ILRID 1535: Sociology of Work Final Flashcards

organizational sociology

examines how group structure influences, limits, and defines human interactions within a given organizational context

assesses how organizationals compete and cooperate in an environment and are tied within networks and hierarchies of personal, demographic, and legal relationships

Lecture 13

three perspectives on organizations

rational systems

natural systems

open systems

Lecture 13

rational systems

organizations are goal oriented bureaucracies (a focus on procedure)

collectives oriented to the pursuit of relatively specific goals and exhibiting relatively highly formalized social structures

carefully constructed to achieve pre-determined outcomes with maximum efficiency

characterized by a focus on data, optimization, and implementation

Lecture 13

natural systems

organizations are messy collectives that may pursue multiple goals

collectives whose participants share a common interest in the survival of the system and who engage in collective activities, informally structured, to secure this end

member interactions may be disordered and complex

may pursue multiple goals

potential disconnect between expressed goals and actual goals

orgs. are “social groups” attempting to adapt and persist

Lecture 13

open systems

organizational boundaries are flexible, organizations are dependent upon, and react to, external factors

systems of interdependent activities linking shifting coalitions of participants; the systems are embedded in the environments in which they operate

boundaries are less well defined, for instance through the use of contractors or key suppliers

dependent on resources/exchanges with external actors

the org (ideally) self-regulates in response to external changes

Lecture 13

organizations shape

labor market inequality (who is hired/fired, what the job pays)

the production of goods and services (what is offered, how the firm is structured to achieve core goals)

workplace culture (how people behave, how behavioral differences shape responses to challenges)

information access (which cross-group connections provide novel info, what network structures grant disproportionate power)

responses to external environments (what the firm will do when there are new laws, competitors, or tech)

Lecture 13

coworking spaces

describe an arrangement to which people from different teams and companies come together to work in a single shared space

originated in the early 2000s as an alternative to public spaces

advantages: flexibility, connections with others, positive work environment, basic amenities (electricity, internet, snacks)

disadvantages: limited sense of community, expensive, limited in-person face time with colleagues located elsewhere

Section 8

coworking space downsides

scholars have found that few social relationships tend to emerge from exchanges in these spaces

users are too busy or competitive to form lasting relationships

can lead to lonelness

may promote inequality

masculine culture is off-putting to some women

Section 8

bridging connections

join dissimilar individuals

Section 8

bonding connections

join like individuals, typically along demographic dimensions, class, interests, education, etc

promoted by coworking spaces

Section 8

structural inequality

a system of procedures and processes that advantage or disadvantage different demographic groups

“systemic inequality,” “institutional inequality”

labor market inequalities “are the macrolevel result of a whole range of microlevel decisions by employers and prospective employees”

Lecture 14

supply side inequality

individual’s choices (subject to constraint) that may lead to disparate outcomes

eg: education investments, selection of job or employer, persistence through adversity

not victim blaming, systemic factors share available choices

rarely targeted by public policies

Lecture 14

demand side inequality

(typically organizational) factors that may lead to disparate outcomes

eg: decision maker bias/prejudice, recruitment and selection systems that reward different things, promotion and termination decisions

even ostensibly “merit-based” systems may produce unequal outcomes b/c of supply-side processes

targeted more frequently by public policies

Lecture 14

physical capital

tangible assets that may be used in the production process

eg: buildings, machinery, computers, tools and equipment

Lecture 14

human capital

the economic value of an individual’s skill set

eg: education, training, intelligence, experience

“any stock of knowledge or characteristics the worker has (either innate or acquired) that contributes to his or her ‘productivity’"

cannot be separated from a person

education and training are two of the most valued

Lecture 14

firm specific human capital

skills that solely contribute to productivity within the current employer

eg: proprietary computer programs, skills to operate company-specific technology, floorplan knowledge

expect greater firm training for skills that are non-transferable to other employers

Lecture 14

general human capital

skills that are beneficial to the worker, and frequently portable across employers

eg: training in public speaking, widely-used programming language

few employers today offer to pay for graduate school

Lecture 14

two views on education

education imparts skills: employers pay higher wages for workers with greater abilities and productivity

education provides a “signal”: signaling theory: even if schooling were to provide limited skills, it may be valuable to employers as a means of finding high ability workers

this view would apply if high ability people find it easier to attend school (lower costs due to scholarships, or classes require less effort)

Lecture 14

the sheepskin effect

one piece of evidence that diplomas function, in part, as signals comes from comparing newly-minted bachelors graduates with those that are very nearly complete

completed bachelor degrees tend to be valued far more highly by employers relative to those that are very nearly complete

Lecture 14

supply side sources of pay variation

compensating differentials: a worker decides to accept a job offer at an employer with more pleasant working conditions and benefits, but a lower salary

labor market imperfections: workers may fill job vacancies at low/high productivity employers

occupational choice: a worker uses her law degree to get an investment banking job on Wall Street, rather than working in the less-lucrative non-profit sector

Lecture 14

labor markets

workers are not standardized

a multiplicity of markets

no central clearing house

continuity of the employment relationship

workers deliver themselves along with their labor

workers (may) have bargaining power

Lecture 15

bias in modern organizations

often subtle, indirect, and frequently outside of conscious awareness

can be hard to document and litigate for certain employment events

more common during recruitment and hiring

less common during dismissal

Lecture 15

three general theories of stereotypes

taste-based discrimination

statistical discrimination

status characteristics

Lecture 15

taste based discrimination

decision makers may be biased against interacting with a particular group

primarily due to aversion, similar to overt prejudice

may be intentional or unconscious

the first to advance that in the long run, a competitive market should eliminate discriminatory practices, as organizations with biased decision makers will loose out on talented workers

Lecture 15

statistical discrimination

draws on relevant group-level performance data to assess an individual that is a member of that group (similar to “profiling”)

eg: an employer has data on current worker productivity broken down by demographic groups. an employer that _______ _________ would use this information to draw inferences about the expected productivity of future hires that are members of the same groups

Lecture 15

status characteristics theory

decision makers may hold expectations about the idea behaviors and relative performance of different demographic groups

not necessarily associated with observed group-level differences

similar to biased expectations that cloud judgements

_______ _______, such as age, race, sex, may be associated with cultural beliefs. these beliefs may relate social standing and ability/skill expectations to particular demographic groups

decision makers may thus expect high/low performance from members possessing different status characteristics

Lecture 15

approaches to minimize bias

masking

job relevant information

competency assessment tools

transparency programs

accountability programs

self reflection

Lecture 15

masking

hide applicant demographic characteristics during assessments

“blinding”

Lecture 15

job relevant information

decision makers provided with adequate data on applicants’ human capital and experiences are less likely to reference demographic characteristics

Lecture 15

competency assessment tools

objective and quantifiable performance measures aligned with job-relevant outcomes

in advance of hiring, establish questions and evaluation criteria that will be uniformly applied to all candidates

Lecture 15

transparency programs

publicy disclose data on the applicant pool and selection decisions to make bias difficult to obscure

Lecture 15

accountability programs

make a decision maker responsible for equitable judgements

tie bonuses or career progression to equitable hiring

Lecture 15

self reflection

be aware of first impressions

assess whether they are relevant to an individual’s job/performance

Lecture 15

hiring algorithms

seek to help decision makers screen out applicants assessed to lack certain quantifiable job requirements

Section 9

hidden workers

individuals who want to work, but are consistently screened out by algorithms

Section 9

biased hiring algorithms

sourcing stage: when placing ads, algorithms have been found to selectively target certain groups, reinforcing the demographic make up of certain jobs

screening: algorithms are often trained on past hiring decisions, which may unintentionally formalize past biased judgements

interviewing: algorithms can assess video/audio feeds to infer personnel characteristics based on diction, posture, and enthusiasm. concern that evaluations are rarely job-relevant

Section 9

algorithmic rating criteria best practices

is the rating criteria:

transparent?

relevant to the position?

weighted correctly?

determined in advance of candidate assessments?

developed using employer-specific training data?

Lecture 16

transaction costs

the expenses incurred when buying/selling

can be reduced through in-house activities and economies of scale

firms allow for coordination

Lecture 16

bureaucracies

a hierarchical organization characterized by rules and regulations

Lecture 16

rationality

social actions shaped by reason and calculation, with the further pursit of one’s interests

increase in this may force individuals into systems based on efficiency, termed an “iron cage”

Lecture 16

Weber’s Idealized Types of Rationality

substantive: a person’s actions are based on their feelings or emotions

practical: a person accepts given realities and determines efficient means of addressing needs

formal: traditional or conventional, shaped by habituation

theoretical: abstract concepts or beliefs guide actions

Lecture 16

substantive rationality

a person’s actions are based on their feelings or emotions

Lecture 16

practical rationality

a person accepts given realities and determines efficient means of addressing needs

Lecture 16

formal rationality

traditional or conventional, shaped by habituation

Lecture 16

theoretical rationality

abstract concepts or beliefs guide actions

Lecture 16

rationalization in modern societies

practical, formal, and theoretical rationalization has generally come to override substantive rationalization

Lecture 16

scientific management

the analysis and redesign of workflows to improve economic efficiency, with specific attention to labor productivity

believes the interests of employees and employers are aligned

advocated good pay and adequate breaks for workers, but also viewed low-skill workers rather negatively

“credited with destroying the soul of work, of dehumanizing factories, making [people] into automatons”

Lecture 16

scientific management characterized

by:

empiricism and efficiency

transformation of craft production into mass production

standardization of best practices

knowledge transfer from skilled workers into tools, processes, and documentation

Lecture 16