I have been stimulated by Ruth's sharing with us (albeit because it was an
irresistible bargain at Daedalus!) of the book on what WORK is all about.
I've been thinking (in the back of my mind) what courses that sort of thing
might be useful in (business and society?). I just got the table of
contents from Blackwell for Business and Society Review, Volume 106 : Issue
1, and see that it has a book review of another such book--Joanne B.
Ciulla's The Working Life: The Promise and Betrayal of Modern Work (reviewed
by Carolyn Magid). I went to Amazon and found an overview of the book by S.
Ketchum :
"Work, for most of us, is something we do, not something we think about. We
may wonder whether our work is sufficiently stimulating, whether it brings
in enough money, or whether it makes a difference in the grand scheme of
things, but we don't often question what, in fact, work really is, and why
we work in the first place. In The Working Life, Joanne Ciulla asks these
critical questions and others, taking a philosophical, sociological, and
practical look at the nature of work and its role in our lives today.
As Ciulla points out, we live in a work-oriented society where, even though
we have more freedom and flexibility than ever and more tools to increase
convenience and efficiency, our work determines our lives. We have "gone
beyond the work ethic," she states, to a point where our jobs have become
our primary source of identity. To understand this, Ciulla looks at the
values we reflect in our choice of jobs and professions, the attitudes we
express in our language for work, and the sociohistorical journey that work
has taken from cursed necessity to calling. She follows the path of work in
our recent past, from unregulated labor and slavery, through unionism, to
the rise of the all-encompassing corporation and today's blurred lines
between private and public lives. In the final section, Ciulla investigates
the role that work plays in our understanding and use of time and our search
for meaning.
Now teaching courses on ethics, leadership, and critical thinking at
Virginia's University of Richmond, Ciulla has examined and experienced the
nature of work from both sides of the managerial divide. After supporting
herself through the first nine years of an academic career with bar and
restaurant work, she went on to study and teach business ethics at Harvard
and Wharton. These varied experiences give the book a balanced and sensitive
tone, adding credibility to her insights. She supports and refines her ideas
about work with the comments of philosophers, writers, sociologists,
economists, management theorists, and even the narratives of popular
television shows. Her sources range from Aristotle and the ancient
storyteller Aesop to the early-20th-century time-study engineer Frederick
Winslow Taylor, the comic strip "Dilbert," and modern-day business gurus.
The diversity of perspectives is inspiring and helps--together with Ciulla's
own interpretations and clear, precise prose--create a thought-provoking and
stimulating look at the nature of work."
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0609807374/qid=992088139/sr=1-5/ref=s
c_b_5/104-1098290-9523963