Part A: Critical Perspectives In Management And Organisation

According to Peter Fleming (2017), human capital theory has helped facilitate the growing individualization of work and resulted in the radical responsibilization of the workforce, with negative consequences for worker wellbeing, economic inequality, and social sustainability. Drawing on Fleming’s (2017) article, as well as theories and concepts from Weeks 1-8 of this module, critically analyse this claim.

Your analysis should highlight some of the transformations in management and organisation we covered in the module, explain how these have progressively altered the meaning and experience of work within organisations, and evaluate the consequences of this for individuals and society more broadly. Your analysis should demonstrate your ability to make critical connections across topics in the module in order to evaluate contemporary practices and their consequences. You should use examples presented in lectures, seminars and/or reading list resources to support your points.

Additional Guidelines for Part A:

• To complete Part A, you must draw on the annotated version of Fleming’s (2017) article titled “The Human Capital Hoax”, which is available on Blackboard.
• Your critical analysis must advance an argument which is supported by theories, concepts and examples from the module. Support for how to develop an academic argument will be provided in seminars.
• Your academic sources should be drawn from the module reading list. You are not required to do any additional research to answer this question successfully. You will not achieve a pass mark if you do not prioritise the reading list.

Part B: Alternative Organisation Case Study

Fleming (2017: p. 705) highlights that, “the advocates of Uberization claim it is the future, no matter what. How employees, organizations and scholars respond to this proclamation will shape the politics of work to come”. In other words, Fleming does not accept Uberization as a foregone conclusion, implying that things can be otherwise.

Your task is to identify a case organisation that represents a radical counter-example to uberization by actively demonstrating the principles and values of alternative organising (introduced in Week 9) and critically analyse and evaluate their approach to management and organisation by drawing on theories and concepts from Weeks 9-11 of the module, as well as examples specific to your chosen case. You should justify their status as an ‘alternative organisation’ and explain why you feel their approach indicates a more positive, ethical, and/or responsible alternative for employees and/or society, whilst also acknowledging potential limits or challenges.

Additional Guidelines for Part B:

• Your chosen organisation must NOT have been discussed in lectures or seminars. You may choose an organisation you are familiar with or identify a suitable case from (high-quality) news or media, the reading list, or relevant databases (e.g. Co-operatives UK). Your chosen organisation may operate in the private, public or plural-sector.
• You should name the case organisation, explain what they do (1-2 sentences max.), and include a link to their webpage and/or the primary reference for your case study source before continuing with your analysis. You may exclude this from the work count.
• Your critical analysis must advance an argument which is supported by theories, concepts and examples. Support for how to develop an academic argument will be provided in seminars.
• You may draw on the organisation’s own website and other high-quality journalistic reporting for evidence of the organisation’s values and practices in order to substantiate your analysis. However, your academic sources should primarily be drawn from the module reading list. All sources need to be appropriately referenced using correct formatting.

Part C: Personal Reflection

The final part of your assignment should be a personal reflection on what you have learned from studying critical perspectives as a ‘way of seeing’, including what you have learned about yourself. Drawing on your Personal Reflection Log, which must be inserted as an appendix, you should analyse specific knowledge, skills and qualities that you have developed through the module and consider how these will support your ability to manage responsibly and/or bring about positive social change. Your reflection should move beyond description and consider concepts and frameworks such as The Sociological Imagination, Critical Reflection model, and/or the Inner Development Goals (IDGs) in relation to your own values, experiences, and self-development. You should also consider areas where you feel you may need improvement and suggest how you may continue your ongoing process of inner development.

Additional Guidance for Part C

• Where appropriate, your reflection should be supported by academic references that demonstrate the theoretical basis or philosophical importance of the skills you have developed.
• The personal reflection should be written in the first person. However, it is still a formal, academic piece of work and therefore should follow other conventions regarding style and referencing.
• The Personal Reflection Log template is available on Blackboard. You must attach your completed log as an appendix to your assignment. This is excluded from the word limit.

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Experts Answer on Questions Above on Critical Perspectives

Human capital Theory and the individualisation of work

The main argument by Fleming (2017) implies that the human capital theory shifts responsibility for employability, career success and wellbeing from organisations to individual workers. The main focus of the organisation is on reducing long-term obligations with respect to employment and they expect employees to improve their own skills, productivity and personal branding. As a result, employees often feel insecurity, inequality and work intensification.

Neoliberalism and individualisation

The theories selected are human capital theory and Neo liberal management. The workers have to focus on developing their own skills through continuously learning and look for self-improvement while the employers view them as investment rather than long-term organisational members. For example, the workers have to make their own arrangement for vehicles, insurance and training at Uber while the company avoid traditional employment cost.

Labour process Theory – as per this theory, the management always expects to exert complete control over labour. However, modern technologies are good at monitoring productivity, location, and working hours. Employees are controlled through algorithms such as in the case of Uber, the drivers are managed through customer ratings and automotive performance monitoring is used rather than direct supervision.

Post fordism and flexible work

Traditional way of long-term employment is changed completely as modern day managers look for freelancing, zero hour contracts and temporary employment.

Emotional labour

Emotions are controlled by workers as a part of their job. Examples include customer service staff, healthcare workers and hospitality employees. As a result of this, they often face higher burnout and emotional exhaustion.

Surveillance and Performance Management

The implication of digital Technology is significant in ensuring continuous monitoring by way of GPS, productivity software and AI performance metrics. As a result of this, the workers experience higher job insecurity, stress level, burnout and reduced work life balance. On the contrary organisations benefit from lower labour cost, higher flexibility and increased turnover. The society experiences greater income inequality, reduced social sustainability and growing mental health concerns.

Alternative organisation case study

The alternative organisation selected is Suma Wholefoods which is one of the largest worker cooperatives in the UK, supplying ethical food products, and it operates without having any kind of hierarchical management. As compared to Uber, Suma does not have any kind of CEO, and has democratic ownership, offers equal voting rights, ensures shared responsibility and profit sharing among members. The limitation is however slower decision making process, difficulty in scaling at global level and significant employee commitment is important for democratic participation.

Personal reflection

I have significantly improved in my understanding after studying critical perspectives in management. I had a view that management’s primary role is to improve efficiency within the organisation and enhance profitability. However, with concepts like sociological imagination as a study in this module, I have learned that management decisions have a significant implication on social inequality, employee well-being and environmental sustainability. I have also significantly improved in areas including leadership, worker cooperatives and how to consider employee wellbeing while managing organisational performance.

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