4.2.4.4 Organisation and control of the labour process Quiz: AQA Sociology, Unit 2

The 20 questions

1. What is meant by the 'labour process' in Marxist sociology?

   • The procedure by which trade unions negotiate pay and conditions with employers through collective bargaining each year
   • The sequence of legal steps an employer must follow when recruiting, training and dismissing workers under employment law
   • The way labour power is combined with tools and materials to produce goods, under the control of capital owners
   • The method by which governments collect tax from employees through a system of payroll deductions and allowances

2. Which sociologist argued that the division of labour in modern societies produces organic solidarity?

   • Harry Braverman, who argued that capitalist management produces the deskilling of workers over time
   • Max Weber, who argued that bureaucracy and rational-legal authority shape the organisation of modern work
   • Karl Marx, who argued that the division of labour produces alienation and divides workers from the products they make
   • Emile Durkheim

3. What is 'Taylorism' or scientific management?

   • A method of organising work through informal friendship groups that set their own pace and output each day
   • A method of organising work by giving each worker a lifetime contract and full control over their daily tasks
   • A method of organising work by breaking tasks into simple, repetitive steps, timed and controlled by management
   • A method of organising work through democratic workers' councils that make all decisions about production together

4. Which term describes assembly-line production in which workers perform a single repetitive task at a fixed speed set by the line?

   • Flexible specialisation, in which small teams produce varied goods for niche markets with frequent changes in design
   • Fordism
   • Post-Fordism, in which production is organised through networks of firms and outsourced specialised services
   • Craft production, in which skilled workers complete each product from start to finish with their own tools

5. According to Harry Braverman, what is the main effect of capitalist management on the labour process?

   • Empowerment, as managers give workers full control over the speed, method and quality of every task they carry out
   • Upskilling, as managers train every worker in all parts of production so that each worker can design and make products
   • Democratisation, as workers elect managers who make decisions about production in consultation with customers
   • Deskilling, as tasks are separated from conception and simplified so that workers need less skill and have less control

6. Which term describes Andrew Friedman's strategy of giving workers some discretion and responsibility, so that they accept management goals while avoiding close control?

   • Technical control, in which the speed of machines or assembly lines determines the pace and output of work
   • Bureaucratic control, in which rules, hierarchy and promotion structures govern the behaviour of employees at work
   • Responsible autonomy
   • Direct control, in which managers closely supervise every task and set strict rules for each worker's every action

7. Which concept, developed by Michael Burawoy, describes workers' acceptance of management demands through games and competition that make the work seem voluntary?

   • Emotional labour, in which workers manage their feelings to display the emotions their employers require of them
   • Reserve army of labour, in which unemployed workers provide a pool of cheap labour that holds down wages in industry
   • Alienation, in which workers are estranged from the products of their labour, from their co-workers and from themselves
   • Manufacturing consent

8. Which concept, developed by Arlie Hochschild, describes the management of feelings to produce a publicly observable emotional state as part of a job?

   • Manufacturing consent, in which workers accept management goals through games and internal competition at work
   • Deskilling, in which tasks are simplified so that workers need less training and have less control over their work
   • Emotional labour
   • Responsible autonomy, in which workers are trusted to act in ways that serve the firm's goals without close supervision

9. In Richard Edwards's account of systems of control, which system relies on rules, hierarchy and career structures to govern employees?

   • Bureaucratic control
   • Technical control, in which the pace of the production line is built into machinery and assembly processes
   • Responsible autonomy control, in which workers are given discretion and asked to act in the firm's interest
   • Simple control, in which the owner or manager directly supervises workers and gives orders in person each day

10. Which concept describes the increasing use of part-time, temporary and subcontracted workers alongside a core group of secure, skilled employees?

    • The flexible firm, with a core workforce and a peripheral workforce
    • The craft workshop, in which skilled workers are employed directly by the owner under a single long-term agreement
    • The Fordist firm, in which all workers are employed on permanent contracts in a single factory with standard tasks
    • The bureaucratic firm, in which all workers are assigned to hierarchical departments with formal rules of promotion

11. What is meant by 'alienation' in Karl Marx's account of work?

    • The decision of workers to join a trade union, which removes them from the direct control of the employer for the length of the dispute
    • The feeling of enjoyment that workers experience when they make something that they can sell at a high price in the market
    • The legal separation of employees from their employers, which occurs when a worker chooses to leave a firm to start a business
    • The estrangement of workers from the product of their labour, from the activity of work, from other workers and from their own human nature

12. Which development in work organisation is associated with the growth of 'the gig economy'?

    • Short-term, task-based work arranged through digital platforms, often without the employment rights of traditional jobs
    • Lifetime employment in a single firm, with promotion through a fixed ladder and a traditional pension at retirement
    • Self-employed craftsmanship in local workshops, where each worker sells a complete product in a village market
    • Permanent employment in large manufacturing plants with guaranteed pensions and fixed weekly hours for all staff

13. How does technology affect the organisation and control of the labour process, according to Marxist analysis?

    • Technology always increases the skill level of every worker, so that employers have less control over each task
    • Technology removes all managerial authority, because machines take over every decision about what workers do each day
    • Technology has no effect on control, because the speed and organisation of work are fixed by the nature of the product
    • Technology can be used by employers to reduce skill requirements, increase speed and intensify control over the pace of work

14. What is a 'time-and-motion study', as used in scientific management?

    • A method of timing customer visits to a shop so that the opening hours of each branch can be set for the year
    • A method of measuring workers' emotional wellbeing over a shift so that managers can plan rest breaks in advance
    • A method of measuring how long each element of a task takes, so that the most efficient method can be set and enforced
    • A method of recording how far workers travel between sites each week so that travel allowances can be calculated fairly

15. Evaluate the claim that workers today have complete control over how they organise their work.

    • The claim is irrelevant, since labour processes have not changed in any way at all since the start of the industrial revolution
    • The claim is confirmed by the fact that all workers are self-employed, so no one is subject to managerial direction
    • The claim overlooks the constraints of management, technology, performance targets and insecure contracts that limit control
    • The claim is fully supported, since all modern workers choose their own tasks, pace and methods without any constraints

16. Which conclusion best follows from the view that the labour process is organised to serve the interests of employers?

    • Forms of control and skill allocation reflect power relations at work, so they can be contested by workers and unions
    • Forms of control are the same in every workplace, so differences in power between employers and workers are unimportant
    • Forms of control are determined entirely by workers, so employers have no influence over how work is organised at all
    • Forms of control are fixed by law, so no organisation of work can be challenged by workers or their representatives

17. A call centre monitors each operator's call times and scripts their responses on screen. Which system of control does this best illustrate?

    • Democratic control, in which operators vote on the scripts and call times that are used by the call centre
    • Responsible autonomy, in which workers are trusted to use their own judgement about the best way to handle calls
    • Technical control, in which the pace and method of work are built into the technology used
    • Craft control, in which skilled operators decide the methods and the sequence of calls they handle each shift

18. What was the main link between Fordist production and consumption?

    • Mass production of standardised goods was paired with rising wages, so workers could buy the products they made
    • Small-batch production of varied goods for niche markets, with frequent changes in design and marketing approach each season
    • Craft production of custom goods sold to small groups of wealthy buyers, with prices set individually by each artisan
    • Production organised through outsourced networks of firms, with fixed contracts linking suppliers to one large buyer

19. Which concept describes the electronic monitoring of workers' output, pace and keystrokes as a means of managerial control?

    • Electronic or digital surveillance, which increases managerial control over the pace and performance of work
    • Craft control, in which skilled workers decide the methods and the sequence in which they carry out their own tasks
    • Responsible autonomy, in which workers are given discretion and trusted to act in the interests of the firm without close supervision
    • Emotional labour, in which workers manage their feelings to display the emotions that their employers require from them

20. Why do Marxists argue that the division of labour under capitalism can alienate workers?

    • Workers choose any task they like, which removes the shared purpose of production that binds people together in the factory
    • Workers make fragments of a product they do not own, so they are separated from the product and its meaning
    • Workers are paid too much relative to their effort, so they lose any incentive to work hard for the employer in each job
    • Workers have too little contact with managers, so they never learn about the wider business plans of the firm they serve

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