ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes a simple descriptive scheme of authority relations, consisting of two basic dimensions: the extent of legal-rational regulation, and the breadth of the motivation/incentive system. It conceptualizes striking similarities and differences and thereby facilitates further investigation into possibly diverse patterns of workplace practices in the private sector. The chapter argues that descriptive scheme may help define the ideal-typical sweatshop and illustrates its essential differences from other types of authority relations. It explores the usefulness of the two-dimensional construct by analyzing the data from a 1998 survey of 1,350 employees in 206 domestic private enterprises. The chapter shows diversity in labor practices among different domestic private enterprises and suggests a need to look beyond the sweatshop model for a fuller view of the postsocialist reformation of authority in the workplace. It highlights contrasting findings from several case studies, and then recast them against a broader backdrop of conceptualization.
