American Culture & the Workplace
The modern American company is one I
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The modern American company is one in which managers oversee the activities of workers with managers responsible for the strategic planning associated with the long-term growth of the organization and the workers responsible for performing the day to-day tasks which ensure the success of the organization. Although managers generally cannot exist without workers, managers are typically paid better and perceived to have "better" jobs in the sense that they are white-collar rather than blue collar employees. Companies which deviate from this structure, such as those that eliminate first-line managers in favor of employee teams, are perceived as radically progressive and liberal in their organizational approach. Yet this status quo has existed for little more than 100 years and is a result of the Industrial Revolution. This research examines how the current hierarchy of control came into place and what the future holds for this type of organization.Five sources will be used for this research, including two offering historical perspectives, one examining the role of scientific management (and its validity as a science), one which examines why individuals are motivated to work at all (and what benefits they derive from their efforts), and one which considers the effect of modern management on the culture as a whole. Taken together, these readings provide insight as to why the American workplace has assumed the shape it currently has, and how the workplace has s
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the highly complex and interdependent system which characterizes American capitalism today began with increased numbers of workers toiling for regular wages and standard hours in order to earn a sufficient income which could be spent to purchase the very goods they manufactured.
Scientific Management
Industrialists such as Henry Ford recognized that they were employing a new type of worker and enjoying a different relationship with their workers than existed previously. Where workers were previously craftsmen who created an entire product from start to finish, the Industrial Revolution made it possible for individuals to perform only a single tasks (or a small number of tasks) which would make it possible for them to be more efficient from a manufacturing standpoint. At a time when the nation as a whole was transfixed with science and ways in which science would benefit the culture, "scientific management" was certain to capture the attention of early capitalists.
Frederick Taylor is generally credited with being among the first to take a scientific approach to management. Where scientific principles were being used to revolutionize the production floor from a technological standpoint, Taylor sought to apply scientific princ
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Approximate Word count = 1812
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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