Theories of Work and Identity

Theories of Work and IdentityDiscuss Work is a Brobdingnagian helping of a persons life.To say that calculate is a big portion of a persons life is a under(a)statement of monstrous proportions. Children argon raised with one or two parents who make it a priority. They are raised to make it a priority. They bend virtu onlyy all their lives. They retire from it. It can be intrusive and ubiquitous and the fact that it is both a noun and a verb does not begin to hint at the complexity of it.In beginning to number it, a record path would be to define its nature. Is it feathered or scaled, or more accurately, is it to be relegated as a science of economics, sociology or something else entirely? Many attentiveness it as a pure function of applied economics (Block, Berg, Belman 2004, p. 94). It seems proficient to regard it as such(prenominal) as at its most basic direct it is a about an exchange relationship in which two parties good deal something the one owns for something the another(prenominal) owns. Whether this exchange is of time, expertise, property, or estimations is irrelevant. The exchange takes come in a form of a market while both discrete and often not-so-discrete forces are at work to set the value of the exchange. These forces, laws of add and demand, invisible hands and the like seek to maximize the utility of the administer to both parties.As a consequence of the nature of the relationship creation up to(p) to be characterized by an exchange, work can in summation be considered by a legal or contractual basis. By virtue of this, there are certain very explicit rules that rein the conduct of either party with regard to the fulfillment of their respective duties. much(prenominal) laws, as for example in the United States, often fall under a Department of Labor and in the main includes such standards as a forty-hour work week, harassment and discrimination provisions, minimum pay and pay oftenness specifications as well as p rovisions regarding collective dicker. The polish of such a perspective is to serve as something of a bridge amidst not only the economic interests of both parties but the social usurpation of work to the workers.In modern world, a typical exchange takes key between the individual and the organization. With this type of exchange, there are a add of additional concerns and issues that become relevant. In the first place there is generally an asymmetry of power in which the owners of capital employ individuals in masse shot to literally make up the corporate body and to wield mesh maximizing power on employees. This imbalance is potentially offset by the previously mentioned ability of certain workers to partake in collective bargaining actions such as the formation of unions that ultimately can help to institute the individual worker a larger voice. This power is wielded as a consequence of the jackpots greater resources to enforce the often contractual nature of the exchange . Also, as corporate budgets generally exceed those of individuals the ration of the damage to the total budget is greater. In addition, as a corporation does not have emotions, the consequences of a failed agreement are often of significant magnitude to the individual. Though the worth of the individual worker is indeed significant to the corporation for, without him, the corporation would die, the time horizon of the two parties is vastly different. This subject is eloquently expressed by Adam Smith, In the long-run the artificer may be as necessary to his see as his master is to him but the necessity is not so immediate (Smith 1976, p.84).As the nature of work is at least partly economic, to ignore the basic issues of origin management would be unpardonable. From Taylors beginning of scientific management to the advanced performance work systems of today, the nature of managing the individual worker presents a veer of methods devised in order to maximize the economic retu rn of work. While Taylors command-and-control methods largely regarded the average laborer as incapable of being able to self-manage, they did nonetheless create vast increases in efficiency and paved the port for the development of very large organizations. Interestingly enough, these techniques, or at least, the implementation, of them has been supplanted by the likes of Stanfords Pfeffer is able to rigorously document the superlativity of a complete system of seven key human resource practices that, when wide-cuty integrated into an organization produce superior financial returns to the organization. In place of timed work, close supervision and continuous thrusts for greater efficiency with centralized decision-making, consider the characteristics of the modern high performance organization (Taylor 1917 Pfeffer 1998, pp. 64-65) booking securitySelective hiringDecentralized decision-makingComparatively high compensation gigantic trainingEgalitarian work placeExtensive informa tion sharing. scorn the fundamental economic nature of work, there is another side that, were it go unmentioned, the discussion would utterly fail to consider the other perspective on work that of the individual employee. Even as an economic premise entirely, the goal of which is to increase the profit and well-being of the individual, the sociological aspects of work merit full consideration (Stiglitz 2002, p. 1).In consideration of the individual, it is reasonable that one might consider the very contractual nature of work to be akin to that of a social exchange process through which individuals and groups of individuals engage in minutes (Dreher Dougherty 2002, p. 41). These exchanges are clearly governed first by applicable laws and regulations, perhaps second by organizational policies and procedures and thirdly and perhaps most notably, they are correct by the very nature of individuals to ascribe to something that might resemble a common values system. In this system is th e seemingly natural chemical element of a sense of fairness. This guides innumerable behaviors as the individual inescapably seeks a form of reciprocal altruism in which, in addition to following self-serving fulfillment of their own needs, individuals appear to operate on the assumption that there is a bigger picture of morals and the right thing involved (Frederick Wasieleski 2002, pp.284).An additional consideration of the social nature of work and ensuing issues is the idea that, for many, work is the process by which identity is established. make the typical introduction at a party or other function first, one thrusts their name and then, almost inevitably either their origin or work relation status to the host (i.e., I work with Ted, I am a client, etc.). This phenomenon, complaisant Identity Theory, is quite relevant to the workplace in that it forces one to consider the psychological implications of doing pipeline (Ashforth Mael 1989, pp. 20-21 Stiglitz 2002, p. 1). Bridging this concept with the representation that work is fundamentally an exchange relationship is the idea of the psychological contract. Just as there are explicit rules governing work expectations, so too are there implicit rules. The rules are communicated by the culture of the firm, the seemingly accepted behaviors of others in a similar position and other verbal and non-verbal queues. The conditions of the contract are primarily arbitrate by the individuals manager, the immediate representation of the organization in the mind of the individual (Rousseau 2000, February). Thus, it is through the social processes of work that an individual gains an image of who they are but also gain particular knowledge of the unwashed obligations of the economic exchange.In summary, work is. It is what, why, how, when. It is the noun and the verb, the result as well as the process. A discussion of which cannot omit the fundamental economic nature of it nevertheless one cannot ignore th e precepts of sociology and psychology woven into every single unit of measurement of production, the individual worker. Any discussion of work which does not give full deliberation the simultaneous dichotomy is to only give half the argument and less than that for the appreciation of what work represents, to the organization, the individual and to society.Works ConsultedAshforth, B. F. Mael. (1989). Social Identity Theory and the Organization. Academy of Management Review (14), 1, pp. 20-39.Block, R., Berg, P. and Belman, D. (2004). The economic Dimension of the Employment Relationship, in Coyle Shepard, J. Shore, L. Taylor, M. and Tetrick, L., (eds.). The Employment Relationship Examining mental and Contextual Perspectives. Oxford University Press Oxford, UK.Dreher, G. and Dougherty, T. (2002). gentle Resource Strategy A behavioral Perspective for the General Manager. McGraw-Hill Irwin Boston, Massachusetts.Frederick, W. and Wasieleski, D. (2002). Evolutionary Social Contra cts. short letter and Society Review, (107), 3, pp. 283-308.Pfeffer, J. (1998). The Human Equation Building Profits by Putting People First. Harvard Business School Press Boston, Massachusetts, the States.Rosseau, D. (2000, February). Psychological Contract Inventory Technical Report. Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA .Smith, A. (1976). An Inquiry into the Nature and the Causes of the Wealth of Nation., R.H. Campbell and A.S. Skinner, eds. Clarendon Press. Oxford, UKStitlitz, J. (2002). Employment, Social Justice and social Well-Being. International Labour Review, (141), 1-2, pp. 9-29.Taylor, F. (1911). The Principles of Scientific Management. Harper stark naked York, New York.