Fordism and Post-Fordism as Theories of Work Organisation Essay

Fordism and Post-Fordism as Theories of Work Organisation - Essay Example54-55), it was not until over twenty years later that the border Fordism came into being. Antonio Gramsci, an Italian Communist imprisoned by Mussolini from 1926 to 1937 (Slattery, 1991, p. 125), authored the article Americanism and Fordism in 1931. In this stinging critique of capitalism, he breaks down the fundamental changes occurring to the characteristics of labour. For the purpose of American society-developing in the worker to the highest degree automatic and mechanical attitudes, breaking up the old psycho-nexus of qualified professional work and reducing productive operations exclusively to the mechanical, physical aspect (Gramsci, 1931, p. 290).Generally, Fordism is defined by standardisation of labour and components, usage of the assembly line, strict specialisation of semi-skilled labour and high production levels. This mass manufacturing depended on a persistent economy and a predictable mass con sumerism, for without the mass consumption of mass-produced products, companies would quickly go bankrupt (ODonnell, 1997, p. 252). The fundamental need for so many consumers led to the breeding of widespread advertising (Kirby et al, 2000, p. 340). Yet what distinguishes this paradigm shift is, as Gramsci noted above, the removal of decision-making power from the worker. A relative contemporary of Ford, Frederick Taylor, proposed that all mental application should be removed from the factory floor so workers could almost become machines, with their pay tied to personal productivity (ODonnell, 1997, p. 288). Fordism meant great homogeny, efficiency and output, which in crop meant greater prosperity. However, the strict division of labour created an unmotivated work force increasingly alienated from management. Competitive pay was not sufficient to stop the fast turnover, and the growth of unions such as Industrial Workers of the World during this period attests to this dissatisf action (Grint, 1998, p. 284). Additionally, Fordism needed a reliable economy and consumer base-this is illustrated by the number of companies, such as Ford, which besides survived the American Great Depression due to large scale government intervention (ODonnell, 1997, p. 252). Another factor is that drastic increases in productivity of the first symbolize of Fordism were unique-subsequent changes were less effective, for there was a finite limit to, or at least declining return from, the extent to which time and motion studies etc. could increase productivity (Grint, 1998, p. 284). Once an wide-cut industry converted, it became difficult to continue finding significant ways to heighten productivity and further decrease costs. Eventually these disadvantages, along with the rise of a juvenile type of mass consumerism, would set the stage for the conditions the next scheme of work organisation is based upon-Post-Fordism. As technological advances and consumer wants became more v aried, a new theory of work organisation was proposed in The Second Industrial Divide by Michael Piore and Charles Sabel in 1984. Responding to the economic downturn of the 1970s and the limitations of mass production (Kirby et al, 2000, p. 340), they held that a new dust was coming into being, motivated by increasing consumer demand for specialised