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I work at a manufacturing company in the Midwest and, to me, the confusing part is where the modern push to treat workers like machines is coming from. In schoo
by lazulicurio 10y ago
I work at a manufacturing company in the Midwest and, to me, the confusing part is where the modern push to treat workers like machines is coming from. In school, we were taught how Taylor was the "father" of scientific management, but that his ideas had mostly been superseded by those of Deming, who was a huge contributor to the post-war manufacturing miracle in Japan. And yet, the management at my current company---and from what I gather, many others---is decidedly Taylorist. It's like a race to the bottom where the prize is... something? I'm honestly not sure.
- a3n 10y agoIt's short term quarterly thinking. Get my review and bonuses and get out. If any manager thinks the company will be around, he doesn't really care. He's not in it to build a company or a legacy or pride, he's there to get his money and get out. Driving your workers as fast as possible maximizes your bonus. Who cares what happens in ten years?
- jz87 10y agoYeah if you read the article what you see is companies saving $7000 to avoid installing safety devices that ended up causing injuries that costed them multi-million dollar payouts in lawsuits. The thing is, the incentives to the executives making these decisions is skewed. If they avoid investing in safety equipment, they make their bonuses, which can add up as long as nothing too bad happens. Yet if there is a serious injury costing the company millions, the worst thing that can happen is they lose their jobs. For senior executives, the bonuses can be larger than their base salaries, so the upside is larger than the downside.
- thatfrenchguy 10y agoThe prize is more money for the shareholders.
- maxxxxx 10y agoI think it's just easier to think that way and measure results. Empowering workers is more fuzzy and hard to measure.