Workplace Innovation and the Work Process

Abstract

When the employment relationship is formed collectively, wages and working hours are determined through collective bargaining or through labor-management consultations. However, when employment relations are formed only on an individual basis, the greater framework of the employment relationship is determined through employment rules within the workplace and through the processes of recruitment and worker turnover. How then does work actually take place once an agreement on the price of labor and the number of working hours has been reached? Whether they seek to hire 10 or 100 workers, employers always consider the manner in which work is organized before recruiting the appropriate number of workers, whereas individual workers are very interested in exactly what kind of work they will be given. What are the different jobs that exist in each workplace, and how does the employer seek to achieve a horizontal division of labor through these jobs How is vertical control imposed on the work process? Do workers with autonomy, as a result, only have to take ex post facto responsibility for their performance?