Service work is often differentiated from manufacturing by the interactive labor workers perform as they come into direct contact with customers. Service organizations are…
Abstract
Service work is often differentiated from manufacturing by the interactive labor workers perform as they come into direct contact with customers. Service organizations are particularly interested in regulating these interactions because they are a key opportunity for developing quality customer service, customer retention, and ultimately generation of sales revenue. An important stream of sociological literature focuses on managerial attempts to exert control over interactions through various techniques including routinization, standardization, and surveillance. Scripting is a common method of directing workers’ behavior, yet studies show that workers are extremely reluctant to administer scripts, judging them to be inappropriate to particular interactions or because they undermine their own sense of self. This paper examines a panoptic method of regulating service workers, embodied in undercover corporate agents who patrol employee’s adherence to scripts. How do workers required to recite scripts for customers respond to undercover control? What does it reveal about the nature of interactive labor? In-depth interviews with interactive workers in a range of retail contexts reveal that they mobilize their own interactional competence to challenge the effects of the panoptic, as they utilize strategies to identify and adapt to these “mystery shoppers,” all the while maintaining their cover. The paper shows the limits on control of interactive workers, as they maintain their own socialized sense of civility and preserve a limited realm of autonomy in their work.
Details
Keywords
Mary C. MacDonald, Andrée J. Rathemacher and Joanna M. Burkhardt
The authors discuss the plan for building an incremental, multi‐year information literacy program at the University of Rhode Island. Review of the current library instruction…
Abstract
The authors discuss the plan for building an incremental, multi‐year information literacy program at the University of Rhode Island. Review of the current library instruction program leads to why and how they plan to change the program by focusing on the concepts of understanding what information is, in addition to learning how to gather, evaluate, and use information. The Draft Plan for Information Literacy at the University of Rhode Island Libraries addresses the information and research needs of undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty needs. The development of credit‐bearing courses in information literacy, the creation of information literacy modules for specific disciplines, and the Draft Plan for Information Literacy are discussed.
Details
Keywords
François L’Écuyer and Claudia Pelletier
This study aims to explore social media capabilities for recruitment in the context of SMEs from the recruiters’ perspective. The conceptual framework is based on a perspective of…
Abstract
This study aims to explore social media capabilities for recruitment in the context of SMEs from the recruiters’ perspective. The conceptual framework is based on a perspective of the RBV that aims to concentrate specifically on the development of IT capabilities in the use of social media for recruitment purposes. In doing so, this study focuses on the following research questions: How do SMEs use social media for recruitment and what are their particularities? What are the capabilities needed to take advantage of social media for recruitment in SMEs? Have these social media capabilities been developed in SMEs? To answer these questions and build an emergent theory about these specific challenges of the digital era, we conducted an interpretive multiple case study in three Canadian SMEs using social media in their HR practices for at least three years.
It was found that there are four main patterns that explain the use of social media for recruitment in SMEs. First, social media is not the first choice when it comes to choosing a recruitment tool. Second, the use of social media for recruitment is not a structured activity. Third, recruiters use social media the same way they do in their own life. Finally, marketing people are often involved in recruitment practices on social media. These patterns stem from the fact that SMEs have shortcomings in their social media capabilities in general and more specifically in recruitment where gaps exist in terms of knowledge, skills, and attitudes. To our knowledge, this study is the first to explore the use of social media for recruitment and to propose an integrated framework to evaluate social media capabilities. Through the identification and the discussion of a series of practices concerning e-HRM, our results are also helpful in a digital context where SMEs are struggling to keep up with the pace of adoption and use of IT in general.
Details
Keywords
Susan P. McGrath, Emily Wells, Krystal M. McGovern, Irina Perreard, Kathleen Stewart, Dennis McGrath and George Blike
Although it is widely acknowledged that health care delivery systems are complex adaptive systems, there are gaps in understanding the application of systems engineering…
Abstract
Although it is widely acknowledged that health care delivery systems are complex adaptive systems, there are gaps in understanding the application of systems engineering approaches to systems analysis and redesign in the health care domain. Commonly employed methods, such as statistical analysis of risk factors and outcomes, are simply not adequate to robustly characterize all system requirements and facilitate reliable design of complex care delivery systems. This is especially apparent in institutional-level systems, such as patient safety programs that must mitigate the risk of infections and other complications that can occur in virtually any setting providing direct and indirect patient care. The case example presented here illustrates the application of various system engineering methods to identify requirements and intervention candidates for a critical patient safety problem known as failure to rescue. Detailed descriptions of the analysis methods and their application are presented along with specific analysis artifacts related to the failure to rescue case study. Given the prevalence of complex systems in health care, this practical and effective approach provides an important example of how systems engineering methods can effectively address the shortcomings in current health care analysis and design, where complex systems are increasingly prevalent.
Details
Keywords
Sarah A. Burcher and Kadie L. Ausherbauer
The purpose of this study was to explore low-income women’s perspectives of the shared meaning of work and employment values in their intergenerational family context from a…
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore low-income women’s perspectives of the shared meaning of work and employment values in their intergenerational family context from a critical and systemic lens. Participants were rural and urban women from low-income contexts (N = 14). Semi-structured interviews were designed to elicit thick description of lived experiences of work and family. Analyses were conducted using Van Manen’s hermeneutic phenomenology coding process (1990).
Four emergent categories (Purpose to Work, What Work Is, Motherhood and Work, and Loss, Resilience and Work) with 16 themes described work–family integration. These narratives evoked a deep interconnectedness of work, family, and life. Because participants were recruited in locations where they were either already employed or seeking employment, these findings may not represent other women.
Effectiveness of programs and policies could be expanded by incorporating women’s values and motivations for employment and targeting family-level interventions. Programs could better empower women to seek employment and skills training for lasting financial sustainability, rather than just getting any job. Because participants distinguished between careers and jobs based on college education, many felt they could never obtain a career. Additionally, participants described work–family integration, not the prevalent idea of “work–life balance.” Participants described fighting to provide a better life for their children.
This study highlights under-represented perspectives of low-income women about work. Understanding the experiences of low-income women is essential for designing programs and services that will be practical and useful.
Details
Keywords
This chapter explores the way teaching music lends itself to the inclusive pedagogical approach in action framework, focusing on four key areas: working outside of ability groups…
Abstract
This chapter explores the way teaching music lends itself to the inclusive pedagogical approach in action framework, focusing on four key areas: working outside of ability groups, using what learners can do as their starting point, engaging in learning at their own level whilst contributing to a collaborative outcome and developing the whole creative child rather than just a skillset.
Details
Keywords
In recent years, scholars have engaged in an especially sharp debate about the structural and ideological arrangements on which business organizations rely in their effort to…
Abstract
In recent years, scholars have engaged in an especially sharp debate about the structural and ideological arrangements on which business organizations rely in their effort to control the workers they employ. A key issue is the degree to which workers have retained the ability to resist such controls. In this chapter, I develop a critical analysis of the scholarly debate over domination and resistance at work, in an effort to clarify the tasks facing this field. My argument hinges on three major points. First, I argue that scholars have approached the control/resistance binary largely as a class relationship, thereby neglecting intersecting inequalities such as race, gender, and sexuality, which inevitably complicate or over-determine the forms that worker resistance assumes. Second, I argue that scholars have increasingly fixated on symbolic or discursive influences, privileging them at the expense of the material or structural conditions that shape managerial control and resistance to it. Third, I contend that much of the literature has failed to acknowledge the duality of managerial control – that is, its tendency not only to limit but also to enable resistance from below. These problems, taken together, explain why the debate has so often seemed to pursue a circuitous path, as if it were chasing its own tail. The chapter concludes by discussing the conditions that resistance presupposes, and by speculating about the emergence of novel forms of resistance that might be well suited to an age of flexible accumulation.
Gareth R. T. White, Robert Allen, Anthony Samuel, Dan Taylor, Robert Thomas and Paul Jones
This chapter explores social enterprises as an alternative and addition to traditional entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs). It reviews the substantial social enterprise literature in…
Abstract
This chapter explores social enterprises as an alternative and addition to traditional entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs). It reviews the substantial social enterprise literature in order to identify the myriad of competing tensions constraining development and success of social EEs in areas of significant poverty and economic deprivation. Following this, the findings of several contemporary and novel studies are discussed. These collectively evidence ways social enterprises are overcoming the seemingly immutable constraints they operate under. In particular, the Social Enterprise Places initiative has been highly effective in supporting the development of flourishing social EEs in many locations in the UK. However, the growth of social enterprises, both in number and economic importance, presents further challenges that social enterprise owners and managers will have to contend with. Consequently, these organisations and their allied ecosystems require continued structural, financial and skills support.