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R. Larry Reynolds: Boise State University, Boise, Idaho, USA
Chuck Skoro: Boise State University, Boise, Idaho, USA
Introduction
Change in both the former socialist bloc countries and western industrial systems seems to be pervasive and occurring at an increasing rate. One common element of this ongoing change is a move towards increasing reliance on exchange mechanisms. In the former socialist societies there has arisen a market perspective. In the western industrial societies the trend is more subtle, but in the same direction. There is a mood of change that encourages the extension of more human activities into market contexts. "Economic imperialism" (Swedberg, 1990) encourages the analysis of more and more choices as market exchanges, and the use of exchange justifies behaviour that is guided by individualistic, egoistic motives.
The changing nature of employment and jobs is one of the more obvious aspects of the transformation. Corporate organizations are making every effort to alter traditional modes of work by creating a temporary workforce. Modern management seems bent on breaking every job into its component parts and cross-training all workers in order to place more jobs on a contract and exchange basis. Traditional jobs are shifting to short-term contracts based on individual exchange and are negotiated frequently. In recent books (e.g. Davidow and Malone, 1992; and Drucker, 1993) and articles (e.g. several 1994 articles in Fortune and Business Week cited below) the transformation of work and jobs, contingent workers, "just in time" employment and a new order are discussed. Unemployment, crime, welfare reliance, environmental degradation and a host of problems are identified as caused by government intervention in the West and by socialism in the former Soviet Bloc countries. The Republican "Contract with America" is a good example of this kind of thinking, and its political success in the elections of 1994 shows the wide acceptance of the philosophy. The contract advocates large reductions in federal regulation and taxes and large reductions in welfare payments which shield mothers and their children from the discipline of the market. As one candidate commented: "Most of the problems we have today have been created by irresponsible government, and we need to change that" (Cooper, 1994, p. A1). An expansion of the role of the market is seen as the solution.