CH 11 - Assignment
CH 11 - Assignment
CH 11 - Assignment
The work floor at EBS resembles an enormous classroom in the throes of exam period. Desks point toward the front, where a manager keeps watch from a raised platform. Other supervisors are positioned toward the back of the room. If you want to watch someone, Edens explains, its easier from behind because they dont know youre watching. Theres also a black globe hanging from the ceiling, in which cameras are positioned. At EBS, workers handle thousands of dollars in checks and cash. Thats one reasons, Edens says, for the cameras. It can help deter would-be thieves. But Edens concedes that tight observation also helps EBS monitor productivity and weed out workers who dont keep up. There are multiple uses, Edens says of surveillance. Edens is unapologetic about his control system, including the rule that forbids all talk unrelated to the completion of each task. Im not paying people to chat. Im paying them to open envelopes, he says. Edens offers considerable insight into his philosophy of management when he says, We dont ask these people to think the machines think for them. They dont have to make decisions.