In the 1970s, Xerox pioneered the involvement of social science researchers in technology design and in developing better ways of working at PARC, its internal research center at the time (now an independent wholly owned subsidiary). The PARC legacy resulting from this work is a hybrid methodology that combines an ethnographic interest in direct observation in settings of interest with an ethnomethodological concern to make the study of interactional work an empirical, investigatory matter. This edited volume is an overview of PARC and Xerox's social science tradition. It uses detailed case studies showing how the client engagement was conducted over time and how the findings were consequential for business impact. Case studies in retail, production, office and home settings cover four topics: practices around documents, the customer front, learning and knowledge-sharing, and competency transfer. The impetus for this book was a 2003 initiative at Xerox to transfer knowledge about conducting ethnographically grounded work practice studies to its consultants so that they may generate the kinds of knowledge generated by the researchers themselves.

The "informal" economy economic activity and income outside government regulation, taxation and observation is, by its very nature, difficult to quantify. Recent estimates suggest it accounts, in OECD countries, for around 13% of national income (in the UK, the equivalent of GBP150 billion) and in developing nations it can make up as much as three-quarters of all non-agricultural employment. Whatever the exact figures, it is clear that the informal economy plays a significant role in national incomes (eventhough excluded from calculations of GDP or GNP) and affects a large share of the global workforce. Colin C. Williams provides an authoritative introduction to the topic, explaining what the informal economy is (and what it isn't) and how it can best be measured. Taking a global perspective, he examines its characteristics in developed, developing and transitional economies, and looks at its role as a driver of economic growth. The theoretical underpinnings are explored, from conceptual origins in the development models of the 1950s, through to present-day discussions, which question whether a formalised economy is always the ideal. The book considers the economic motivations of the informal economy workforce, which may include tax evasion, circumventing regulations and maintaining state benefits, and assesses the different policy options available to governments to combat them, whether a punitive policy of deterrence, or one of accommodation that recognises the value of the sector in generating income and in meeting the needs of poor consumers. The book provides a masterly summation of the published research on the informal economy and an expert assessment of the key areas for research going forward. It will be welcomed by students taking courses in development economics, economic growth, labour economics, welfare economics and public policy.

*Shortlisted for the BBC Radio 4 Thinking Allowed Award for Ethnography 2017* *Winner of the 2016 Labor History Best Book prize* Over a million people in the UK work in call centres, and the phrase has become synonymous with low-paid and high stress work, dictatorial supervisors and an enforced dearth of union organisation. However, rarely does the public have access to the true picture of what goes on in these institutions. For Working the Phones, Jamie Woodcock worked undercover in a call centre to gather insights into the everyday experiences of call centre workers. He shows how this work has become emblematic of the shift towards a post-industrial service economy, and all the issues that this produces, such as the destruction of a unionised work force, isolation and alienation, loss of agency and, ominously, the proliferation of surveillance and control which affects mental and physical well being of the workers. By applying a sophisticated, radical analysis to a thoroughly international 21st century phenomenon, Working the Phones presents a window onto the methods of resistance that are developing on our office floors, and considers whether there is any hope left for the modern worker today.

Companies across all industries are engaging in digital transformation to harness the power of advanced information technologies. Building on interviews and diverse case studies, this book provides an in-depth look at how data and algorithms are reshaping management practices, organizational structures, corporate culture, and work roles. Henri Schildt develops a broad framework for understanding digitalization not as a technological change but as a new normative mind-set, here called 'the data imperative'. It describes the new managerial ideals that compel companies to pursue digital omniscience and omnipotence-abilities to represent and understand the world through real-time data flow and to control customer experiences, physical equipment, and workers with software. The efforts to complement and replace human expertise with data and smart algorithms are associated with shifts in strategic priorities, adoption of powerful modular architectures, new organizational structures, and the introduction of artificial intelligence into diverse work roles. Surveying the developments in management and the workplace, this book offers an integrative and balanced account of the on-going changes that will continue to affect everyone from executives and professionals to front-line workers.

'If you want to achieve more (without going nuts), read this book.' Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit

What if you could step off the hamster wheel and start taking control of your time and attention?

As creators of Google Ventures' renowned 'design sprint', Jake and John have helped hundreds of teams solve important problems by changing how they work. Building on the success of these sprints and their experience designing ubiquitous tech products like Gmail and YouTube, they spent years experimenting with their own personal habits and routines, looking for ways to help individuals optimize their energy, focus, and time. Now they've packaged the most effective tactics into a four-step daily framework that anyone can use to systematically design their days.

Making time isn't about radically overhauling your lifestyle; it's about making small shifts in your environment to liberate yourself from constant busyness and distraction. Make Time is a must-read for anyone who has ever thought 'if only there were more hours in the day...'

This book looks at how large organizations have managed and adapted to changing conditions of employment shaped by the recent economic and political environment. Additional data are presented based on evidence from other significant actors such as agency employment firms and trade unions. The book also engages with important North American debates on the changing nature of work, careers, and employment.

This revised second edition presents 15 years of data on Virtual Distance metrics and their predictive impact on organizational success factors shedding new light on how to correct for communication challenges that often show up as a foggy set of digital disconnects where the vitality of the virtual workforce often gets lost in transmission. This still-evolving Digital Age conundrum continues to present new complications. The rise of remote work which rests on an increasing reliance on electronic communication and the overall growth of virtual interactions has led to the escalation of a phenomenon called Virtual Distance. Virtual Distance, which influences our behavior through three components Physical Distance, Operational Distance, and Affinity Distance affects not only how we relate to others thousands of miles away but even to co-workers sitting right next to each other! Perhaps even more problematic, Virtual Distance causes measureable malfunctions in teamwork, innovation, leader effectiveness and overall performance. But it doesn't have to be this way. The Power of Virtual Distance offers specific, proven and predictable solutions that can reverse these trends and turn Virtual Distance into a unification strategy to capture untapped competitive advantage. Surprised? The Power of Virtual Distance, 2nd Edition is a must-read for leadership who want to understand the true and quantifiable costs of the virtual workplace. For the first time ever, readers can take the guesswork out of managing the virtual workforce by applying a mathematical approach derived from the extensive Virtual Distance data set: The Virtual Distance Ratio. The Virtual Distance Ratio can precisely pinpoint the particular impacts of Virtual Distance on the organization's critical success factors. Beyond business metrics, Virtual Distance solutions also detail ways to restore meaningfulness and well-being into people's experience of work, enhancing life lived in the Digital Age. The Power of Virtual Distance reveals an updated set of data, including the first award-winning analysis, collected from an extended range of executives to individual contributors, that represent situations and solutions in more than 36 industries in 55 countries across the globe. Readers will get a "first look" at the data and its revelations on how to be less isolated and more integrated. Helping managers globally, this book: Offers new, real-world case studies and a chance for readers to participate in thought experiments to help with personal performance, group synergy and by extension, relationship dynamics of all kinds Demonstrates (with statistically significant trend analyses) that Virtual Distance is growing at exponential rates in every corner of communities worldwide Offers expert advice on how to manage the "unintended human consequences" of today's digital technologies Companies that successfully harness the power of Virtual Distance demonstrate better performance. The second edition of The Power of Virtual Distance is a valuable, one-of-a-kind resource for everyone - from the C-suite to human resource professionals; from divisional leaders to project managers. Everyone in the organization can benefit by discovering how to improve financials, innovation, trust, employee engagement, satisfaction, organizational citizenship and other key performance indicators. And perhaps best of all, by following the prescriptions on how to reduce Virtual Distance, the entire workforce will have the tools they need to bring about a revival of meaning, purpose and an enlivened sense of "humanhood" back into everyday work and everyday life.

This is the first textbook that makes workplace health surveillance accessible to a broad audience. Step-by-step, it shows how to establish or improve a surveillance system. The reader learns about defining objectives, seeking organizational support, forming a surveillance workgroup, collecting data, calculating basic injury and illness statistics, designing databases, analyzing and interpreting surveillance data, setting priorities, making protocols for follow-up and case management, marketing results and giving feedback, and evaluating surveillance systems. Links are emphasized between surveillance and workplace follow-up, community-based intervention programs, cost-benefit analysis, and other prevention activities. Readers get a solid foundation of epidemiologic concepts reinforced by examples that use simple arithmetic. Leading practitioners from government, business, and unions illustrate the surveillance of injuries, lead poisoning, pesticide illness, cumulative trauma disorders, asthma, noise-induced hearing loss, silicosis, cancer, and chemical and physical hazards. Non-traditional data sources are examined, including health and disability insurance, hospital discharge, and poison control centers. Disability surveillance, return-to-work, and the quality/effectiveness of health services also are explored. Surveillance is shown to be an action-oriented tool for decision-making that is the key to a successful health and safety program.

The "informal" economy economic activity and income outside government regulation, taxation and observation is, by its very nature, difficult to quantify. Recent estimates suggest it accounts, in OECD countries, for around 13% of national income (in the UK, the equivalent of GBP150 billion) and in developing nations it can make up as much as three-quarters of all non-agricultural employment. Whatever the exact figures, it is clear that the informal economy plays a significant role in national incomes (eventhough excluded from calculations of GDP or GNP) and affects a large share of the global workforce. Colin C. Williams provides an authoritative introduction to the topic, explaining what the informal economy is (and what it isn't) and how it can best be measured. Taking a global perspective, he examines its characteristics in developed, developing and transitional economies, and looks at its role as a driver of economic growth. The theoretical underpinnings are explored, from conceptual origins in the development models of the 1950s, through to present-day discussions, which question whether a formalised economy is always the ideal. The book considers the economic motivations of the informal economy workforce, which may include tax evasion, circumventing regulations and maintaining state benefits, and assesses the different policy options available to governments to combat them, whether a punitive policy of deterrence, or one of accommodation that recognises the value of the sector in generating income and in meeting the needs of poor consumers. The book provides a masterly summation of the published research on the informal economy and an expert assessment of the key areas for research going forward. It will be welcomed by students taking courses in development economics, economic growth, labour economics, welfare economics and public policy.

Provides vital skills practice for retrieving and using information communicated through graphic sources in the workplace.

'Reported with skill and personal insight' The Times Bestselling author and the most famous woman in a flak jacket Kate Adie sets out on a fascinating journey to discover just who is attracted to living dangerously - and why. Ever since her days as a reporter on the front line in Iraq and the Iranian Embassy siege in London, Kate Adie has earned her reputation as one of the most intrepid women of her day. Throughout her career she has regularly reported from the world's most dangerous war zones - often placing her own life at serious risk. It has given her a curiosity about the people who are attracted to danger. Why when so many are fearful of anything beyond their daily routine, are others drawn towards situations, or professions which put them in regular peril of their lives? It has proved a fascinating quest that has taken her to the four corners of the globe in pursuit of an answer. She has met those who choose a career in danger, like stuntpeople, landmine exploders, and even a 'snake man' who - aged 96 - has been bitten countless times by poisonous snakes to find venom for vaccines. She has questioned those whose actions put them in danger, like Sir Richard Leakey whose determination to speak out in Kenya nearly cost him his life, as well as criminals and prostitutes who risk all for money. And of course there are those who - through no choice of their own - have been put in danger, such as Saddam Hussein's food taster - not his career of choice. With Kate's insight, wit, and gift for illumination, this is a compelling read.

Between Conflict and Collegiality explores how ethnonational-religious struggle between Jews and Palestinians affects relations in ethnically mixed work teams in Israel. Asaf Darr documents the tensions that permeate the workplace and reveals when such tensions threaten the cohesion of the work environment. Darr chronicles the grassroots coping strategies employed by both Jewish and Palestinian through field studies conducted with workers in various sectors in Israel, adopting a comparative method that identifies the differences in how ethnonational-religious tensions play out. Between Conflict and Collegiality asks how workers deal with external ethnonational and religious pressures and whether the broader ethnonational conflict is reflected in the career expectations and trajectories of minority group members. Darr examines whether minority group members' use of their own language at work become a point of contestation; how religion is manifested in the workplace; whether co-workers from different ethnonational groups form amicable relations that extend beyond the workplace; and whether positive experiences working in ethnically mixed workplaces have the potential to mitigate conflict in the wider society.

Are you happy with the way you work? Are you engaged, energised in the office? Or do you sometimes feel that your days are dominated by process and technology? Reimagining business is about waking up to a new environment, based on collaborative and flexible working, on technology that, used correctly, liberates rather than constrains. The future of work must be based on being open, on focusing on results, not process and on empowerment, not hierarchy. Dave Coplin, Chief Envisioning Officer at Microsoft UK, has been immersed in the technologies that are making waves in the workplace. This is his call to reimagine business.

In the 1970s, Xerox pioneered the involvement of social science researchers in technology design and in developing better ways of working at PARC, its internal research center at the time (now an independent wholly owned subsidiary). The PARC legacy resulting from this work is a hybrid methodology that combines an ethnographic interest in direct observation in settings of interest with an ethnomethodological concern to make the study of interactional work an empirical, investigatory matter. This edited volume is an overview of PARC and Xerox's social science tradition. It uses detailed case studies showing how the client engagement was conducted over time and how the findings were consequential for business impact. Case studies in retail, production, office and home settings cover four topics: practices around documents, the customer front, learning and knowledge-sharing, and competency transfer. The impetus for this book was a 2003 initiative at Xerox to transfer knowledge about conducting ethnographically grounded work practice studies to its consultants so that they may generate the kinds of knowledge generated by the researchers themselves.

Digital work has become increasingly common, taking a wide variety of forms including working from home, mobile work, gig work, crowdsourcing, and online volunteering. It is organizationally, interpretively, spatially, and temporally complex. An array of innovative methodologies have begun to emerge to capture this complexity, whether through re-purposing existing tools, devising entirely novel methods, or mixing old and new. This volume brings together some of these techniques in an accessible sourcebook for management, business, organizational, and work researchers. It presents a range of innovative methods which capture and analyse digitally-related work practices through reflexive accounts of real-world research projects, and elucidates the range of challenges such methods may raise for research practice. It outlines debates and recommendations, and provides further reading and information to support research practice. The book is organised in four sections that reflect different areas of focus and methodological approaches: working with screens; digital working practices; distributed work and organizing; and digital traces of work. It then concludes by reflecting on the methodological issues, research ethics, requisite skills, and future of research given the intensification of digital work during a global pandemic that has impacted all aspects of our lives.

Digital work has become increasingly common, taking a wide variety of forms including working from home, mobile work, gig work, crowdsourcing, and online volunteering. It is organizationally, interpretively, spatially, and temporally complex. An array of innovative methodologies have begun to emerge to capture this complexity, whether through re-purposing existing tools, devising entirely novel methods, or mixing old and new. This volume brings together some of these techniques in an accessible sourcebook for management, business, organizational, and work researchers. It presents a range of innovative methods which capture and analyse digitally-related work practices through reflexive accounts of real-world research projects, and elucidates the range of challenges such methods may raise for research practice. It outlines debates and recommendations, and provides further reading and information to support research practice. The book is organised in four sections that reflect different areas of focus and methodological approaches: working with screens; digital working practices; distributed work and organizing; and digital traces of work. It then concludes by reflecting on the methodological issues, research ethics, requisite skills, and future of research given the intensification of digital work during a global pandemic that has impacted all aspects of our lives.

Time, timing, and temporality are inherently important to organizational process studies, yet time remains an under-theorized construct that has struggled to move much beyond chronological conceptions of "clock" time. Missing from this linear view are ongoing debates about objectivity versus subjectivity in the experience of time, linear versus alternative structures of time, or an appreciation of collective or culturally determined inferences of temporality. This is critical as our understanding of time and temporality can shape how we view and relate to organizational phenomena, either as unfolding processes or stable objects. History is equally important. While we have an intuitive sense of history as a process, organizational theorists have struggled to move beyond two limited conceptualizations: history as a constraint on organization's capacity for change, or history as a unique source of competitive advantage. Both approaches suffer from the restrictive view of history as an objective set of "brute facts" that are exterior to the individuals, organizations, and collectives that experience them. Yet management theory is acquiring an awareness of time, history, and memory as critical elements in processes of organizing. This volume draws together emerging strands of interest in adopting a more nuanced orientation toward time, temporality, and history to better understand the temporal aspects of organizational processes.

Black and brown women have been making profound strides in leadership and professional achievement, despite facing the added hurdles of both sexism and racism in the workplace. But so often, excelling at work comes at the expense of their wellness: the chronic stressors and demands on Black women can result in negative physical health outcomes such as sleep disturbance, hypertension, and diabetes, and negative mental health outcomes including anxiety and depression. We cannot talk about career advancement for Black and brown women without talking about strategies that promote their total wellbeing. Playing a New Game offers women a new way forward, in which ambition and wellness can not only coexist, but bolster each other. With insights from her 20 years of professional counseling experience and extensive research, mental health expert Dr. Tammy Wilborn expands the dialogue on BIPOC women's experiences of race and gender stereotypes at work, exploring them as a wellness issue. Through her evidence-based best practices that promote self-care and self-empowerment as necessary tools for professional success, Black and brown women can flip the script by prioritizing their wellness even as they advance professionally.

Meetings allow us to bring people together to inspire each other, solve problems and make a difference. Yet, we all spend too much time in dull, frustrating meetings where little is achieved and even less is followed up on afterwards. In Hold Successful Meetings, executive coach and former Google leader Caterina Kostoula will change all this. Her unique framework will: - Equip you to hold fewer, more purposeful meetings - Create a creative and inclusive environment - Leave participants inspired and ready to take action Whether virtual or in-person, people will leave your meetings inspired by the value you created together and ready to make an impact. 'I bought this for my whole team at Google!' Reader review

Can working parents in America--or anywhere--ever find true leisure time?

According to the Leisure Studies Department at the University of Iowa, true leisure is "that place in which we realize our humanity." If that's true, argues Brigid Schulte, then we're doing dangerously little realizing of our humanity. In "Overwhelmed," Schulte, a staff writer for "The Washington Post," asks: Are our brains, our partners, our culture, and our bosses making it impossible for us to experience anything but "contaminated time"?
Schulte first asked this question in a 2010 feature for "The Washington" "Post""Magazine" "How did researchers compile this statistic that said we were rolling in leisure--over four hours a day? Did any of us feel that we actually had downtime? Was there anything useful in their research--anything we could do?"
"Overwhelmed" is a map of the stresses that have ripped our leisure to shreds, and a look at how to put the pieces back together. Schulte speaks to neuroscientists, sociologists, and hundreds of working parents to tease out the factors contributing to our collective sense of being overwhelmed, seeking insights, answers, and inspiration. She investigates progressive offices trying to invent a new kind of workplace; she travels across Europe to get a sense of how other countries accommodate working parents; she finds younger couples who claim to have figured out an ideal division of chores, childcare, and meaningful paid work. "Overwhelmed"is the story of what she found out.

From the creator of hit podcast Eat Sleep Work Repeat comes a revolutionary re-envisioning of how to enjoy your job.

Do you want to get more done, feel less stressed and love your job again?

Sometimes having a job can feel like hard work. But between Monk Mode mornings, silent meetings and crisp Thursdays, the solutions are at your fingertips.

Bruce Daisley knows a thing or two about the workplace. In the course of a career that has taken him from some of the world’s biggest media companies to Twitter, via Google and YouTube, he has become a leading expert on how we work now. And in his hugely popular podcast Eat Sleep Work Repeat, he has explored ways to fix it. Now he shares 30 brilliant – and refreshingly simple – tips on how to make your job more productive, more rewarding – and much, much more enjoyable.

‘With just 30 changes, you can transform your work experience from bland and boring (or worse) to fulfilling, fun, and even joyful.’ Daniel Pink, author of When and Drive

The average employee spends nearly 23 full days a year in meetings – over 50% of which are deemed ‘unproductive’ by attendees. Poorly-organised meetings are wasting workers valuable time, and money – $541 billion globally in 2019.

With realistic and practical advice this book shows how to reduce the amount of time you and your colleagues spend in meetings, and ensure that the ones that you do attend or hold are genuine opportunities to collaborate and get things done.

Learn how to ensure a meeting’s focus is on the outcome; get to grips with the 40–20–40 Continuum, so that only 20 per cent of your attention for each meeting is spent in the meeting itself – the rest is in the preparation and the follow-through; and understand when it’s necessary to say that you won’t be attending – and how best to do so.

It has never been more essential to support our mental health at work. With one in four people experiencing poor mental health right now, we need to start talking about it. Penguin Business Expert James Routledge has worked with CEOs, HR directors, managers and people at all levels on successful mental-health strategies. In this book, he shares his stories, learnings and guidance. Learn how to: - Talk comfortably about mental health - Create a more open and inclusive community in your workplace - Implement unique changes that are authentic to you and your business Filled with honest and relatable stories, 'conversation starters' and exclusive case studies from a diverse range of businesses and their people, Mental Health at Work will support anyone with their mental health in the workplace journey.

The last thirty years have seen the world of work transformed in Britain. Manufacturing and nationalized industries contracted and private services expanded. Employment became more diverse. Trade union membership collapsed. Collective bargaining disappeared from much of the private sector, as did strikes. This was accompanied by the rise of human resource management and new employment practices. The law, once largely absent, increasingly became a dominant influence. The experience of work has become more pressured. The Evolution of the Modern Workplace provides an authoritative account and analysis of these changes and their consequences. Its main source is the five Workplace Employment Relations Surveys that were conducted at roughly five-year intervals between 1980 and 2004. Drawing on this unique source of data, a team of internationally renowned scholars show how the world of the workplace has changed, and why it has changed, for both workers and employers.