Deck 5: Technology and Work

Question 1

The most important transformations of human society have been the result of:

A) The Agricultural revolution
B) The Industrial Revolution
C) The rise of the service sector as a major source of employment
D) All of the above
E) A and B only

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Some of the most important technologies that have contributed to globalization are

A) E-mail
B) Intermodal transportation
C) The ability to digitize many different kinds of information
D) Air travel
E) All of the above
F) B and D only

Answer 2

E

Question 3

The process of "creative destruction" refers to

A) The establishment of a more just society through warfare
B) The freeing up productive resources that occurs when obsolete industries and firms die off
C) Deliberately unlearning some ideas in order to prepare oneself for radically new theories and concepts
D) The replacement of an elderly demographic cohort by a younger one

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Despite the advanced capabilities of mechanical operations, skilled employees are needed because:

A) Computers cannot turn themselves on
B) There is a need for intervention in case of a breakdown in the productive process
C) Computers cannot perform many kinds of assembly work as well as humans can.
D) B and C

Question 5

Several studies have shown that it is almost impossible to train workers over the age of 55 to perform new tasks.

Question 6

Some Marxist-oriented scholars argued that owners and managers are motivated to employ industrial technologies because doing so will:

A) "De-skill" their employees
B) Allow them to maintain their control over workers
C) Decrease the power and autonomy of workers
D) All of the above

Question 7

Due to new technologies, most of today's workers rarely work with or produce anything with a physical substance. Instead, employees typically focus on the _________ of information:

A) Production
B) Reception
C) Interpretation
D) All of the above

Question 8

One common source of anxiety about technological advances has been:

A) The potential for increased unemployment
B) The amount of money required for the diffusion of new technologies
C) The uneven distribution of the new technology
D) The difficulty of understanding the instructions that accompany new devices

Question 9

Managers adopted numerically controlled machine tools because they expanded the skills of their employees

Question 10

Telework refers to

A) Working while watching television
B) Working at home or someplace other than the usual worksite
C) Holding a job that requires a great amount of long-distance travel
D) Using the telephone for "cold calls"
E)

Question 11

Featherbedding refers to

A) Reducing the destructive power of certain weapons
B) Initiating policies to reduce the negative effects of technological change
C) Retaining jobs that have been rendered redundant by technological change
D) Spending large sums of money to furnish corporate offices

Question 12

The "lump of labor" theory refers to

A) The English translation of Lumpenproletariat
B) The idea that there is a fixed number of jobs in the economy
C) The irregular process through which one generation of workers is replaced by a new generation
D) None of the above

Question 13

Technology is simply applied science

Question 14

Intermodal transportation allows for the transportation of containers on many different types of carriers.

Question 15

One critique of technology is that it reflects and reinforces social differences.

Question 16

Many technologies are created and developed through trial-and-error processes.

Question 17

Equal numbers of male and female employees engage in telework

Question 18

One of the disadvantages of being a teleworker is that it diminishes "face time" with co-workers and one's supervisor

Question 19

The book defines the term technology as:

A) Advanced machinery and computerized devices that can accomplish specialized tasks
B) The use of knowledge and organization and techniques to achieve specific goals
C) The application of scientific breakthroughs
D) All of the above
E) B and C only

Question 20

The term technological determinism is defined as:

A) An idea that technology reflects and reinforces differences in economic power
B) The advancement of technology that results in overall job loss
C) The idea that technology is a deliberate managerial ploy to control employees
D) Technology in and of itself establishes important social and economic arrangements

Question 21

What are the advantages of telework from a worker's perspective? What are the disadvantages of telework from management's perspective?

Question 22

Why is the distinction between jobs and work crucial for an understanding of the impact of technological change on employment?

Question 23

Note some of the reasons that technological change need not result in widespread unemployment.

Question 24

In what ways has technological change advanced globalization?

Question 25

Note some of the technologies that have brought considerable benefit to most people, but have caused problems for some other people

Question 26

What has been the impact of technological change on workers' skills? Note some of the difficulties inherent in conclusively answering this question.