GMGT 1010 Capitalism and Management in 20th/21st century – Class 6-7

1.       What are 3 technological breakthroughs of the early 1900s?

-            Electricity

-            Automobiles

Gas Engine

1.       How did the automobile industry effect technology? (3)

-            Urbanization (farms are businesses)

-            Interdependence – jobs are specialized

-            Sociological effects – shifts nature of work

1.       How did mass production improve efficiency (demonstrated through ford)

-            Time to assemble motor become 20x faster in one year

-            Shows how much production sped up

1.       What are economies of scale? (2)

-            The cost per product decreases as business makes more goods

-            Allows businesses to spread costs over more things (raising wages)

1.       What led to the rise of big business? (3)

-            Mass production and economies of scale

-            Corporations became more common

-            Competition changed as business expanded

1.       What was the concern with the rise of big business?

-            They would become monopiles (giving one company too much control over market)

-            Led to development of antitrust legislation it limits monopolies and unfair competition

1.       What is Taylorism?

-            Management system developed to maximize economic efficiency and labour productivity

1.       What does Taylorism assume about workers?

-            Negative assumptions like they are lazy and mainly motivated by money

1.       How did Taylorism motivate workers?

-            They had the idea that pressure, money, intimidations, and close supervision could get more productivity

1.       What is Taylorism’s approach to teamwork?

-            More focus on individual productivity than teamwork

-            Workers followed specific methods rather than working together

1.       What is bureaucracy?

-            System of management in large organization/government that uses a hierarchy and specific rules, and non-elected officials to handle day-to-day activities

1.       What are Max Weber’s features of an ideal Bureaucracy?

-            Division of labour – work divided into specific jobs and responsibilities

-            Rules and regulations – all follow same rules and procedures

-            Hierarchy of authority

-            Technical qualifications – Employes chosen based on skills, knowledge, and qualifications

-            Impersonality – don’t care how you’re doing, very performance orientated

1.       What happened to capitalism in the 1900s?

-            Technological breakthroughs let capitalism to evolve

-            More people moved to cities to work in factories

1.       What was the main focus of management in the 1900s?

-            Finding the most efficient way to manage and organize work

-            Bureaucracy and Taylorism used to improve efficiency and productivity

1.       What were the working condition in the 1900s?

-            Unemployment was still high, wages were low, few laws about working conditions in place

1.       What were the factors that contributed to the Winnipeg general strike?

-            Lots of people returning from WW1

-            Lots of European immigrants

-            Low wages and high unemployment

1.       Give a brief summary of the Winnipeg general strike? (4)

-            (May 15^th) 30,000 workers walked of the job (private and public employees)

-            The government feared a communist revolution/overthrow

-            Bloody Saturday

o   RCMP called by mayor and 2 strikers were shot and 45 were injured

o   Implemented the riot act which allows arrets with no cause and suspension of basic human rights

-            The strike was called off 40 days later (June 26^th)

1.        What did the roaring twenties solve? (4)

-            Increasing population

-            Growth of cities

-            Low unemployment

-            Increasing wages

1.       What 3 things occurred in the great depression?

-            30 billion dollars or wealth disappeared

-            GDP reduced in half (from 1929 to1933)

-            ¼ of people with out job (unemployment – people looking for job)

1.       What caused the great depression? (4)

-            Market speculation

-            Agricultural weakness driven by inelastic demand

-            Factory weakness tied to technology and employment

-            Income inequality widened

1.       What major legislative acts and regulatory shits were introduced under FDR’s “New Deal” Starting in 1933? (5)

-            Glass-Steagall act

-            Wagner Act

-            Social Security

-            Federal Housing authority

-            Expansion of federal reserves role in monetary policy

1.       How did WW2 permanently alter the governments’ economic role?

-            Increased government involvement in the economy

-            Government began using taxes and spending (fiscal policy) to help manage the economy

1.       Why did the United States and Canada avoid a post-war drop in demand, leading the “Golden Age of Capitalism”?

-            North America wasn’t harmed

-            Factories had become more productive and efficient during war

1.       After WW2 (2)

-            US and Canada weren’t hurt like European cities

-            Economy kept roaring past WW2

Business was booming with things like tourism, televisions, dishwashers, washers, dryers

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1.       What was the relationship between workers and managers in the golden age? (4)

-            Capital-labour accord

-            Key role of unions

-            Wages tracked productivity – median wage not tracking productivity

-            Management/labour cooperation

1.       What was the role government in the economy in the golden age? (4)

-            GI Bill- ensured education (government assistance for people coming back from war)

-            Massive military spending

-            Highway production

-            Other social spending (ex. Medicare, family allowance cheques)

1.       What caused the end of the golden age? (5)

-            OPEC oil shocks

-            Inflation

-            Stagflation

-            Unemployment

-            Widening income inequality

1.       What factors helped start globalization? (5)

-            End of Bretton Woods system

-            Flexible exchange rates

-            Increased movement of money

-            Rise of China and BRICS

-            Growth of organizations

1.       What is neoliberalism?

-            Economic theory that supports free trade, privatization, less government involvement in business, and less spending on social services

1.       What did the left-wing backlash against globalization focus on?

-            Environmental damage, pollution, cheap labour exploration, using up natural recourses, and consumer junk

1.       How did the right-wing backlash on globalization appear?

-            Political groups began supporting nationalism and trade barriers instead of free trade and globalization

1.       How do trumps trade tariffs relate to economic history?

-            Reject neoliberal globalization and are more similar to the protectionist policies used in 1800s

1.       How did COVID challenge traditional ideas of capitalism?

-            Challenged ideas of individualism, private property, economic freedom

-            Made people rethink how society should work

1.       What is the gig economy?

-            Type of work based on temporary/freelance jobs

-            Through digital platform (flexible hours)

-            Less job security and fewer career opportunities

1.       What were the immediate causes of the great recession? (5)

-            Housing bubble collapsed

-            Mortgage investments lost value

-            Banks had losses

-            Stock market fell

-            Credit markets froze

1.       What factors led to the 2008 crisis? (3)

-            Wages stopped growing while housing debt increased

-            Housing bubble went up

-            Financial regulations reduced

1.       What were the main effects of the great recession? (2)

-            Unemployment, world trade fell, financial institutions failed

-            Some financial institutions received government bail outs (spend 780billion to help economy)

1.       Why was OPEC important to the US economy?

-            OPEC controlled large amount of oil, so when prices increased it put pressure on US economy

1.       How did the US respond to the rise and fall of oil prices?

-            Worked to become less dependent on OPEC