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The film "Modern Times" depicts the trials and tribulations of assembly line work. How does the assembly line exercise control over workers? What do sociologists call this form of control?
Technical control: Technical control involves designing machinery and planning the flow of work in order to force a certain pace of work on workers.
Technical control permits the firm to reduce, or eliminate, the importance of close supervision by supervisors.
By reducing the importance of supervisors, technical control helped reduce the conflicts between employers and supervisors. It also reduced the pressure on firms to find highly skilled supervisors.