Deck 7: The Labour of Technology

Question 1

Scientific management is also referred to as:

A) Millerism
B) Taylorism
C) Fordism
D) Functionalism

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Scientific management improved this in the eyes of business owners?

A) Quality/Balance
B) Access/Efficiency
C) R&D/Profit
D) Productivity/Profit

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Implementing a moving assembly line into the production process resulted in:

A) Reduced prices
B) Improved working conditions
C) Higher wages
D) A cycle of production and consumption that would feed into mass consumption

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which of the following are key features describing networked organizations?

A) Paperless work, Virtual teams, Mobile reach
B) Paperless work, Mobilized teams, Virtual reach
C) Decentralized work, Mobilized teams, Virtual reach
D) Centralized work, Mobilized teams, Capital reach

Question 5

ICTs in networked organizations have been found to:

A) make decision-making a decentralized process.
B) completely replace existing connections and hierarchies in the information network.
C) centralize and decentralize decision-making, and to have no effect when one was expected.
D) make peripheral actors more central to the information network.

Question 6

This variant of Marxist social theory puts emphasis on workers' ability to self-organize with the aim of creating changes in the workplace and throughout society at large.

A) Labour Liberation Theory
B) Union Mobilization Theory
C) Autonomous Marxism
D) Concentrated Practice Marxism

Question 7

Which of the following is one of the core elements of post-industrial society as identified by Bell?

A) Dominance of network-based industries
B) An increase in information services alongside information production
C) Creation of a network-industrial elite
D) Dominance of science-based industries

Question 8

A major consequence of scientific management for workers was _________.?

A) less control over their work and lower appreciation of their craft
B) more expertise in a wider variety of tasks
C) an increased sense of ownership in the workplace over decisions being made
D) the opportunity to pick and choose what task they were best at completing

Question 9

Someone who is acting as a prosumer might do the following:

A) post an item to Etsy that they created themselves.
B) construct an item that they bought and took home from Ikea.
C) playing a standard single-player video game.
D) develop a unique app for other people to place content on.

Question 10

What is a key reason why Instagram works well as a means for advertising products?

A) Microcelebrities can recommend products to their friends and followers directly.
B) Users have strong controls to prevent third-party usage of their data.
C) Instagram makes sure all advertisers are trustworthy before allowing use of the service.
D) Microcelebrities don't have to disclose if they're sponsored to promote a product.

Question 11

Which of the following is not an example of an information commons?

A) Facebook
B) Wikipedia
C) Google Search
D) Instagram

Question 12

The platform or sharing economy primarily makes money from:

A) connecting labour providers with workers who are largely considered contracted
B) sharing data with each other about consumer behaviours
C) replicating traditional forms of labour in a digital space
D) providing reliable and consistent remote shift work for workers

Question 13

Produsage is characterized by:

A) strong hierarchies, rigid copyright protections, and outside evaluation
B) open communal participation, continuing processes, and individual rewards
C) exclusive communities, top-down approval for projects, and group rewards
D) DIY-culture, reliance on individual skill for all steps, and lack of community

Question 14

After his death on June 25, 2009, the Michael Jackson Wikipedia page:

A) Was not edited for two weeks as a sign of respect.
B) Broke the record for most-viewed web page in history.
C) Became a place where users could post their memories about the late pop idol.
D) Was constantly edited as conflict emerged over how he should be portrayed.

Question 15

On Wikipedia the most fundamental principle guiding contribution is:

A) Equality of contribution
B) Lack of sanctions against personal opinions
C) Neutral point of view
D) Keeping Wikipedia free of advertisements

Question 16

Some Makerspaces charge a fee to potential users, what purpose do they serve?

A) To keep people out who might misuse the space
B) To purchase tools/ maintain the space
C) To cover copyright costs
D) To pay the chief librarian

Question 17

Which of the following is a key debate that has arisen following the introduction of 3D printing into society?

A) What is an authentic object, if each replica is build from the same blueprint?
B) How can we control information, if all information can be printed?
C) How users interact with objects that are manufactured in a lab
D) The ability of users to create potentially harmful and illegal objects

Question 18

What is a positive outcome that has resulted from the introduction of 3D printing into our society?

A) Reduce electronic waste
B) Fewer frictions around digital consumption
C) Reduce consumerism as everybody can print any object
D) Reduce social inequality

Question 19

The streamlining of work processes that lead to the development of mass production techniques was brought about with the adoption of scientific management.

Question 20

Individual team members working on a produsage product often receive low wages or no wages, and remain involved because of personal satisfaction gained by doing the work.

Question 21

The most prevalent form of management is management through hierarchical organization.

Question 22

The networked organization is the way of the future, as it has no negative social or economic consequences for work.

Question 23

The move toward a service or information economy (away from manufacturing) is often described as post-industrial.

Question 24

Microtasks are software projects where computer programmers and others interested in software, graphics, and interface design get together for collaboration.

Question 25

Microcelebrities are able to gain popularity through a high amount of immaterial labour, self-disclosure, and engagement with followers.

Question 26

Produsage communities do not follow strict hierarchies and do not require any regulation in order to operate.

Question 27

Produsage products often require high wages to be paid to workers in order to keep everyone involved, since there is generally a low level of personal satisfaction associated with the work.

Question 28

Gig-workers on contracts in the sharing economy do not typically receive the same wages, rights, and benefits as employees or workers in traditional industries.

Question 29

What did the Hawthorne experiments teach us about work?

Question 30

What are three key features of networked organizations?

Question 31

Define the term prosumer and illustrate its meaning using an example from your life.

Question 32

Explain what an e-lancer is?

Question 33

What are some of the downsides of gig-work for labourers?

Question 34

Do you feel that the sharing economy is more beneficial or more harmful to modern labourers? Explain using specific examples of gig work, e-lancers, and microtasks. Also address one counter argument you would expect someone with the opposite opinion to make.

Question 35

Makerspaces are becoming important centres of production in today's 21st century. Describe the key assumptions underlying makerspaces and how they are relevant to notions of production and consumption. Also, outline who benefits from the creation of makerspaces in libraries.