The Thought of WorkJohn W. Budd

gCenter for Human Resources and Labor Studies

Carlson School of ManagementUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTAUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

A presentation to the Women & Work Research Group University of Sydney Business Schooly y y

17 February 2012

IntroductionIntroduction• My research has advocated the y

explicit use of frames of reference that recognize assumptions and g pvalues regarding the objectives and operation of the employment p p yrelationship• John W. Budd, Employment with a Human Face: Balancing Efficiency, Equity, and

Voice (Cornell University Press, 2004).• Stephen F. Befort and John W. Budd, Invisible Hands, Invisible Objectives:

Bringing Workplace Law and Public Policy Into Focus (Stanford University Press,

• But what about how we conceptualize work?

g g p y ( y ,2009).

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p• Often overlooked, unstated, and/or narrow

IntroductionIntroduction• My starting point: How do thinkers think about work?

• Not occupations, job quality, working conditions, deskilling, etc.des g, e c.

• But fundamentally thinking about what work isWh t it l ? Wh t d it t ?• What are its roles? What does it mean to us?

• Individually • Societally • How do we conceptualize or model work?

• And why is this so important?• And why is this so important?

• Result: John W. Budd, The Thought of

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Work (Cornell University Press, 2011)

The Broad Scope of WorkThe Broad Scope of WorkR tiWhat is Remuneration

Paid Unpaid

What is work?

Outside the Home /

Wage and salaried jobsCasual employment

VolunteeringCivic servicety Home /

HouseholdCasual employment

Self employmentCivic service

Slavery

Act

ivit

Within the Home /

Household-based farmingFamily-run businesses

Subsistence farmingHouseworkhe

re o

f

Home / Household

yHome-based contract work

(putting out system)Elder and child care

Slavery

Sph

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The Broad Scope of WorkThe Broad Scope of Work• Work touches many aspects of life so it is studied byWork touches many aspects of life, so it is studied by

numerous disciplines, such as• Anthropology • Law• Anthropology• Archaeology• Economics

• Law• Org. Behavior• Philosophy• Economics

• Geography• History

• Philosophy • Political Science• Psychology• History

• Human Resources• Industrial Relations

• Psychology• Sociology• Theology• Industrial Relations • Theology

• But the academic division of labor tends to create non-

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competing, balkanized conceptualizations of work

The Broad Scope of WorkThe Broad Scope of Work• Work touches many aspects of life so it is studied byWork touches many aspects of life, so it is studied by

numerous disciplines, such as• Anthropology • LawObj i b id h d i di i i f• Anthropology• Archaeology• Economics

• Law• Org. Behavior• Philosophy

Objective: bridge the academic division of labor to promote a deeper, multidisciplinary

d di f k b i• Economics• Geography• History

• Philosophy • Political Science• Psychology

understanding of work by extracting, integrating, and synthesizing the rich

i ll l i f k f d• History• Human Resources• Industrial Relations

• Psychology• Sociology• Theology

intellectual conceptions of work found across the humanities and the social and behavioral

i• Industrial Relations • Theology

• But the academic division of labor tends to create non-sciences

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competing, balkanized conceptualizations of work

The Many Faces of WorkThe Many Faces of Work

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The Many Faces of WorkThe Many Faces of Work

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Conceptualizing WorkConceptualizing Work• Using the disciplinary theorizing on work found in the

humanities and social and behavioral sciences1. a Curse2 F d

humanities and social and behavioral sciences… • Work as

Each Chapter2. Freedom3. a Commodity

Each Chapter• History of the idea • Key meanings

4. Occupational Citizenship5. Disutility

Key meanings• Implications

• Research6. Personal Fulfillment7. a Social Relation

• Practice• Limitations

8. Caring for Others9. Identity

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y10. Service

Conceptualizing WorkConceptualizing Work• These conceptualizations do not simply describe

alternative perspectives on work• They actively structure our understandings of and our y y g

experiences with work by providing frames of references, norms, values, and attitudes toward work , , ,that actors translate into specific practices

Research questions

Conceptualizations

Research questionsHR practices

Public policiesConceptualizations of work

Public policiesJudicial interpretations

Social approval

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Social approvalEconomic resources

Conceptualizing WorkConceptualizing Work• Work as

1. a Curse2. Freedom3. a Commodity 4. Occupational Citizenship

Remainder of my presentation• Describe each of the 10

t li tip p5. Disutility6. Personal Fulfillment

conceptualizations• Consider some implications

• Research6. Personal Fulfillment7. a Social Relation 8 Caring for Others

• Research • Private and public

policies8. Caring for Others9. Identity 10 Service

po c es

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10. Service

Work as a CurseWork as a Curse• Work as an unquestioned burden necessary for human

i l i t f th i l dsurvival or maintenance of the social order• A god’s curse such as God’s curse of Adam and Eve

• Hard work as penitential activity to seek redemption

• The curse of those at the lower levels of the natural social hierarchy• Aristotle’s natural slaves• Today’s “marginal” workersAccept

• Polluted castesy g

• Take this Job and Shove It• Work expected to be lousy and without deep meaning^

Accept

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Work expected to be lousy and without deep meaning so little need for questioning, reform, etc.

Work as a CurseWork as a Curse

Andy Capp (May 31, 2007)

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Work as FreedomWork as Freedom• Freedom: “the absence of necessity, coercion, or

constraint in choice or action” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

1. Work as the freedom to create• Imposing culture on nature (Arendt’s Homo faber)

2 Work as freedom from others2. Work as freedom from others• Lockean property rights / political liberalism• Freedom to contract / economic liberalism

• Work creates the independence needed for being seen as a citizen and as a contributing member of society

• But perhaps time to re-think the Western view of

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p pdominating / mastering nature

Work as a Commodity• Rise of economic liberalism and industrial capitalism

Work as a Commodity

leads to a society of individual “traders”• What’s being traded? work effort

• So work becomes seen as a commodity:• An individual’s capacity to work—that is theirAn individual s capacity to work that is, their

physical and mental capabilities, or what Marx called “labor power”—is thought of as an abstract quantity p g q ythat can be bought and sold

• Work is nothing more than a generic input into aWork is nothing more than a generic input into a production function, and employers and workers buy and sell generic units of this commodity called work

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g y(or labor power)

Work as Occupational CitizenshipOccupational Citizenship• Labor is not a commodity; rather, workers are human

beings who are members of communities and societies • To see workers as citizens is to decommodify them

and give them a status as more than just factors of production or individuals seeking personal fulfillment or identities

• Occupational citizenship: the achievement of rights to which employees are entitled because of membership in a human community, and which are attained by i i i l h h k finstitutional rather than market forces

• Work as an activity pursued by human members of a i i l d i i h d d d

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community entitled to certain rights and standards

Work as DisutilityWork as Disutility• Why do we work?

• When work is a commodity, we work in order to earn money

• In mainstream economic thought, individuals maximize a utility function increasing in goods, services, anda utility function increasing in goods, services, and leisure• Work is important for providing these goods and• Work is important for providing these goods and

services (directly or indirectly)B k i lf i d d ili• But work itself is assumed to reduce utility• Work is strenuous and painful

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• Work conflicts with pleasurable leisure

Work as DisutilityWork as Disutility• So work is disutility: a lousy activity tolerated only to y y y y

earn income to buy goods, services, and leisure that provide pleasurep p• Need extrinsic rewards to compensate for effort

H h H ibl (J 3 2009)Hagar the Horrible (June 3, 2009)

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Work as Personal Fulfillment• But what about a worker’s psychological well-being?

Work as Personal Fulfillmentp y g g

• Contrary to English language usage, workers are not just “hands” (farmhand factory hand deckhands (“alljust hands (farmhand, factory hand, deckhands ( all hands on deck”), kitchen hands, etc.)

Hagar the Horrible (February 10, 2011)

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Work as Personal FulfillmentWork as Personal Fulfillment• Work as physical and psychological functioning that

(ideally) satisfies individual needs• Inner joy of serving God (various theologies)e joy o se v g God (va ous eo og es)• Esteem and self-actualization after physiological and

safety needs are fulfilled (Maslow)safety needs are fulfilled (Maslow)• Achievement, competence, challenge, and personal

th (H b )growth (Herzberg)• Job satisfaction

• Work as mental stimuli—an activity that arouses cognitive and affective (emotional/attitudinal)

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g ( )functioning

Work as Personal Fulfillment• Note: Work as Personal Fulfillment is an important, but

Work as Personal Fulfillment

often unstated, intellectual foundation of human resource management (HRM)• Goal of HRM: improve individual and organizational

performance by recognizing the human factorp y g ginherent in employees • Design work that provides satisfaction and intrinsic• Design work that provides satisfaction and intrinsic

rewards (fulfillment)U t l th t id tif i di id l h l i l• Use tools that identify individual psychological differences (e.g., ability or personality) to select the i ht l f th i ht j b

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right employees for the right jobs

Work as a Social RelationWork as a Social Relation• Individuals do not work in isolation; they interact within

networks of bosses, co-workers, customers, and others

• Work does not occur in a vacuum; it occurs within aWork does not occur in a vacuum; it occurs within a social structure of social institutions (social norms, conventions rules and procedures) and power relationsconventions, rules, and procedures) and power relations

• Work is therefore also theorized as a social relation

• Human interaction experienced in and shaped by networks, social institutions, and power relations, , p

• A social exchange constrained by social norms, and governed by societally defined rights to resources

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governed by societally-defined rights to resources

Work as a Social RelationWork as a Social Relation

Zits (May 23, 2005)

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Work as CaringWork as Caring

A popular symbol forA popular symbol for Danish women fighting for equal pay in the early q p y y1970s, as displayed on a Female Workers C f d i ’ l iConfederation’s plate in the Workers Museum, CopenhagenCopenhagen

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Work as CaringWork as Caring• Feminist scholarship: Unpaid housework and other

i i i i h d d icaring activities that do not produce economic commodities is real work• Work as caring: the physical, cognitive, and emotional

effort required to attend to and maintain others • Reveals gendered work experiences

• Working women frequently bear a disproportionate of Wo g wo e eque t y bea a d sp opo t o ate othe burdens of household work

• Working women confront gendered expectationsWorking women confront gendered expectations about appropriate occupations, pay, and work behaviors that are frequently rooted in idealized

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behaviors that are frequently rooted in idealized visions of caring, domesticity, and femininity

Work as IdentityWork as Identity• Work as something that helps make you sense of who

you are and where you stand in the social structure• Not just a source of economic or psychological utility,

but a source of psychological and social meaning• Derived from the role of work at various levels

• Personal identity: descriptors related to one’s work • Social identity: occupation, employer, and other group y p , p y , g p

associations• Interactionist identity: role identities negotiated withInteractionist identity: role identities negotiated with

society • Human-kind identity: work as the way humans are a

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Human kind identity: work as the way humans are a “conscious species being” (Marx)

Work as ServiceWork as Service• Serving not yourself or your immediate family but...

• God’s Kingdom• Work as co-creation• Work as a calling

• The household enterpriseThe household enterprise• East Asian Confucian norms on the importance of

the multigenerational familythe multigenerational family• The community

• Volunteering and civic service• The nation

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• Military and economic nationalism

Work as ServiceWork as Service

D YDong Yong, selling himself

b hito bury his father, as an

l fexemplar of filial piety

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Work as ServiceWork as Service

Admiral Nelson’s HMSAdmiral Nelson s HMS Victory: “England expects that every man will do his duty.”every man will do his duty.

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Conceptualizing WorkConceptualizing Work

1 CW k 1. a Curse2. Freedom3 C di

• Work as

3. a Commodity 4. Occupational Citizenship5 Di tilit5. Disutility6. Personal Fulfillment7 S i l R l ti7. a Social Relation 8. Caring for Others9 Id tit9. Identity 10. Service

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Conceptualizing WorkConceptualizing Work• Each conceptualization represents an important way of

thinking abo t ork ithin one or more academicthinking about work within one or more academic disciplines or philosophical/theological traditions

• Each forms a foundation for a certain paradigmatic• Each forms a foundation for a certain paradigmatic approach to analyzing and designing work, work-related institutions and practices and related issuesinstitutions and practices, and related issues

• Thus, many uses of this framework• Deepen our understanding of work and work-related• Deepen our understanding of work, and work-related

practices and institutions • Broaden perspectives on HR issues (e g motivation)Broaden perspectives on HR issues (e.g., motivation)• Improve cross-disciplinary academic discourse• Reveal work’s fundamental importance for individuals

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• Reveal work s fundamental importance for individuals and societies

ImplicationsImplications• Important Note: these conceptualizations do not simply

describe alternative perspectives on work• They actively structure our understandings of and our y y g

experiences with work by providing frames of references, norms, values, and attitudes toward work , , ,that actors translate into specific practices

Research questions

Conceptualizations

Research questionsHR practices

Public policiesConceptualizations of work

Public policiesJudicial interpretations

Social approval

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Social approvalEconomic resources

Research ImplicationsResearch ImplicationsCommodity

Occupational Citizenship The ideas about work held by CitizenshipDisutility

different groups of scholars affect their research by making

Personal Fulfillment

certain issues interesting, rendering other issues

Social Relation

unimportant, and guiding the analyses

Caring For Others

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Identity

Research ImplicationsResearch ImplicationsCommodity Economists analyze labor demand and labor supply

b modeling ho rs of ork as an optimi ation probby modeling hours of work as an optimization prob.Occupational Citizenship

Rejecting primacy of markets, ER scholars analyze the diverse range of institutions that govern workCitizenship the diverse range of institutions that govern work

Disutility Personnel economics focuses on the use of extrinsic incentives (pay for performance, tournaments, etc.)(p y p , , )

Personal Fulfillment

I-O/OB scholars emphasize cognitive and affective mental processes (job satisfaction, justice, mood)

Social Relation

Sociologists analyze norms and power structures at work (e.g., labor process theory)

Caring For Others

Feminist scholars analyze the sexual division of labor, gendered work issues, and the human body

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Identity Postmodernists analyze how discursive practices shape work-related subjective identities

Practical Implications IPractical Implications I• By providing the intellectual foundation for designing

particular employment practices, ideas about work also shape how individuals experience work in practice

• Alternative conceptualizations of work yield contrasting views about conflict and consent in the employment p yrelationship

• What are the perceived barriers to obtaining full• What are the perceived barriers to obtaining full work effort from employees?Wh t ti ti l t t i l t• What motivational strategies can employers use to obtain higher levels of employee engagement and ff t?

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effort?

Practical Implications IPractical Implications IBarriers to Implications for Work

Work as… Full Work Effortp f

MotivationA Curse Work is painful, Preach acceptance

monotonous, etc.Disutility Work is painful; leisure is Provide financial

preferable incentivesPersonal Work is stressful and Structure work to be Fulfillment unfulfilling intrinsically rewardingFreedom Work is regimented, Allow for creativity

constrained, and scriptedOccupational

i i hiWork lacks minimum

d d d iGuarantee minimum

d d d i

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Citizenship standards and voice standards and voice

Practical Implications IPractical Implications IBarriers to Implications for Work

Work as…Barriers to Full Work Effort

Implications for Work Motivation

A Social Work is structured to Structure work toA Social Relation

Work is structured to serve the interests of the powerful

Structure work to force compliance; create norms thatpowerful create norms that disguise inequalities and that obligate effort

Caring For Others

Work is structured in ways that devalue caring

Structure work to reduce discrimination

for others and that serve the interests of men

and conflicts with other spheres of h lif

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human life

Practical Implications IPractical Implications IBarriers to Implications for Work

Work as…a ie s to

Full Work Effortmplications fo Wo k

Motivation

Identity Work creates a negative Structure work toIdentity Work creates a negative or contradictory sense of self

Structure work to create a desirable sense of self

Service Work is viewed in ways that devalue serving

Structure work to value and provide

others rather than commodity production

opportunities for serving others

• More generally, the conceptualizations provide diverse perspectives on, and thus deeper understanding, of human

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pe spec ves o , a d us deepe u de s a d g, o u aresource management

Practical Implications IIPractical Implications II

Each of the conceptualizations of work

also has important implications for how we think about worker well-

being and thus employment regulation

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Practical Implications IIPractical Implications IIA Curse Work expected to be lousy and without deep meaning Cu se Wo e pec ed o be ousy d w ou deep e g

so little need for / justification for employment regulation.

Freedom Primacy of individual freedom means that freedom to contract and freedom to quit are key regulatory

Al i f i kconcerns. Also, importance of creative work.Commodity Efficient allocation of labor is foremost concern.

P li i th t t l b bilit k IPolicies that promote labor mobility are key. Ignores unpaid and other forms of non-commoditized work.

Occupational Employment regulation can be a key method forOccupational Citizenship

Employment regulation can be a key method for supporting the achievement of citizenship rights, including minimum labor standards, safety standards,

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including minimum labor standards, safety standards, and protections for collective employee voice.

Practical Implications IIPractical Implications IIDisutility Work is expected to be lousy so minimal need forDisutility Work is expected to be lousy so minimal need for

regulation. Work is only important for producing income so this is the focus of regulatory concern, butincome so this is the focus of regulatory concern, but need to guard against creating disincentives to work.

Personal Work should be psychologically rewarding, but Fulfillment

p y g y g,subjective, unitarist, and collective assumptions favor managerialism over shared governance.

Social Relation

Socially-created institutions and power structures are recognized as important elements of work, so

l t l ti h ld dd ( d lemployment regulation should address (and also reflect) these issues of institutions and power.

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Practical Implications IIPractical Implications IIC i F R i diti d f f i fCaring For Others

Recognizes non-commoditized forms of caring for others as work, and draws attention to the need to include these forms of work in conversations aboutinclude these forms of work in conversations about employment regulation.

Identity Sees the deep importance of work for individuals, and y S p p ,thereby provides a basis for substantive employment regulation.

Service Recognizes non-commoditized forms of serving for others as work, and draws attention to the need to i l d h f f k i i binclude these forms of work in conversations about employment regulation.

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Ideas About Work Matter• Conceptualizations of work shape research, practice,

and policy agendas• Influence how we understand work…and how we

experience it• But the role of these ideas is frequently limiting

• Researchers focus on questions rooted in one or two ways of thinking about worky g

• Practitioners design employment practices based on a focused conceptualization of workp• Especially work as disutility or personal

fulfillment

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• Need to embrace diverse conceptualizations of work

Conclusion• Goal is to think fundamentally about what work is

• How do we conceptualize work?• Research and practice would benefit from recognizingResearch and practice would benefit from recognizing

this complexity by incorporating of a broader range of ideas about work into a multidisciplinary approachideas about work into a multidisciplinary approach• And therefore into the resulting theories and policies

• The ten conceptualizations reinforce the deep importance• The ten conceptualizations reinforce the deep importance of work for the human experience

W k i t i t t t t k f• Work is too important to take for granted, but too complex to be

d d i l t li ti44

reduced a single conceptualization

Conceptualizing WorkConceptualizing WorkA Curse An unquestioned burden necessary for human

survival or maintenance of the social order.

Freedom A way to achieve independence from nature orFreedom A way to achieve independence from nature or other humans, and to express human creativity.

A C dit A b t t tit f d ti ff t th t hA Commodity An abstract quantity of productive effort that has tradable economic value.

Occupational Citizenship

An activity pursued by human members of a community entitled to certain rights.

Disutility A lousy activity tolerated to obtain goods and services that provide pleasure.

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Conceptualizing WorkConceptualizing WorkPersonal Physical and psychological functioning that Fulfillment (ideally) satisfies individual needs.

A Social Human interaction embedded in social normsA Social Relation

Human interaction embedded in social norms, institutions, and power structures.

Caring for Others

The physical, cognitive, and emotional effort required to attend to and maintain others.

Identity A method for understanding who you are and where you stand in the social structure.

Service The devotion of effort to others, such as God, household, community, or country.

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household, community, or country.

Further ReadingFurther Reading

John W. Budd, The Thought of Work(Ithaca, NY: Cornell (University Press, 2011).

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Contact InformationContact Information

John W. BuddDepartment of Work and Organizationsp g

Center for Human Resources and Labor Studies3 300 Carlson School of Management3-300 Carlson School of Management

University of Minnesota321 19th Avenue South

Minneapolis Minnesota 55455-0438Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455 0438jbudd@umn.edu

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