Thursday 11.00

Thursday 12.00 B5

Thursday 12.00 E21

Thursday 14.00

Seminar Group - Thursday 12:00 E21

Question One : Explore how The Unbearable Lightness of Being addresses the relationship between work and freedom

There are many different ways in which one could plan an answer to this question. as a group, however we decided to concentrate mainly on one character from the novel in order to explore the different issues, differences and links between work and freedom.

It is necessary firstly to define the two terms:

Work - ‘labour; employment; occupation; apply effort’ are some of the terms used by the Collins Gem English dictionary

Freedom - ‘not occupied; having no engagement; ability to act at will’ are some of the expressions used in the above dictionary to explain this term.

It seems therefore that these terms are contradictory

Tomas

We see the illustrations of freedom on two levels:

i) micro level - His extra-marital affairs with women. He views this initially as having the freedom to have sexual relations with many women while maintaining the illusion of a girlfriend. This however is restrained by the fact that he feels some guilt when his girlfriend goes away and he is even freer to see other women.

ii) macro level - This is shown in the novel by the political situation and the lack of freedom allowed under communist rule.

One of the main events in the novel is the change of occupation of Tomas. The transformation from being a brain surgeon to a window cleaner.

In this new role he feels more liberated and he is able to carry out these affairs more readily since he is no longer constrained so much by his status and level of responsibility.

It is still impoprtant however to refer back to the key concepts of WIS. In this novel we can see the effects of power restraining the levels of freedom which Tomas can enjoy. This power comes from the state as mentioned above, Tomas’s role in the novel as a brain surgeon and also the use of gender within the book.

It is also necessary to highlight here the differences in freedom, in that one may have freedom from something or freedom to something.

We can also see how this freedom can become counter productive as in the case of Sabina where constant betrayal as a route to freedom becomes a trap.

It is also possible that the role of Tomas may be more symbolic. The use of windows as an image and his role as a window cleaner. He is responsible for cleaning the windows which people use to look out of. If the windows are not cleaned then they will become blocked and people would not be able to see the outside world. This would be a similar situation to that of a prison which has a sole purpose of restricting freedom.

Explore how the ‘Unbearable Lightness of Being’ explores the relationship between work and freedom?

In reference to the novel we will explore Tomas’s freedom in relation to his role as a Surgeon and a Window Cleaner.

Tomas: The Surgeon

"He had come to medicine not by a coincidence or calculation but by a deep inner desire." (p.193)

- This could be seen as the "Es muss sein" that is innate within the person that is Tomas when he becomes a surgeon.

"When Tomas first positioned the scalpel on the skin of a man asleep under anaesthetic, then breached the skin with a decisive incision, and finally cut it open with a precise and even stroke, he experienced an intense but brief feeling of blasphemy." (p.194)

"The ‘Es muss sein’ of his profession had been like a vampire sucking his blood." (p.197)

The ‘darker’ interpretation of this is the fact that Tomas is not free from his own inner desire.

"Here he was, doing things he didn’t care a damn about, and enjoying it. Now he understood what made people (people he always pitied) happy when they took a job without feeling a compulsion of an internal ‘Es muss sein’ and forgot it the moment they left for home every evening." (p.197)

- From an outsider’s perspective this could be considered to be an instrumental position. We interpret Tomas’s role as a window cleaner to have the freedom from the pressures and responsibilities of being a high-level professional. Tomas has now escaped these constraints of his position as a surgeon, therefore enabling to pursue his infidelities and live according to what he desires.

 

Points for discussion

Question Two

‘Work’ is a four letter word.

This theme will be explored using all the novels of the course.

Initially the idea of a four letter word is the description of a swear word. This shows work in a negative light and links work to crap and shit. Taking the meaning more literally, using any four letter word we could also describe work more positively as being nice.

This more positive view can be seen in the Remains of the Day where the central character was a butler and his work was all consuming and he strived to be the best at what he did.

Less positively, linking back to the key concepts we see that being a butler was his identity, something which he could not distance himself from.

In this novel, the work facilitates a lack of freedom in that he has to repress his feelings for Miss Carrington.

In the novel Nice Work, we can see a link between status and work. His work is the one thing Vic is good at.

In this novel there is also the conflict with his obligation to family. The character’s understanding of work and freedom changes.

There are different patterns accross cultures in other countries.

Japan has traditionally maintained a more structured system which is positive and induces pride in work. There is a possibility that this is forced.

In the Mediteranean however, there is a much more relaxed attitude towards work, with more room for individualism.

We can see a difference in attitudes towards work with those who have proffessions. They tend to take more pride with their work and talk about it socially whereas those who are ‘working class’ tend to have a more negative attitude towards their work as a means to earn a living. Here like a swear word; work is a taboo subject not to be discussed outside working hours.

The use of ‘working man’s clubs’ shows a restriction in freedom since these workers even socialise in the groups which they work in.

Nowadays there is pressure placed on many people to have either work or freedom, such as travelling. There is a stigma attached to living off the state.

This pressure of social expectations is reflected onto ourselves. This can be seen by the actions of students when leaving university, either getting a job or going travelling. It is uncommon for post graduates to choose to go straight onto the dole.

Seminar Group : Thursday 11.00

Create a sketch that demonstrates the dynamics of control and resistance in the labour process

Intro: In order to illustrate some key issues within the labor process, with regard to the dynamics of control and resistance. We would like to carry out a little role-play, which consists of an extract taken from nice work, that has been edited to make it a little more relevant to our purpose. It is the board meeting which takes place, where Robyn was allowed to sit in on.

Vic: This is Dr Robyn Penrose, of Rummidge University. You’ve all heard of Industry Year, I suppose. And you know what a shadow is. Well Dr Penrose is my Industry Year Shadow. Just carry on as if she wasn’t here.

Sit down…

Vic: Ok, to start us off, as you are aware, worker productivity has been falling over the last quarter, something we need to address, so how are we going to reverse this trend?

Terry: We could try and introduce some sort of job flexibility, you know what I mean? Train the workers to do lots of different jobs, that way we could have the staff where they are needed.

Vic: They’d never go for it.

Terry: Seriously I’ve seen it done at Dawsons, productivity increased by 6% with a reduced work force.

Brian: We’ve been having a lot of problems recently with our dated "mass production" ways of organizing the workforce, I mean the assembly line method, come on Vic, it’s a bit 1920’s isn’t it .I suppose the idea is that we can maximize worker output, and control their actions, but it’s not working, the unions have wised up to it a long time ago. The way they see it we are just exploiting them for as much as we can get, haven’t you noticed that recently all the disputes have been about conditions, not wages? We need to reorganize so as to get the most out of the worker again, productivity is falling because the factory staff chose to let it fall, they are in as strong a position to negotiate now as they have ever been, financial incentives aren’t going to work this time Vic.

Vic: They knew this when they started, they wouldn’t work if they weren’t really getting a fair pay or treatment from the managers, they work here because they need a wage to survive, and we provide that wage, everyone’s happy. If they didn’t want to work, they wouldn’t, not everyone can be sitting here, somebody needs to do the manual work.

Terry: But the factory staff aren’t happy, they’re always threatening to work to rule, and go slows, it’s costing us. Workers dissatisfaction, that’s what it is.

Vic: Workers dissatisfaction? But workers like to be told what to do; they know where they belong, who they are within the organization, know what work they are to do. They know they are a Pringles worker, they know what that entails. Why would there be any problem? Because they receive training and incentive payments; like the more they produce the more they get.

Terry: But that creating quality problems! Because they want to produce more, they reduce the quality of the products and work.

Vic: I’m telling you they would never go for it! The staff like to know what they are doing. They like to know when they arrive in the morning what it is they have in store for them the day ahead. Dawsons are different they have a turnover significantly lower that ourselves, they are never producing the same goods longer that a ay. No it would never work, besides if you give them that sort of responsibility they would only take advantage, you know, slow job change, refusal to do certain tasks. It would be a nightmare to organize, and you know that they would take it as an excuse to negotiate a wage increase.

Brian: If we take that sort of attitude we could find ourselves lagging behind, the market doesn’t want a standardized mass produced good. Flexibility would enable us to produce what the market wants.

Vic: At What Cost?

Terry: At a lower cost.

Vic: This is not the way this company operates, we produce goods at the lowest cost possible, constantly changing goods, increases prices, you may be right that it would mean lower staff costs, but increased idle time, increased error rate, no traditionally we mass produce, we need to stick to our strengths.

Robyn: But what about the workers?

Vic: Excuse me?

Robyn: What about the workers? Don’t they have a right to some sort of expression within their work? Every day they get up in the morning to follow the same routine, forced to working the conditions you set because they cannot afford to do otherwise. You could have a highly skilled workforce, but because you give them no opportunity for expression, because it is accepted that what you say goes, they resign themselves to working the same job 4o hours a week. If you allowed them some flexibility you may find that they can help in other ways, you know production ideas and all that.

Every one much laughter…………

Brian: I don’t think that’s going to happen is it? You see the reason that we are here and they are in the factory is because we have the brains whereas they have…. Well they don’t have the brains.

Terry: You must agree that we are having serious problems with the factory staff, we can’t just damand more and more, something is going to give soon we need to pursuade them that they want to work, and that they want to work hard, for us. Why not let them work in groups and teams. By doing this, workers can work on their own and decide how to approach and tackle the problem themselves.

Brian: He’s got a point we could overcome the problems of low moral, they’ll have more control over the work they do and become more motivated. They do not want to let other team members down and they don’t want to be the one with the poor performance in the team, we could see productivity increase, and of course we still call all the shots, they just decide how they get the job done.

Vic: What. Give them freedom in how they do they’re job?

Brian: In a way, yes, and so long as the work is done, what does it matter to us?

Vic: I’m not convinced.

Brian: Look they’re a decent enough lot, they should be able to work something out themselves, we get rid of those who can’t and get ourselves a higher skilled workforce for the same cost. It’s not as though the will have enough freedom to cause any problems, just decide who works what machine, that sort of stuff. Come on, I mean we wont be inviting them into the next board meeting!

Vic: The unions would see straight through it, it’s all still "them and us" it would be taken out of all proportions. They like to see what they are doing, know what they are working for, they work for Pringles, it makes them proud, they don’t work for each other. If they don’t know who they work for there will be no commitment productivity would fall even more, the unions would make out that it is some form of manipulations, and no one would cooperate. This team work, they’ll use it against us when they are demanding this or that. It wont be one man anymore, it will be a dozen who quit.

Terry: I suppose you have a point, it does al rather depend upon the workers wanting control, and all its implications, if they are not concerned about the interests of Pringles, then it would just multiply our problems.

Vic: Change is one thing, productive change is another. We must obtain a culture of commitment otherwise we will never get anywhere.

Terry: But isn’t the workforce the cheapest and easiest way to re-structure?

Vic: I wouldn’t disagree with that.

Terry: But you’re opposed to the ideas of flexibility and team working.

Vic: They’re not the only options.

Terry: What about contract flexibility?

Vic: What do you mean?

Brian: Come on Vic, don’t play dumb, part time staff, temporary contracts, all that stuff

Terry: Exactly, we could contract cheaper labor, no payouts for redundancies

Vic: I’m listening

Terry: Well you know, we have skilled workers only when we need them, part time staff less pay bonuses to pay all that, we could employ some female staff, work mornings, back home in time to pick up the kids from school.

Brian: I don’t think women are going to fit into the work place very well, do you?

Robyn: Why?

Brian: Well you know

Robyn: May I say a few words please?

Before anyone has time to object

Robyn: Firstly, most participants of this meeting may have presumed that considering I was a lecturer meant that I would be a man. Is that right?

Silence, a few downward looks and lots of astonishment and then looking at each other

Robyn: You automatically attached an identity or stereotypical view of me as I did about Vic as a managing director. My name no doubt may have helped this view along. Also you noticed that I am the only female in this board meeting? Due to this I do feel that there is a degree of inequality on the part of women and I’m not saying that it’s necessarily all your fault. As a consequence of the absence of women, I feel a little insecure and that my every move is being observed.

Robyn: This suggests to me that you are exercising power, considering that you men make most of the decisions about the organization, suggests that men are dominating senior positions. I ask the question: Is it that men restrict women from gaining these positions, or id it that women willfully refrain from the positions? Or even a combination of the two? Taking into account that I have been allowed to attend the meeting and to shadow Vic suggests that times are slowly, but surely changing.

Robyn: In response to the comment made earlier about women, may I introduce the issues about women being exploited as sex objects within the factory where distasteful pictures of them are displayed. I find that very degrading.

Vic: Right, yes, absolutely! Urmmm back to the relevant issues, I understand we are having some problems with the CNC machines constantly ceasing production?

Terry: It’s the operatives fault, he’s just not up to the job. He doesn’t st the indexes properly, so it keeps jamming.

Vic: What’s his name?

Brian: Ram. He’s a Paki

Terry: No, he’s not, he’s Indian

Brian: Well, whatever. Who can tell the difference? They call him Danny. Danny Ram. He was moved on to the job when we were short-handed last winter, and up-graded from laborer.

Vic: Let’s get rid of him, then, he’s causing a bottle-neck Terry – see to it will you?

Terry: We haven’t got a basis to fire him

Vic: Rubbish, he’s been trained hasn’t he?

Terry: I’m not sure.

Vic: Check it out. If he hasn’t, train him, even if he can’t grasp it, are you with me?

Terry Nods

Vic: Then each time he fails to set the machine properly, you give him a proper warning. On the third warning, he’s fired. Shouldn’t take more than a fortnight. All right?

Terry: Right

Vic: The next question is quality control

Robyn: Excuse me

Vic: Yes, what is it (impatiently)

Robyn: Do I understand that you are proposing to pressure a man into making mistakes so that you can sack him?

Vic: I don’t think that’s any of your business, Dr Penrose

Robyn: Oh, but it is, it’s the business of anyone who cares about truth and justice, Don’t you see how wrong it is to trick this man out of his job? How can you sit there and say nothing

Vic: It’s a management matter in which you have no competence

Robyn: It’s not a management matter, it’s a moral issue

Vic: Dr. Penrose, I think you’ve got the wrong idea about why you’re position here. You’re a shadow, not an inspector. You’re here to learn, not to interfere. I must ask you to keep quiet, or leave the meeting.

Robyn: Very well, I’ll leave

Control, resistance and the labour process, specifically job re-design, culture, flexibility and gender issues

Job redesign

Working in groups, aimed at re-designing jobs. Relaxation of mgt control, form of manipulation that provoked shop floor opposition. Facilitated higher return to labour. Self-organised consent and achieving production targets. Did not diminish the polarization of conflict reflected in the "them" and "us" mentality of the shop floor.

Contradictions of control remain despite greater commitment to output created by the redesign of jobs, but the defensive character o the workers resistance also embodied its own contradictions

Workers resist by:- emphasizing their "commodity status" whilst denying / minimizing their interdependence with management

Culture

Culture is… how things are done, what is acceptable and acceptable, set of traditional values, belief and attitudes.

Culture affects how decisions are made within the workplace, consists of two types of power structures, accepted symbols and the decision making process.

Flexibility

Flexibility "to exploit labour more effectively through numerical and functional flexibility" … "greater use of contract, temporary and part time labour… horizontal and vertical reintegration of fragmented tasks and implies up-skilling an increased responsibility" (Dawson and Webb, Work, Employment and Society, Vol3, No2, pp221) Control through contract

Demise of mass production of standardized products for mass markets (Agletta 1979, Blackburn, Coombs and Green 1985) Resistance and market led change

Reversal of a fragmented division of labour (Piore and Sabel 1984) control

Improvements in the quality of work… via labour reskilling, more intrinsically rewarding work arrangements and customized production control through financial reward

(labour) shifting from factory to office

Gender

Patriarchal inequalities continue into workplace, labour process embodying and justifying through accepted norms, and "wisdom" the continuation of the lower role of women.

Resistance

Many forms, including, working to rule, work slow, union disputes, strikes, deliberately poor quality work… may not improve conditions, but lets the management know that they are dealing with a powerful workforce.

Seminar : Thursday 12.00 B5

Explore how The Remains of the Day addresses the relationship between Work and Freedom

· IDENTITY AND INSECURITY

The shock derives from the directness of Stevens confession to a complete stranger, an act completely out of the character of the ideal butler that he has constructed for himself. Stevens rinds that his work has reduced his freedom to fully realise his personality and make meaningful human relationships. He is compelled by institutions like the Hayes Society and the opinions of other butlers to achieve the status of a master butler. In order to achieve this accolade. Stevens explains that one must be dignified in his work, which basically entails sacrificing one’s personal life for the sake of professionalism. He therefore throws himself into his work and continually strives to achieve this goal of "dignity". In his blind faith for Lord Darlington he hopes that someday he will achieve satisfaction from life. Yet, upon reflection, he has achieved none of this arid ultimately sees no dignity in it. For Stevens. the confession is a brave and painful expression of self-knowledge that has been kept submerged REPRESSED for years. This feeling of emptiness is intensified by the stark realisation that all his human relationships, in particular with Miss Kenton and Miss Wakefield, have been de humanised by his obsession in keeping things professional. He unwillingly dehumanises all relationships to a professional level because he believes that the system requires it of him. As the system is seen to be more important than life (both his and his father’s lives), there is no option but to keep relations professional in nature.

POWER AND INEQUALITY

Gehlen and the "theory of institutions": This involves the channelling of human conduct very much along the lines that instincts channel the behaviour of animals. That is to say that if an animal reflected on the matter of following it’s instincts, it would say, "I have no choice". People following institutional imperatives say the same. The problem lies with the fact that animals are telling the truth; we are deceiving ourselves. We can reject societal norms, we have often done so. Even though there may be unpleasant repercussions, it is feasible. It is this possibility to exercise one’s free will that Stevens fails to understand. He sees his role as butler in a taken for granted way that requires his comple6te obedience. His institutional character is all he can perceive his vantage point to be. To step outside this role is a jump into oblivion for Stevens even though, in many respects, remaining in the role as dictated by his profession is one of self-deception.

Fromm

The exertion of power leads us to find social avenues of escape by 1) The submission to a leader and 2) The compulsion of conformity. In Remains of the day, Stevens avoids the concept of freedom through the belief that he is supercilious to Lord Darlington because of social status – "Ours is not to question why" (Jewish girls being fired). His other route of escape is to conform to the societal norms to butlership by following in the footsteps of his father and by "inhabiting the role".

Stevens had ‘freedom from’ more traditional external constraints. Theoretically he could have done what he liked. He had the ‘freedom to’ find his true vocation (whatever that may mean), to express his true personality (which seemed to be a caring and altruistic one) and therefore gain full meaning from his life and not feel so empty in the remains of his life. Yet this freedom to express his true personality was itself constrained. These were internal constraints of the expectations laid on him from his father, the expectations of society, who in Stevens mind valued great butlers and by a socially constructed feeling that his kind were good for nothing else. That somehow he would be good at nothing else. However, having not learned anything else, his reflections are always tainted with doubt, that he was completely insignificant. Had Stevens realised that ‘the meaning of life is the act of life itself’ (Fromm, 1960), he could have used his butler job to make more out of his life, to be spontaneous and to experience true, meaningful love: with Mrs Kenton. However, his work within the capitalist system made this impossible and so he never found true freedom to express himself and experience life in full.

Foucault

According to Foucault, the exertion of power and freedom are mutually inclusive in that power must be exerted for freedom to exist. Power is seen to be "only exercised over free subjects, in so far as they are free". His behaviour can be seen as predetermined for he has a limited "field of possibilities", as defined by himself, his father and societal norms, which makes him regard Butlership as his only option in terms of vocation and social respect. Whilst at Darlington Hall Stevens is unable to recognise internal or external constraints and is therefore unaware of his lack of freedom. It is only when he changes his behaviour by stepping out of the role and temporarily leaving Darlington Hall that he is able to perceive the fields of possibilities which have, unbeknown to himself, been open.

Thursday 14.00

Thursday 2pm

Introduction to the Debate

We base our opposition to this statement by looking at insecurity, identity, inequality, and power and looking at the main assumptions under each heading.

1. Whether increasing insecurity increases or reduces freedom.

1. Whether being free to choose your identity results in greater freedom.

1. Whether there is increased equality and whether this results in greater freedom.

1. Whether empowerment in the workplace results in greater freedom.

Internalising Responsibility

People today increasingly base their self-image and identity on work and

career. They discipline their behaviour in line with their efforts to achieve the

career goals they feel are important to who they want to be. Although people

don't work under the same overt management monitoring and discipline, they

have (been encouraged to?) internalised this role (for the good of their

career), and so it infiltrates deeper into their lives and everything they

do. Because they themselves assume responsibility for career, work-related

decisions can impinge further into non-work areas of life (i.e. having a

'well-packaged' wife).

Corporate/Personal Identity

Identity today is based more strongly on what work we do ("I am a manager")

and increasingly on whom we work for ("I am a TESCO manager"), rather than

personality. So people's identities are more influenced today by the

relationship with corporate identity. People may not be instructed how to be,

but the culture encourages and discourages certain behaviour. It is a covert

form of control, again having a wider (perhaps manipulative) effect on life

than overt methods.

Choice = Freedom?

We should consider if seemingly having more choice really means greater

freedom. It could be argued that being responsible for our own choices, and

having more work-related choices to make, can again effect life on a wider

level.

Each choice we make, we possibly narrow the choices available

to us in the future. So by choosing to train as an accountant, it is much

more difficult for us to later decide to become vet. Every decision we make

is our responsibility, and has implications on other areas of our lives, so

is difficult to change or undo. The succession of work related decisions we

make could tie us increasingly tighter into a certain 'route'. This relates

to 'Unbearable Lightness of Being' and Thomas's sudden feeling of lightness

when he sheds all his previous responsibility bound decisions and becomes a

window cleaner.

In addition to this, we could say that although we appear to have a range of

choices available to us, the fact that work related decisions are so closely

related to our idealistic self-image, and coloured by corporate culture,

means that some options are void (or 'unreal') to begin with.

Hierarchy

It can be argued that the evolution of flatter organisations today may mean that inequality is eradicated to some extent. However, for any organisation to operate in a capitalist economy there must be some subordination on the part of workers. This thus infers that there is inequality as they are allowing individuals in higher positions in the organisation to make decisions that will affect their behaviour.

Global Economy

Similarly with the growth of the global economy whereby greed and money are the main driving forces exploitation is rife around the world. Multinational companies find that they can benefit from the inequality that exists between developed and developing countries as they can employ cheaper labour, in poorer working conditions thus maximising their profit margins. The gap between the developing world and the developed world is actually growing increasingly wider.

Gender Issues

If we think about inequality in terms of the equal rights of women in the workplace, for example, inequality is still very evident despite claims that it has been reduced by stricter laws and other measures. Women still experience greater pressure when entering the labour force as they have to live up to the higher expectations placed upon them. In other words, having acquired the right to work through the efforts of the suffragette movement they may take on the role of token woman as a representative of their sex in that particular situation. They thus cannot be free as they are constantly under the pressure of having to monitor their behaviour and actions, in view of this role.

They are also under a great deal of pressure if they have a family and work as they will have to try and juggle the two, still being expected to contribute more to general household and childcare duties than their partners. Women are also penalised in their career advancement if they choose to have a family.

Women are also still paid less than their male counterparts despite Equal Opportunities laws and Sex Discrimination Laws.

The glass ceiling is another reality in today’s organisations whereby women find themselves unable to advance beyond a certain level in organisations.

They can also find themselves excluded from old boy networks and this limits their contacts and possible organisational opportunities.

Social Mobility

As Berger says we are born into space and time (Invitation to Sociology). Traditionally individuals were generally confined to the social class that they were born into. For example, if your farther was a blacksmith you followed in his footsteps. Even today our position in society does determine the job that we go into, however, individuals are more able to move between classes. There is indeed the old adage it is ‘not what you know but who you know’ and our work prospects can be hindered or advanced as a result.

This may foster inherent biases as if you are of a lower status in society you may be encouraged to aspire to greater things and improve your social status. Society does encourage this so the individual may find themselves under immense social pressure. However, if you are born into a higher social position and you decide that you want to not conform to what is expected of you (e.g. becoming a lawyer or doctor) , but you want to become a window cleaner then you may face immense pressure and derision as it is seen as a job below your status.

Hierarchy

The modern organization is a ‘zero sum game’. While some workers in the organization gain more power and hence more freedom, other people loose theirs. The growing freedom of the management implies the lost of freedom for the workers.

Manipulation

Today’s worker is being manipulated by the organization through the false feeling of freedom. By allowing the employee more ‘freedom’ in his everyday functioning, he is actually undertaking more responsibility and usually carries out more tasks.

Responsibility

By allowing the worker more freedom, the organization can be better off in case that something goes wrong. In that case, the organization can blame some of the workers (due to their ‘freedom and power’ to make decisions) and get away with the responsibility. The recent rail accident is a good example to this point, where few workers were held responsible for the disaster despite many other position holders new about the failings.

Privatization and Capitalism

With the global trend of privatization, the power in the work place is centralized in the private hands, rather than in the control of the government. This may imply more freedom for the capitalists, however it raises the problem of the middle class worker, and his protection from exploitation.

Scientific Management

While this new type of organization can proved flexible, it impose more pressure on the workers. Since they have more freedom to develop their own strategies, they are under the continuous threat of being fired.

Identity Issues

Hierarchy always existed in the workplace. But let us consider the more relaxed communication channels of today. Individualism is encouraged nowadays giving rise to a range of promotional opportunities, as opposed to the rather suppressed work style of the past, where the possibility to question or challenge your line of duty was minimized, if existent at all. On the other hand, the concept of teamwork, and its effectiveness on productivity, loyalty and social security, is been used today in a most advantageous manner. There is greater freedom of speech, and hence better communication both at the same level of hierarchy and at different levels.

Moreover, the shift of marketing focus from transactional to relationship, the client interaction so intensely enhanced nowadays, provide for a more ‘personalized’ work style, something that naturally renders a ‘work person’ free rather than restrained.

Let us also consider today’s nature of work and organizational culture. Great expansion is observed across most occupations, with an overwhelming diversity in service lines and organizational departments. This implies choice. And choice implies fewer constraints, in other words, more freedom. The notion of ‘benefits package’ nowadays, not just a ‘salary’, creates a more personalized, ‘tailor-made’ almost, mutual-advantage relationship between employer and employee. Greater choice and greater understanding are factors of ‘strong cultures’ and the workplace in the old days was not familiar with that. And a strong culture is, empirically, a significant key to success, because it gets closer to the people in the organization and deals with issues of identity. Ideally, isn’t freedom the closest one can get to their true identity?

The workplace is probably the better part of one’s lifestyle (and, hence, identity) and so psychology is a key factor in the sense of freedom. Better communication and greater choice, experienced today, certainly give a psychological boost to the ‘worker’ and, hence, provide greater freedom in today’s workplace.

Insecurity Issues:

Part of the argument for the claim that "there is greater freedom in today's workplaces" includes a more relaxed attitude to dress codes in many organizations. Companies such as Arthur Andersen, Accenture and KPMG now have relaxed dress codes at all of their offices across the world. The change can be seen more clearly in the example of KPMG who used to have a relaxed dress code on Fridays, but introduced a permanent daily relaxed code in the year 2000, in order to be more in line with many similar companies, such as those mentioned above.

In terms of the WIS concepts, this is an attitude that is designed to reduce Insecurity in individuals at work. The pressure to conform to a smart dress code that may make certain people feel uncomfortable is therefore lost and workers can express their own style more freely. Workers then feel that they can express their own Identity more clearly and present themselves more confidently by wearing the clothing that they believe best expresses their personality.

Power & Inequality Issues:

Companies now offer much more structured further training and are more likely to sponsor employees to gain further qualifications. This amounts to transferable skills, which give employees generally accepted knowledge. This knowledge empowers them, as they have been given skills that are recognized by many employers, and can therefore leave the original firm & find employment with another.

Another way in which today's employees have greater freedom & power to leave the firm is the fact that there is now an active labour market throughout all levels of organizations, and at most (if not all) ages, which did not exist 40 years ago. At that time, the company you joined at 18 was the company you would retire from at 65 in most cases.

In terms of Power, the workers have been given more freedom, and therefore more Power, by having the choice to decide on the most appropriate clothing when they are in the office. The result of more power is that Inequality is reduced in organizations because the relaxed dress code applies at all levels of the hierarchy and makes the issues of seniority seem less obvious when workers interact with their colleagues.