Deck 14: Communication, meaningful Work, and Personal Identity

Question 1

Louisa is a high school English teacher in a high-income,well-paying school district in the wealthy commuter suburbs of Chicago.Most of her students are kids of CEOS and VPs of corporations,and both the parents and children themselves hope that the kids will someday following in their powerful parents' footsteps.Students like Louisa,and she is able to have free reign over her curricula to put her Master's of English Literature to good and interesting use as an excellent teacher,yet none of her students would ever consider becoming a teacher - they see teachers as a sub-par way to impact the business world,even though teachers teach all future business leaders.Louisa feels somewhat unsatisfied with her work,despite the seemingly-great circumstances.Which of the following elements of meaningful work is likely missing from her job?

A)Sense of agency
B)Permits use and development of talents
C)Offers a sense of contribution to a greater good
D)Provides income adequate for a decent living

Answer 1

C

Question 2

A very successful CEO gave a commencement speech at a prestigious university,telling the young graduates that in order to be successful in the business world (to follow in his footsteps),they needed to view their professional identities that needed to be constantly maintained and improved,working constantly on their individual "brand" and professional image.Using the language of identity-work,the kind of "self" that most aligns with his advice is:

A)Conformist self
B)Dramaturgical self
C)Resistant self
D)Disidentified self

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Since Scientific Management's heyday,corporations have shifted from behavioral forms of control to control processes that focus much more on workers' ____________________.

A)Bodies
B)Communities
C)Movement
D)Souls

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Tomi best describes his job as a "content designer;" he works on a freelance basis for companies around the world who need to outsource writing to someone who can write persuasive advertising content for their websites.As such,Tomi works from home and his work-life is constantly shifting.Tomi loves what he does but struggles with the precarity of his work.In the last three months,he has joined a church,a community organization,and has become involved in local politics.He is considering moving closer to his family.What might we say that Tomi is searching for?

A)Reflexive modernization
B)Ontological security
C)Vigorous capitalism
D)Reengineering

Question 5

Of the following,who is most likely to have the most leisure time?

A)A well-paid blue-collar worker who works shifts.
B)A moderately-paid white-collar worker who works a set number of hours.
C)A highly paid CEO who determines her own schedule.
D)A well-paid no-collar worker who sets his own schedule.

Question 6

Which of the following scenarios best illustration what we mean when we say that "the self is an achievement"?

A)Armond completed his MBA at Harvard at the top of his class,27 years after his dad did the same thing;he is being groomed to take over the family business.
B)Lucille comes from a working-class background and finds her first post-college job as a supervisor at a manufacturing facility;she joins same union as her dad.
C)James successfully hides his working-class Appalachian accent when he attends Northwestern University,and after graduation lands a finance job in Manhattan.
D)All of the above.

Question 7

Writing about the "creative class," Richard Florida argues that the age of the organization is over.What does he name as the new organizing factor shaping people's lives?

A)Technology
B)Talent
C)Proximity
D)Place

Question 8

Suely is an inspector on an assembly line at a cupcake plant,tasked to reject defective packaging.She embraces the opportunity to ensure that the company's product meets its high standards,rejecting packaging for any imperfection she notices.She soon punished by the management for rejecting too many.Realizing that she is not going to be single-handedly able to increase the standards of her company's product,she randomly starts two cupcakes a minute instead of carefully analyzing the ones that pass.Which principle of meaningful work did management violate when they punished her for,essentially,doing a good job?

A)Sense of agency
B)Enhances belonging or relationships
C)Creates opportunities for influence
D)Offers a sense of contribution to a greater good

Question 9

In the book Raising the Bar,Clif Bar CEO Gary Erickson spends a great deal of time writing about his company's mission to make the best energy bars,as well as the extensive human relations orientation of his company: as a company,they go on bike rides,sponsor athletic teams,have breakfasts every Thursday morning,and play a lot.What element of "meaningful work" best describes these non?-work elements of "working" at Clif Bar?

A)Sense of agency
B)Enhances belonging or relationships
C)Creates opportunities for influence
D)Offers a sense of contribution to a greater good

Question 10

Sometimes when students read Raising the Bar,they decide that they would not want to work for a company life Clif Bar.Of the following,which do you imagine to be the most likely reason for their hesitance to work at Clif?

A)They do not really enjoy the outdoorsy-athletic version of "fun" that pervades Clif Bar,finding art gallery openings and craft-making more fun.
B)They prefer to spend their free time or time away from the office socializing with a well-developed network of family and friends,not with fellow employees.
C)They choose to find meaning in their lives in places removed from the workplace.
D)All of the above.

Question 11

Which of the following terms is used to describe the condition in which traditional stability-maintaining structures of class,family,and industrial forms have waned,and,as a result,people experience greater pressure to create their own sense of stability?

A)Reflexive modernization
B)Ontological security
C)Vigorous capitalism
D)Reengineering

Question 12

Which of the following terms best describes the phenomenon when workers frequently make lateral job-changes?

A)Horizontal hypermobility
B)Creative class
C)Ontological security
D)The precariat

Question 13

Which of the following orientations to time are surgeons,cabinet makers,artists,and graphic designers most likely to share,given the nature of their work?

A)Clock time
B)Task time
C)Tame famine
D)All of the above.

Question 14

Brian wanted a career in medicine and scored off-the-charts on his boards.Despite having the option to specialize in a high-profile area like plastic surgery,cardio-thoracic surgery,or neurosurgery,he opted for emergency medicine.Emergency medicine is scheduled shift-work,which allows him time to volunteer at his kids' schools and play baseball with them,and to continue training vigorously for the triathlons and wilderness races he so enjoys.Given the characteristics of meaningful work,how could we best explain Brian's choice?

A)Brian believes that working as an emergency room doctor will enable him to develop and practice his skills as a doctor more than other specialties.
B)Brian believes that clock-time is more prestigious than task-time,which makes him feel as though his work is more meaningful.
C)Brian prefers a less prestigious career that provides him the time and income necessary to live comfortably.
D)All of the above.

Question 15

The short-term thinking and constant change that characterizes modern capitalism means that corporations and constantly expanding and contracting,making employees much more expendable (rather than highly valuable resources with whom deep relationships of loyalty and trust are built).Which of the following terms best describes this new work arrangement's impact on workers and organizations?

A)Ontological security
B)Corrosion of character
C)Vigorous capitalism
D)Identity management

Question 16

There is often a correlation between the management of time and sense of agency.Based on what you know about a worker's sense of agency and the management of time,which of the following rings truest?

A)The more one's work is dictated by clock time,the less sense of agency one experiences.
B)The more one's work is dictated by task time,the less sense of agency one experiences.
C)Neither task-time nor clock-time have any great degree of bearing on one's sense of agency.
D)Whether task-time or clock-time have an impact on one's sense of agency depends on what the person prefers.

Question 17

Which of the following is NOT an element of identity work?

A)Identity is always contingent and ongoing.
B)Identity involves struggle.
C)Identity is thoroughly individual.
D)Identity is a communication phenomenon.

Question 18

When workers think of themselves as "family members," "teammates," or "associates" rather than "employees," we can say that the corporation has successfully persuaded workers to:

A)Adopt managerial discourse into their everyday narratives of self-identity.
B)Create meaningful relationships with their co-workers that replace employees' needs for their outside of work relationships.
C)Foster bigger realms of influence so that they can significantly impact their co-workers (or "teammates" and "family members").
D)All of the above.

Question 19

Contrasting the social,political,and economic conditions that characterize life today with the social,political,and economic conditions that characterized life during the Fordist period,we could say:

A)We experience a light modernity today,compared to the heavy modernity of the past.
B)We experience a bulky modernity today,compared to the liquid modernity of the past.
C)We experience a solid modernity today,compared to the light modernity of the past.
D)We experience both a solid modernity and a light modernity today,in a precarious combination.

Question 20

Elsa is an elementary school teacher in a rural school district where resources and budgets are always tight;on nights and weekends,she works at the local bar in order to supplement her income.Her school has a warm and cohesive culture where teachers,administrators,students,and families all pitch in and help out in the project of education.She has been able,recently,to use her significant skill as an artist to develop a new arts curricula for the 3rd -5th grade math classes.The community holds teachers and her,in particular,in very high regard because she is excellent at what she does.Still,she feels somewhat unsatisfied by this work arrangement.Which of the following elements of meaningful work is likely missing from her job?

A)Sense of agency
B)Enhances belonging or relationships
C)Permits use and development of talents
D)Provides income adequate for a decent living

Question 21

_______________________________ selves are those who portray themselves as valued organizational objects in the eyes of those in authority.

Question 22

_______________________________ selves are those who engage in communicative performances aimed at enabling them to survive and prosper in the workplace.

Question 23

In our postmodern climate,long-term stability influences decision-making more than short-term returns.

Question 24

__________________________________ is the term often used to describe the conditions in which stability-maintaining structures of class,family,and industrial forms of productions have waned,forcing people to create their own stability-creating structures.

Question 25

The short-term thinking and constant change that pervade modern capitalism bring about what Richard Sennett (1998)calls a ________________________________ of character.

Question 26

Our sense that work is connected to our identity and living a meaningful life emerged with the onset of industrialization.

Question 27

A sense of agency at work is achievable only in professional,white-collar work.

Question 28

Identity work,because it deals primarily with the self,is essentially a confidence-building activity.

Question 29

Companies can create situations where work feels meaningful even if it's not inherently meaningful if the company enhances workers' sense of belonging or depth of relationships with coworkers.

Question 30

Light modernity favors those who move,and who can move quickly.

Question 31

Pre-capitalist societies and even 20th century class structures tended to assign or ascribe selves.In a postmodern work structure,on the other hand,we (have the idea,at least)that selves can be ________________________________.

Question 32

Many no-collar workers experience _____________________________________,the sense that they never have enough time.

Question 33

One could argue that the postmodern organizational form favors disloyalty,immediate gratification,and irresponsibility.

Question 34

"Creative class" workers are frequently more interested in the quality of the places they live instead of specific jobs.

Question 35

Because of their proximity to the means of production,___________________-collar workers might have a greater sense of agency than ____________________-collar workers.

Question 36

"Light modernity" is an era of disengagement and elusiveness,where people are able to move around without notice.

Question 37

_______________________________ selves are those who engage with the organizational meaning system that undergirds corporate efforts to control employee identity.

Question 38

Horizontal hypermobility is a term used to describe workers who buzz around their workplaces chatting with people who occupy similar roles,because they have meaningful relationships with their co-workers.

Question 39

"Meaningful work" doesn't refer to a job,necessarily,but instead refers to a set of social norms.

Question 40

_____________________ selves can sometimes resist management,while resistant selves might reinforce the status quo;managing identity is complex.