Managerial Control of American Workers

Mel van Elteren is an emeritus associate professor of social sciences at Tilburg University in the Netherlands. He has published several books and articles in sociology, social psychology and cultural studies, with special interest in American society, politics and labor.

Table of Contents


Acknowledgments

Introduction

 1 The Rise of the Factory System and the Origins of Systematic Management

 2 Taylorism and Fordism and Their Early Impact on Manufacturing and Service Work

 3 Welfare Capitalism and Human Relations as Additional Means of Managerial Control

 4 Taylorization During World War II and the Postwar Automation Movement

 5 The “New Nonunion Model” and the Great Risk Shift

 6 Renewal of “Flexible Mass Production” Through a Japanese Filter

 7 Industrial Rationalization of Retail and Service Work Intensified

 8 Enhanced ­Top-Down Management Systems in Manufacturing and Office Work

 9 Enterprise Resource Planning: Business Process Reengineering Taken to the Next Level

10 Twists and Turns of ­High-Tech Jobs and the Reengineering of Skilled ­White-Collar Work

11 Technology-First Automation and the ­Double-Edged Sword of ­Decision-Support Systems

12 The Extensive and Intrusive Reach of Computer Business Systems

13 Robots: Cooperating with or Replacing Human Workers?

14 Digital Information Technologies and the Nikefication of Production and Work Organization

Conclusion

Chapter Notes

Bibliography

Index