labor hierarchy

Examples of labor hierarchy in the following topics:

• Schein's Common Elements of an Organization

  • The four common elements of an organization include common purpose, coordinated effort, division of labor, and hierarchy of authority.
  • Division of labor is also known as work specification for greater efficiency.
  • Using division of labor, an organization can parcel out a complex work effort for specialists to perform.
  • Hierarchy of authority is essentially the chain of command—a control mechanism for making sure the right people do the right things at the right time.
  • While there are a wide variety of organizational structures—some with more centralization of authority than others—hierarchy in decision making is a critical factor for success.

• Importance of Division of Labor

  • Division of labor is the specialization of cooperative labor in specific, circumscribed tasks and roles.
  • An example of the division of labor in the workplace is how workers at a candy factory have very particular tasks.
  • Now that labor has been specialized not just nationally but globally, people often wonder what type of division of labor would be the most beautiful, fair, ideal, and efficient.
  • Labor hierarchy is a very common feature of the modern workplace structure, but of course, the way these hierarchies are structured can be influenced by a variety of factors.
  • Examine how the division of labor can lead to alienation and less satisfaction in the workforce

• The Division of Labor

  • Division of labor is the specialization of cooperative labor in specific, circumscribed tasks and similar roles.
  • An assembly line is an example of the division of labor.
  • Division of labor is the specialization of cooperative labor in specific, circumscribed tasks and roles.
  • In view of the global extremes of the division of labor, the question is often raised about what manner of division of labor would be ideal, most efficient, and most just.
  • Labor hierarchy is a very common feature of the modern workplace structure, but the structure of these hierarchies can be influenced by a variety of factors.

• Introduction to Labor in America: The Worker's Role

  • The American labor force has changed profoundly during the nation's evolution from an agrarian society into a modern industrial state.
  • Many Americans left farms and small towns to work in factories, which were organized for mass production and characterized by steep hierarchy, a reliance on relatively unskilled labor, and low wages.
  • In this environment, labor unions gradually developed clout.
  • Organized labor continues to be an important political and economic force today, but its influence has waned markedly.
  • Organized labor, rooted in industries such as steel and heavy machinery, has had trouble responding to these changes.

• The Four Social Revolutions

  • In a pastoralist society, there is an increased likelihood of surplus food, which, in turn, often results in greater population densities and the development of both social hierarchies and divisions of labor.
  • Horticulture relies solely on human labor for crop cultivation.
  • These include improved methods of food stores, labor specialization, advanced technology, hierarchical social structures, inequality, and standing armies.
  • Like agrarian societies, industrial societies lead to even greater food surpluses, resulting in even more developed social hierarchies and an even more complex division of labor.
  • The industrial division of labor, one of the most notable characteristics of this societal type, in many cases leads to a restructuring of social relations.

• Global Stratification and Inequality

  • Stratification results in inequality when resources, opportunities, and privileges are distributed based on position in social hierarchy.
  • While India provides cheap labor to foreign corporations, however, it also uses cheaper labor from poorer nearby nations as it develops its own industry, showing that it benefits from its semiperipheral position in the global hierarchy.
  • While India provides cheap labor to foreign corporations, however, it also uses cheaper labor from poorer nearby nations as it develops its own industry, showing that it benefits from its semiperipheral position in the global hierarchy.
  • Lastly, world systems theory suggests that all countries are divided into a three-tier hierarchy based on their relationship to the global economy, and that a country's position in this hierarchy determines its own economic development.
  • According to world systems theory as articulated by sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein, core countries are at the top of the global hierarchy as they can extract material resources and labor from less developed countries.

• The Lower Class

  • The lower class consists of those at the bottom of the socioeconomic hierarchy who have low education, low income, and low status jobs.
  • The lower class in the United States refers to individuals who are at, or near, the lower end of the socioeconomic hierarchy.
  • When used by social scientists, the lower class is typically defined as service employees, low-level manual laborers, and the unemployed.
  • Those who do not participate in the labor force, and who rely on public assistance, such as food stamps and welfare checks, as their main source of income, are commonly identified as members of the underclass, or, colloquially, the poor.

• Chesapeake Slavery

  • The economy of the Chesapeake region revolved around tobacco and relied heavily on slave labor.
  • The scarcity of indentured servants meant that the price of their labor contracts increased, and Chesapeake farmers began to look for alternative, cheaper sources of bonded labor.
  • In the late 17th century, indentured servants made up the majority of laborers in the region.
  • These wealthy slave-owning planters came to dominate the top of the social and political hierarchy in the Chesapeake, placing pedigree and wealth as significant social identifiers.
  • These agriculturalists owned small amounts of property and a limited (if any) enslaved labor force.

• A Typical Department Structure

  • Executive departments are organized with secretaries at the top of the hierarchy, followed by deputy secretaries and under secretaries.
  • In the Department of Justice, the Attorney General is the equivalent of the secretary, the deputy attorney general ranks second in charge, and an array of internally administered offices are lower on the hierarchy.
  • There are 15 current executive departments, whose secretaries comprise the Cabinet: the Departments of State, Treasury, Defense, Justice, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Energy, Education, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security.

• World-Systems Theory

  • The United States is an example of a core country -- it has vast amounts of capital and labor is relatively well compensated.
  • According to Wallerstein, the world economic system is divided into a hierarchy of three types of countries: core, semiperipheral, and peripheral.
  • Core countries are capital intensive, have high wages and high technology production patterns and lower amounts of labor exploitation and coercion.
  • Peripheral countries generally provide labor and materials to core countries.
  • The wealthy in peripheral countries benefit from the labor of poor workers and from their own economic relations with core country capitalists.