Deck 14: Work and Economic Life

Question 1

Work has become divided into a number of different occupations in which people specialize. Sociologists refer to this as:

A) division of labor
B) technology
C) occupational specialization
D) occupational segregation

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Work done in exchange for a regular wage or salary is considered:

A) income
B) an occupation
C) division of labor
D) wealth

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Henry Ford paid his workers well. He did this to ensure compliance in the workforce and:

A) because he felt responsible for the people who worked for him
B) to ensure that they could be happy doing their job
C) to enable workers to afford to buy the products they made
D) to share the profits that he had made from the products that they had made

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Capitalism is characterized as:

A) centralization of authority with close worker/management relationships
B) private ownership and open competition
C) worker participation in decision making and profit distribution
D) return of profits for community and civic development

Question 5

Taylorism resulted in:

A) workers' loss of control over knowledge of the production process
B) increased autonomy for craft workers
C) the rise in skilled labor
D) massive unemployment

Question 6

Work provides ________, which in turn tends to structure people's psychological makeup and daily lives.

A) sick pay
B) a wage or salary
C) personal identity
D) health insurance

Question 7

Transactions outside the sphere of regular employment, sometimes involving the exchange of cash for services but often involving direct exchange of goods or services, are said to make up the:

A) lockout economy
B) formal economy
C) global economy
D) informal economy

Question 8

From a sociological perspective, women who are homemakers:

A) do not work
B) want a job but do not have the skills to get one
C) do work, although they are not part of the paid labor force
D) are not part of the family economy

Question 9

Harnessing science to machinery to achieve greater productive efficiency is known as:

A) work
B) economy
C) occupation
D) technology

Question 10

According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the number of occupations the U.S. economy has is:

A) 5,000
B) 10,000
C) 15,000
D) 31,000

Question 11

The larger traditional societies had 20 to 30 major craft trades, and most people were:

A) metalworkers
B) self-sufficient
C) economically interdependent
D) alienated

Question 12

The economic system that involves restless expansion and investment to accumulate capital is:

A) communism
B) socialism
C) social democracy
D) capitalism

Question 13

Consider a scenario in which a skilled furniture-maker has developed her craft and has a particular process for making chairs, sofas, and other furniture. She begins to work for a furniture manufacturing company that has researched and developed its own steps for producing furniture and prohibits their employees from using alternative steps. This change in production would be an example of Taylorism because:

A) it erodes the autonomy the worker has from her employer
B) it cultivates a mass market
C) it promotes interlocking directorates
D) it develops a form of welfare capitalism

Question 14

What was the name of the system developed by Frederick Winslow Taylor, in which mass production is tied to the cultivation of mass markets?

A) post-Fordism
B) Fordism
C) capitalism
D) scientific management

Question 15

Capitalism is a way of organizing economic life that is characterized by:

A) private ownership of the means of production
B) public ownership of the means of production
C) government-controlled markets
D) cooperation over competition

Question 16

If you were to visit a home improvement store or hardware store, you are likely to see several people (usually men) in the parking lot offering to help with home improvement labor. This is an example of the informal economy because:

A) it is an economic exchange that is very unlikely to be officially recorded
B) it will involve abuse and exploitation of the worker
C) it will create competition between unskilled laborers
D) there is no formal hiring process, such as an interview or reference checking

Question 17

The social institution that produces and distributes goods and services is:

A) the family
B) the economy
C) the political system
D) the state

Question 18

An activity that uses effort for the production of goods and services is called.

A) work
B) employment
C) an occupation
D) the economy

Question 19

What was the name of the U.S. management consultant who invented a system of scientific management in which industrial processes were studied to break them down into precisely timed and organized simple operations?

A) Henry Ford
B) David Harvey
C) Frederick Winslow Taylor
D) Harry Braverman

Question 20

Modern societies have thousands of occupations and therefore a great deal of:

A) Taylorism
B) self-sufficiency
C) economic interdependence
D) apprenticeship

Question 21

According to Karl Marx, capitalism reduces many people's work to dull, uninteresting tasks over which workers have no influence or control. He referred to this situation and the feelings it engendered as:

A) low-trust systems
B) scientific management
C) the division of labor
D) alienation

Question 22

The stage of corporate capitalism that is dominated by large firms run by individual entrepreneurs or their family members and passed on to their descendants is:

A) family capitalism
B) managerial capitalism
C) institutional capitalism
D) communism

Question 23

Which of the following positions would most likely be in a high-trust system?

A) engineer
B) factory worker
C) cashier at a fast-food restaurant
D) data entry clerk

Question 24

If someone is 16 years of age or older and actively looking for work but not able to find it, they are included in the:

A) informal economy
B) unemployment rate
C) low-trust system
D) division of labor

Question 25

Jobs that are set by management, are geared toward machines, and give workers little control are referred to as being:

A) self-regulating
B) high-trust systems
C) low-trust systems
D) occupations

Question 26

It is true with respect to global outsourcing that:

A) most garment manufacturers directly employ garment workers
B) clothing manufacturers own the factories where their clothes are made
C) the system of global outsourcing of clothing provides job security for garment workers
D) giant transnational corporations are emerging in parts of Asia

Question 27

The dominant type of corporate capitalism today is:

A) welfare capitalism
B) managerial capitalism
C) family capitalism
D) global capitalism

Question 28

Allison is trained as a social worker but has recently gotten a law degree and is looking for work in this new field. She has been unable to find work in the legal profession and has decided to work part time as a social worker for the county until she finds a job working as an attorney. Which of the following best describes Allison?

A) She would be counted as the unemployed because she cannot find work in her chosen field.
B) She would be counted as partially unemployed because she only has part-time work.
C) She would be considered part of the lockout work force until she finds a job in the legal field.
D) She would be counted among the population of people who are employed.

Question 29

A characteristic of post-Fordism is having:

A) highly bureaucratic business structures
B) vertically organized business structures
C) mass production
D) job insecurity

Question 30

Karl Marx argues that workers in capitalist societies:

A) are the strongest advocates for the companies in which they work
B) are dehumanized by tedious and demeaning labor processes over which they have no control
C) work in harmony with their coworkers to produce products in which they have great pride
D) are content as long as they make a sufficient wage

Question 31

Jobs in which workers control the pace and content of their work within general guidelines are referred to as being:

A) self-sufficient
B) high-trust systems
C) low-trust systems
D) professions

Question 32

The stage of corporate capitalism in which the company is itself a more defined economic entity, separate from the entrepreneurial family, and controlled by managers is known as:

A) family capitalism
B) managerial capitalism
C) institutional capitalism
D) socialism

Question 33

According to your textbook, the industry that is one of the most highly globalized in terms of production is the ________ industry.

A) clothing
B) automobile
C) plastics
D) steel

Question 34

Theodore works for a marketing company and travels regularly for his job. His work schedule is flexible, and he works on his own projects. This company uses the type of managerial system known as a(n):

A) informal system
B) Taylor system
C) low-trust system
D) high-trust system

Question 35

According to the text, the percentage of workers in the United States in 2016 who were members of a labor union was:

A) 11 percent
B) 18.7 percent
C) 24 percent
D) 31.5 percent

Question 36

The Pou Chen factory in Dongguan in southern China that makes a million pairs of athletic shoes a month for Nike, Adidas, and other major brands is an excellent example of:

A) flexible production
B) electronic data interchange
C) globalized product services
D) transnational corporate culture

Question 37

A temporary work stoppage by a group of employees who want to express a grievance or enforce a demand is called:

A) union density
B) a lockout
C) absenteeism
D) a strike

Question 38

The "race to the bottom" in relation to the global economy means that:

A) retailers and manufacturers are competing to have the most appealing work conditions and benefits for the lowest-level employees
B) retailers and manufacturers are making an effort to give the lowest-level workers more decision-making power
C) retailers and manufacturers will go anywhere to find the lowest wages
D) large retailers are racing to acquire all small firms with the goal of making small firms obsolete

Question 39

The best explanation for the decline in membership in labor unions in the United States is the:

A) increased political power of the anti-union interest groups
B) high cost of union dues relative to lower wages
C) increase in service jobs coupled with higher unemployment
D) new constitutional amendments making unionizing workers more difficult

Question 40

The stage of corporate capitalism based on the practice of corporations owning shares in other firms with interlocking directorates is referred to as:

A) family capitalism
B) managerial capitalism
C) institutional capitalism
D) welfare capitalism

Question 41

The tremendous increase in transnational corporations during the past 30 years has been made possible by the:

A) dominance of managerial capitalism
B) advances in transportation and communications
C) elimination of poverty in the developing world
D) influence of socialist policies

Question 42

Compared with other jobs, union membership is much higher in:

A) construction
B) retail sales
C) truck driving
D) government

Question 43

When one firm is in a commanding position in an industry, it is a(n):

A) low-trust system
B) high-trust system
C) monopoly
D) oligopoly

Question 44

The transnational corporation that has revolutionized the field of supply chain management, giving it a supreme edge in competing for products, is:

A) General Motors
B) Walmart
C) Microsoft
D) Target

Question 45

A process of production that is monitored and controlled by machines with only minimal human supervision is called:

A) automation
B) globalization
C) high-trust systems
D) low-trust systems

Question 46

In many industries, automation has created a two-tiered workforce made up of a small group of highly paid professionals and a large group of lower-skill workers with little if any autonomy in their work. In more recent years, automation has had this effect by way of:

A) the informal economy
B) outsourcing
C) computerized technology
D) low-trust systems

Question 47

Unemployment is increasingly a standard condition in the U.S. economy because:

A) the success of Keynesian economics mandated a continuous cycle of unemployment
B) as welfare benefits have increased, it has become unnecessary to work to have a decent life
C) U.S. workers have become increasingly lazy relative to other workers in the global economy
D) the worldwide economic recession was combined with a reduced need for labor power

Question 48

Images and dreams are spread throughout the world, even to the developing world, through movies, TV programs, music, videos, games, toys, and T-shirts. Richard Barnet and John Cavanagh call this the global:

A) cultural bazaar
B) shopping mall
C) financial network
D) positioning satellite

Question 49

Richard Barnet and John Cavanagh refer to the international division of labor as the global:

A) cultural bazaar
B) shopping mall
C) workplace
D) financial network

Question 50

The factor that facilitates corporate mergers and acquisitions the most is that:

A) governments have decreased the amount of oversight they have over corporations
B) businesses want to diversify to acquire ones in different industries
C) corporations are much cheaper to acquire now
D) it is simpler to regulate a few companies that have merged than several corporations that are competing against one another

Question 51

What is the stage of capitalism that is dominated by large corporations that are largely stateless, loyal to no country regardless of where they might be headquartered?

A) family
B) managerial
C) institutional
D) global

Question 52

According to Richard Barnet and John Cavanagh, the poor do not have the resources to participate in the global:

A) cultural bazaar
B) shopping mall
C) workplace
D) financial network

Question 53

According to the text, China has been turning into the:

A) banking center of the world
B) workshop of the world
C) tourist haven for Europeans
D) most unionized place in the world

Question 54

According to Freeman and Rogers's study, what U.S. workers want most from their jobs is:

A) more money
B) more time off
C) more flexibility
D) more influence at work

Question 55

Since the beginning of the twentieth century, capitalist economies have been increasingly dominated by:

A) family-owned firms
B) corporations
C) entrepreneurs
D) labor unions

Question 56

Although some large corporations are still strongly centralized bureaucracies based in the United States, most today are:

A) resistant to joining with foreign-based firms to share strategic planning
B) investing in factories and equipment in the United States that produce tangible products
C) unable to compete in the global economy
D) more like an enterprise web with decentralized operations across the globe

Question 57

Traditionally, union workers have been employed in the manufacturing sector. Recently, this trend has been changing, and successful unionizing of workers has increased among:

A) Walmart employees
B) undocumented workers
C) nurses
D) corporate executives

Question 58

According to your textbook, in recent years, Chinese firms have shifted their investment focus to:

A) raw materials
B) energy and commodities
C) automobile industries
D) brands and technologies

Question 59

When a small group of giant corporations predominate in an industry, they constitute a(n):

A) low-trust system
B) high-trust system
C) monopoly
D) oligopoly

Question 60

Large corporations that have branches in two or more countries are referred to as:

A) welfare capitalists
B) managerial capitalists
C) transnational corporations
D) entrepreneurs

Question 61

Walmart designs very little of what it sells and produces next to nothing. List one economic benefit and one economic negative to this model of business.

Question 62

Your textbook identifies five different types of capitalism. Which form of capitalism is most dominant today?

Question 63

What are portfolio workers?

Question 64

Being a private secretary was once a very prestigious male occupation but lost its prestige because:

A) with technology, there was really no need for someone to perform these types of administrative duties
B) global outsourcing required men to enter into more technologically based occupations
C) post-Fordism established a pattern of men moving away from the office and into warehouses and production facilities
D) more women entered the field, and as it became an occupation associated with women, it became a clerical position

Question 65

Frederick Winslow Taylor invented the moving assembly line.

Question 66

List two main ideas of Fordism.

Question 67

Americans spend more time at work than do citizens of other advanced industrial countries. Provide three reasons for this phenomena.

Question 68

A 37-year-old is not working for pay but has gone back to school to earn an MBA. He is waiting to look for work until he completes his degree. Because he is over the age of 16, however, he would be counted as part of the unemployment rate

Question 69

What is Fordism? How is it connected to unions and collective bargaining agreements? Why do most sociologists think it broke down in the 1970s?

Question 70

Define work from a sociological perspective.

Question 71

List two central tenets of Frederick Winslow Taylor's "scientific management."

Question 72

The use of part-time workers has become increasingly common.

Question 73

Americans spend more time at work than do citizens of other advanced industrial countries.

Question 74

Describe the main characteristics of the global division of labor.

Question 75

List three central features of global capitalism.

Question 76

Compare and contrast the five types of corporate capitalism (family, managerial, welfare, institutional, and global). How can their rise and/or demise be explained?

Question 77

According to your textbook, the growth of the knowledge economy can be associated with:

A) more job stability among highly educated workers
B) more unpredictability in long-term job security
C) more competition between high-skill and low-skill workers
D) more job stability, but only among those specializing in niche markets

Question 78

Work plays an important role in structuring people's lives. Yet in the nineteenth century, Karl Marx argued that work in the modern industrial society (capitalism) is inherently alienating. Discuss the significance of his concept in light of more recent research on work and the economy in the late modern society.

Question 79

Provide three reasons why labor unions have become increasingly obsolete in the twenty-first century.

Question 80

The "new" economy in which ideas, information, and forms of knowledge support and sustain innovation and growth is most commonly called the:

A) idea economy
B) knowledge economy
C) informative stage
D) service economy