Daniel B. Cornfield

Social Support and Career Optimism: Examining the Effectiveness of Network Groups Among Black Managers

As companies look for better ways to manage diversity, one of the approaches that is emerging is the use of female and minority network groups. These groups are not well understood, and there has been no quantitative analysis of their impact on minority employees. Social network theory suggests that network groups should enhance the social resources available to women and minorities and in that way enhance their chance of career success, but some critics of network groups suggest that backlash might produce greater social isolation and discrimination. In this paper, we analyze a survey of members of the National Black MBA Association to find out whether network groups have a positive impact on career optimism, what specific effects of these groups are most beneficial, and whether groups enhance isolation or discrimination. Results indicate that network groups have a positive overall impact on career optimism of Black managers, and that this occurs primarily via enhanced mentoring. Network groups have no effect on discrimination, either positive or negative. There are some indications of greater isolation, but also some indications of greater contact with Whites.

Work and Family: Research Informing Policy

PART ONE: SETTING THE STAGE Work and Family in Womens Lives in the German Democratic Republic - H Trapp Public Opinion and Congressional Action on Work, Family and Gender - P Burstein and S Wierzbicki PART TWO: THE JUGGLING ACT Do Americans Feel Overworked? Comparing Ideal and Actual Working Time - J A Jacobs and K Gerson Nonstandard Employment Schedules among American Mothers - A G Cox and H B Presser The Relevance of the Marital Stature Effects of Public and Private Policies on Working after Childbirth - S Hofferth Returning to Work - J C Sandberg and D B Cornfield The Impact of Gender, Family and Work on Terminating a Family or Medical Leave PART THREE: LATER IN THE LIFE COURSE The Effects of Parental Work and Maternal Nonemployment on Childrens Reading and Math Achievement - T L Parcel, R A Nickoll and M J Dufur Work-Family Orientations and Attainments in the Early Life Course - M K Johnson and J T Mortimer Transmission of Family Values, Work and Welfare among Poor Urban Black Women - R Iverson and N Farber

Workers, Managers, and Technological Change: Emerging Patterns of Labor Relations.

I. Introduction.- 1 Workers, Managers, and Technological Change.- I. Introduction.- II. The Growing Concern with Control.- III. Labors Changing Responses to Technological Change.- A. From Provider to Advocate: The Changing Role of the Unionin Responding to Technological Change.- B. Labors Measures for Preventing TechnologicalUnemployment.- C. Relief for the Displaced Worker.- IV. Plan of the Book.- II. Toward Unilateral Managerial Control?.- 2 Microchips and Macroharvests: Labor-Management Relations in Agriculture.- I. Political Economy of Agriculture and Unionization.- II. Structural Change and Its Consequences.- III. A Different Approach to Unionization.- A. Stability.- B. Product Boycotts.- IV. The Technological Challenge to Labor-Management Relations.- A. Tomatoes: The Mechanical Solution.- B. Lettuce: Squeezing the Labor Market.- V. Conclusion.- 3 The Eclipse of Craft: The Changing Face of Labor in the Newspaper Industry.- I. Introduction.- II. The Context of Technological Change: Industrial Dualism in theNewspaper Industry.- III. Technological Change and the Decline of Craftsmanship.- A. Composing Room.- B. Platemaking.- C. Pressroom.- D. Mailroom.- IV. Changes in Labor-Management Relations.- A. The Decline of Craft Consciousness and Control.- B. Craft Unionism in Transition: Toward Industrial Unionism?.- V. Conclusion.- 4 Technology and Control of the Labor Process: Fifty Years of Longshoring on the U.S. West Coast.- I. Introduction.- II. Control and Technology.- III. Technological Changes in Longshoring.- IV. Longshore Employment.- V. Collective Bargaining and Technology.- A. The Early Years (1934-1960).- B. The Mechanization and Modernization Agreements (1961-1970).- C. Post Mechanization and Modernization (1971-1984).- VI. The Shift in Control.- VII. Conclusions.- 5 Technological Change and Labor Relations in the United States Postal Service.- I. Introduction.- II. Theoretical Issues in the Analysis of Technology and LaborRelations.- A. Labor-Management Relations in Public Sector Organizations.- B. Technology and Labor Relations.- III. Technological Change in Mail Processing.- A. Mechanized and Automated Mail Processing.- B. The Nationwide Bulk Mail System.- C. Computerization of Mail Forwarding and Window Service.- IV. Labor Relations in the Post Office Prior to Reorganization.- A. Executive Orders 10978 and 10988 and Formal UnionRecognition in the Post Office.- V. Changes in the Postal Organization Structure after Passage of theReorganization Act.- VI. Postal Labor Relations, 1971-1985.- A. Conflicts over Wages and Job Security.- B. Further Conflict over Economic Control: Hiring, Promotion, Overtime, and Training.- C. Deskilling and Degradation of Postal Jobs.- D. Political Control: The Pace of Change and Work Standards.- E. Reassignment.- F. Safety and Health.- VII. Summary and Conclusion.- 6 Office Automation, Clerical Workers, and Labor Relations in the Insurance Industry.- I. Introduction.- II. Occupational Sex Segregation in Insurance.- III. The Impact of Technological and Organizational Change on The Insurance Industry Work Force.- A. Technological Change and Diffusion in the Insurance Industry.- B. Technology-Related Shifts in the Insurance Occupational Structure.- C. Displacement, Reassignment and Retraining.- D. Job Satisfaction and Interpersonal Work Relationships.- E. Declining Real Earnings in Insurance.- IV. Clerical Labor Relations in Insurance.- A. Clerical Workers: Organization and Issues.- B. Managements Stance toward Clerical Labor.- C. The Disjunction between Clerical Labor and Management.- 7 Computerized Instruction, Information Systems, and School Teachers: Labor Relations in Education.- I. Introduction.- II. Conceptual Approach.- III. The Nature of Educational Organizations and Professional Autonomy.- IV. Teachers and Their Associations.- V. Technological Change in Education.- A. Computers in Education.- B. Development and Diffusion of Computers.- VI. The Effect of Technological Change on Teachers and Principals.- A. Computers, Educational Reform and Autonomy: National Developments.- B. Technological Change and Schools: The Local Level.- C. Computers and Professional Autonomy.- VII. Conclusions.- 8 Technology, Air Traffic Control, and Labor-Management Relations.- I. Introduction.- II. Developments in Air Control Technology.- III. Growing Concern with Hardware Adequacy.- IV. Changes in Air Control Labor Relations.- V. The 1981 Negotiations.- VI. Patco Decertification.- VII. Labor-Management Conflict over Workplace Control.- VIII. Conclusion.- III. Toward Labor-Management Cooperation?.- 9 Changing Technologies and Consequences for Labor in Coal Mining.- I. Introduction.- II. A Changing Industry.- A. Changes in the Use of Coal.- B. Technological Changes in the Production of Coal.- III. Changes among Miners and Managers.- A. Changes among Miners.- B. Changes among Managers.- IV. The Relations of Coal Miners and Coal Managers.- A. Miners, Managers and Mediation, 1945-1950.- B. Miners and Managers in Accord, 1950-1972.- C. Miners and Managers Without Accord, 1972 to Present.- V. Conclusion.- 10 Conflict, Cooperation, and the Global Auto Factory.- I. Introduction.- II. The Legacy of Conflict and Post-War Labor Relations.- A. Origins in Conflict-Pre-1950.- B. Post-War Balance of Power.- C. Collective Bargaining Issues and Agreements.- III. Causes of the Shift in Labor Relations.- A. Technological Change.- B. Economic Transition and Corporate Revitalization.- C. The Conflict over Control.- D. The Shift in the Balance of Power.- IV. The Emergence of New Labor Relations.- A. Job Security Measures.- B. Sharing the Wealth.- C. QWL and Cooperative Work Practices.- D. Strategic Planning and Decision Making.- V. Conclusion.- 11 Technological Change, Market Decline, and Industrial Relations in the U.S. Steel Industry.- I. Introduction.- II. The Steel Industry: A Brief Portrait.- III. Technological Change in the Steel Industry.- A. Technological Changes.- B. Managements Failure to Introduce New Technologies.- IV. The Impact of Technological Changes on Skill Requirements.- V. The Emergence of Cooperative Labor Relations in Steel.- A. Labor-Management Relations over the Last Two Decades: The Collective Bargaining Agreements.- B. Labors Response to Technological Change.- C. Rise in Cooperative Arrangements and USWA Changes.- 12 Computer-Based Automation and Labor Relations in the Construction Equipment Industry.- I. Introduction.- II. Changes in Product Demand and Employment.- III. Technological Change and Employment Trends.- IV. Labor Relations.- A. Labor Relations History, 1960-1984.- B. Analysis of Changes in Labor Relations.- V. Conclusion.- 13 The Impact of Technological Change on Labor Relations in the Commercial Aircraft Industry.- I. Introduction.- II. Technological Change in Aircraft Production.- III. The Issue of Job Security.- IV. Unions in the Aircraft Industry.- V. Collective Bargaining in Aricraft Production: Recent Trends.- VI. Conclusions.- 14 Technological Change in the Public Sector: The Case of Sanitation Service.- I. Characteristics of Sanitation Service.- II. Conceptualizing Technological Change and Public Sector Labor Relations.- III. Quantitative Analysis of Technological Change, Sanitation Employment, and Unionization.- IV. Technological Change and the Sanitation Labor Relations Process.- V. The Sanitation Labor Relations Experience in Larger Context.- 15 Deregulation, Technological Change, and Labor Relations in Telecommunications.- I. Technological Change in Telecommunications.- II. The Political Economy of Telecommunications Regulation.- III. The Changing Industrial Organization of Telecommunications.- IV. Changes in the Workplace and Labor Relations.- A. Job Security.- B. Quality of Working Life.- C. Changing Labor Relations.- V. Conclusion.- IV. Conclusion.- 16 Labor-Management Cooperation or Managerial Control: Emerging Patterns of Labor Relations in the United States.- I. Introduction.- II. Theories of Work Place Control.- III. Developments in Labor-Management Cooperation.- A. World War I: Legitimizing Collective Representation.- B. 1920s: Collective Bargaining or Employee Representation?.- C. World War II: Limited Formal Cooperation.- D. 1970s-Present: Labor-Management Cooperation or Managerial Control?.- IV. Emerging Patterns of Labor Relations in the United States.

Working in restructured workplaces : challenges and new directions for the sociology of work

Preface Working in Restructured Workplaces: An Introduction - D.B. Cornfield, et al PART I. RECONFIGURING WORKPLACES STATUS HIERARCHIES 1. Teamwork vs. Tempwork: Managers and the Dualisms of Workplace Restructuring - V. Smith 2. Flexible Production, Rigid Jobs: Lessons From the Clothing Industry - I.M. Taplin 3. The Technological Foundations of Task-Coordinating Structures in New Work Organizations: Theoretical Notes From the Case of Abdominal Surgery - J.R. Zetka, Jr. 4. A Tale of Two Career Paths: The Process of Status Acquisition by a New Organizational Unit - E.K. Briody, et al 5. Learning Factories or Reproduction Factories? Labor-Management Relations in the Japanese Consumer Electronics Maquiladoras in Mexico - M. Kenney, et al 6. The Impact of Comparable Worth on Earnings Inequality - D.M. Figart PART II. CASUALIZATION OF EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIPS 7. Two Paths to Self-Employment? Womens and Mens Self-Employment in the United States, 1980 - D. Carr 8. Getting Away and Getting By: The Experiences of Self-Employed Homeworkers - N.C. Jurik 9. How Permanent Was Permanent Employment? Patterns of Organizational Mobility in Japan, 1916-1975 - M.M. Cheng & A.L. Kalleberg 10. The Transformation of the Japanese Employment System: Nature, Depth, and Origins - J.R. Lincoln & Y. Nakata PART III. RESTRUCTURING AND WORKER MARGINALIZATION 11. Taking It or Leaving It: Instability and Turnover in a High-Tech Firm - K. Schellenberg 12. Just a Temp: Experience and Structure of Alienation in Temporary Clerical Employment - J.K. Rogers 13. Womens Work, Mens Work, and the Sense of Control - C.E. Ross & M.P. Wright 14. Group Relations at Work: Solidarity, Conflict, and Relations With Management - R. Hodson 15. Effects of Organizational Innovations in AIDS Care on Burnout Among Urban Hospital Nurses - L.H. Aiken & D.M. Sloane 16. Adapting, Resisting, and Negotiating: How Physicians Cope With Organizational and Economic Change - T.J. Hoff & D.P. McCaffrey 17. Reemployment in the Restructured Economy: Surviing Change, Displacement, and the Gales of Creative Destruction - B.A. Rubin & B.T. Smith PART IV. COMPARATIVE LABOR RESPONSES TO GLOBAL RESTRUCTURING 18. To Cut or Not to Cut: A Cross-National Comparison of Attitudes Toward Wage Flexibility - A. van den Berg, et al 19. Globalization and International Labor Organizing: A World-System Perspective - T. Boswell & D. Stevis 20. Trade Unions and European Integation - R. Hyman 21. The Impact of the Movement Toward Hemispheric Free Trade on Industrial Relations - R.J. Adams 22. Labor and Post-Fordist Industrial Restructuring in East and Southeast Asia - F.C. Deyo CONCLUSION 23. The Changing Sociology of Work and the Reshaping of Careers - P.M. Hirsch & C.E. Naquin 24. The Advent of the Flexible Workplace: Implications for Theory and Research - A.L. Kalleberg 25. Index About the Contributors

The U.S. Labor Movement

In his chapter on the “paralysis of the labor movement” during the 1920s, Irving Bernstein (1970:83–84) wrote in The Lean Years that “a favorite sport” of journalists “was to denounce the American labor movement” and attribute its weakness to a lack of solidarity among union members, leadership corruption, and other factors. To the historian, organized labor in the 1920s “stood still as the main stream of American society swept by” (Bernstein 1970:84). Not until the late 1940s, after the great union organizing drives and surges in union membership in heavy industry, would organized labor, alongside the state and private corporation, become what C. Wright Mills (1948:223) termed one of the “three powerful bureaucracies in the U.S. political economy.”

The Attitude of Employee Association Members toward Union Mergers: The Effect of Socioeconomic Status

The results of this analysis of data from a 1986 survey of members of the Tennessee State Employees Association suggest that employee association members were more likely to favor a merger of their association into a labor union the lower their socioeconomic status and opportunities for upward mobility. Lower-status employee association members appear to have been more favorably disposed to a merger largely because they were more desirous of an expanded role for their association. Specifically, they indicated that they would have liked their association to have the power to initiate strikes and join civil rights coalitions.

Workers, Managers, and Technological Change

Robots, office automation and computer-aided design and manufacturing are among the many new technologies challenging traditional labor-management relations. Labor and management in diverse sectors of the U.S. economy are rethinking and rearranging the relationships which bound them throughout most of the post-World War II era. Along with technological change, the globalization of markets, government deregulation, the conglomeration of businesses, and other factors have affected profitability, job security, skill requirements, and the balance of power between labor and management. These changes have raised divergent issues for labor and management, compelling them to reexamine the issue of workplace control and to establish new arrangements for governing the workplace.

Union Decline and the Political Demands of Organized Labor.

With the acceleration in the rate of U.S. union membership decline since 1970, organized labor has issued legislative demands for redistributing wealth and for protecting unions as organizations. Yet research on labor political action has de-emphasized not only the development of labors legislative agenda, but also the forces, such as socioeconomic status and class conflict, which cause diverse occupational and industrial sectors of unions to issue different legislative demands. Analysis of resolutions passed at the 1981-87 AFL-CIO conventions shows that declining and/or predominantly white, male unions in construction and manufacturing tended to issue organizational legislative demands, while growing, service-industry unions with large minority and women memberships tended to issue redistributive legislative demands. The findings suggest that unevenness in class conflict across unions affects which unions issue organizational demands and that inter-union diversity in socioeconomic status affects which unions issue redistributive demands.

Household, Work, and Labor Activism: Gender Differences in the Determinants of Union Membership Participation

With union-corporation competition for worker allegiances and declining union membership during the post-World War II era, unions have increasingly sought to replenish their sagging memberships from the growing ranks of women workers. Consequently, unions have entered into a competition with households for the allegiances of women workers, given the persistence of traditionalism in gender roles. This article addresses household constraints on individual activism in labor organizations by examining gender differences in the determinants of membership participation in the Tennessee State Employees Association. The results showed that womens participation is more constrained than mens by household responsibilities, suggesting that competition among institutions for individual allegiances contributes to the level of individual activism in a social movement organization.

Office Automation, Clerical Workers, and Labor Relations in the Insurance Industry

As “a major white-collar industry which pioneered in the application of office automation”1 in the early 1950s, the insurance industry altered the conditions of office work and the relations between clerical workers and management. A growing disjunction between office clerical workers and management in the insurance industry has accompanied office automation during the post-World War II era. As management automates the office to raise worker productivity and rationalize the clerical labor process2—that is, to formalize, standardize and quantify the control of labor—clerical workers, most of whom are women, increasingly express concern over employment conditions- and sex discrimination. Moreover, women clerical workers are beginning to unionize and affiliate with working women’s organizations, prompting management to introduce a human relations, social psychological managerial philosophy in order to preempt collective action of clerical workers. The disjunction, then, concerns the implementation of office automation, employment conditions and the divergent methods clerical labor and management have developed for management-labor discourse. In a context of occupational sex segregation, the disjunction is occurring simultaneously along class (management and labor) and gender lines.