Working on the Factory Floor
Authors: JOHN D. STOECKLE
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (1987)

Editorials1 August 1987Working on the Factory FloorJOHN D. STOECKLE, M.D.JOHN D. STOECKLE, M.D.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-107-2-250 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ExcerptMy God, they want to make us employees!When every doctor, or most, wants to care for patients and so hopes to do good in society, what is the matter with being an employee? Some view the salaried job as today's condition of practice, even as the most inviting one; for others the haunting vision is the factory floor—an old if not a futuristic image.As historians of industry have noted (1), the early scientific management of the factory floor (Taylorism) had not only the mission of efficiency for greater profits but the tactics of de-skilling jobs and establishing time-and-motion production...References1. ZUBOFF S. The work ethic and work organization. In: Work Ethic: An Analytical View. Madison, Wisconsin: The Industrial Relations Research Association; 1983. Google Scholar2. CABOT R. What dispensary work should stand for. The Modern Hospital. 1916;7:467-8. Google Scholar3. DAVISWARNER MA. Dispensaries, Their Management and Development: A Book for Administrators, Public Health Workers and All Interested in Better Medical Services for the People. New York: The Macmillan Co; 1918. Google Scholar4. CABOT R. Why should hospitals neglect the care of chronic curable disease in out-patients? St. Paul Med J. 1908; March: 111-20. Google Scholar5. MCKINLAYARCHES JJ. Towards the prolitarianization of physicians. Int J Health Serv. 1935; 15:161-95. CrossrefGoogle Scholar6. HAUG M. The deprofessionalization of everyone? Sociological Focus. 1975;8:197-213. CrossrefGoogle Scholar7. . Human Resource Practices for Implementing Advanced Manufacturing Technology. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press; 1986. Google Scholar8. . People and Organization: Toward a New Era in U.S. Manufacturing, The Need for a National Vision. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1986. Google Scholar9. WALTON R. From control to commitment in the workplace. Harvard Business Review. 1985;63:76-84. Google Scholar10. ROTHSCHILDWHITT JJ. The Cooperative Workplaces: Potentials and Dilemmas of Organizational Democracy and Participation. New York: Cambridge University Press; 1986. Google Scholar This content is PDF only. To continue reading please click on the PDF icon. Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics Cited byJohn D. Stoeckle and the Upstream Vision of Social Determinants in Public HealthThe End of the Golden Age of DoctoringThe Corporate Organization of Hospital Work: Balancing Professional and Administrative ResponsibilitiesJohn D. Stoeckle, MD, Stanley J. Reiser, MD, PhDAn Experimental Ward: Improving Care and LearningTeaching Medicine as a Human Experience: A Patient-Doctor Relationship Course for Faculty and First-Year Medical StudentsWilliam T. Branch, MD, Ronald A. Arky, MD, Beverly Woo, MD, John D. Stoeckle, MD, Donald B. Levy, MD, William C. Taylor, MDBringing social structure back into clinical decision makingMeaningful experiences in medicine 1 August 1987Volume 107, Issue 2Page: 250-251KeywordsPatientsVision Issue Published: 1 August 1987 PDF downloadLoading ...