Work better, live better : motivation, labor, and management ideology / David Gray.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gray, David (Ph. D. in American Studies), author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Management--United States--Psychological aspects--History.

Management.

Labor--United States--Psychological aspects--History.

Labor.

Success in business--United States--History.

Success in business.

Psychology, Industrial--United States--History.

Psychology, Industrial.

Employee motivation--United States--History.

Employee motivation.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvii, 340 pages) : illustrations ;

Place of Publication:

Amherst, Massachusetts : University of Massachusetts Press, [2020]

Summary:

"In the United States, a strong work ethic has long been upheld as a necessity, and tributes to motivation abound-from the motivational posters that line the walls of the workplace to the self-help gurus who draw in millions of viewers online. Americans are repeatedly told they can achieve financial success and personal well-being by adopting a motivated attitude toward work. But where did this obsession come from? And whose interests does it serve? Work Better, Live Better traces the rise of motivational rhetoric in the workplace across the expanse of two world wars, the Great Depression, and the Cold War. Beginning in the early twentieth century, managers recognized that force and coercion-the traditional tools of workplace discipline-inflamed industrial tensions, so they sought more subtle means of enlisting workers' cooperation. David Gray demonstrates how this "motivational project" became a highly orchestrated affair as managers and their allies deployed films, posters, and other media, and drew on the ideas of industrial psychologists and advertising specialists to advance their quests for power at the expense of worker and union interests"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Motivation, Management, and Industrial Modernity

Selling Work's Rewards: Psychological Motivation and Quests to Shape Minds and Behaviors in the Workplace

Contests over Motivation and Work in the Great Depression

The War over Motivation: Prosperity Rhetoric and the Remaking of Work's Rewards during World War II

Selling Workers on their Jobs: Consumption-Based Motivation and Management Quests for Control in the Postwar Era

Selling the American Way of Work: Cold War Consensus Ideology and the New Hucksters of Motivation

Epilogue: Motivation in the Neoliberal Age.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-62534-533-X

OCLC:

1228643740