IE University

About: IE University is a education organization based out in Segovia, Castilla y León, Spain. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Corporate governance & Supply chain. The organization has 527 authors who have published 1709 publications receiving 64682 citations.

Commoditized Workers. Case Study Research on Labour Law Issues Arising from a Set of 'On-Demand/Gig Economy' Platforms

Abstract: In the framework of the so-called “sharing economy”, the number of on-demand companies matching labour supply and demand is on the rise. These schemes may enlarge opportunities for people willing to find a job or to top up their salaries. Despite the upsides of creating new peer marketplaces, these platforms may also be used to circumvent employment regulation, by operating informally in traditionally regulated markets.Literature showed how, by 2009, over 2 million worker accounts had been generated within these frameworks. Productivity may be fostered but, at the same time, a new version of Taylorism is disseminated (i.e. the fragmentation of labour into hyper-temporary jobs – they call them microtasks – on a virtual assembly line), strengthened by globalisation and computerisation. All these intermediaries recruit freelance or casual workers (these continue to be independent contractors even though many indicators seem to reveal a disguised employment relationship).Uncertainty and insecurity are the price for extreme flexibility. A noteworthy volume of business risk is shifted to workers, and potential costs as benefits or unemployment insurance are avoided. Minimum wages are often far from being reached.This paper will present a case study analysis of several “on-demand work” platforms, starting from the Amazon Mechanical Turk, one of the first schemes founded in 2005, which is arguably “employing humans-as-a-service”. It splits a single service in several micro “Human Intelligence Tasks” (such as tagging photographs, writing short descriptions, transcribing podcasts, processing raw data); “Turkers/Providers” (workers) are selected by “Requesters” to rapidly accomplish assignments online, are then rated according to an internal system and are finally paid (also in gaming credits) only if delivery is accepted. After having signed up and worked within some platforms, I comment upon TaskRabbit (thousands people on the service who bid to do simple manual tasks), Handy and Wonolo (personal assistance at a local level), oDesk and Freelancer (online staffing), Uber and Lyft (peer-to-peer ridesharing), Airbnb (hosting service), InnoCentive (engineering solutions), Axiom (legal research or service), BitWine (consultancy).Finally I highlight downsides and upsides of work in these platforms by studying terms of service or participation agreements to which both parties have to agree. I look into several key features such as (i) means of exchange/commodities, (ii) systems of payment, (iii) demographics, (iv) legal issues concerning status and statutory protection of workers, indicators of subordination, treatment of sickness, benefits and overtime, potential dispute resolution, and deprived “moral valence of work” and I discuss potential strategies to address these issues.

An Updated ERP Systems Annotated Bibliography: 2001-2005

Abstract: This study provides an updated annotated bibliography of ERP publications published in the main IS conferences and journals during the period 2001-2005, categorizing them through an ERP lifecycle-based framework that is structured in phases. The first version of this bibliography was published in 2001 (Esteves and Pastor, 2001c). However, so far, we have extended the bibliography with a significant number of new publications in all the categories used in this paper. We also reviewed the categories and some incongruities were eliminated.

The contribution of rice agriculture and livestock pastoralism to prehistoric methane levels: An archaeological assessment

Abstract: We review the origins and dispersal of rice in Asia based on a data base of 443 archaeobotanical reports. Evidence is considered in terms of quality, and especially whether there are data indicatin...

Market value of voluntary disclosures concerning information security

Abstract: Information security is a fundamental concern for corporations operating in today's digital economy. The number of firms disclosing items concerning their information security on reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has increased in recent years. A question then arises as to whether or not there is value to the voluntary disclosures concerning information security. Thus, the primary objective of this paper is to assess empirically the market value of voluntary disclosures of items pertaining to information security. Based on a sample of 1,641 disclosing and 19,266 non-disclosing firm-years in a cross-sectional pooled model, our primary findings provide strong evidence that voluntarily disclosing items concerning information security is associated positively with the market value of a firm. These findings are based on the use of a market-value relevance model, as well as a bid-ask spread analysis. The study's findings are robust to alternative statistical analyses. The findings also provide support for the signaling argument, which states that managers disclose information in a manner consistent with increased firm value. Finally, the study findings provide some insight into the strategic choice that firms make regarding voluntary disclosures about information security.