Richard Brown - The Sociology of Industry

Studies in Sociology

Edited by

PROFESSOR W.M. WILLIAMS

University College. Swansea

THE SOCIOLOGY OF INDUSTRY

4 THE FAMILY

by C.C.Harris

5 COMMUNITY STUDIES

An Introduction to the Sociology of the Local Community

by Colin Bell and Howard Newby

6 SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

An Introduction

by James Littlejohn

7 THE STRUCTURE OF SOCIAL SCIENCE

A Philosophical Introduction

by Michael Lessnoff

9 THE SOCIOLOGY OF LEISURE

by Stanley Parker

10 A SOCIOLOGY OF FRIENDSHIP AND KINSHIP

by Graham A.Allen

11 THE SOCIOLOGY OF WOMEN

An Introduction

by Sara Delamont

12 INTRODUCING SOCIAL STATISTICS

by Richard Startup and Elwyn T.Whittaker

Unwin Hyman Ltd, 1967
This book is copyright under the Berne Convention. No reproduction without permission. All rights reserved.
Published by the Academic Division of
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First published in 1967
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
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Second edition 1975
Third edition 1977
Fourth edition 1981
Fifth impression 1990

ISBN 0-203-98585-0 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 0-04-301129-2 (Print Edition)

It is thirteen years since the first edition of this volume appeared and three years since the third edition. A substantial amount of new material on the subject of industrial and occupational sociology continues to be published. In order to provide an up-to-date account of developments in this field, we have again substantially revised the previous text, deleting some (but by no means all) older references and treatment to make room for newer material.

This book is addressed mainly to students of sociology who are especially interested in its application to the world of work. It is intended as an introduction, but assumes that the reader is not completely unfamiliar with sociological approaches to the study of society. The purpose of this book is twofold: to synthesise the growing body of relevant empirical material, and to show how sociological theory at different levels of analysis applies to the three interrelated aspects of the subject-matter. These three inter-related aspects constitute the three sections of the book.

The first part is at the social system level of analysis, and examines the relation between industry and other sub-systems or institutions of society. We discuss specifically education, the family and stratification as sub-systems each of which affects industry and is affected by it. At this level, industrial sociology forms part of a wider economic sociology, which is the application of the general frame of reference, variables and explanatory models of sociology to the complex of activities concerned with production, distribution, exchange and consumption (Smelser, 1963, p. 32).

The second part of the book, focusing on the second level of analysis, is concerned with the internal structure of industry and the roles that individuals play in that structure. Organisation theory is the link between analysis of systems and of work organisations. We attempt, therefore, to analyse organisational structures and processes, giving particular attention to authority and technology as aspects of work organisations. These aspects include informal organisation, technology and shopfloor strategies, the structure of management, and some key problems in industrial relations.

Roles also feature in the third part of the book, but here, instead of being linked to the structure of organisations, they are seen as the social actions of individuals and groups. This part is also concerned with the relation between work and non-work, and it corresponds roughly to what is sometimes defined as the sociology of occupations. It includes an analysis of occupations, changes in them, and the consequences of those changes; work involvement and its alternatives; and the various ways in which work can be experienced.

There are, of course, different approaches to the whole subject-matter of sociology and long-standing but still active debates about the validity of competing theories of society. We intend neither to ignore these differences, nor to write exclusively from one or other standpoint. To some extent the threefold division of our book parallels three phases in one of the central debates in sociology: that between systems theorists and action theorists. To oversimplify the positions of these theorists, they represent respectively the view that society makes man and that man makes society. Part One of our book may be seen primarily as an exercise in systems analysis, and Part Three as an exercise in action analysis. Part Two stands at the intersection of system and action, requiring both perspectives to be brought into the picture, and in this sense it is the pivotal part of the book. We believe that in the study of organisations there is a need to use, if not combine, both a systems and an action approach. This means seeing the structure and functioning of organisations partly as systems of social relations and partly as the consequences of motivated action by groups and individuals.

We have thus distinguished the subject-matter of a broadly defined industrial sociology at three theoretical levels. But to be too rigid in relating a large amount of empirical material to a theoretical framework could risk oversimplifying the complexity of the phenomena. Our treatment of theory is not intended to put research into a straitjacket; rather, we view theory as a guide to the planning of research, the results of which in turn can serve to modify theory.

Although we have included some consideration of what seem to us to be the more important research findings and theories, inevitably in a book of this small size and large scope the treatment of each topic is brief. The interested reader will, however, be able to follow up particular topics through the recommended reading and extensive Bibliography.

Note: The names against chapter titles indicate who was responsible for preparing the first drafts. All four authors took part subsequently in the process of revision and of integrating the chapters according to an agreed framework. However, the views expressed in each chapter remain the responsibility of its original author.

Industrial sociology is an important and fascinating subject. Its importance is obvious, since the world of work and the patterning of industrial structures and economic processes profoundly shape the kind of people we are, our social identities and life styles, and the kind of society in which we live. The social, economic and political organisation of industrial society, and the perceptions, attitudes and experiences of its members interact in a complex way. Understanding this complexity is what sociology is about, while a particular concern with industrial and economic structures and experiences is the focus of industrial sociology. This is the fascination of the subject. For in posing the question What is industrial sociology? we immediately confront the main. dilemmas and questions posed by sociology about contemporary society, its conflicts, shared values and aims and the direction of its development.