Industrial Sociology Course - VII
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This document is a syllabus for a course in industrial sociology, focusing on the social aspects of industry and work. It covers topics such as the origin, development, and nature of industrial sociology, its relation to other disciplines, the factory system, organizational analysis, worker roles, and trade unionism. The syllabus also touches on historical experiments within industrial sociology.
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(i) M.A. SOCIOLOGY COURSE – VII INDUSTRIAL SOCIOLOGY AND LABOUR PROBLEMS SYLLABUS UNIT – I Origin, Development, Nature and Scope of industrial sociology – its relation to ot...
(i) M.A. SOCIOLOGY COURSE – VII INDUSTRIAL SOCIOLOGY AND LABOUR PROBLEMS SYLLABUS UNIT – I Origin, Development, Nature and Scope of industrial sociology – its relation to other social sciences like Industrial Psychology, Industrial Management and Labour Economics. UNIT – II The factory system of production – Machanisation – Routinization – Specialization – Automation – Their Good and bad effects. UNIT – III Organisational analysis of Industry – Types of organizational Models – The classical Theories – Taylorism – The scientific Management Theory – Mayoism – Te wage school and the Human Measurement in Industry – The Recent organizational Theory – The Decision Making Model of Herbert A. Simon. The Bureaucratic Model of Industrial Organisation. UNIT – IV Role of worker – Industrial Production and the Worker’s Role. Social relations at work – The worker as Bio-psycho-social being. UNIT – V The Trade unionism – Structure and elements and functions of unionism as an Instrument of power – Collective bargaining. REFERENCE BOOKS Gisbert Pascual, S.J. Fundamentals of Industrial Sociology, Bombay, McGraw Hill, 1979. Schneider Engine, V. Industrial Sociology. The social Relation of Industry and the community, Bombay, McGraw Hill, Inc., 1971. Giri. V.V., Labour problems in Indian Industry (ed.) Bombay, 1972. ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY Richardson, J.H. Industrial relations in Great Britain: An Introduction to the study of Industrial Relations, 1 LESSON – 1 INDUSTRIAL SOCIOLOGY STRUCTURE 1.0 Objectives 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Scope 1.3 Summary 1.4 Keywords 1.5 Suggested Questions 1.0 OBJECTIVES To understand the meaning of Industrial Sociology and its scope. 1.1 INTRODUCTION Eugene Schneider defines industrial sociology as that branch of sociology which studies ‘the social structure of industry. Miller and Form call industrial sociology as sociology of work organization’. If we combine these two definitions, we can understand that industrial sociology is a branch of sociology which deals with the social structure of industrial organization, that is, with the social structure of an organization which is connected with an industrial activity. By ‘social structure’ is meant the arrangement of the units in order, the units having interrelationship. In an industrial organization, there are different personnel connected with it. These different personnel are arranged in an order and function in an interrelationship. Industrial sociology studies how in an industrial organization the different personnel connected with it are arranged in an order and how they interact. 1.2 SCOPE There are different personnel in an industrial organization. They are arranged in a hierarchical order. This arrangement is known as line organization. As the personnel are arranged in a vertical line one below the other, the arrangement is ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY referred to as line organization. The line organization of an industrial organization is illustrated by the following chart (a sample). 2 Chairman/ President Managing Director / General Manager Department Managers Superintendents Foremen Workers The man at the top of the line organization is the Chairman (or the president) of the industrial organization. He is the boss of the organization Obviously, he cannot oversee every one’s work in the industrial organization. So, he delegated to some of his authority to some one. Then that authority is further is further delegated to some people. In this process, a body of officers comes into being to exercise the delegated authority. They are called line officers. The managing Director, General Manager, Department managers, Superintendents and the Foreman are those line officers who take the delegated authority. They lie intermediate between the chairman and the workers. They receive orders from the boss and carry out them by extracting work from the workers. The Chairman formulates the policies of the company and issue orders to his immediate subordinate, Managing Director to realize the policies and delegates some of his authority to manage the industrial organization. The Managing Director Passes on some of the authority delegated to him, to the managers of the different departments (or divisions) of the industrial organisation, say production Manager, Purchase manager, Sales Manager, Maintenance Manager, Financial Manager, ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY Personnel Manager, etc., The Managers select the right type of personnel for carrying out different operations of their departments and direct them. The directing is performed through communication, motivating and issuing orders and instructions, when something goes wrong, they themselves take corrective action and set things right. Each department functions under the supervision of a Superintendent He supervises the department workers, work through his subordinates, foremen (or supervisors). 3 It is the Foremen who deals personally with the workers and ensures the production schedules set up by the higher authorities being fulfilled by extracting work from the workers. While extracting work from the workers, he does not merely (1) supervise their work. He (2) instructs and trains the new workers and (3) corrects the erring workers and (4) maintains discipline. He (5) raises their level of motivation and (6) develops their morale by his close personal contacts and communication. As he deals with them, he (7) redresses their grievances, where possible and (8) improves the conditions of safety. In other words, he extracts work from the workers in all possible ways. This he does just to ensure the achievement of the production targets. The line officers are thus in a subordinate position. They exercise authority (delegated authority) and get the work out. As they get the work out by exercising authority and ensure the production work, they constitute the ‘front’ of the industrial organization. The workers (or operatives) operate the machines, handle the tools and make the things. As they are in a position to be subject to the authority of the superiors, they are in a subordinate position. Thus in an industrial organization, the personnel are arranged in a vertical line, one below the other. Those who are in a position to exercise authority and get the work out form one category and those who are in a subordinate position and carry out the industrial work from another category. As the chairman and line officers are in a position to exercise authority, they are collectively known as the management. There is a hierarchy among the management people as well. While the chairman and Managing Director, General Manager come first (they are called the top executive or top management), the Department Managers and the superintendents come second (they are called the middle management) and the foremen came third (they are called the junior management or lower management). Besides the arrangement of the personnel in a hierarchical order, industrial sociology studies existing among those personnel. It studies how the different personnel of an industrial organisation interact with one another. The relations existing among the personnel of and industrial organization are of two board kinds, (i) formal, and (ii) informal. ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY Formal relations are those which arise from the performance of the duties. While performing one’s duty, one has to interact with one’s superiors, subordinates and colleagues. At that time one has to follow certain formalities and behave according to the rules of the industrial organization, industrial laws and established customs or usages. Not only formal relations but also informal relations exist in a industrial organization. Informal relations exist among the members of the same occupational status. Informal relations are those that spontaneously arise among the personnel who are of the same occupational status and do the same work. Such relations are 4 not governed by any rule or law. They are personal. When two individuals have a friendly relation, that relation will be informal and it will not be governed by any formality. For example, the workers who have friendly relations among them to together to the canteen; dine together. During the recess, they assemble and chat together. Similarly, the foremen may have informal friendly relations among themselves. These groups, though informal, are almost stable. They are characterizes by close, personal, emotional ties and intimacy. They exist among all categories of personnel in the industrial organizations. In an industrial organization, the relations between the personnel of the different status groups will, in general. However, they will not always be formal. Sometimes an element of informality blends with it. Thus, a foremen draps a pleasantry while instructing a worker on the job he has to perform or makes kind queries about his health and the welfare of his family. Sometimes during the rest interval a superior and a subordinate sit together and play chess (as occurs in Japan) As the industrial organization in thus a network of relations and as the industrial activity goes on in an atmosphere of relations, we call an industrial organization is called a social system. 1.3 SUMMARY Industrial sociology is a branch of sociology which deals with the social structure of Industrial organizations, this is, with the social structure of an organization is concerned with as Industrial activity. An Industrial Organization, the persons are arranged in a vertical line, one below the other. The relations existing among the personal of our Industrial Organization are of three kinds 1. Formal 2. Informal and 3. Mixed 1.4 KEYWORDS Mixed relations – Social System – Informal relations middle relations middle Management 1.5 SUGGESTED QUESTIONS 1. Write a short, note on Industrial Organisation ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY 2. Define – formal relations 3. Define Industrial Sociology and discuss the Nature and scope of it? 5 LESSON – 2 NATURE, ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF INDUSTRIAL SOCIOLOGY STRUCTURE 2.0 Objectives 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Origin 2.2.1 The Philadelphia 2.2.2 The Illuminations 2.2.3 The Relay Assembly Test Room Experiment 2.3.4 Banking Wiring Observation Room Experiment 2.3.5 Development 2.3.6 Conclusion 2.4 Summary 2.5 Keywords 2.6 Suggested Questions 2.0 OBJECTIVES To understand the Nature, Origin and development of Industrial Sociology 2.1 INTRODUCTION Broadly speaking there are two types of social sciences: (1) generalising science, and (2) specializing science. The former deals with the entire social life i.e., all areas of social life. The latter deals with a special area of social life. For instance, sociology is a generalizing science. It studies the human society as a whole. Its principles apply to all aspects of the society-social, economic, political, etc. But political science is a specializing science. It is interested in the structure of authority in society. Its principles apply only to political sphere of social life. Industrial sociology which is the application of the principles of sociology to industry, is both a generalising social science and a specializing social science. As a generalising science it studies roles, statuses, values, motivations, social attitudes of the entire personnel of industry. As a specialising science, it studies these ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY aspects with reference to a particular section of the industrial personnel. As a generalizing science it studies the action which occurs in industry-how-different categories of the personnel act towards one another. As a specializing science it studies how the workers act towards their follows: 2.2 ORIGIN Industrial Sociology has its beginning in the research conducted by the Harvard Business School at a plant owned by the Western Electric Company at Hawthorne near Illinois, U.S.A. The research was conducted from 1924 to 1932 and reports were published over a period of approximately ten years thereafter. 6 The Hawthorne research, known as the Hawthorne Experiments, was under taken at a time when individualism reigned supreme in industry in which the ideas of Adam Smith had taken root. The worker was viewed as an economic man selling his individual labour at the best price he could secure individually and competitively. His objective was stated to be economic gain (wage) and it was believed that most of his energies were directed towards this objective. It was in this climate that the Hawthrone Experiments were conducted by which the experiments discovered the supremacy of social and human elements by which the experimenters discovered the supremacy of social and human elements and their influence in industry. The Hawthorne Experiments were produced by a Preliminary Experiments – the Philadelphia Spinning Mills Experiment. 2.2.1 The Philadelphia Spinning Mills Experiment This experiment was conducted by George Elton Mayo. He was the head of the Department of Industrial Research of Harvard University in Boston (Massachusetts). He conducted this experiment in the spinning – mill department of a textile mill near Philadelphia in 1923-24. Here, where about 40 men were working their working conditions were anything but ideal. Labour turnover was about 20 percent per annum, while in other departments it was only 3 to 6 percent. In spite of incentives, productivity remained low while absenteeism and similar symptoms o poor organizational health were high. The peicers in the department, whose job was to tie together the threads that in the process of spinning had broken, worked a normal week of five days of ten hours divided into two parts, morning and afternoon, with a break of 45 minutes for lunch. Yet there were irritable, constantly complained of fatigue, neuritis in arms and shoulders, and of the low esteem in which their job was held. Production was so low that the pieces never reached a sufficient level to earn a bonus which had been reasonably provided from them. George Elton Mayo, was called to improve this situation. He introduced two 10-minute rest pauses one in the morning and two in the afternoon. Production went up from 70 percent to 80 percent and sometimes rose as high as 82 percent. This, according to Mayo, was due to the introduction of an appropriate system of rest pauses. But he himself was not quite sure as to what was the true reason for the increase in production for he ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY know that, in the other departments of the mills, where no rest pauses has been introduced, the matters were normal. Also in the same department in which the rest pauses were introduced under different conditions, the results were negative. The supervisors of the department who were unfavourable to the experiment since its inception, under the pretext of meeting an urgent order, disallowed the rest pauses. Thereafter the production in the department fell to a new low of under 70 percent. Again the rest pauses were introduced by the supervisors but on a condition that the workers could have their 7 rest only after the completion of the task set for them. But, production began to sink as low as before down to a 70 percent level. 2.2.2 The Illuminations Experiments This experiments was undertaken from November 1924 through April 1927 by George A. Pennock, an engineer employed in the Western Electric Company, Chicago, to assess the effect of illumination on employee output. For this purpose, the workers of the Howthorne plant were separated into two rooms; the “experimental” or test room, where changes were to be introduced and the “control” room, which was similar to the other in all respects except that, in this room, illumination was constant; the idea being to find out whether any change in lighting would affect production in the lest room. It was found that when lighting in the experimental room improved, Production registered an increase. When the light was progressively raised from 10 to 24 and 70 candles, production went up proportionately. After a while, however, for no apparent reason, output soared in the control room as well when no change at all had been made. In an attempt to find the solution to the puzzle the process hitherto followed was reversed. The illumination in the test room was reduced from 10 to 3 foot candles. But production, instead of falling, went up slightly. This happened not only in the experimental room but also in the control room, where the illumination remained constant. This was a clear indication of the fact that there was no correlation between lighting and performance. It was then thought that the failure of the experiment must have been due to imperfect control over the environmental factors, some of which were unnoticed by them, must have interfered when the lighting was being changed upsetting thereby the normal sequence of events. This thought led to another experiment at the Hawthrone plant which is popularly known as the Relay Assembly Test Room (R.A.T.R) Experiment 2.2.3 The Relay Assembly Test Room Experiment this experiment was conducted by Elton Mayo in collaboration with F.J. Roethlisberger and a big team of researches including W.L. Warner, G.A. pennock, M.E. Putnam H.A. Wright and W.J. Dickson. The experiment was conducted between 1927 and 1932. The purpose of the experiment was to determine the effects of pauses, length of working day and method of payment. ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY For this purpose, a simple task-that of assembling telephone relays made up of approximately thirty-five small parts fastened together by four screws was chosen, a task which was easily amenable to quantification. A small group of six girls was selected and placed in a room. Ingenious arrangements were made to record the rates of production of the workers and the variations of the test factors. In addition a record was kept of daily events, including their conversations and other forms of interaction. A special observer was installed in the test room to take note of what was going on and to keep records. The girls too were informed and consulted about the changes that were introduced in the experiment. I.e., 8 introduction of rest pauses, variation in the length of working day and change in the basis of payment. The climate this created was so free and informal that the workers lost their apprehension of authority. Their behaviour was normal, but their moral was very high. An atmosphere of friendliness prevailed throughout the period of the experiment. The results of the experiment were surprising to the experiments. There was an increase in productivity to a point approximately 40% above the starting level. But it was found that apparently none of the factors being tested had much relation to increase in productivity. This conclusion was reached, because no matter which factors were held constant and which varied, production continued to rise, until it reached a high plateau. This held true when improved method of payment (group piece rate system) was tried, when rest pauses of various lengths were introduced, and when the length of the working day was shortened. Even after some of these favourable test factors rest pauses and shorter hours-were removed and the test conditions were returned to the normal conditions of the plant, production continued for above the average rate. The investigators were forced to conclude that some other factor was working to maintain high productivity. The investigators noticed the development of a new “social situation” during the course of experiment. It was an informal group. The social activity between the girls during and especially outside the working hours began to develop considerably during the course of experiment. The group that had begun as a mere aggregate of individuals without any special tie, except physical proximity had little by little been transformed into a team whose members had become conscious of the existence of common ends and had thereby developed the will to attain them by seconding and supplementing, when necessary, the action of the others. The group functioned to attain certain group goals which were, apparently strongly believed in by the girls. The girls felt that they had a favoured position in the plant. This position, they believed, could be maintained only by continuing a high level of production. The function of this group, therefore came to be maintenance of the production level at all costs. To that purpose girls were chided if they fell behind their quotas, and discipline at work was strictly maintained. The R.A.T.R. brought out the importance of informal groups in productivity. It showed how the informal group situation would help to increase productivity. ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY 2.2.4 Banking Wiring Observation Room Experiment This was the third of the three Hawthrone experiments the first and second being the illumination Experiment and the Relay Assembly test Room (R.T.A.R) Experiment. This new experiment was conducted by Roethlisberger and Dickson with a view to obtaining more exact information about the informal groups within a company. The experiment was conducted during the period of November 1931 May 1932 at the Hawthorne plant. 9 For the experiment, a sample of 14 workingmen was selected. The selected 14 workingmen included nine wiremen, three soldermen and two inspectors. All were engaged in the selection and connection of bank wiring which was a stage in fixing of switches. The wiremen did the job of wiring the terminals. The solderman soldered the wire to the terminals. The finished product was them mechanically and visually tested for defects by inspectors. These three kinds of jobs were of a non-mechanised nature; all the workingmen employed tools of a simple kind. The selected workingmen were moved to a special test room. They were not exposed to any experiment, since it was found from the previous experiment (R.A.T.R. Experiment) that factors such as rest pauses and shorter working hours were found to have no effect on productivity. No special privileges were given to them. Their working conditions were normal an observer was stationed in the test room to take note of what was going on and to keep records. After a short period of time, it became apparent to the observer that although formal social relationships between workers and supervisors were determined directly by the technological process of bank wiring and by the bureaucratic organization, the men had created a complex set of informal relations which had the little to do with the formal social structure. These informal social relations were coalesced into two cliquets. Many of the informal social relationships in the test room were carried on within these cliques. For instance, games such as gambling, “binging” (a small hard punch landed with warning on the shoulder) and betting on the horses were conducted within each group. Similarly job trading, helping at work, friendships, antagonisms, and even quarrels were conducted mainly along the lines of the informal group structure. These informal groups performed two types of functions. First, they functioned to relieve monotony, boredom and fatigue. The workingmen engaged in gambling, “bringing”. “Story telling and horseplay in the informal groups; these practices served at the same time to break up the routine of work and to afford a mode of crude recreation. The informal groups also provided a relief from fatigue through work exchange. Secondly, the groups as a whole functioned to restrict production. Technically the workers were paid on the basis of an incentive plan in the company. The plan was designed to offer maximum incentives for the workers with a view to increase ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY production. However, in the test room, production was consistently restricted in several ways. By a sort of unspoken common agreement, production was limited to a certain amount each day, in spite of the fact that the workingmen could have turned out considerably more work than the informal norm. They fixed 6,000 - 6,600 terminal connections per man in an 8 hour day as their daily target which was far less than that the management expected of them. Any production beyond this limit was considered by them to be dangerous. The result was that the production of each worker and of the group as a whole was remarkably uniform, although there were differences in the productivity of individual workingmen. 10 The restriction of production was enforced through asset of rules or practices which nobody formulated but which every one followed, various social pressures were used to ensure that workers did not exceed the group norm; in fact no one even attempted to attain the official production target. The man who produced too much or “above the bogey” (the amount they set themselves to produce) was called a “rate buster”, “shrimp”, “runt” or “slave”. The man who worked most in the room was called “speed king” or “phar Lap” (the name of successful race horse); and another conscientious operative who worked up to 4-15 p.m., the end of the working day, earned the nickname of “The 4-15 special”, after a train. A device much used to enforce the rules was to “bring” the “offender” or to hit him as hard as possible with the hand on upper arm. This type of active protest against over producing was, on the whole, effective and with this the “bogey” was kept. The slacker, on the contrary, was also made to react by a similar system of social pressure in which the name-calling was prominent. He was called a “chiseller” and the man who reported anything to the supervisors to the detriment of anyone in the groups was nicknamed a “squealer” and nobody was supposed to “act officious” or look important, or maintain a social distance when he was promoted inspector, etc. In both the Ready Assembly Test Room Experiment and Bank Wiring Observation Room Experiment, informal groups came into being. But they were different in their functioning. While the R.A.T.R. group functioned to set a goal of increase in production and to attain the goal, the B.W.O.R. groups functioned to restrict production to a certain amount each day which was far less than that the management expected of them. The action of the R.A.T.R. group is logical and understandable. But the action of the B.W.O.R. groups appears to be non-logical because even though in their plant, the workers were paid on the basis of an incentive plan which was designed to offer maximum incentives for the workers with a view to increasing production, the groups consistently restricted production. Schneider explains this “non-logical” and “irrational” act of the workingmen. He says that the “formal relations of production” and the nature of industrial technology combine to threaten the worker’s hold on the job ad induce in him anxiety about his job. The restriction of production arose directly out of this situation: if the worker restricts his motive may be to increase his security on the ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY job. He knows by experience that his tenure on the job depends upon the flow of manufacturing. Therefore in order to ensure his tenure, he “stretches out” the work. He reasons, whether mistakenly or not, that working rapidly and efficiently may increase income for a while but also mean a lay-off. Furthermore, he believes, perhaps mistakenly that by restricting production he is warding off technological change or rationalization of production. It may appear that the worker’s reasoning is fallacious. But he has only his experience to judge by and this tells him that if he slows down the pace of work, there will be more work; that if he works too fast, his job may be “related” or abolished entirely by the introduction of new machine. 11 Secondly, according to Schneider, restrictive practice may also reflect the drive of the worker for independence from the demands of technology and the discipline of bureaucracy. The worker fights back against the tendency of modern technology to turn him into a cog of production or a machine, by holding the pace of work to what he considers a comfortable level. At the same time he gains recognition and response from his fellow workers for adhering to the demands of the group, for refusing to threaten the security and independence of his fellow workers. 2.3 CONCLUSION The Hawthorne Experiments have thus revealed that factory is a social system and that informal groups in any work situation vitally affect human behaviour. Also they have provided a new conception of the worker. A worker is not merely a stimulus-response mechanism who is motivated by some economic incentive. He is a social being. He is more than an individual in the sense that he is a part o functioning groups and he is formed by these groups. It is by these groups that his attitude to work is mainly shaped. Joseph L. Massie observes “The overall impact of the Hawthorne Experiments was to challenge the non-motivational concept of the scientific management school. The worker was no longer merely an extension of machine, but a complex human being whose social, psychological ad personal needs required attention from the management. These studies demonstrated the human resistance characteristics of a “scientifically managed” plant. Further, they have indicated that major production gains might be achieved through an improved understanding of the human factor in an organization. However, it is criticized that the Hawthorne Experiments have not contributed anything original, they have merely underlined something that was already known before in the works of C.H. Cooley and G.H. Mead and other concerning the structure and influence of primary informal groups. Yet, one cannot deny that none before Mayo had conducted similar experiments of such importance and magnitude about the working and influence of primary groups in the industry. On this ground alone, the experiments were unique. It is Hawthorne Experiment which gave birth to Industrial Sociology. 2.4 DEVELOPMENT Besides the Hawthorne Experiments, a number of studies of were made in the ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY field of industry. George Elton Mayo in collaboration with his colleagues in the Department of Industrial research in the Harvard Business School and industrial workers conducted first hand research and clinical studies of the concrete industrial situations. His research activity spanned over about twenty years. This twenty yea period was marked by a series of insight-stimulating studies. In his first comprehensive report on the industrial research. The Human Problems of Industrial Civilization-published in 1933, Mayo broke new ground in methods of studying and securing better understanding of individual workers in relation to their industrial jobs and of ways to improve their sense of well-being on 12 the job. This report was followed by more detailed accounts of a five year experiment conducted at the Western Electric Company by the team of Mayo and his associates. All these accounts brought out the importance of social groups and team work as well as of the industrial worker. Thones N. Whitehead of the Havard Industrial School, (author of The Industrial Worker) conducted certain studies an Industrial Sociology. His studies were based on a careful statistical analysis of unique records of the experiment kept by the Western Electric Company. They threw light on the significance of the social factors which affected the behaviour of the experimental groups. Fritz J. Roethlisberger and William J. Dickson of the Harvard Industrial School brought out a book on the Hawthorne Experiments in 1956. The book, entitled Management and the Worker was acclaimed as the standard book on the Hawthorne Experiments. The book emphasized the importance of the human and social factors in productivity. The three reports mentioned above have a common feature. They all place emphasis on the worker in his social surroundings. But Mayo’s report, in addition, brings to the fore the problem of securing group collaboration in the essential activities of industry. He also points out the increasing significance of the problems which result from rapid technological changes and the frequent changes in the human associations of the worker while he is at work. The progressive destruction of old technical skills receives inadequate attention by management. The difficulties caused by the progressive destruction of neighbourhood life and by the constant loosening of the stabilising influences which surround us in what Mayo refers to as an establishment society. These again result in large part from the impact of applied science and technology on the lives the men lead in industry and significant developments such as the automatic machinery on their lives, when they are not at work. Here also Mayo gives us instances where industrial administrators have succeeded in making factory groups stable for group co-operation. the factory groups have become a locus of co0operation among the workers. As a result, the factory on the whole has become a stabilizing force for the workers. This accomplishment was achieved in spite of technological changes within the plant and social chaos in the community outside. Thus Mayo shows for the first time through specific instances that it is within the power of the industrial ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY administration to create within industry itself a partially effective substitute for the old stabilizing force of neighbourhood, in the form of factory groups. The school of thought founded by Elton Mayo, called Mayo School’ made a Seminal contribution to the development of Industrial Sociology. A number of classical works came from the Mayo school of thought and enriched the field of industrial sociology. The following are some of those classical works. 1. Elton, Mayo, The Social problem of an Industrial Civilization. 2. Elton, Mayo, The Human problems of an Industrial Civilization. 13 3. Fritz J. Roethlisberger and William J. Dickson. Management and the worker. 4. Thomas N. Whitehead, Industrial Worker. 5. Thomas N.Whitehead, Leadership in a Free Society. 6. Fritz J. Roethlisberger Management and Morale. 7. Elton Mayo and George F. Lourbond, Team Work and Labour Turnover in the Aircraft Industry of Southern California. 8. Burleigh B. Gardner, Human Relations in Industry. 2.5 SUMMARY There are two types of social sciences (1) Generalising science (2) Specialising science. In both the Really Assembly Test Room experiment and Bank Wiring observation Room experiment, informal groups came into being. The Hawthorne experiments have thus revealed factory is a social system and that informal groups in any work situation Vitally affects human behaviour, Hawthrone experiments which gave birth to industrial sociology. 2.6 KEYWORDS Civilization – Mechanism Collaboration 2.7 SUGGESTED QUESTIONS 1. Discuss the Nature, origin and development of Industrial sociology? 2. Discuss the Philadelphia Spinning Mills Experiments 3. Explain the illuminations experiments and the Relay Assembly test room experiment 4. Write a short notes on Banking Wiring observation Room experiment. ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY 14 LESSON – 3 RELATIONSHIP OF INDUSTRIAL SOCIOLOGY WITH OTHER SOCIAL SCIENCES INDUSTRIAL PSYCHOLOGY LABOUR ECONOMICS – PERSONAL MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE 3.0 Objectives 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Industrial Sociology and Industrial Psychology 3.3 Industrial Sociology and Labour Economics 3.4 Industrial Sociology and Personnel Management 3.5 Summary 3.6 Keywords 3.7 Suggested Questions 3.0 OBJECTIVES To understand the relationship of Industrial sociology with other social Sciences 3.1 INTRODUCTION Industrial Sociology reviews, classifies and studies the social life occurring in the industrial field. Industrial complexes are both formal and informal human organizations. The formal and informal relations in these organizations are studied by Industrial Sociology. The human relations are usually difficult to determine precisely as to which of these are purely economic and which are purely industrial. This is the reason why the subject matters of various disciplines overlap. In sciences there are no sharply defined boundaries. Thus the boundaries of Industrial Sociology overlap with the boundaries of other sciences. The Industrial Sociology is primarily a science which studies the social relations in the industry. These newly emergent relations are also studied in varying forms by Economics, Psychology and Personnel Management. It is therefore, reasonable to infer that these sciences are related to Industrial Sociology. We shall now discuss the relationships between Industrial Sociology on the one hand and Psychology, Economics and Personnel Management on the other. ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY 3.2 INDUSTRIAL SOCIOLOGY AND INDUSTRIAL PSYCHOLOGY Industrial Psychology deals mostly with individual and personal behaviour, and problem such as selection of personal, definition of basic personal factors in job satisfaction, internal work motivation, accident proneness, etc. Industrial sociology stresses, on the contrary, the social or international factors, such as industrial and human relations, formal and informal organizations, team work, communication, etc. It is true that some of these problems like communication and motivation are common to both disciplines. i.e., Psychology and Sociology. But the viewpoints and approaches of these two discipline are clearly distinct. 15 Yet, this distinction between the two disciplines is often ignored, Industrial Sociology uses the findings of Industrial Psychology. The psychologists explain how the conditions of work, both physical and psychological, affect the worker’s behaviour in the factory. The physical conditions of work include light, temperature, Ventilation, music, hours of work and rest, and other similar conditions. Psychological conditions include the feeling of Security of the workers, satisfaction of their needs, attitude towards work, etc. The explanations ad the suggestion given by psychologists prove of immense value in improving human relations in industry and in solving industrial disputes. 3.3 INDUSTRIAL SOCIOLOGY AND LABOUR ECONOMICS Economics belongs to the family of social sciences. It studies chiefly the economic aspect of the society. Defining economics, Fairchild Duch and Slesinger write that “Economics is the study of man’s activities devoted to obtaining the material means for the satisfaction of his wants”. Thus, it is evident that Economics is concerned with the economic relations. Labour Economics, a branch of economics deals with the economics relations between the workers and management. These economic relations are a part of social relations. Industrial Sociology which deals with social relations in industry draws upon the findings of Labour Economics which throw light on the economic aspects of the social relations in industry. 3.4 INDUSTRIAL SOCIOLOGY AND PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT Personnel Management or Personnel Administration is the application of social sciences to the human problems of industry. Industrial Welfare is a branch of social welfare which consists in the application of the principles and findings of the social sciences like Industrial Sociology to correct deficiencies and improve the conditions of the working class. 3.5 SUMMARY Industrial Sociology use the findings of Industrial Psychology. Economics belongs to the family of social science. These economics relations are a part of social relations. Personal management is the application of social sciences to the human problems of Industry. All social sciences are interdependent. 3.6 KEYWORDS Administration – Organisation – Feudalism ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY 3.7 SUGGESTED QUESTIONS 1. Explain the Relationship of Industrial Sociology with other social sciences? 2. Write a short note on Industrial Psychology 3. Explain what is Labour Economics? 4. Discuss about personnel Management? 16 LESSON – 4 THE FACTORY SYSTEM OF PRODUCTION – CAUSES AND CONDITIONS OF THE RISE OF THE FACTORY SYSTEM – CHARACTERISTICS FORMAL RELATION OF PRODUCTION – NATURE OF WORKERS STRUCTURE 4.0 Objectives 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Causes and Conditions of the rise of the factory system 4.3 The characteristics of factory system 4.3.1 Concentration of the Productive Process 4.3.2 Application of Mechanical Power 4.3.3 Huge Investment of Capital 4.4 The formal relation of productions in the factory system 4.5 The Entrepreneur 4.6 The Worker 4.7 Summary 4.8 Keywords 4.9 Suggested Questions 4.0 OBJECTIVES To find out the Characteristics of factory system 4.1 INTRODUCTION The factory system arose as early as the 16th Century. The factory system has certain characteristics. They are capital, free Labour, Mechanical Power etc. 4.2 CAUSES AND CONDITIONS OF THE RISE OF THE FACTORY SYSTEM The factory system arose as early as the 16th century. It came about because of a combination of economic causes and of favourable external conditions. The important among those causes and conditions are listed below. 1. As early as the 16th century, there was a constantly increasing demand for ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY manufactured goods following the growth of purchasing power among certain groups and development of money economy. The factory first appeared to supply the constantly growing and dependable demands of the national state for coins, uniforms and gunpowder. Later there was a great demand from the wealthy classes for luxuries such as porcelain, glass, soap, silk and velvet. From the not-so-wealthy there was a demand for limitations of these goods. To meet these demands and to capture the markets, the factory system spread. 17 In general, to meet the increasing demands for the manufactured goods, an efficient system of production was needed. Thus the factory system succeeded in furnishing. By bringing workers together under one roof, the entrepreneur could institute a right discipline over the system of production, by depriving the workers of ownership of the means of production, the entrepreneur forced the worker into complete economic dependence. As a result of both these factors, the quantity, quality and uniformity of work could be guaranteed. Once this system was established, it offered opportunities for increases in efficiency, productivity and therefore profit. Labour could be divided and subdivided in the interest of efficiency. The use of central sources of power, such as water or wind, became economically and technologically feasible. Still further production became a calculable process: budgets and plans could be made to cut costs in a hundred ways. the profitability and dependability of the factory system in turn made it more and more attractive as an area of relatively safe investment. All these factors enabled the factory to squeeze out the guilds and putting out establishments. 2. The decay of the guild system was another factor in the rise of factory system. The break up of the guild system with its monopoly on skills, markets and labour, offered opportunities to the factory system in every one of these areas. 3. Another condition which facilitated the growth of the factory system was the destruction of the social relationship of feudalism. During the days of feudalism, the peasants were tied to the land and kept under subjugation by landlords. The feudal relations, i.e., the relationships between the peasant and land between the peasant and the lord inhibited the rural population to become the industrial labour force. As a result, the changing demands of industry could not be met. But when the feudal system broke up, the feudal relations were destroyed. The rural population then could become the working force to meet the changing demands of industry. By absorbing them, the factory system of production attained growth. 4. Still another necessary condition for the establishment of the new industrial system was the creation of large amounts of capital available for investment. The opening of new routes to the Orient and Latin America provided opportunities for discovering and exploiting the natural resources poured a stream of precious metals and gems into European trade and industry. The newly obtained wealth was ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY used for investment in new fields. 5. Favourable political conditions also played a role in the development of the factory system. The legal position of the early age was very insecure especially in the face of guild hostility. As a result, industry turned to the state for protection. The state was ready to grant this protection for a variety of reasons to ensure the manufacture of necessary military provisions, to provide employment for a population which could no longer find work in the guilds and to increase tax revenues. In turn, as industry grew in power, it lent support to the state, and the alliance between these two forces was cemented. 18 6. It must be borne in mind that these causes and conditions would not have been sufficient to ensure the development of the industrial system, were it not the existence of a climate of opinion favourable to capitalistic industry. Unless there was a favourable encouraging climate of opinion, capitalistic industry could not develop prior to the appearance of the factory system. In the early years of its development, a religious movement developed in Europe. It was the Protestant Reformation. A branch of Protestantism called Calvinism carried on a movement of the propagation of principles of hard work, thrift, savings and investment. Calvinism interpreted these things as the means of establishing the Kingdom of the Lord in the earth and obtaining the blessings of the Lord. The result was the development of capitalism and industry. Thus, Protestantism created a rational climate in which industrialism could flourish. All these causes and conditions, and undoubtedly many more besides, operated jointly to favour the rise of the factory system. No unicausal theory can account for such a profound overturn in the affairs of mankind. 4.3 THE CHARACTERISTICS OF FACTORY SYSTEM The factory system has certain characteristics. The important among them are the following. 4.3.1 Concentration of the Productive Process The productive process is concentrated in large factories or places located near the sources of motive power, raw materials or markets. Thus means the accumulation of fixed capital and free labour in a concentric locality. 4.3.2 Application of Mechanical Power The mechanical power is applied in the productive process; that is, the main power and animal power has been replaced by mechanical power. In the beginning the factory was dependent upon natural sources of power. But when James Watt succeeded in applying steam power to produce circular motion, the factory became more independent of natural resources. The process was accelerated by the introduction of hydraulic machines. The successful application of mechanical power helped immensely to improve the quality and increase the production of goods. 4.3.3 Huge Investment of Capital The factory system requires huge investment of capital in the form of money. ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY But for the capital investment the factory system could not be possible. It is with the money power, that the capitalist is able to combine men, materials and machinery in the productive way. The Formal Relation of Production in the Factory System With the development of the factory system, there appeared two great economic groupings-capitalists and labour, or management and labour, or management and worker. The formal relations which existed between these two groupings were essentially market relations; that is, employers and workers approached each other as buyers and sellers, with the labour of the workers as the 19 matter of sale. As in every market, action was oriented to “advantage in exchange on the basis of self-interest” (Max Weber) No “particularistic” ties existed between the entrepreneur and the worker, ties such as had existed between slave owner and slave, between lord and peasant, or between master and apprentice. Let us look more closely at these new partners in production. 4.5 THE ENTREPRENEUR The entrepreneur or manager, in the first place, unlike the guild master and the merchant-capitalist of the putting out system, owned-or, as Max Weber puts it, “appropriated”-all the physical means of production: land, buildings, machinery, tools, raw materials. To the entrepreneur these have become property, which could be disposed of as he wished. His rights in them were practically unlimited. The goods which were produced by the factory also belonged solely to the entrepreneur, to be used either for personal use or for sale. In the second place, in order to carry out the process of production, the entrepreneur, unlike the feudal lord, bought or “hired” labour. He had responsibilities to the worker until the wages were paid. Once the wages had been paid, his responsibilities to the worker were ended. The entrepreneur was responsible neither for the conduct of the workers apart from working hours nor for their maintenance in the absence of work. Thus the new entrepreneur combined the advantages of the ownership of the means of production on the one hand and a lack of responsibility for the human element in the productivity process on the other. Thirdly, the supreme purpose of the entrepreneur in “appropriating” the plans of production in “Hiring” workers was profit-making. The entrepreneur sought the profit for his own sake. He desired and tired the maximaisation of profit. It will be evident that the position of the entrepreneur in the market was a strong one. Owning the means of production. Free from immediate economic need, without personal ties to the worker, the entrepreneur could afford to bargain long and shrewdly with his workers. Indeed the great economic power of the management is one of the dominant themes of industrial history. Although management and the worker were sharply divided in theory, this sharp division did not develop in the beginning. Frequently, the early entrepreneur was also chief foreman of the works, the designer, the tool builder, and on occasion, ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY one of the workers. The social separation of management and the worker occurred only at a later stage of industrial development. 4.6 THE WORKER The factory system created a special type of worker. The most distinctive feature of the new worker was that he was formally free from compulsory ties to lord or master, that he owed no man servitude or labour. At the same time his “freedom” included an absence of right to support by his employer, or of rights to work. Positively his freedom meant that he could offer his services to any man, a any type of work. 20 The worker entered the market and established formal relation with his employer not with the motive of profit making, but with the motive of direct economic need. The need was made all the more pressing by the fact that the worker had no livelihood except through the factory. Furthermore, the entrepreneur’s “appropriation” of the means of production held a special meaning for the worker. Above all, it increased his economic dependence on the employer who owned the tools by which the worker made his living. In addition, since the entrepreneur consented to the use of these tools only when there was a prospect of profit, the worker became even more dependent on the economic activity and whims of the entrepreneur. These formal relations of production were largely impersonal workers and employers were bound to each other only through a cash nexus. No longer was the worker paid in kind or provided with board. He earned wages which were calculated on the basis of time at work or productivity. These factors made the worker powerless in his formal relations to his employer. Devoid of rights to claim support in times of slack work; forced to find work in a market in which labour was usually plentiful and unorganized while employers were few and cohensive, cut off from ownership of the tools of production and therefore dependent on a job for existence, the worker could not be a much for the employer. 4.7 INTRODUCTION The factory system requires huge investment of capital us the way of money, raw materials. The Mechanical Power is applied in the productive process. The factory system created a special type of worker. 4.8 KEYWORDS Reformation – Guild System Fixed Capital 4.9 SUGGESTED QUESTIONS 1. Explain the characteristics of factory system? 2. Write a short notes on the worker ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY 21 LESSON – 5 MECHANISATION – NATURE AND DIVISION OF LABOUR STRUCTURE 5.0 Objectives 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Mechanisation 5.3 Summary 5.4 Keywords 5.5 Suggested Questions 5.0 OBJECTIVES To understand the power of Mechanisation in Industry 5.1 INTRODUCTION The factory system of production involves a number of processes. Among them, mechanization, automation, specialization and rountinisation are of importance. Let us now discuss these processes. 5.2 MECHANISATION The machine was a device, which indirectly performed some industrial task without human intervention. Men ‘tended’, ‘fed’, ‘operated’ or ‘ran’ the machine, but it was the loom which wove the cloth, the press which embossed the leather, the locomotive which hauled the train. Sometimes man supplied the energy to run the machine, but more often some other agency was used: animal, wind, water, steam, and latter electricity and atomic energy. The machine took a firm grip on industry in England in the last half of the 18th century. It appeared first in the textile industry and then spread to other industries. This was the so-called Industrial revolution. Actually the machine has existed in some form or thousands of years and in Europe. The first great wave of mechanical development had occurred as early as the 10th century. However it was in England of the late 18th century that there appeared for the first time the necessary conditions for a really large-scale mechanical development. These favourable conditions may be grouped into several categories. First ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY mechanization was strongly favoured by the same factors which had led to increasing rationalization of production through division of labour, that is, the expansion of domestic and foreign markets, the growing demands of growing military establishment, and the drive to cheapen costs in order to increase profits or gain new markets. Mechanisation greatly increased the efficiency and effectiveness of industry. The machine raised output levels, often improving the quality and durability of the process. Further more the machine cut costs by displacing labour, by replacing skilled workers by unskilled workers, (at first, often women and children) and initially by lengthening, the working day. At the same time the increased profitability of industry as well as improved commercial and 22 financial conditions resulted in the accumulation of larger amounts of capital available for further investment in mechanization. Technological and scientific advances in 18th century England supplied the necessary conditions for mechanical development. Techniques for the working on mental had been so refined that the constructions of complicated machinery became possible. Similarly tools had been developed to the point where the accurate work necessary for machine production could be made. In the real of science, knowledge of such aspects of nature as the physical and chemical properties of gases or the laws of mechanics had reached a stage of development at which this knowledge could be applied to the solution of technological problems. Another factor favouring the development of mechanization was the refinement in the division of labour. As tasks were broken down into ever more refined and yet simple tasks, the technological problems of converting handicraft into machine production became simplified. It was for instance, virtually impossible to machanise the manufacture of clothing while one worker performed every aspect of the manufacturing process. However when labour was divided so that one worker was concerned with spinning the cloth, another with weaving, another with dyeing, another with sewing and so on, machines could be invented to perform each single process. With the development of ‘new’ industries which were not hampered b guild restriction or restrictive legislation, the introduction of machinery on a large scale becomes possible. This was true, for instance, in the cotton industry. The spirit of the age itself favoured the development of mechanization. The 18 th century was marked by concern with the world and a desire to master it. There was consequently a great interest, among other things, in invention, which received the sanction of the State through the passage of patent laws. The machine altered social relations at work in other ways. For instance, with the machine process, there tended to appear one class of workers who operated the machines and another class which supervised the operations. As time went on, both categories became still further divided supervisors according to their degree of authority and responsibility and workers into skilled semi-skilled and un-skilled, into “heavy” workers and “light” workers. These new divisions and many others, led to new types of social relations, new power relations, new forms of communication ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY and new informal relationships. 5.3 SUMMARY Like the division of labour the machine also had certain effects on the psychology of men engaged in the productive process. The machine tended to reduce the worker to an appendage of itself, destroying the need for skill in the process. The machine standardized and routinised work, making it repetitious to the ninth degree. As a result worker became exposed to the danger of monotony and boredom. He was often dominated by a sense of the meaninglessness of work, by a lack of interest in his job. Furthermore the machine caused a profound feeling 23 of insecurity in the worker. It directly threatened his livelihood, or indirectly served as a weapon in the hands of management. the early factory workingman, who was accustomed to the more secure, more leisurely and less reationalised work of the guild system or the putting out system, at first bitterly resented discipline and insecurity caused by the machine. The early riots against machinery during the course of which whole factories were destroyed, was an expression of this resentment. At the same time, for the entrepreneur, or the engineer or the technician, the machine meant increasing freedom from restrictions on production, widening horizons, and soaring ambitions, which were to lead to the enormous expansion of the machine industry in the 19th and 20th centuries. 5.4 KEYWORDS Techniques – Technology Handicraft – Specialisation 5.5 SUGGESTED QUESTION 1. Give a detailed account of Mechanisation ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY 24 LESSON – 6 AUTOMATION AND ITS IMPACT STRUCTURE 6.0 Objectives 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Impact of Automation on Industry 6.3 Summary 6.4 Keywords 6.5 Suggested Questions 6.0 OBJECTIVES To understand about Automation and its impact on Industry 6.1 INTRODUCTION Automation involves two things, first under a system of automation material is handled and transferred automatically, that is, human agents are not used to feed the machine, adjust it during the work cycle, or transfer the completed work to the next stage. Second a system of automation involves a process by which information on the state of the work cycle is fed o some central agency, which then feeds back orders, corrections, recommendations to the work process. This central agency, which may be hydraulic, pneumatic, mechanical; electric or electronic, directs the machine to make certain adjustments which channel the work process in a desired direction. Thus automation takes over not only motor tasks from human beings, but performs certain sensory tasks which formerly were thought capable of being performed only by man. 6.2 IMPACT OF AUTOMATION ON INDUSTRY Automation is the technological revolution of the second half of the 20 th century. J.P. Mitchell and other observers consider automation not a mere technological change but a third industrial revolution. David Rubinfien of the U.S. Armour Research Foundation noted that automation represented a third or even final industrial revolution. The first stage of industrial revolution was marked by the development of machine industry to replace handicraft. In this state, power machinery replaced the ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY human energy. Factory organization came into being. The second state was characterized by mass production. Mass production was made possible by new source of power from oil and electricity. Large scale production spread the standardization, work implication and the specialization of process, products and personnel. Reduction of work to part task made mass production techniques possible. 25 The third stage is characterized by automation. The materials handling, routine judgement, machine settling and data processing are accomplished by electronic and mechanical devices. Machines replaced human labour. Automation, first, provides for the integration of the production and continuous functioning. The production processes become an integrated system and are no longer a series of individual steps divided according to the distribution of human skills. The departmetalisation of the production disappears and the whole production process becomes integrated. Automation involves feedback control. The feedback control it self-regulation (or self – correction) by the data computer. If any mistake occurs in the production, it is corrected by the computer and this does not interface in the production process. The production process goes on continuously and interruptedly even while the mistakes are corrected. Automation leads to the replacement of human labour by machines. As Aronson writes, “Automation is the substitution of mechanical, pneumatic, hydraulic, electric and electronic devices for human organs of decision and effort.” The machine power substitutes for man power. The machines run machines without human energy being used. The machines perform operations previously performed by human labour. Man is an inefficient machine, poorly equipped to perform mechanical and repetitive processes. When compared with machine power, man power is insignificant. A large electronic computer can perform repetitive operations 1000 times as fast as the average worker. A transfer machine can do singly an operation that is performed by 35 to 70 men. With the help of machines, we can get any complex operation performed. There can be no operation which is beyond the capacity of machines. In view of these things, the entrepreneurs today say “What we need is more automation”. As the machines have the maximum efficiency and capacity for performing any kind of operation, manufacturing can be improved and production steeped up. In the automated plants, production registers a tremendous growth. Even if there are fewer workers, productions is not affected. On the contrary, production is on the rise. ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY Facts and figures support this statement. In 1950, Ford Motor Company produced 19,33,661 car engines while employing an average of 8,253 people throughout the year. By 1954, after the introduction of automation, production reached 19,53,049 with a labour force of 6,399. In U.S. electronics factory, when the plant went automated, labour productivity rose nearly 2.7 times. In a bakery (U.S) introduction of automated methods resulted in a 240 percent increase in out put per man hour. In the event of automation, few members may be sufficient for producing a commodity. It was found that in a non-automated car factory, 15,000 man hours 26 were required to produce a simple moor car. But after the introduction of automation, the same car could be produced just in 1,000 hours. Automation cuts the amount of time required for the production of a commodity. Automation helps to reduce the costs of production. Entrepreneurs see in automation an efficient cost – cutting method. Production costs can be brought down by the automation. There is no need for employment of a large number of workers. With fewer, workers, the same rate of production can be maintained. A little time may be taken for production. In a plant where 400 workers spent 40 minutes to turn out one engine block with automation, 48 workers complete a block in less than 20 minutes. Even though automation is production cost – cutting device, it is costly as such. A greater capital investment is required for installing the automatic machinery. In the automated industry, capital investment per worker would be larger than in an ordinary industry. The automated chemical industries in the U.S invested 26,000 per worker in 1854, about double the ordinary investment. Automation displaces human labour. As fewer workers are required in the automated industries, the surplus workers are thrown out of employment. Thus pockets of unemployment result from automation. That is why trade unions view automation as an immediate source of job threat and resist it. To justify the apprehensions of the unions about the automation, it was found that in the Ford Motor Company, when automation was introduced from 1950 to 1954, direct labour force fell down from 8,253 to 6,3999. But the total employment picture of the concern is not affected by automation. The ILO observed that there was no reason to believe that automation decreased total employment. There may be cuts in some areas. But it is offset by the demands of labour force in other areas. For instance, in the Ford Motor Company, when automation was introduced from 1950 to 1954, there was a reduction in the number of motor production workers. It fell by 3.5%. But, on the other hand, due to the new demands, information processors increased by 24.3%. Actually after automation, the overall employment picture improved in the Ford Motor Company. Also, the retrenched employees need not be kept outside the plant. The retrenched employees of the computerized production section may be trained in ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY operating the automatic machines and in information processing and then absorbed in the new jobs. Releasing this, the committee on Automation set up by the Government of India in 1572 to study the impact of computers ion the position of employment found that there was no direct retrenchment of labour from the industry due to the introduction of computers. Fresh recruitments for the computerised departments could be done with the retrenched employees and thus throwing the workers out of employment can be checked by the jobs of machine builders, machines installers, repaymen, controllers of machinery and programmers 27 will arise in the automated industries. They may be filled up by those who face retrenchment due to computerization certain departments. Automation requires skilled workers for the operation of machines. In an automates system a worker assumes increased responsibilities. He is responsible for a wide variety of tasks, some of them taking on the character of ‘inspection’. He is the guardian of the expensive and complicated machinery. so naturally in such a situation, he has to spend more time in training and learning at the job. This leads to increase in his skills. This is evident from the increase in the number of skilled workers and the reduction in the ratio between skilled workers and non-skilled workers in the automated industries. For instance in the U.S. chemical industries, after the introduction of automation of number, of the unskilled workers fell from 45% of the labour force in 1910 to 20% in 1950. Automation appears to improve the status of work group members. The work group members, in the automated system, become technicians. when they rise to the level of technicians, they become the salaried. When they rise to the level of salaried they become indistinguishable from office workers. Thus a shift occurs in their status from the position of blue collar workers to the position of white collar workers. 6.3 SUMMARY Automation is the technological revolution. The first stage of Industrial Revolution was marked by the development of Machine Industry to of Machine Industry to replace handicraft. Automation, first provides for the integration of the production ad continuous functioning. Automation involves feed-back control Automation leads the replacement of human labour by machines. Automation helps to reduce the costs of production. 6.4 KEYWORDS Revolution – Substitution Feedback – White Collar 6.5 SUGGESTED QUESTION 1. Critically evaluate Automation and its impact on Industry? ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY 28 LESSON – 7 SPECIALIZATION – TYPES OF SPECIALIZATION – SPECIALIZATIONS AND DIVISION OF LABOUR – MERITS AND DEMERITS STRUCTURE 7.0 Objectives 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Types of Specialisation 7.2.1 Horizontal Specialisation 7.2.2 Vertical Specialisation 7.2.3 Extra group specialisation 7.3 Specialisation and division of labour 7.4 Merits and demerits of specialisation 7.4.1 Merits 7.4.2 Demerits 7.5 Summary 7.6 Keywords 7.7 Suggested Questions 7.0 OBJECTIVES To understand about specialisation and its Merits and Demeritss 7.1 INTRODUCTION Specialization means that a group effort (a function performed b group) is broken into a number of particular operations and that each individual in the group gets and does one operation. In the process of specialization, when function is divided into a number of operations, each operation is set as a specialized job. The individual who gets an operation specializes in it and improves his skills. Consequent upon the improvement of the skills of the operatives, the operations become specialized and the total output increases. 7.2 TYPES OF SPECIALIZATION ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY A work be broken into specialized operations; a) Horizontally within a group, and b) Vertically through a hierarchy with the decision makers at the top. 7.2.1 a) Horizontal Specializations Horizontal Specialization is usually a characteristic of organized activity of a group. A work is broken into a number of parts and each part is assigned to an individual. 29 The work may be divided into specialized jobs in terms of processes or tasks. That is, specialization may be by process or by tasks. In the case of specialization by process, each operative gets one function and becomes specialized in the process of that function. For example in the case o carpentry, table-making, bench-making, chair-making, etc., may be assigned to particular individuals. In the case of specialization by tasks, a work is divided into different tasks involved in it. the operatives in that work get a bit (task) of the work. For e.g., the table-making may be divided into many bits. the components of a table (like legs, plant, etc.) are made by different individuals. In this process, one would become specialized in making only one component part of the table. 7.2.2 b) Vertical Specialization Vertical Specialization is a characteristic of the modern industrial production. The decision for the operations of a mill or a factory are made by one group. i.e., the management. The operations are supervised by the supervisory personnel. The operations are performed by the operatives. There is a hierarchy of rank among the industrial personnel. While the management are at the top, the operatives come at the bottom of the hierarchy. The supervisors stand in the middle. The vertical specialization requires effective co-ordination. It is the right and duty of the management to co-operative all the activities of production. The subordinates have to submit themselves to the authority of the management. 7.3 SPECIALISATION AND DIVISION O F LABOUR As specialization involves the division of a work into a number of minute parts, it comes close to division of labour. Division of labour also involves division of a work into several minute tasks. In the division of labour, a whole process is broken into a number of particular tasks whereby the process is simplifies. For instance the task of manufacturing a pin has been divided into eighteen distinct steps. But division of labour does not make any demand on the efficiency and skills of the workers. In the process of specialization, efficiency of the worker is demanded. He becomes proficient in the operation he does. When he is restricted to one operation he specializes in it and becomes an expert in that operation. But division of labour does not necessarily result in such a situation. In other words, specialization is more than a division of labour in the sense that it makes a demand on the efficiency and skills of the worker. ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY 7.4 MERITS AN DEMERITS OF SPECIALIZATION 7.4.1 Merits Specialisation requires acquisition of new skills. When a work activity is broken into specialised jobs, each operative gets an operation. He is expected to spectalize in it. He can specialize in it only when he acquires new skills in the performance of the operation. The acquisition of new skills increases his efficiency. The operatives improve their productivity through specialization. 30 As the skills and dexterity of the operatives develop, it results in the increase in the quantity of work. The increase in the quantity of work means the increase in production. A study in the U.S. shows that due to specialization, the average output has increased more than 6 times. Occupational expansion also results from the specialization. The specialization provides for the creation of multiple jobs. A survey in the U.S. lists 30,000 occupations. 7.4.2 Demerits However, specialization has certain demerits. As the operatives have to repeatedly perform the same operation for long, it produces serious personal disturbances. First of all the long repetitive performance of the same operation produces monotony in the operatives. Under specialization an operative has to perform only a part-role i.e., a sequent of the work activity. As he has no chance of doing other sequents he becomes ignorant of them. When one specializes in the sequent of a work activity, he loses the chance of becoming familiar with the whole activity. He cannot become a master of the whole work activity. The specialization involves the division of labour, That is, under specialization, a work activity is divided into many bits. When a work activity is divided, the whole class of workers engaged in it get a bit each and become divided. Thus, the division of a work activity leads to the division of the class of workers engaged in it. That is why Ruskin says that in the specialization, “It is no the labour that is divided but the men”. Because of the division of labourers, the ideal of a society with “integrated, combined labour” (labourers) cannot be achieved. Durkheim says that specialization does not produce integration. The society where specialization is in full swing is non-integrated and lacks in solidarity. This means that there is a possibility of anomie or rulelessness to arise there. 7.5 SUMMARY Specialisation means that a group effort (A function performed by group) is broken into a number of particular operation and than each individual in the group gets and does one operation. Types of specialisation are Horizontal, vertical and ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY Extra group specialisation, specialisation is having its own Merits and Demerits. 7.6 KEYWORDS Vertical – Horizontal Extra group – Division of Labour – Specialisation 7.7 SUGGESTED QUESTIONS 1. Give a detailed account of specialisation with Examples? 2. Explain the Merits and Demerits of specialisation 31 LESSON – 8 ROUTINISATION STRUCTURE 8.0 Objectives 8.1 Summary 8.2 Keywords 8.3 Suggested Questions 8.0 OBJECTIVES To know about Routinisation and its nature Machines have routined the process of production to an extreme degree. The worker has been turned into an automation, amore robot performing a task in a never changing fashion. the machine has not only reduced man to a company in the system of production and an extension of itself, it has changes man himself into a machine. The routinisation of all types of industrial roles has been further increased by the movement for the rationalization of production. Routinisation involves the efficient methods of employing the worker’s time and motions. Time and Motion studies are of course applicable to all types of industrial work, whether mechanized or not. The routinisation which results application of time and motion principles is illustrated by the following rules offered as guides to efficient industrial work. 1. Successive movements should be so related that one movement passes easily into that which follow, each ending in position favourable for the beginning of the next movement. 2. The order of movements should be arranged that little attention is needed for passage from one to another. 3. An essay rhythm should be established in the automatic performance of the various elements of the operation. 4. Continuous movement is preferable to angular movements involving sudden changes in the direction of the movements. ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY 5. The number of movements should be reduced as far as possible within the scope of limitations suggested above. In general reducing the number of movements will facilitate a rhythmic method of working and serve as a means of reducing the volitional direction of work. 6. Simultaneous use of both hands should be encouraged. 7. When a forceable stroke is required, the direction of movement and placement of material should be so arranged that as far as possible, the stroke is delivered when it has reached its greater its greatest momentum. With the 32 application of such principles, the worker’s motions resemble the cyclical, rhythmic, rational motions of the machine. 8.1 SUMMARY Machines have routinised the process of production to an extreme degree. Routinisation involves the efficient methods. Routinisation involves the efficient methods of employing the workers time and motions. 8.2 KEYWORDS Rhythm – Stroke – Fashion. 8.3 SUGGESTED QUESTION 1. Comment on Routinisation ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY 33 LESSON – 9 INDUSTRIAL ORGANISATION STRUCTURE 9.0 Objectives 9.1 Introduction 9.2 The Pre-requisites of Industrial Organisation 9.3 Structural features of Industrial Organisation 9.3.1 Patterns of Power Authority 9.3.2 Departmental Organisation 9.3.3 Role Structure 9.4 Summary 9.5 Keywords 9.6 Suggested Questions 9.0 OBJECTIVES To find out the structural features of Industrial Organisation 9.1 INTRODUCTION Industrial Organisation is having certain Pre-requisites. The most fundamentals, structural feature of industrial organisation is graded or hierarchically ordered, system of power and authority. A second major structural feature of the Industrial Organisation is the diving up of the organisation into various section or departments. Another feature of the Industrial Organisation is the role structure 9.2 THE PRE-REQUISITES OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANISATION An industrial organization to be called so, should have the following pre- requisites: 1. Industrial organization is directed “purposively” to the attainment of a single aim or set of aims. The primary aim is generally the creation of profit. 2. In order to achieve its aim(s), the organization must engage in production in the most efficient manner possible, that is, with least cost. a) All technical processes connected with production should be co-ordinate ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY and held in a planned way, the obtaining of raw materials, distribution of raw materials to the shop, operation of machines, dispatch of goods to the market, basic research and development all should be planned and carried out in a systematic pattern. b) Closely related to the need for co-ordination is the need for specialization. The efficiency of the industrial organization depends in large measure on dividing the work up in such a way that each person or group of persons is responsible for a 34 definite and limited area. specialization is necessary not only to achieve co- ordination but also to enable personnel to acquire expertise at their work. c) Industrial production demands a certain amount of specialized knowledge. Specialised knowledge is required to administer and control the industrial organiation and to control or atleast adapt to outside forces such as market, Government or labour unions. d) Increasingly, modern industrial organization had need to engage in long- range planning, in rational calculation for the future. Industrial organization must have the proper types of raw materials at hand or available, proper quantity and quality of employees, and plants and machines that may not suffer long periods of idleness. Long-range planning is needed for the development and marketing of new products, in order that capital may be accumulated at a proper rate and be properly invested, in order that the rate of profit may be maintained or advanced. For all these reasons, the industrial organization must take steps for long-range planning and set up special departments for that purpose. 3. In order to carry out the work of production, the organization must have prerequisite number of employees. The employees may have enormous ‘capacities’ – physical strength, and dexterity, motivation, knowledge, intelligence, talents skills, attitudes and values. But they should necessarily be consonant with the needs of production and profit making. So, the industrial organization must train and motivate them to perform the work in consonance with the needs of the organization. Also as the employees come from widely varying backgrounds, perhaps even from group which are hostile to each other, the organization must see that their differences do not disrupt the functioning of the firm. It is necessary to ensure that the workers work as a team. 4. Since the industrial organization exists within the body of a larger social group, it must make adjustments to the external environment from which it draws its raw material, a labour supply, capital and support. s it thus depends upon the external environment, it must make adjustments to it by supplying its finished products to the public, making donations to the research bodies and educational institutions, organizing welfare projects, providing relief at times of misfortunes, etc. ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY 9.3 STRUCTURAL FEATURES OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANISATION To meet the demands posed by (1) the aims of efficient production and profit making; (2) the needs of production, co-ordination, specialization, expentise, planning (3) the need for mobilizing and channelising human capacities, (4) relations with the external environment, the industrial organization must be structured in some particular way that it must have certain structural features. They are: 9.3.1 Patterns of Power Authority Perhaps the most fundamental structural feature of industrial organization is graded or hierarchically ordered system of power and authority. If organizational aims are to be met, those who run the organization must have the power or ability 35 to create and maintain a system of co-ordination production, mobilise working force, control its behaviour and meet external pressure. Power means the ability of an individual or group to compel another individual or group to act in a specific way even against its will. It does not mean coercion or physical force only. it also includes the ability to persuade, to educate, to mould attitudes, to provide “definitions of the situation”. Power must rest on some sort of the right to rule and to demand obedience; it may therefore invoke legal rights or tradition. It may rest on knowledge. It may also rest on mere tangible bases, such as military power, police power or accumulations of capital. One or more of those source of power is necessary to create and maintain an organization. In the case of industrial organization, the source of power is capital which enables the holders of capital to acquire tools. Plants and raw materials, and to mobilize personnel and set up and organization. At the earlier stage of industrial development the power lay in the hands of the capitalist. He exercised the direct control of the organization, he could produce or withhold production, hire and fire, promote and demote, alienate his property (i.e., plant) on the basis of his control of capital. However, in the course of history, when the holders of capital became divorced from the process of production, power moved away from them and has to come to reside in those who directly manage the industries. Unlike the capitalist, the power of management is based primarily on their legal position and legal right of control. To some degree, their power may also be based on superior knowledge they have. At any rate the power management have is quite sufficient to enable them to make and enforce the basic decisions regarding goals and production, to mobilize and control personnel, and to meet external pressures. However, the management do not and cannot use their power to control directly every act in the organization. Power is divided up and delegated to the personnel at the points at which the process of production is actually being carried on. This system of division, delegation and application of power is called the “authority system”. The rules of the industrial organization define the authority system of the organization. They specify the offices that are vested with the right to exercise authority. They also specify the offices which are subject to the authority of a particular office. The rules specify the extent of authority and the means of ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY compulsion which each office may use. It is the function of the authoritative offices, i.e. the offices vested with authority to run the organization. They run the organization by issuing or organizing commands. They have a legitimate authority to issue the commands. Mere issuing of commands will not be sufficient to run the organization. The holders of the authoritative offices who issue the commands should see that the commands reach the members of the organization. 36 To enable the commands to reach the members, they should be sent through certain definite channels of communications which have been recognized as legitimate by the members. This implies that not only should there by certain definite channels of communication in an organization, but also the members have recognized them; that is, every member must know what the lines of communication are, what his place in the system is and how to recognize an authentic communication. Unless the commands issuing from the authoritative offices are sent through the recogniseed channels of communication, they cannot be expected to reach the members and then to receive their obedience. Thus the communication system occupies a place of importance in the organization. It can be effective in its function if the lines of communication are short; all lines of communication are used; the lines of communication are not interrupted while the organization is functioning. Thus the lines of communication serve the obedience to commands issuing from the authoritative offices. They also serve another vital function in the authority system. If the executive or any other official is to be able to issue workable orders, there must be accurate and uptodate information about condition on the levels where orders are being carried out. Such information, normally, passes up the line of communication. The effectiveness of the authority system will be in proportion to the efficiency of the line of communication in this respect. Again, it is important to note that mere transmission of commands to the members through certain recognized channels of communication is not sufficient. The recipients of the orders or directives must consent to obey. In general, obedience can be obtained only under certain conditions. The recipient of the order must understand what he is being asked to do. He must have the requisite mental and physical ability to comply with the order. The personal interest of the recipient must be threatened by the order, e.g., by degradation or humiliation. Furthermore, the order must not flagrantly violate the aims of the organization as the recipient understands them. Individuals accept authority for a variety of reasons. They may obey order because of the training they have received in obedience, both in the community and job. They may obey because they are advised to do so by individuals or institutions that they respect and they may be taught that disobedience is wrong. They may ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY assent to authority because they feel loyalty to the organization. Obedience, in some cases, may result from some social pressure applied by friends or fellow workers. Again, individuals may be brought to assent, to obey, through the use of incentives such as bonus system, higher wages, shorter working hours, or social recognition. They may obey order through inertia, or custom because things have always been done in this way and because it is easier to comply than to rebel. Finally obedience to authority may be secured through the use of some form of coercion. These forms may range from a reprimand a withdrawal of privileges, a demotion or a failure to promote, through manipulation of monetary rewards and 37 finally to outright dismissal. Punishment by itself, of course, is not the aim of a system of authority. The aim is to secure future obedience, either from the person punished or from those who are in a position to face the punishment. The decision to obey in the face of actual or threatened punishment represents a balancing of values, a judgement of what is to be gained or lost by obedience of disobedience. 9.3.2 Departmental Organisation A second major structural feature of the industrial organization is the dividing up of the organization into various sections or departments. Such divisions proceeds along functional lines, that is, a collection of roles. The personnel who are oriented to some sub-goal of the organization are set apart from others collections, and grounded into a separate department. In this process, several kinds of departments arise. First are those departments directly concerned with the process of production. These departments are in a certain sense the central departments of the industrial organization, and they are often thought of as constituting the “line” that is the “front” at which the actual process of production is carried out. The structure of a typical line department and its relation to management is depicted in the following diagram. (a sample) Chairman / President Managing Director / General Manager Department Manager Superintendent Superintendent Superintendent Foreman Foreman Foreman Worker Worker Worker Worker Worker Worker The above diagram shows that the departments which are thought of as constituting the ”line”, that is, the “front” of the industrial organization constitute ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY an organization among themselves in the form of a vertical line. This line organization corresponds to certain needs of industrial production. Perhaps, the most important of these needs is the need for rigid discipline. In line organization, authority stems from definite and recognized sources. Their legitimacy is unquestioned. A second advantage of line organization lies in the possibilities it affords for the co-ordination of the tasks of modern industry. It concentrates on the authority at the top, in the position marked “Department Manager” in our diagram. This top office has the necessary authority to plan for the needs of departments, to make 38 allocations of personnel and raw material. It has the authority to plan how the activities of the personnel may be carried out. Departments not directly concerned with production are often considered together under the title of “staff” departments, although it is not always easy to mark the boundary between line and staff organizations. Furthermore, there are several kinds of staff departments. One kind is designed to provide special knowledge and skill to the line and is, thus, rather closely connected with the line. Units of this kind include engineering department, maintenance departments, and quality control department. Other staff departments are more remote and only indirectly affect line operation. These include department of basic and applied research, personnel management, (in certain aspects) accounting and so on. There are also departments or atleast offices which function to give advice or special assistance to high officials in management. There are also departments which are concerned primarily with “external relations”. They would include departments devoted to sales, advertising, procurement, labour relations, governmental relations. Any large-scale industrial organization is certain to represent a mixture of lines and staff principles. The actual situation will depend in part on the conditions existing in the industry and to some extent on the ideology of management. Even though both line and staff principles are mixed in the modern industrial organization, it is the line principle that receives much emphasis and enjoys great importance. The line departments dominate staff departments in almost all modern industrial organizations. 9.3.3 Role Structure A third major structural feature of the industrial organizati