Monica-

While I agree with you that schools don't organize their programs like factories, I do think that it works in reverse. I strongly feel that factories (or work places in general) organize their businesses like school settings. At work, as at school, you are punished for being late (tardy), you aren't given wage increases (good grades) if you don't perform at a level high enough for a boss's (teacher's) standards, when the shift ends (bell rings) you can go home, lunch is at a certain time everyday, etc. My husband has worked at several local motor coach manufacturing firms and a long time ago I started to realize that the conditions he was working in resembled a school setting and that the employees were being treated like school children.

My thinking for their reasoning for this type of organization is that most of the employees that actually work on the floor have no higher education than a high school degree and they don't know any other type of organization. So companies stick to what employees already know in hopes of things running smoothly. However, they fail to understand that people start to feel undermined and that they are not valued, and will always be treated like school children. Which may give reason to why these types of companies have such a high turnover rate.

Amy Stone