The New Ruthless Economy: Work and Power in the Digital Age at Dominant Systems Book Store

This is a provocative call for the rehumanization of business and society, revolting against the impact of reengineering and massive information technology systems. Journalist Head rationally gathers the evidence and presents the case against mass production: from 1990 to 2003, inflation-adjusted wages and benefits of American workers stagnated, rising less than 1 percent yearly on average. It all started, Head claims, with Frederick Taylor's Principles of Scientific Management (1911), which advocated use of engineering methods to improve productivity. Change continued with Michael Hammer's promotion of streamlining the way service industries (e.g., call centers and modern medicine) do business, accompanied by the installation of huge enterprise resource planning systems. The results? Poor to nonexistent, as the doctor-patient consultation relationship fades, as supervisors micromanage every minute of employees' work, and as once-valued workplace skills and specialties are lost. A dramatic presentation that, unfortunately, includes few specific recommendations for change. Barbara Jacobs
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Customer Reviews & Comments
The New Ruthless Economy by Simon Head is a somber, thought provoking examination of how the American workforce has been dehumanized over the past decade. The widespread use of Information Technology in business was predicted to decentralize decision-making and empower employees through greater team efficiency. The reality of IT is an aggressive return to Taylorism and assembly-line routine and controls that migrated from manufacturing to service industries. During the 1990?s, wages of top management went through the roof but the average American worker realized little, if any, increase at all. The New Ruthless Economy explores contributing factors to the inequality of wages, loss of job security and weakened bargaining power in the American workforce. Simon Head drew his conclusions based upon ten years of research across industry lines and geographic boundaries. He discovered that in the name of efficiency, businesses have established highly structured rules, computerized their processes and then implemented technology to ensure these rules were strictly adhered to al? George Orwell. The author provides concrete examples ranging from software implemented by HMOs that determine a patient?s length of care and treatment to the computer scripting used in call centers for wide-range solicitation. Use of these systems once again separates decision-making from the worker. It devalues an employee?s education, training and experience while subjecting them to excessively close supervision and monitoring. Head also points to the ?lean production? and ?ERP? (enterprise resource planning) practices that prompted wholesale layoffs in the early to mid 1990?s. Not only did these systems reduce the skill levels of employees but they also significantly increased the level of worker scrutinization. Head explores the relationship between Information Technology and Scientific Management and concludes his book with a discussion of ?the economics of unfairness? where both the National Labor Review Board and employee privacy rights take major hits at the waterline. The New Ruthless Economy takes a look backward and forward where the view for American labor is equally disappointing.

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