soci 2500 Week 4 Assignment

soci 2500 Week 4 Assignment | Tulane University

Discussion Section Assignment: Henry Ford and Fordism

1.      Using the illustration of the various social theorists of organizations in Hatch, Organizational Theory, Chapter 2, choose ONE (1) of the following three social theorists and discuss how this theorist might have analyzed and assessed the working conditions at the Ford Motor Company under Henry Ford. Be sure to identify a few important concepts created and developed by each theorist, and give examples of the conditions as portrayed in the video.

a.       Karl Marx

b.      Émile Durkheim

c.       Max Weber

2.      Now, discuss Henry Ford’s approach to social engineering with regard to his control over workers:

a.       Provide examples of some of his ideas and actions regarding his workers in an effort to create the “total worker.”

b.      How did his ideas and actions change over the years, and how were these related to broader changes in US society during the 1930s and 1940s?

c.       How did Ford try to stop the process of union organizing by the workers (unionization facilitated by the United Auto Workers, or UAW)? Was Ford’s approach effective?

3.      Consider the development of the assembly line and its role in the physical and psychological control over workers.

4.      Can your group think of any examples (since Ford, so post-WWII to today) of industries that adopted the assembly line in their business operations, especially in dealing with customers? In other words, are there businesses that did or still do utilize an assembly-line-like form of machinery, technology, and/or automation in their business operations? Give a couple of examples.