Surveillance in 21st Century

Surveillance in the 21st century

• Hawthorne Effect
• Increased work performance
• Disgruntlement and dissatisfaction of employees
• Rewards are more effective for workplace efficiency
• Surveillance, as discussed earlier, is a new strategy being employed in work places in order to increase the managerial grasp on employees and also increase their work efficiency. This phenomenon is also noticed in studies when the subjects are aware that they are being observed, they tend to alter the way they act, it’s known as the Hawthorne effect. However, several studies show that rewarding, rather than putting employees under surveillance, is a much better way to increase work efficiency. Employees can also become disgruntled and dissatisfied with their work if their activities are being monitored all the time. And sometimes mature employees may not be able to accommodate this new change.

Management in the 21st century

• Scientific management
• Efficiency is integral
• Managers replaced by robots?

Scientific management is a theory of management that analyzes and synthesizes workflows. Its main objective is improving economic efficiency, especially labor productivity. So how important is management in the 21st century? We have increased customer demands, and to keep up with them very high efficiency is required. Often it requires adapting to new challenges in the workplace, and this is achieved by managers who analyse the situation to synthesise new suitable solutions. Management has worked in the past, and we learn from experiences, so it is likely we will still require management in the 21st century. There has also been a lot of discussion about robots replacing managers in the 21st century, but ultimately, even they have to be managed by a person. So, as of now, management is still relevant in this era.

Conclusion

“...increased managerial ability to monitor employee performance and intensified CSR workloads. It also indicates that, while many employees complied with managerial directives, other employee responses continued to indicate considerable discontent about work conditions.”-Diane van den Broek

Planning organisising leading controlling

Managers regulate the workplace by planning, organising leading and controlling. This quote by Dianne van den Broek herself summarises the conclusions of the discussed article quite well. While surveillance does increase workplace performance, it could lead to employee dissatisfaction.