Talking About Organizations Podcast

This month, we discuss Shoshana Zuboff’s "In the Age of the Smart Machine: The Future of Work and Power" that examines several cases of organizations introducing information technologies in the workplace hoping to improve organizational performance, transparency, and collaboration but instead dehumanized the workplace and ushered in new ways of managerial surveillance. In Part 1, we discuss the major themes of the book, her telling of the histories of both blue- and white-collar work, and her incredible case studies.

Coming soon! We will discuss Shoshana Zuboff’s ethnographic study of how work changed with the introduction of information technologies in the 1980s. "In the Age of the Smart Machine" discusses how computers changed the meaning of work for both front line industrial workers and their managers, telling a rich cautionary tale about how these technologies upset the balance of power in the workplace and what managers did about it

We conclude our discussion of Lupton’s "On the Shop Floor" by looking at both the importance of the study as a classic example of ethnography and the benefits of participant-observation, followed by the application of Lupton’s findings in the modern post-pandemic workplace. To what extent do contemporary concerns such as the “great resignation” or “quiet quitting” echo Lupton’s findings, and what are possible implications for today’s workers and managers?

This month, we discuss examine Lupton’s famous study of worker-management relations, On the Shop Floor: Two Studies of Workshop Organization and Output published in 1963. Tom Lupton spent 12 months as a factor worker in two different settings examining why workers intentionally worked at a level below management expectations. He found that social structures formed that protected workers from overuse or abuse by management and ensured a stable pay. These structures discouraged workers from working too hard or not hard enough. In Part 1, we will examine the cases in depth and present Lupton’s findings.

We will examine Lupton’s famous study of worker-management relations, On the Shop Floor: Two Studies of Workshop Organization and Output published in 1963. This significantly overlooked study examined social structures in the workplace that kept production levels below that expected by management and why they were permitted. His findings may provide some insights into similar challenges in the contemporary workplace.

We conclude our discussion of Jean Lave & Etienne Wenger’s "Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation," focusing on what occurred since the book’s publication. While communities of practice and their development and management have fueled active conversations, this was not necessary the intended direction of the book. In fact, the book raised more questions about situated learning than it answered. What does that mean for contemporary scholars, especially as new remote modes of learning are becoming more commonplace?

This month, we discuss Jean Lave & Etienne Wenger’s Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation, published in 1991. This short but powerful book presents a new way of thinking about adult learning as a social activity in which experienced members of a group or community of practice share their knowledge with new members to perpetuate the group identity. They present five case studies – one by Lave herself with four from other researchers – to help broaden the perspective of how situated learning works social involvement in which newer members are initiated through the exercise of low-risk or controlled tasks. In Part 1, we present the book and the case studies to examine how the theory emerged inductively.

We will examine Lave & Wenger’s (1991) renowned book "Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation" that developed a novel theory of learning. This short but powerful book presents a new way of thinking about adult learning as a social activity in which experienced members of a group share their knowledge with new members to perpetuate the group identity. It became the foundation for the rich development of literature on communities of practice!

We conclude our presentation of this year’s professional development workshop (PDW) on key approaches to the study of work with a panel discussion. Presenters Steve Barley, Gina Dokko, Ingrid Erickson, and Davide Nicolini answer some challenging questions about work, its management, and related social issues. This PDW was held at the 2022 Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management in Seattle, Washington in the U.S.

We continue with two more presentations from this year’s professional development workshop (PDW) on key approaches to the study of work. Ingrid Erickson presents on the Computer Supported Collaborative Work tradition, and Davide Nicolini discusses the Tavistock Institute and associated socio-technical systems tradition. This PDW was held at the 2022 Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management in Seattle, Washington in the U.S.