Organization of work: a comparative analysis of production among nonindustrial peoples

HRAF Press • New Haven • Published In • Pages: 182 •
By Udy, Stanley H., Jr.

Abstract

This book is a comparative study of the ways in which work is organized among non-industrial societies in the production of material goods. Two general hypotheses guide the author's work: (1) The structure of any work organization is influenced by both techonological processes and social setting, and (2) The structure of any reward system is influenced by the characteristics of the work organization, the social setting, and the limits imposed by features of the technological processes. Several predictions are presented and all are supported.

Samples

Sample Used Coded Data Comment
Ethnographic Reports

Hypotheses (36)

HypothesisSupported
Type of work is related to complexity in task structure, combined effort, and variability of work loads (23-26)Supported
Type of work is related to whether organization is permanent or temporary and whether it is basic-auxiliary or autonomous (44)Supported
"Construction organizations are relatively more likely to be bureaucratic than are organizations carrying on other processes" (37)Supported
"Organizations carrying on complex processes tend to be bureaucratic; whereas organizations carrying on simple processes tend to be associational" (38)Supported
Type of work is related to the following characteristics: specificity vs. diffuseness, achievement vs. ascription, territorial vs. social recruitment, and managerial or separated proprietorship vs. corporate proprietorship (42-43)Supported
"Temporary organizations tend to be specific, territorially recruited and autonomous" (49)Supported
"Specific organizations tend to be territorially recruited and autonomous" (50)Supported
"Territorially recruited organizations tend to be autonomous" (50)Supported
"Basic auxiliary organizations tend to be permanent, diffuse and socially recruited; [they] tend to involve managerial or separated proprietorship" (50, 51)Supported
"Achievement tends to be emphasized in specific, territorially recruited autonomous organizations" (51)Supported
"Among autonomous organizations, corporate proprietorship is associated with territorial recruitment" (52)Supported
"In bureaucracies, managers are likely not to work [unlike managers in associations] . . . [and] are more likely than associations to distribute rewards to members . . . for participation. . . . Quantity of the reward tends to vary according to organization office in bureaucracies" (39)Supported
"Familial organizations tend to be basic-auxiliary, diffuse and permanent" (60)Supported
"Custodial organizations tend to be autonomous, diffuse and permanent. . . . [They] tend to be bureaucratic" (60, 61)Supported
"Contractual organizations tend to be autonomous, specific, and permanent" (61)Supported
"Voluntary organizations tend to be autonomous, specific, and temporary" (61)Supported
"Contractual and voluntary organizations tend to emphasize achievement" (62)Supported
"Familial and custodial organizations tend to involve managerial or separated proprietorship; contractual and voluntary organizations, corporate proprietorship" (62)Supported
"Tillage, construction, and animal husbandry tend to be carried on by custodial or familial organizations. . . . . Hunting, fishing and collection tend to be carried on by voluntary organizations. . . . If hunting and fishing are not carried on by voluntary organizations they tend to be carried on by custodial organizations" (62-63)Supported
"Custodial and contractual organizations tend to exist only in societies having centralized governments" (64)Supported
"Under conditions of centralized government, hunting and fishing tend to be carried on by custodial, rather than voluntary organizations. . . . Tillage, construction and animal husbandry tend to be carried on by custodial, rather than familial organizations" (64-65)Supported
"Voluntary organization is negatively associated with centralized government. . . . Voluntary organization tends to be absent . . . if custodial organizations are present . . . in the same society" (66)Supported
"Societies with centralized governments tend to practice settled agriculture. . . . Production organizations are characterized by managerial or separated, rather than corporate, proprietorship" (67)Supported
"Custodial organization is more likely to occur in more than one type of process in the same society than is contractual organization" (69)Supported
"Tillage, hunting, construction and manufacturing tend to have balanced compensatory or unbalanced leiturgical reward systems; fishing, collection and animal husbandry tend to have unbalanced compensatory or balanced leiturgical reward systems"fSupported
"In balanced reward systems goods in kind are more likely to be distributed in tillage and construction; produce, in hunting, fishing, and collection" (100)Supported
"Bureaucracies tend to possess balanced reward systems; associations, unbalanced reward systems" (102)Supported
"Voluntary organizations and organizations with basic or auxiliary contractual elements tend to possess balanced compensatory reward systems" (102)Supported
"Familial/reciprocal organizations and custodial corvees tend to be characterized by unbalanced leiturgical reward systems" (103)Supported
"Bolhon type organizations tend to involve unbalanced leiturgical systems relative to palihog types, which are relatively more likely to involve balanced compensatory systems" (103)Supported
"Serfdom, tenancy, and peonage tend toward balanced leiturgical reward systems" (104)Supported
"Familial autonomous organizations tend to be characterized by unbalanced compensatory reward systems" (104)Supported
"Among organizations where rewards are distributed, familial reciprocal forms tend to be characterized by distribution on the basis of gross participation only" (109)Supported
"Rewards based on achievement tend to consist of money; rewards based on other criteria tend to consist of produce and goods in kind" (109)Supported
"In custodial or voluntary organizations with balanced systems produce tends to be used as a distribution item rather than money or goods in kind. In familial organizations with balanced systems money or goods in kind tend to be used as distribution items" (106)Supported
"In balanced systems involving either basic or auxiliary contractual elements in the organization, money tends to be used as a distribution item" (106)Supported
Documents and Hypotheses Filed By: mas  Megan Farrer