Criticisms by Marxist Labour Process and McDonaldization - Coursework Example

To what extent do you agree with criticisms by Marxist Labour Process and Mc Donaldization theorists (discuss either or both) of orthodox theories oforganizations and management? Illustrate arguments with practical real life examples. Contents Brief overview 3 Discussion 4 Marxist Labour Process Theory 4 Critical Analysis of Marxist Labour Process Theory 5 McDonaldization Theory 7 Critical Analysis 8 References 11 Brief overview Organizational Management theories aim to theoretical understanding of organization, its structure and interrelationship with the environment in which the organization operates. Different organizational & management theories have evolved from time to time as the organizations continues to operate in a complex & dynamic environment. With the course of time, each theory came out with distinct advantages & disadvantages, taking into consideration the time period, environmental situation & socio political condition prevailing in the economy. The most important theories of organization & management are: Classical Organization Theory: This Organizational Theory of 20th Century emerges during Industrial Revolution. This theory involved concepts like Hierarchal Structure, Division of Labour, Monetary incentives & Autocrat Leadership. Neoclassical Organization Theory: Evolution of Neoclassical theory includes human relations movement & behavioural management movement. Scientific Management Theory: Scientific Theory of Management of Fredrick Taylor gave emphasis on economic efficiency, labour productivity & minimization of wastage. Contingency Theory: Contingency Theory deals with interpersonal relationship in internal & external environment of the organization in order to improve efficiency. Bureaucracy Theory: Bureaucracy Theory follows the principles of rationality, objectivity, consistency & high degree of division of labour. Among these, the most discussed theories from critical point of view are Marxist Labour Process Theory & McDonaldization Theory. Discussion Marxist Labour Process Theory Marx’s Labour Process theory involves the key to understanding the fact that structure of a broader society is determined by organizational productivity, thus giving emphasis on the social structure rather than dynamic environmental changes & human psychology. Social structure in turn depended upon prevailing relations of production i.e. nature of property rights over productive resources (Wood, 2004). As a system of commodity production, the capitalist relations with production structure have two aspects: Capital Relation: Ownership of capital resources is distributed among firms in order to drag the commodity producers into market competition. Wage Relation: Those who are lacking access to the means of production must exploit their labour power as a commodity in labour market. Such capitalist social structure has strong implication on the organizational work flow. Under such capital relation, firms intend to reduce cost of production and in order to achieve that management takes policies like downward wage pressure, work intensification, rapid technological changes, relocation as well as suppression of workers’ monetary interests. According to the labour contract, workers were to sell their labour power at an ongoing rate. In exchange management had the power to extract their capacity beyond limit. Such policies in turn gave rise to the negative reactions among the workers. Exploitation of effective work force in absence of a standard price-rate system gave rise to wage- effort bargain (as described by Marx & Taylor) (Boethius, 2008). On the other hand, competitive capitalist nature of economy & commodity based relation both between inter-firms & intra-firms, restricted firms that might attempt to derive competitive advantage by collaborating with another firm. The outcome for organizations, according to labour process theory may be defined as close effective control & productivity can be achieved in control & cost reduction structure, only by implementing division of labour, design of work flow & effective science & technology (Armstrong, 2006). Critical Analysis of Marxist Labour Process Theory Marxist Labour Process Theory gives an explanation of how workplace dynamics can affect productivity and reliability in a broader social & institutional environment. Whereas structural & econometric features of Marx invite a number of criticisms, however Marx’s contribution towards establishment of modern sociology & labour process research can’t be neglected. According to the Natural Law, in order to continue production process for satisfying the basic human need, human resource (labour power) has to be utilized and allocated according to the requirement. Violating the natural law leads to destruction of eternal natural relationship between human & nature. So, in a natural economy also, prior to capitalism, producers valued the labour power in exchange of commodity. In a capitalist economy, when exchange system stared in terms of wage, quantity of labour time produces could not justify the expectations, hence created elicits among workers (Meszaros, 2006). Another aspect of this concept is to understand the nature & scope of business. If the inputs are homogeneous & constant returns of scale holds true then the proportion of labour input will be equal to the price proportion. But in reality, inputs are heterogeneous. For production, labour & capital both should be simultaneously infused, not only labour. This creates “Transformation Problem” that invalidates the theory. Another biggest problem of the concept is that the firms being operating in a capitalist society, restricts themselves from collaboration with other firm. The firm may analyze the make or buy situation & use final product of another firm as raw material, where required and enjoy huge competitive advantage. But the capitalist economy does not allow such collaboration, resulting in loss of huge competitive advantage and also reduces the potential of large scale operation (Jessop & Sum, 2006). Conflict between workers’ interest versus corporate interest that prevails in the theory is also a big reason behind invalidation of the theory. Though the management understand that smooth running of production process requires high level of employee participation, motivation of profit maximization, self interest of the line & process managers & vertical authority structure comes out with such a wage proposition that leads to constant labour- management coercion. The labour process theory argued that the central strategy of the management was to control the work force and that is the reason why it emphasized on de-skilling impact. The concept of de-skilling has been used in this approach to argue that the role of the management lies in consciousness to reduce the capability of the worker and impose a decentralised supervision regime. The process of technological innovation and advancements as well as restructuring of the workplace is not shaped within the labour process theory. The labour process theory has to be set within a set of class relations to justify the intrinsic implications of the theory. The role of the management within the production process is not justified within the theory. In fact, role of the workforce and the representatives in technological advancements and innovation has drawn the focus. In real world scenario, the role of the management is primary within technological innovations. Within the labour process theory, a specific set of relations between the workforce and management predominates at a particular point of time in the developmental process. The interaction between initiation of technology and reorganization of subsequent workforce can be predicted within workforces on the basis of the developmental stage of capitalism (Tadajewski, Maclaran, Parsons and Parker, 2011). McDonaldization Theory Mc Donaldization Theory, developed by George Ritzer, indicates substitution of traditional manifestation to logically consistent rules. This theory reconceptualise the idea of rationalization, moving from the book of traditional thoughts towards independent thinking (Ritzer, 2011). The concept of McDonaldization was first applied by Henry Ford, with his vision of assembly line for upgrading production process of automobiles. His vision towards managing production of automobiles and enhance efficiency has now changed the concept of automobiles production. The process of McDonaldization includes breaking a task into smallest possible level. Then most efficient methods are applied for each single part of the task in order to complete the task in most effective & timely manner. All other possible methods are discarded considering them inefficient as compared to the employed method. Here, the outcome is predictable & the production process is controlled, resulting in a high definition production process. The main aspects of this theory can be attributed as: Efficiency: The optimum method of accomplishing a task. Calculability: Judgement of outcome based on quantifiable criteria rather than quality measures. Predictability: Selecting production process in such a way that uniformity of outcome is guaranteed. Control: Substitution of non human to human labour force so that predictability can be increased. In the contemporary society in today’s era, the concept of McDonaldization is gaining attention in different cultural aspects. One of the most prominent examples of McDonaldization in developed as well as developing countries is the increasing demand for fast food restaurants in the society. Due to globalization & liberalization of most of the country’s economy, the concept has become a dominating factor not only due to the fast food restaurants but many other social & cultural aspects in those nations as well. The application of McDonaldization has been rationalized by the attempt of giving preferences to the local cultural dimensions where they are operating. For example, expansion of business of McDonalds’ in Asian countries resulted in an alteration of the products, keeping the concept similar, thus contributing towards the factor of globalization (Hayes and Wynyard, 2006). Apart from that, the concept of Consumer Workers of this theory is one of the greatest & widely accepted aspects. The concept of self-help, in ticket counters, ATMs, Fast Food Counters, Petrol Pump station, Telephone booths have contributed much in terms of cutting quos shorter, saving time & effort. Critical Analysis Though the concept of McDonaldization appears to be attractive from the above discussion, the theory inherits loopholes as well. In real practical world, the four dimensions of McDonaldization i.e. efficiency, predictability, calculability & control doesn’t always hold good. The process of over rationalization has side effects too. Pushing the production process towards rationalization & perfection may lead to a result that is neither anticipated nor desired and eventually it leads to destruction (Hayes and Wynyard, 2006). For example, in case of McDonald’s fast food chains, occurrence of a no. of inefficiencies in terms of customer management, production & distribution can be witnessed. Whether it is long queue in front of counters or the taste & quality of food, McDonald’s have resulted millions of trash each year due their management process. Moreover, junk food, though it is not good for health, especially for children, McDonalds’ marketing strategy for attracting people have raise questions on the ethical part of their business practices. Apart from the four aspects of McDonaldization theory, George Ritzer had included some other aspects too. These factors also indicate the drawbacks of the theory, the theory that received warm acceptance initially, worldwide. The first among them is Irrationality, the concept of which was derived from over rationality. The criticism of the concept may be established by an example. In the McDonaldization system, workers are hired & trained to perform a single task where the same worker may be utilised more efficiently for some other task or the worker may be skilled for multitasking where his potential remains unutilized. Moreover, after completion of the project, requirement of the same worker for different project becomes questionable. Another factor of concern is deskilling of workforce. Deskilling of workforce leads to substitution of non human workforce in place of human work force to minimize error & ensure perfection. This concept is basically a threat to the labour force. On one side, more and more employment machineries increase the operating cost, on the other side, availability of skilled but unemployed labours will lead to affect the macro economic variables of the counties adversely. Apart from all these, the concept of consumer worker has turned the consumers into unpaid employees. This aspect has resulted in a downsizing of workforce as well (Ritzer, 2009). Due to all these factors, many corporate have been denying to adopt McDonaldization mainly due to slowdown of services, putting less emphasis on quality aspect. Nations are not promoting also in order to protect their localization & traditional value. References Armstrong. M., 2006. A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. London: Kogan Page Publishers. Boethius., 2008. The Consolation of Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press. Hayes D and Wynyard R., 2006. The Mcdonaldization of Higher Education. California: IAP. Jessop B, Sum N L., 2006. Beyond the Regulation Approach: Putting Capitalist Economies in Their Place. Massashusetts: Edward Elgar Publishing. Lively J & Reeve A., 2013. Modern Political Theory from Hobbes to Marx: Key Debates. London: Routledge. Meszaros I., 2006. Marxs Theory of Alienation. London: Aakar Books. Ritzer G., 2009. McDonaldization: The Reader. California: Pine Forge Press. Ritzer G., 2011. The McDonaldization of Society. California: Pine Forge Press. Tadajewski M, Maclaran P, Parsons E & Parker M., 2011. Key Concepts in Critical Management Studies. London: SAGE. Wood. J., 2004. Karl Marxs Economics: Critical Assessments. London: Taylor & Francis. Read More