This case study looks at rationality and the response from the point of view of a university student working in a fast-food restaurant near the university campus and concerned about how the workers, including himself, were treated.

The student observed that the workers would steal food, make obscene statements about the boss behind his back, and complain about the low pay. The student argued that the work should be made more challenging and the indifferent management more democratic. He was asked why he thought that management was unresponsive to such suggestions. He considered the possibility that management was cruel and interested only in making a profit. He was then asked why employees would permit management to treat them in such a fashion—could they not simply quit their jobs? The student replied that the workers needed the money and that jobs were hard to obtain. It was precisely because there was an almost limitless pool of students looking for part-time employment that the operation was able to disregard the feelings of the workers. Because there were many who wanted work, the power of the individual was severely limited.

There is, then, a rationale to explain management’s position: it was to be found in the organization’s context, in the environment, in this case.

Questions

1. Is a plentiful supply of cheap labour a reasonable rationale explaining why managers should be indifferent to workers’ views of the workplace?

2. What power do workers have to challenge these work conditions? What power do managers have?