Case Study 3.3
Scenes from the
Electronic Sweatshop
TEAM 2 – KARA KEATING, KAYLEE KROUT, JIM MARZULLO,
MEL MCNAIR, JENNI NADLER, JAKE OWENS, AND TINA ROSS
NOVEMBER 23, 2015
GONZAGA UNIVERSITY
Agenda

Overview

Important Definitions

Pros and Cons of ICTs

Vignettes



Taylorism

Surveillance
Conclusion
 Strategic
Communication
Application
 Replacing
Airline
Reservation Agents
Automated Social
Worker
Real World Implications
 Leadership
 The

Framework
Discussion Questions
Overview

Traditional strategies for organizing attempt to control employees
through:

rules

norms

systems of rewards and punishment

Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) can help
organizations avoid problems the traditional strategy of organizing
often creates.

Barbara Garson wrote The Electronic Sweatshop looking at negative
consequences of ICTs in traditional organizations.

The airline and social work vignettes are taken from Garson's text.
(Conrad & Poole, 2012)
Important Definitions
Traditional organizations--primary concern was to implement
systematically designed, objective and fair systems of management
and supervision (Conrad & Poole, 2012, p. 75)
 Scientific Management--an approach to the traditional strategy for
organizing that sought to improve organizations from the bottom up
through reforming workers' tasks, efficiency and rewards (Conrad &
Poole, 2012, p. 75); concerned with both accountability and efficiency
(Conrad & Poole, 2012, pp 77); founded by Frederick Taylor, so it is also
referred to as "Taylorism" (Conrad & Poole, 2012, p. 77)


Six Sigma--21st century scientific method of taking a problem or
outdated process, breaking it down, and find better ways to
improve it usually saving an organization money (Keller & Pyzdek,
2009)

ICTs-- Information and Communication Technologies (Conrad & Poole,
2012)
Important Definitions Cont.





Regressing - A way for employees to resist rules by only doing the bare
minimum that the system calls for; otherwise known as “milking the
system” and making it work to their advantage (Conrad & Poole, 2012,
p. 97)
Working to Rule - Taking employers at their word can be quite costly.
The rule-reward system is often lacking in common sense and flexibility
that employees exercise to make things happen.
Surveillance-- a process through which supervisors can determine the
extent to which employees conform to policies, procedures, rules and
motivational systems (Conrad & Poole, 2012, pp 94).
Informating--enables workers to learn which processes are effective
and which are not (Conrad & Poole, 2012, pp 107)
Automate--the making of work automatic in order to replace
employees with machines (Conrad & Poole, 2012, pp 107)
The Pros and Cons of ICTs
Pros
Cons

Makes employees accountable to
progress and action

Employees are encumbered by
paperwork and redundant systems

Streamlines access to information such as
credit checks

Employees and customers feel
unheard

Makes it easier to support consistent use
of complex rule systems

Creates environment that lacks
sympathy

Enables organizations to have control
over both work processes and efficiency


Provides front line employees information
to help them apply the rule systems
Takes away the decision-making
capacity of the employee to resolve
complaints

If implemented poorly, it can
frustrate customers and cost
companies millions

Creates friction between
management and employees

Can detect illegal or illicit activities of
employees
(Conrad & Poole, 2012, pp. 99-106)
Vignettes
The Dark Side of ICTs:
Airline Reservation Agents
In the 1970’s
After ICTs

Airline ticket agents were valued
employees making as much at $15
per hour

Interactions with customers were
broken into scripts and taught
ways to try to increase sales

Used their knowledge of fares and
routes to solve customer problems

Supervisors listened in without
agent knowledge

Long-term retention


Initial computerized booking still
allowed for ticket agents to
customize to customer issues
Too much small talk or empathy
could get an agent in trouble

To keep the job, agents had to be
available 98 percent of the time

Agents only paid $5.77 per hour
(Conrad & Poole, 2012, pp. 104-105)
Difficulties of Airline ICTs
“ICTs contribute towards efficiency,
productivity and competitiveness
improvements of both interorganizational and intra-organizational
systems. The relationship between ICTs
and competitive advantage and
performance is still unclear. Although
there is an indirect and complex casual
relationship between ICTs and
profitability, it is difficult to be quantified
and generalized" (Buhalis, 2004, p. 806).
Photo taken from Google.
Dark Side of ICTs:
Social Workers
Before ICT System

Social workers taught to take
individual needs into account

Job attracted workers who
enjoyed working with people and
making a difference

Workers could make exceptions,
help with special problems outside
the normal procedures, and have
time to provide sympathy

Advocated for client's needs
Post ICT System

Divided tasks into units which
allowed experienced workers to
complete tasks quickly and stop
working

Task list only included bureaucratic
operations and no human side

Extra time after completing tasks
spent on coaching clients how to
play the system and counseling
each other

Social workers who were really
helping received poor evaluations
for how they navigated the system
(Conrad & Poole, 2012, pp. 105-106)
Difficulties of Social Work ICTs
"Regardless of the level of practice,
ICT's will continue to influence the
careers of social workers and the
clients they serve. ICT's have
received some attention in the social
literature and curriculum, but we
argue that this level of attention is not
adequate given their ubiquity,
growth and influence, specifically as
it relates to upholding social work
ethics" (Perron, Taylor, Glass,
Margerum-Leys, p. 67).
Photo taken from Google.
Real World Implications
Scientific Management - "Taylorism"
Outdated and not as popular as
many would say, in both cases of the
Airline Reservation Agent and the
Automated Social Worker, Taylorism
was put in place. It eventually
eliminated positions but also offered
some improvements. These types of
process improvements are essential in
order for organizations to deliver
additional money to the bottom line.
Photo taken from Google.
Taylorism Today - Six Sigma
Some companies currently uses Six Sigma in the same fashion that
Taylorism was used in the case study example.
Six Sigma is a data driven approach and methodology for eliminating
defects in any process, from manufacturing to transactional, from
product to service. In the case of one company, there are resources
dedicated to Six Sigma and they have been able to save millions of
dollars in process improvements. Many organizations have begun
using Six Sigma as an updated form of Taylorism.
(Keller & Pyzdek, 2009)
Photo taken from Google.
ICTs and Surveillance

Overuse of ICT’s can erode effective
communication and decrease
efficiency (Conrad and Poole, 2012,
p. 96). This occurs when the
practical uses of ICTs extend beyond
appropriate monitoring into the
realm of destructive surveillance.

In the vignette of the airline
reservation agents and the vignette
of the social workers, the
disintegration of communication
through surveillance is evident.
Employees experienced disconnect
and dehumanization, and felt the
strain of upholding impossible
standards.
Photo taken from Google.
Surveillance in Each Vignette
In an effort to move organizations towards greater levels of efficiency, ICTs
can be highly effective (Conrad and Poole, 2012, p. 53-54). But when ICT
surveillance extends to human work, the quantification of activity actually
limits understanding and effectiveness by dehumanizing the work.
The removal of the human element was
also present in the vignette of the airline
agents, whose work was time tracked
and surreptitiously monitored. “Too much
small talk or empathy could get the
agent a lower grade” (Conrad & Poole,
2012, p. 105). In this way, the employee's
efforts are dehumanized into time
quantities and they, in turn, must be less
human with callers to ensure they keep
to the prescribed time limits.
In the case of the social workers,
surveillance through ICTs reduced the
efforts of welfare workers to a list of
quantified (hourly) tasks: “The tasks list
refers only to bureaucratic operations …
not to the human side of welfare” (Conrad
& Poole, 2012, p. 105). Thus, the very
human effort of aiding others was
reduced to fractions of hours, a time
quota, and the omission of unquantifiable
efforts in the field.
Organizational Surveillance Today
The experiences of the airline agents and the social work agents are not unique in
modern organizations. An article by Bruder (2015) explored the negative impact of
ICT surveillance on employees of Amazon and UPS. Her interviews with employees
uncovered physical, mental, and emotional deterioration of employees under the
constant observations of their employers (pp. 28-30).
The abuses of surveillance, however, do not have to be so persistent. In contrast to
Bruder (2015), Lohr (2014), revealed ICT surveillance methods that actually had a
positive impact on food industry work. Lohr found ICT surveillance highlighted
exemplary employees and generated additional revenue for restaurants. Unlike the
experiences of the airline and social workers, the benefits of ICTs were utilized without
over-invading employee work and lives.
Conclusion
Strategic Communication Application

All organizations have a fundamental tension. People crave autonomy,
creativity, and sociability in an organization. Organizations need control and
coordination (Conrad & Poole, 2012).

This case study illustrates that Taylorism through ICTs stresses the necessary
fundamental tension by taking away all three individual needs in favor of the
organization's need.

Organizations should apply systems thinking to avoid making the same
mistakes as the airline system and social work institution

"The whole is more than the sum of its parts" (Conrad & Poole, 2012, p. 35)

Taylorism focuses on just individual parts without taking into account the whole system

Looking at the whole system shows that a balance must be found to accommodate
all needs, including those of consumers or clients
Leadership Implications
“Leadership is based on
inspiration not domination;
on cooperation not
intimidation.”
- William Arthur Wood
Photo taken from Google.
Discussion Questions

What signs can leaders look for in their organizations that they are
utilizing ICT surveillance methods to promote efficiency, not
dehumanization?

From a customer’s perspective, how has the ICT system made your own
personal airline reservation experience?

What types of ICT systems does your employer use, and how have they
affected the employees?

What do you think is the key to best use of ICT systems?

What are the pitfalls to ICT systems for the servant-leader?
References
Buhalis, D. (2004). eAirlines: strategic and tactical use of ICTs in airline industry.
Information & Management, 41(7), 805-825.
Bruder, J. (2015, June). We're watching you. Nation, 300(24), 28-30.
Conrad, C., & Poole, M. S. (2012). Strategic organizational communication in a
global economy. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
Lohr, S. (2014, June 21). Unblinking eyes track employees: Workplace surveillance
sees good and bad. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com
Keller, P., & Pyzdek, T. (2009). The Six Sigma Handbook: A Complete guide for green
belts, black belts, and managers at all levels. McGraw-Hill.
Perron, Taylor, Glass, Margerum-Leys, (no year given) Information and
Communciation Technologies in Social Work, Retreived from:
http://www.slideshare.net/DrLendySpiresFoundation/information-andcommunication-technologies-in-social-work-41188411, 11/21/15