Work and Wealth( 2019)

Question 1

Work and Wealth:

Important Topics

Answer 1

• Automation and Unemployment
• Effects of increased productivity
• Organized Changes to the Workplace
• Telework
• Temporary Work (gig economy)
• Globalization
• Multinational Teams
• Company Monitoring Employees
• Modes of Diffusion
• “Digital Divide”
• Winner-Take-All Phenomenon
• Access to Public Colleges

Question 2

How Automation

Affects Employment

Answer 2

• Job Destruction
  
  • Lost manufacturing and white-collar jobs
• Job Creation
  
  • Automation lowers prices, increases demand for product and incomes
  • More demand, more jobs
  • Workers may work more today than in pre-industrial times

Question 3

Effects of Increased Productivity

on Employment

Answer 3

Higher Productivity leads to

higher material standard of living

• Fewer hours are worked in France or Germany
• More hours worked in Greece or Russia

Question 4

Modern Organizational Changes

to the Workplace

Answer 4

Information Technology integration into firms:

• Automating “back office” functions, such as payroll
• Improved manufacturing
• Improving communication among business units

Results:

• “Flattened” organizational structures
• Eliminating transactional middlemen
  
  • Supply Chain Automation

Question 5

Telework:

Overview

Answer 5

• Employees working away from traditional place of work
• Examples:
  
  • Home Office
  • Commuting to a telecenter
  • Salespersons
  • Programmer
• Some predict 50% of workforce will be teleworking in 2020
• How does this affect ethical decisions?

Question 6

Telework:

Advantages

Answer 6

• Increased productivity( overall )
• Reduces absenteeism
• Improves morale
• Helps recruitment and retention of top employees
• Saves overhead expenses
• Improves company resilience
• Saves employees money
• Helps environment

Question 7

Telework:

Disadvantages

Answer 7

• Weakens manager’s control and authority
• Makes face-to-face meetings impossible
• Sensitive information is less secure
• Team meetings more difficult
• Teleworkers less visible, isolated, “out of the loop”
• Often work longer hours for the same pay

Question 8

Temporary Work

Overview

Answer 8

• Companies are less committed to employees
• Lay-offs are more common
• Companies hiring more temporary employees:
  
  • Saves money on benefits
  • Makes it easier to downsize
• Long term employment at one company is less common
• “Job Hopping” has become more common
  
  • 65% of employees in a study said they feel changing employers helps their career

Question 9

Companies Monitoring Employees

Answer 9

The majority of companies would like to monitor their employees in some way

Purpose:

• Identify inappropriate use of resources
• Ensure privacy

Target:

• Improving Productivity

Question 10

Multinational Teams:

• Advantages
• Disadvantages
• Example

Answer 10

Advantages:

• Company has people on duty more hours per day
• Cost savings

Disadvantages:

• Poorer infrastructure in less developed countries

Example:

Intel has multinational teams, some for software, some for hardware