deskilling of jobs
• planning of work taken over by management (standardization)
• increases intensity and effort at work
• increases in real wages of partly-skilled workers
• development of consultancy firms
• increased unionization and control problems

Question 4

Ford- Mass production

Answer 4

first mass production assembly line
use of interchangeable and standardized components

reduced cost of prod. ONLY when:
vertical integration into production and marketing
plants had to be running at near capacity

Question 5

Improvement in labor relations

Answer 5

deskilling of work and bureaucratic control of labor processes

five dollar day:
- reduce high labor turnover in his plans
reduced work hours

Question 6

New Management: Line and Staff

Answer 6

Line: executies: take decisions and implement them

Staff: advisors: give advices to line officers

Question 7

Multidivisional Form

Answer 7

Functional structure: centralization
M-form: decentralization

• with size and diversification
• Dupont and General Motors
• each division has its own functional hierarchy

Question 8

General Motors

Answer 8

• need to differentiate

- decentralized management

Question 9

Strenghts of M-form

Answer 9

• enables corporate officers to more accurately monitor performance of each business
• faciliated comparisons btw divisions
• stimulated managers of poor performing divisions to look for ways to improve performance
• allows organization to expand operations
• units can work together thus benefiting from synergies
• positively influences firm’s diversification stratefy

Question 10

Weaknesses of M-form

Answer 10

units may have to compete for scarce resources

Units may not coordinate, thus duplication the wasting resources