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Today, the sense of anomie – alienation, disconnectedness – at Apple is major. The difference between the old Apple, which was crazy, and the new Apple is anomie. People are alienated. Apple still gets the bright young people. They come into Apple, and instead of getting all fired up about something, they go through one or two reorgs and get disorientated. I don't hear people who are really happy to be at Apple any more. They wonder why they are there, because they've had two bosses in six months, and their job has changed twice. It's easy to mix up groups and end up not knowing anyone. That's a real problem.

Taks 6. Talking Point 2

? Dwell on criticism of Apple’s policy, say if you agree with this policy or disagree. Explain why.

? Which half-sentence near the beginning of Cringely's account summarizes his argument?

? Summarise in your own words the negative consequences (according to Cringely) of Apple's regular reorganisations. Consult Speaking References p. 126–130.

Task 7. Vocabulary 1

Multiple choice. Choose between two options a) and b) the meaning of the words and phrase according to their use in the text above.

1. Overnight:

a) between midnight and 6 a.m. b) suddenly, from one day to the next

2. demolished:

a) reorganised b) wholly destroyed

3. severely understaffed:

a) very low down in the hierarchy b) with many too few workers

4. alienated:

a) feeling that you don’t belong b) feeling like a foreigner

Task 8. Discussion 1

Work in groups of three, consult Speaking References p. 126–130 and discuss the following issues:

? If you are already working: according to what you have read in this unit, would you say that your organisation is adequately structured, and that your job is correctly defined?

? If you are still studying: explain what kind of job you hope to get, and in what kind of organisational structure, and why?

? After reading Cringely, how do you think businesses should deal with change? Should structures be nearly permanent? Or should people be moved around frequently if projects and products are changing rapidly? How can we balance the necessity for change with the personal need for stability?

Here is the structure of a company, the City Petrol Service (Yerevan, Armenia). While preparing for the discussion, think of a structure in your real or potential company.

The example is taken from the Internet: www.cps.am/en/company-structure/1

Figure 3

President: Ashot Salazaryan

Vice-President: Ara Hovhannisyan

Chief Accountant: Svetlana Muradyan

Task 9. Reading 3

Getting started

? Before reading the text, discuss in small groups what you know about delayering or downsizing in the companies.

? What are the reasons of delayering?

? Who usually suffers more from delayering – directors, middle management or workforce?

? Read the text and consult Vocabulary p. 144–145.

HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURES AND SPAN OF CONTROL DELAYERING THE ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE

Figure 4

Figure 4 represents the situation of the late 1990s and 2010s with the advent of delayering or downsizing.

1. DIRECTORS

2. SENIOR/MIDDLE (combined functions; removal of several layers)

3. JUNIOR/SUPERVISORY (combined functions; removal of several layers)

4. WORKFORCE (reduced drastically with technology replacing labour in 1980s)

The late 1980s and early 1990s saw a substantial increase in the use of capital to replace labour (blue-collar workers) in the assembly line production process. Partly this was to take advantages of the latest technological developments, first used widely by Japanese industry, and partly to effect operational cost savings. The consequence of this was a reduction in the demand for unskilled labour across Europe and rising unemployment as remaining demand was for semi-skilled and skilled labour.

With the impact of the recession of the early 2000s and the major increase in competition from low-cost cheap-labour countries of the Pacific Rim, especially PR China, further cost savings were needed. This time white-collar workers or management were most affected by redundancies. Whole layers of management, junior, middle and senior, were removed from the organisational structure. This had the effect of creating businesses whose structure was shorter and squatter, giving much wider spans of control. It is argued that this gives more power to employees at the bottom of the organisational structure and creates a hierarchical structure. However, it also has the impact of increasing the workload of remaining staff significantly and causing increased stress. Moreover, delayering also has the negative effect of undermining staff loyalty and making staff retention more difficult, particularly in times of economic boom.

It is interesting that in the 1960s forecasters predicted a leisure age for the 2000s where people would only work 3 days per week for the same income. In reality those with leisure are the increasing numbers of unemployed who don't want it, while those in full-time work (themselves a diminishing proportion of the total labour force) are working harder than ever before. The question which must be asked about this widespread downsizing is whether companies will be able to sustain this if and when full economic recovery were to occur with the attendant increased demand for labour. Certainly the widespread use of computers, fax machines and other electronic devices has boosted productivity substantially, in the same way that the introduction of automation did for production line workers in the 2000s. This suggests that certainly in the medium term delayered structures are sustainable. This is reinforced by the increased use by businesses of contracting out work, e.g. reprographics, Information Technology services to agencies, or employing workers either on short-term contracts for specific tasks or part-time, so that when there is the need labour can easily be shed. This obvious substantial saving of overhead costs helps significantly to contribute to corporate profitability, although EU social policy has recently emphasised the rights of part-time workers, imposing extra costs on producers.

Task 10. Vocabulary 2

A. There are many different positions in companies and organisations. Here are some terms that are related to positions and employees. Explain the terms in your own words:

B. Fill in the blanks in the sentences using the words from the box:

employment employee employer employed unemployed unemployment employ

1. The firm has over 500 ______.

2. How many people does the company ________?

3. Future accountants don’t have problems with finding ________.

4. GM is one of the biggest ________ in the world.