Factory work can be boring and monotonous. Employees must work at the pace of the assembly line or machine, with output levels closely prescribed and monitored by management. It is not surprising that factory workers will try anything to break the boredom and relentless grind of the controlled activity in a factory. In a particular factory a large paint-spraying machine was approximately 100 metres long and required a team of 24 people to keep it running. There were only 18 workstations on the machine, but the staffing plan was that six people would float between jobs, thereby allowing everyone to take a break whilst keeping the machine running. In practice four people would be in the mess room for their entire shift running a card syndicate. Everyone else in the work team would take shorter breaks and simply drop in and out of the card game as their breaks allowed. A different team of four people would be informally 'rostered' each day so that over a period everyone had the total break time allowed by the company. The team achieved their allowed breaks in a way not intended (or approved) by management. Gambling was not allowed by the company either, but this did not bother the workers. Supervisors also turned a blind eye to the process as long as the work was completed and productivity was at acceptable levels.

1. Individually, read the Factory paint shop case, which we already met in Chapter 10, and answer the questions below:

(a) As an existing employee, imagine that you had been transferred to a job on the machine described. Would you be happy to go along with the break system described? What would you do if you were not a card player?

(b) What would you do if you were a new employee to the company who had been allocated to work on that machine?

(c) If you were an existing group member, and a new member had been transferred into your unit, and was reluctant to participate in the group’s informal work arrangements described in the case, how might your group persuade them?

(d) Should management ignore such adjustments to official policy and intentions? What are the advantages and disadvantages of doing so?

(e) Have you ever been in a job when something similar has occurred?

2. Form into groups of 3 to 5 members and nominate a spokesperson.

3. Discuss your individual answers to the questions and prepare a group response.

4. Your spokesperson will report back to the class as a whole, as directed by your instructor.