Showing papers in "New Technology Work and Employment in 2011"
TL;DR: The authors explores workers' experiences of the impact of lean on work organisation and control and provides new insights into developments within contemporary back office clerical work, and provides insights into the use of lean techniques in public services as an innovative managerial response to government demands for more efficient services amidst large reductions in public spending.
Abstract: The adaptation of lean techniques in public services is viewed as an innovative managerialist response to government demands for more efficient services amidst large reductions in public spending. This paper explores workers' experiences of the impact of lean on work organisation and control and provides new insights into developments within contemporary back office clerical work.
158 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that WILB is an unobtrusive interruption which enables restoration of mental capacity and fosters feelings of autonomy, and demonstrate the positive effects of workplace Internet leisure browsing on employee productivity.
Abstract: It is commonly believed that for workers to browse the Internet for personal reasons during work hours is non-productive. Contesting this belief, this study documents positive effects of workplace Internet leisure browsing (WILB) on employee productivity. It is argued that WILB is an unobtrusive interruption which enables restoration of mental capacity and fosters feelings of autonomy. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
105 citations
TL;DR: The authors integrated psychological and sociological research on work performance monitoring and surveillance in call centres, focusing on individual boundaries, compliance and resistance, controlling the effects of monitoring, negotiated order, metacommunication, and social support.
Abstract: The worker performing a monitored task and the social processes surrounding the task provide a basis for integrating psychological and sociological research on work performance monitoring and surveillance in call centres. Foci include individual boundaries, compliance and resistance, controlling the effects of monitoring, negotiated order, metacommunication, and social support.
53 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the relationship between home-based work and time use by comparing unpaid (overtime) home workers, paid and agreed home workers and non-home workers, and found that unpaid HBW was linked to the stretching of working hours and the reduction of free time.
Abstract: This study examines the relationship between home-based work (HBW) and time use by comparing unpaid (overtime) home workers, paid (agreed) home workers and non-home workers. Especially, unpaid HBW was linked to the stretching of working hours and the reduction of free time.
44 citations
TL;DR: The aim was to examine the possibilities and limits of involving end-users in applied knowledge-producing settings and the agile method DSDM supposed to enhance user participation as well as improve other aspects of the management of computer system design projects.
Abstract: The aim was to examine the possibilities and limits of involving end-users in applied knowledge-producing settings. Is it possible to have user participation as a part of the design process? The agile method DSDM supposed to enhance user participation as well as improve other aspects of the management of computer system design projects.
29 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a case study contrasting the impacts of formalised and informal teleworking practices on office-based workers, multidimensional dilemmas between flexibility, control and equity are uncovered.
Abstract: Through a case study contrasting the impacts of formalised and informal teleworking practices on office-based workers, multidimensional dilemmas between flexibility, control and equity are uncovered. Formal schemes, although problematic and rare, possess some advantages in resolving the three dimensions. A model is proposed to test findings further.
28 citations
TL;DR: This paper argued that the Waterstone's fired blogger incident performed a labour organizing function in terms of garnering pro-labour media attention and encouraging critical discourse, and evaluated the strengths, limitations and potential for recurrence of similar high-profile incidents.
Abstract: This paper argues that the Waterstone's fired blogger incident performed a labour organising function in terms of garnering pro-labour media attention and encouraging critical discourse. Looking at the blog's distinctive features and evolution, it evaluates the strengths, limitations and potential for recurrence of similar high-profile incidents.
24 citations
TL;DR: This article examined information and communications technologies use, work intensity, technology preference, respondent characteristics, pain and stress in 240 New Zealand public servants across six agencies and found that four variables are the most consistent predictors of pain.
Abstract: This paper examines information and communications technologies use, work intensity, technology preference, respondent characteristics, pain and stress in 240 New Zealand public servants across six agencies. In particular, we find that four variables are the most consistent predictors of pain—hours using a cell phone, stress, female gender and one's salary.
21 citations
TL;DR: This article found that more than men, women aspiring technology leaders are heeding expert advice by assuming roles that focus less on technology and more on business and change management, and the stereotype that women are better at working with people may be working in their favour in preparing them for advancement.
Abstract: Results indicate that more than men, women aspiring technology leaders are heeding expert advice by assuming roles that focus less on technology and more on business and change management. The stereotype that women are better at working with people may be working in their favour in preparing them for advancement.
20 citations
14 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors apply a "sector-in-country" approach to examine the institutional conditions associated with the recent expansion of the information technology services sector in the UK and reveal both synergies and tensions between the business and employment conditions of the sector and the wider institutional characteristics of the UK employment model.
Abstract: This paper applies a ‘sector-in-country’ approach to examine the institutional conditions associated with the recent expansion of the information technology services sector in the UK. The findings reveal both synergies and tensions between the business and employment conditions of the sector and the wider institutional characteristics of the UK employment model.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the self-measured psychosocial work environment among employees working in six Icelandic companies, having similar jobs, and found that employees working under electronic performance monitoring (EPM) technology reported a worse psychological work environment than their colleagues.
Abstract: This paper examines the self-measured psychosocial work environment among employees working in six Icelandic companies, having similar jobs. Some are surveilled by electronic performance monitoring (EPM) technology and some are not. We find that employees working under EPM technology reported a worse psychosocial work environment than their colleagues.
TL;DR: In this paper, the development of customer banking skills as a result of using online banking and its impact on the competence of customer advisers in face-to-face customer contacts is investigated.
Abstract: The object of this article is the development of customer banking skills as a result of using online banking and its impact on the competence of customer advisers in face-to-face customer contacts. We focus on the use of software applications by customer advisers (CA) during customer contacts. The main results show that online banking enables customers to develop a range of banking skills. In order to deliver the service required by the context, advisers select the required competences according to the level of expertise of their customers.
TL;DR: Evidence from the Australian bioindustry reveals how the development and integration of new biotechnologies is a dynamic social process that rested on the micro-politics of sense-making and relational networking.
Abstract: Understanding the social processes that support innovations in new biotechnologies presents an interesting challenge. Evidence from the Australian bioindustry reveals how the development and integration of new biotechnologies is a dynamic social process. Our findings highlight how new technology acceptance and integration rested on the micro-politics of sense-making and relational networking. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine changes in local working conditions instigated by the development of contract research organizations in pharmaceutical development and show how staff remain ambivalent about the shifts of location and identity that these developments imply.
Abstract: This paper examines changes in local working conditions instigated by the development of contract research organisations in pharmaceutical development. These developments are seen as occurring in the context of Sweden's ‘circumscribed neoliberalization’. It is shown how staff remain ambivalent about the shifts of location and identity that these developments imply.
TL;DR: In this article, an analysis of mid-career STEM workers reveals that significant gender-based differences exist in the role that education and other factors play in occupational matching, and that gender disparities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) occupations in the US have typically focused on educational achievements.
Abstract: Policy to remedy gender disparities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) occupations in the US have typically focused on educational achievements. However, an analysis of mid-career STEM workers reveals that significant gender-based differences exist in the role that education and other factors play in occupational matching.
TL;DR: In this paper, a re-examination of Foucault's approach to power suggests the notion of "loose time" as a theoretical construct and methodological strategy to examine the limits of power's reach in large bureaucratic organisations.
Abstract: A re-examination of Foucault's approach to power suggests the notion of ‘loose time’ as a theoretical construct and methodological strategy to examine the limits of power's reach in large bureaucratic organisations. Following analysis of interview data from a range of sectors, individual innovation and creativity are proposed as integral to understanding the distribution of power.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore Goffman's social order in an emergent organisational form featuring global dispersion, technology mediation, and the lack of established structure and routines.
Abstract: In this paper, we explore Goffman's social order in an emergent organisational form featuring global dispersion, technology mediation, and the lack of established structure and routines. In a 14-month case study, we documented practices of ordering, disordering and individual ordering. We propose a processual approach of social order and highlight the importance of identification in social order practices.