Thompson Work Organisations A Critical Introduction (3rd ed)
.pdfWork Organisations
A Critical Introduction
Work Organisations
A Critical Introduction
Third edition
Paul Thompson
and
David McHugh
© Paul Thompson and David McHugh 1990, 1995, 2002
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosection and civil claims for damages.
The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First edition 1990
Reprinted 5 times
Second edition 1995
Reprinted 7 times
Third edition 2002
Published by PALGRAVE
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10010
Companies and representatives throughout the world
PALGRAVE is the new global academic imprint of
St. Martin’s Press LLC Scholarly and Reference Division and Palgrave Publishers Ltd (formerly Macmillan Press Ltd).
ISBN 0–333–94991–9 paperback
ISBN 0–333–98095–9 hardcover
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest souces.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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Printed in Great Britain by
Anthony Rowe Ltd
Chippenham, Wiltshire
Contents
List of tables and figures |
xi |
Acknowledgements |
xii |
Introduction |
xiii |
Part I |
|
1 Studying organisations: an introduction |
3 |
Organisations and organisation society |
3 |
Defining the scope and purpose of organisations |
5 |
Organisational analysis: problems and problematics |
7 |
Goals, diversity and interests |
8 |
Rationality, efficiency and choice |
10 |
Hierarchy and the division of labour |
12 |
Management and managerialism |
12 |
A science of organisations? |
14 |
A concluding comment |
14 |
An alternative and critical agenda |
15 |
Reflexivity |
15 |
The embeddedness of organisations |
16 |
Multi-dimensionality |
16 |
Structure, contradiction and agency |
17 |
Social transformation and change |
18 |
Conclusion |
19 |
2 The emergence of large-scale organisations |
20 |
Organising the new work forms |
20 |
The rise of the factory system |
21 |
Modes of control in the transition to bureaucratic organisation |
23 |
Decay and decline of traditional controls |
25 |
Conclusion |
28 |
3 Taylor, Weber and the bureaucratisation of the workplace |
29 |
Taylorism and systematic management |
29 |
Principles |
30 |
Ideology and practice |
31 |
Weber and administrative theories of management |
34 |
The rise of bureaucratic control and its contradictions |
38 |
Scientific management and bureaucratic work rules: modern legacies |
40 |
Conclusion |
41 |
4 Managing the human factor |
42 |
Social science and industry: a courtship |
42 |
vi • CO N T E N T S
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Hawthorne and beyond |
45 |
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Consolidating human relations |
49 |
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Legacies and continuities: from human relations to human |
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resource management |
51 |
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Conclusion |
53 |
5 |
Organisations and environments |
54 |
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Closed systems? |
55 |
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Adaptation to the environment: open system approaches |
56 |
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Contingency theory |
58 |
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Selection theories: the population ecology approach |
61 |
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Critique and alternatives |
63 |
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Enacted environments? |
66 |
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Conclusion |
69 |
6 |
Capital, labour and the state in a globalising era |
70 |
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Comparative analysis: beyond the American model |
70 |
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The rise of cultural explanations |
71 |
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Institutional theories |
76 |
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Globalisation |
79 |
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Understanding the comparative influences on work organisation |
82 |
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The state still matters |
85 |
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Conclusion |
86 |
7 |
Management |
87 |
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Classical management theory |
87 |
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The nature of management |
89 |
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Management practices: a new realism? |
91 |
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Bringing the threads together: management as a labour process |
94 |
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Armstrong and inter-professional competition |
96 |
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Conclusion |
100 |
8 |
Control: concepts and strategies |
101 |
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Mainstream mis/understandings |
101 |
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Radical perspectives: labour process theories of control |
103 |
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Management strategies |
105 |
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Questioning strategy |
109 |
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Questioning control over labour |
111 |
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New directions? Surveillance and shifting the locus of control |
113 |
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Conclusion |
116 |
9 |
Power, conflict and resistance |
117 |
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Power in mainstream theory |
117 |
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Mainstream models |
119 |
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A critical evaluation: three-dimensional analyses |
121 |
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Foucault, post-structuralism and disciplinary power |
124 |
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Applications to organisations |
126 |
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Critique |
128 |
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Conclusion |
131 |
10 |
Gender, sexuality and organisations |
132 |
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Policy parameters and intellectual frameworks |
132 |
CO N T E N T S • v i i
Gendering organisational analysis |
134 |
Kanter and organisational context |
134 |
Theorising difference |
136 |
Culture, careers and networks: embedding gender |
139 |
Enter sexuality |
140 |
Contrasting perspectives on sex, power and organisations |
142 |
Evaluation: under and overpowered explanations |
144 |
From equal opportunity to managing diversity? |
145 |
Conclusion |
147 |
11 New Economy, new organisations? |
149 |
Introduction: paradigm shift or shifting paradigms? |
149 |
Firms, markets and hierarchies in the knowledge economy |
150 |
Post-bureaucratic organisation: restructuring the corporation |
154 |
Flexibility, work and employment |
156 |
Japanese production regimes |
157 |
The flexible firm model |
158 |
Home and teleworking |
161 |
Knowledge work and portfolio people |
161 |
High performance and work systems: restructuring the division of labour |
163 |
Conclusion |
165 |
12 Continuity and change at work |
167 |
Hierarchies, networks and knowledge revisited |
167 |
Knowledge in the economy |
169 |
Corporate structures: organised capitalism |
172 |
A new flexible firm? |
175 |
Changing employment relations and the new insecurity |
178 |
Participation, control and commitment in the labour process |
180 |
Autonomy, control and surveillance |
181 |
Skills, tasks and rules |
184 |
The effort bargain and work intensification |
188 |
Conclusion |
189 |
13 Corporations and culture: reinventing organisation man? |
191 |
Product and perspective: the corporate culture merchants |
193 |
HRM and the management of culture |
195 |
Critics and questions |
197 |
Questioning the novelty |
197 |
Questioning the evidence |
198 |
Questioning the concepts |
200 |
Culture: commitment or control? |
202 |
The limits to cultural influence |
204 |
Conclusion |
208 |
Part II |
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14 Understanding organisational behaviour: issues and agendas |
213 |
Technologies of regulation? |
213 |
Topics and texts: subjects and subjectivities |
217 |
Defining the ‘subjective factor’ |
218 |
Conclusion |
221 |
viii • CO N T E N T S
15 Masks for tasks: perception, attitudes and personality |
222 |
Perception: learning what to see |
222 |
Perceptual processing |
222 |
Perceptual categorisation |
224 |
Attribution theory |
226 |
The attitude problem |
229 |
Defining attitudes |
229 |
Attitudes and behaviour |
230 |
Attitude change |
231 |
Personality: masks for tasks |
233 |
Types, traits and tests |
234 |
Personality and selection |
235 |
Conclusion |
238 |
16 Learning, change and innovation |
240 |
Learning and socialisation: seeing what to do |
240 |
Socialisation |
243 |
Roles |
244 |
Skills and styles |
245 |
Learning and development |
246 |
Learning organisations |
247 |
Organisational learning versus learning organisations |
247 |
Changing the people? |
249 |
Models and processes |
250 |
Change and stability |
252 |
Innovation: necessity or luxury? |
253 |
Defining innovation |
253 |
Diffusing innovation: change agents and agencies |
254 |
Climate and culture |
254 |
Sustaining innovation |
255 |
Creativity |
255 |
Social and organisational creativity |
257 |
Conclusion: creativity, learning and sustaining innovation |
258 |
17 Open to persuasion: communication and leadership |
260 |
The power to communicate |
260 |
Interpersonal influence |
264 |
Leadership, might or myth? |
266 |
Traits and characteristics |
267 |
Styles and roles |
268 |
Contingent leadership |
269 |
Transforming leadership |
271 |
Charisma? |
272 |
Networking |
274 |
Attributing leadership |
275 |
Conclusion |
276 |
18 Putting the pressure on: stress, work and emotion |
277 |
Stress: the force to adapt |
277 |
Role stress |
280 |
Stress management |
281 |
Stress counselling |
283 |
CO N T E N T S • i x
Employee assistance programmes |
283 |
Contesting stress |
285 |
Emotional labour |
286 |
Emotion management |
287 |
Stress and control |
289 |
Role socialisation and control |
290 |
Stress in the labour process |
292 |
Conclusion |
293 |
19 Motivation: the drive for satisfaction |
294 |
Motivation or motivating? |
294 |
Enriching the content |
295 |
Content theories |
296 |
The drive for satisfaction |
297 |
The ‘kick in the ass’ life cycle |
300 |
Process theories |
301 |
The goals of motivation |
303 |
Goal-setting |
304 |
Goals versus identity projects |
305 |
Motivation as an artefact |
306 |
Control theories |
307 |
Self-concept theory |
308 |
Control, self-concepts and identity |
310 |
Mobilising commitment |
310 |
Internalisation of commitment |
312 |
Institutional commitment? |
313 |
Conclusion |
314 |
20 From groups to teams |
316 |
The authority of the group |
316 |
Group formation and composition |
317 |
Group socialisation |
319 |
Group cohesiveness and polarisation |
320 |
Group responses to pressures on identity |
321 |
Group resistance and conflict |
323 |
Teamworking |
324 |
Re-engaging the worker |
325 |
Team dimensions |
327 |
Groups versus teams |
329 |
Conclusion |
332 |
21 Identity work |
334 |
Explanations of identity |
334 |
Redefining the agenda |
336 |
Gender and ethnic identities |
337 |
Domination and security |
338 |
Organisations and identities |
339 |
Identity work and situational power |
339 |
Responses to pressures on identity |
341 |
Impression management and scripting |
343 |
Identity work and ‘making out’ |
346 |
Identity working: strategies for organisational survival |
347 |