Working Conditions (Impersonal)

Pay. Pay is one of the most important working conditions for al­most all occupational groups (Smith, Kendall, & Hulin, 1969; Law­ler, 1981). Yet even here there is conflicting eviden­ce, for some stud­ies have found pay to be relatively unimportant in determining job satisfaction for certain groups of workers (Opsahl & Dunnette, 1966). Gruneberg (1970) concluded:

It appears that money means different things to different groups, and is likely to have greater importance for individuals who can­not gain other satisfactions from their job.

Another aspect of pay is the system by which wages are deter­mined. Most studies have found that hourly pay is preferred to piece­work systems by most workers, and straight salaries are preferred to incentive schemes (Opsahl & Dunnette, 1966; Schwab & Wallace, 1974). One reason for this is that piecework systems tend to disrupt social relationships on the job, which are another major source of worker satisfactions. However, there is an interesting paradox here, for wage incentive schemes generally result in greater productivity than does hourly pay (Warr & Wall, 1975).

Interpretation of the Text

1. What factor is most basic to work satisfaction?

2. What types of external recognition does the author mention?

3. According to the excerpt, too little challenge in work may lead to some problems. What are some of the problems caused by too few challenges? On the other hand, problems are also created when the work offers too many challenges. What are these prob­lems?

4. The final paragraph mentions four systems of determining pay. What is hourly pay? What is a piecework system? What is a straight salary? What is an incentive scheme? How do these systems com­pare?

5. Why is variety in the job an important factor in work satisfaction? Can there ever be too much variety?

6. What does it mean to rotate from job to job all day long?

7. Do you agree with the author that riveting aircraft wings is a more significant job than riveting trash containers? What makes one job more significant than another?

8. The author states that piecework tends to interfere with friend­ships on the job. Do you think this is true? Have you ever had any experiences or have you known anyone who has had experi­ences doing piecework? Did they have a similar experience to the one the author describes?

9. For what audience was this selection written? How do you know? What indications are there that this excerpt was not written for a general audience?

10. Of all the factors that the author mentions as contributing to job satisfaction, which is the most important to you?

11. What is the most satisfying job you have ever had? Discuss why this job was so satisfying. Do your reasons for liking the job cor­respond to the excerpt's analysis of job satisfaction?

12. Have you ever had the job that you did not like? If you have, describe the job to your group and explain in detail why this job was not satisfactory to you.

13. The author states that “success can generally be judged by workers themselves.” If workers know they are doing a good job, why is external recognition so important?

14. Define the type of the text under study. What are the peculiarities of this style? Speak on the text arrangement.

15. Analyze the stylistic means the author resorts to: lexical, syntactical, lexical-syntactical, graphic, phonetic, compositional devices.

16. Give a summary of your comments on the text.