Gaining a thorough understanding of today's complex workplace is of vital importance to both business professionals and academics-not only because it leads to a deeper understanding of individual motivation in the work context, but also because it reveals ways in which work practices can be improved. This requirement for both understanding and action has become especially pressing in the area of "learning in organizations" as businesses have become ever more "knowledge-based." There is now an urgent need to comprehend how people and organizations learn, and then to store and transfer the resulting new knowledge to facilitate the design of work environments and practices. Learning from Work directly addresses this growing workplace need by examining how people communicate and learn in one of the most complex of industry structures: the automobile industry. It is the very nature of this industry's complexity that makes this study so valuable. The combination of global scale, plus the nature of the relationships between the manufacturers and the dealerships (the dealerships are independent businesses that are only loosely coupled to the manufacturers) make the barriers to communication and learning quite high, and make the solutions to overcoming them applicable in many different work environments. Anne Beamish suggests that the only way is to increase learning and improve collaboration and communication in complex organizations is to apply design thinking. This is the only comprehensive method, she claims, that can unleash the kind of innovative and effective solutions required to overcome the inherent structural, procedural, and political barriers.

This book, originally published in 1987, evaluates the human and managerial implications of new office information technology, based on the actual experiences of organisations using the new technology. A variety of issues are examined including those centred on the role of the manger, producitivity, unemployment, physical and mental health. Major emphasis is placed on describing and discussing the implementation of new technology and ways of utilization which maximise benefits.

Originally published in 1967 and the result of extensive interviews and case studies, this book examines the implications of technical change. Although focussed on the early introduction of computers the kinds of problems discussed in this book are found in technical change more widely and the book therefore continues to have enduring relevance. The book is divided into three parts - an attitude survey of the administrative staff in departments affected by the introduction of computers, a study of the mechanisms of change and a second survey and re-examination of departmental organisation and work flow.

People at Work is noted sociologist Marjorie L. DeVault's groundbreaking collection of original essays on the complexities of the modern-day workplace. By focusing on the lived experiences of the worker, not as an automaton on an assembly line, but as an embodied human of flesh and bone, these essays offer important insight on the realities of the workplace, and their effects on life at home and in communities. With contributions from some of today's top scholars, each essay is a detailed case study of a different aspect of the working world.

Compelling, lively, and sometimes chilling, the contributors address issues from disability rights to immigrant labor, welfare reforms to budget cuts, competition to personal motivations. Each one valuable on its own, the essays in People at Work combine to illuminate the hurdles that workers of all backgrounds struggle with and, more broadly, the impact of change on workers' lives in the new, increasingly global, economy.

"In One Face: Shed the Mask, Own Your Values, and Lead Wisely," Sarah K. McDugal shares her journey of personal discovery and leadership growth while showcasing the experiences of other wildly successful entrepreneurs and influencers who are committed to leading (and living) with one face.

Homework; work that is categorised as informal employment, performed in the home, mainly for subcontractors and mostly undertaken by women. The inequities and injustices inherent in homework conditions maintain women's weak bargaining position, preventing them from making any improvements to their lives via their work. The best way to tackle these issues is not to abolish, but to bring equality and justice to homework. This book contributes a gender justice framework to analyse and confront the issues and problems of homework. The authors propose four justice dimensions - recognition, representation, rights and redistribution - to examine and analyse homework. This framework also takes into account the structures and processes of capitalism and the patriarchy, and the relations of domination that are widely held to be the major factors that determine homework injustice. The authors discuss strategies and approaches that have worked for homeworkers, highlighting why they worked and the features that were beneficial for them. Homeworking Women will be of interest to individuals and organisations working with or for the collective benefit of homeworkers, academics and students interested in feminism, labour regulation, informal work, supply chains and social and political justice.

Work that used be tied to offices, cubicles and desks is undergoing a major transformation in terms of where, when and how it is carried out. Space and materiality of workplaces have long been taken for granted amongst organization studies scholars. But the changing definition of work and workspace has, in recent years, inspired a growing number of scholars to reconsider organizational theories and practices. By combining new research on leadership and workspaces, Leadership in Spaces and Places argues for a radical reconceptualization of leadership. Leadership is not only defined by leaders themselves, but is also affected by the built environment. With contributions from both scholars and practitioners alike, the authors discuss leadership in six different contexts: workspaces in change open office spaces virtual workspaces service spaces cultural spaces institutional spaces. The book is aimed at two audiences: leadership, organization and management scholars interested in cutting-edge leadership research; and managers, architects and workplace designers who want to update their knowledge on how workplace design contributes to organizational purposes and leadership. Contributors: S.H. Blakstad, G. Burrell, K. Dale, D. De Paoli, K. Greenlees, T. Grenness, R. Hoeykinpuro, A. Ropo, P. Salovaara, E. Sauer, N. Uolamo, A.L. Vaagaasar, M. Vartiainen

This title was first published in 2002. Call centres are a type of service work that stand at the interface between corporations and consumers. They exemplify more general tendencies present within service work. They also have a particular public image - being associated in the public mind with low skilled and regimented work. This volume presents contributions from British and German management academics and industrial sociologists based on primary research on call centres in both countries. The contributions cover the genesis and development of call centres as a new form of organization, or indeed a new industry; the rationalization and control strategies of organizations that establish call centres; and the nature of service work and service interactions. The findings of this volume challenge the common public image of call centres and finds that call centre employment is in fact very diverse. So, for example, skilled advising and consulting services are often performed over the phone. Along with the sometimes skilled nature of call centre work, work organization and working conditions vary as well. The text also seeks to contrast the British and German experience of call centre work and employment. In Germany clerical work has traditionally been embedded in the specific traditions of co-operative industrial relations that define the German model. Call centres present a strategic challenge to this model, and the expansion of call centres has been at the forefront of changes aimed at making employment more flexible in Germany. This work offers a choice of country cases, which permit a comparison of service employment within both a liberal capitalist and a socially embedded economy.

Collective bargaining between employers and trade unions has profoundly changed working conditions in companies around the globe. But why do we start work at the age of 10, 16, 18 or 24? Why do we work 6, 8, 10 or more hours a day? These questions are becoming increasingly pertinent as working norms are fractured and fragmented by country. This book brings an entirely new perspective to our understanding of changes in working time. In both the UK and the US, effective legal or collectively-bargained regulation of working time has been limited over the last 20 years, to the extent that its disappearance is seen as almost unproblematic. Here author Jens Thoemmes sheds light on this transition and its economic implications with a fully evidenced sociological account, based particularly on original research into cases of working time standards in France and Germany. This book addresses the whole process of working time regulation over the last twenty years, evaluating the activities of trade unions, employers, and the State. While theories of industrial relations have already addressed the issue of markets in the context of collective bargaining, this book draws connections between time and markets, places these transitions in their historical contexts, and illustrates the importance of this movement crossing borders and cultures.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) remains one of the best examples of a labor union that traces its origins to radical anti-racist principles. Today, very few mainstream unions remain that were founded on militant, radical, and "anti-racist" principles. The ILWU remains the strongest port union in the United States, and its members are among the highest paid blue-collar union workers in the world. Drawing on in-depth interviews, archival oral histories research, and ethnographic observation, Solidarity Forever? highlights the struggle of a key group of Black and women leaders who fought for racial and gender equality in the ports of Southern California. The book argues that institutional and cultural forms of racial and gender inequality are embedded within US trade union locals leading to the following deleterious consequences for unions: (1) a proliferation of internal discrimination lawsuits within unions, which can cost the union International, or union local, potentially millions of dollars in legal fees and financial settlements thereby redistributing precious financial resources that could be spent on key activities related to making unions stronger from outside attacks; (2) an erosion of trust and solidarity among workers, the key values of any successful union, which ultimately undermines the radical democratic potential of unions and rank-and-file participation in union politics; and (3) the undermining of workers of color and women workers as full and equal participants in the labor movement. The future of organized labor in the United States could very well be determined by the ability of the labor movement, and labor unions in particular, to listen to those workers who have been relegated to the margins of the global economy-workers of color, immigrant workers, women workers, and all workers in the Global South.

Human Resources Management and Ethics: Responsibilities, Actions, Issues, and Experiences, explores and provides an in-depth look at the responsibilities, actions, issues and experiences related to HRM and ethics for individual employees, organizations and the broader society. Like other departments in the broader organization HRM professionals will need to increasingly demonstrate how they contribute to an organization's ethical orientation and overall performance or success. While the ethical challenges, trends, and issues impacting employees, organizations and HRM professionals will continue to change over the years (consider the recent ethical challenges related cybersecurity and data breaches) the bottom-line of organization success is the clear reality that doing the right thing or institutionalizing an ethical culture or character is just as important to various stakeholders. The chapters in this book provide an updated, current and future look at the relationship between HRM and ethics and across various sectors or organizations (i.e. public, private, not-for-profit, academic, etc.). That is, this book discusses the ever evolving role of HRM professionals to include discussion of how the profession continues to take on more responsibility for developing and institutionalizing an ethical culture in their organizations, industries and the broader society. The book also contributes to the need for ongoing dialogue, discussion or insights offered by HRM experts on what HRM professionals and their organizations can do in the face of ethical expectations, challenges and scandals. In the end, the book is intended to increase our understanding of the ethical responsibilities, actions, issues and experiences that arise both within HRM and in HRM's interactions with individuals and organizations.

"Simultaneously thorough and readable. This book is a must for anybody who needs to be up on the latest thinking on this complex and difficult topic." --Myra Strober, Stanford University Sexual harassment is a problem with a long past, but a short history. About 15 years after journalists and scholars first began writing about it, sexual harassment has become a household word and a topic of concern for employers and employees, and despite very little research funding, there is now a fair amount of data on this topic. Sexual Harassment in the Workplace provides a comprehensive look at what we know about sexual harassment. Editor Margaret S. Stockdale and a multidisciplinary cast of contributing authors have produced a volume that is grounded in theory, research, and practice but is accessible to researchers, advanced students, and practitioners in multiple disciplines. The topic of sexual harassment is one that is extremely timely and relevant for today's students in women's studies, organizational studies, and sociology. Sexual Harassment in the Workplace deals with a variety of issues and aspects of sexual harassment that will certainly spark discussion and debate.

Freud said that "love and work" are the central therapeutic goals of psychoanalysis; the twin pillars for a sound mind and for living the "good life." While psychoanalysis has masterfully contributed to understanding the experience of love, it has only made a modest contribution to understanding the psychology of work. This book is the first to explore fully the psychoanalysis of work, analysing career choice, job performance and job satisfaction, with an eye toward helping people make wiser choices that bring out the best in themselves, their colleagues and their organization. The book addresses the crucial questions concerning work: how does one choose the right career; what qualities contribute to excellence in performance; how best to implement and cope with organizational change; and what capacity and skills does one need to enjoy every day work? Drawing on psychoanalytic thinking, vocational counseling, organizational psychology and business studies, The Psychoanalysis of Career Choice, Job Performance, and Satisfaction will be invaluable in clinical psychoanalytic work, as well as for mental health professionals, scholars, career counselors and psychologists looking for a deeper understanding of work-based issues.

You don't have to be ruthless to get ahead--kindness will get you there faster From the CEO of the Pavilion community, Sam Jacobs, Kind Folks Finish First weaves practical business lessons with fresh perspectives on how you can achieve success. The ideas in this book are backed by the author's personal experience building a nearly $200-million business rooted in kindness, reciprocity, and deeply held values. More than that, they're proven principles that have helped thousands reach their goals in every arena. In business, we've been told to never leave money on the table. Don't split the difference. You need to be ruthless in order to make it to the top. Kind Folks Finish First shows you that isn't the only path. Being a good person and earning money aren't mutually exclusive. Helping others isn't a sacrifice; it's a long-term strategy that can spur your success if only you're willing to take the exit ramp, reset your destination, and fuel your future with generosity. Walk through a proven process to discover what you really stand for Learn how to assume control of your life and how to leverage reciprocity to drive professional success. Align your personal life with your professional life Unlock your highest potential to create true happiness Anyone looking for a kinder, gentler, more values-driven and authentic way to succeed will love this book. The secret is finally getting out--kind people really do get ahead faster.

'Kind, realistic and genuinely helpful' Observer 'Bravo on the publication of this witty, wise guide to solo working' Alice Lascelles 'Filled to the brim with advice . . . Such a brilliant book' Emma Gannon Whether by choice or circumstance, as a freelancer or a company employee working from home, more of us are becoming solo workers than ever before. But once you've made the leap, how to do you actually work well in isolation? And how can you thrive while working alone? Picking up where the freelancer bibles stop, Solo addresses what we gain but also miss when we shift from the structure of an office environment to the solitary confines of our homes or studios. Blending the latest research in psychology, economics and social science with guided self-examination and more than ten years of freelance experience, Rebecca Seal shows you how to stay resilient, productive and focused in a company of one. Practical and inspiring, she also explores the idea of meaningful work and helps you define your own success.

In industrialised countries, musculo-skeletrical disorders of the upper limbs represent one of the commonest work-related diseases. All working activities habitually requiring repetitive upper limb movements and exertions represent a potential risk for these disorders under certain conditions. This practical manual provides a clear and detailed solution to the problem of assessing and consequently managing these risks in conformity with European Union legislation covering the safety and protection of workers' health. The book contains many tables, diagrams and schedules, enhancing its practical value. The methods it proposes for analyzing and designing or redesigning jobs and tasks do not require sophisticated equipment and are largely based on situations encountered in large manufacturing factories. Since risk analysis also concerns how jobs and tasks are organized, many concepts and terms are defined that prevention experts can share with those responsible for planning and organizing manufacturing activities on the shop floor.

Organizations are implementing virtual teams using web technologies as a cost-effective measure for training and project development. In Working at a Distance, Cassandra Smith provides a detailed, comprehensible virtual team business model for managers, professionals, teachers or students involved globally with such initiatives. The author argues that guidance for members of such teams is generally lacking. They are left to figure out their places on the team and face a host of other issues, the impact of which can be ameliorated with a virtual team business model that anyone working at a distance can follow. Cassandra Smith has taught courses online and facilitated virtual teams. The model she has created based on that experience maximizes the benefit to be gained from individual members' skills, personality styles, and the strengths of each active participant. It will enable teams to set up viable working plans and work cohesively at a distance. The model also provides for conflict management in virtual environments. Built on research and practical experience, the empirical data and subject experts' views captured by the author and the model offered here will help all stakeholders of businesses or educational institutions where managers, employees and clients; or teachers and students are working at a distance to achieve desired outcomes.

What happens to you, your team, even your entire organization when the business environment becomes more volatile and challenging? Have you noticed how some leaders continue to achieve breakthrough results under even the most difficult of circumstances while others' relationships break down, creating even more turmoil? Which of these leaders do you choose to be? In "From Breakdown to Breakthrough", leading change consultant, Michael Papanek, draws on his experience, insights, and research with top executives to shine a spotlight on how anyone---even those whose business relationships have suffered in the heat of change in the past---can establish the resilient relationships required for a long-term track record of business success. From his early days working during the General Motors---Electronic Data Systems merger in Detroit, to launching his own consultancy in San Francisco just as the U.S. economy reached its nadir, author Michael Papanek learned first-hand why it is vital to ensure all business relationships are Strong, Flexible, and Fair. Weaving this knowledge into a model applied successfully by his clients within leading organizations including Apple, Google, and Yahoo!, Papanek now offers this proven approach to any business professional wondering how to rise above the vicious cycle of relationship breakdown that many of us find ourselves in---especially during times of incessant change. The history of every company is always about key relationships that either led to long-term success, or breakdown. Some leaders seem naturally adept at riding what Papanek calls "The Heat Curve," emerging from volatile times with their relationships not just in tact, but enhanced. From Breakdown to Breakthrough shows how you can achieve that not just for yourself, but for everyone you work with.

According to Chris York, creating a work culture that demands excellence is simple in concept, yet challenging in practice. Why do some organizations fail to realize their true potential? The only acceptable outcome of their actions and efforts should be excellence. Dive into Chris York's approach with Set the Standard, a resource for business leaders and professionals hoping to learn how to execute excellence on a daily basis and build something most doubt possible. The strategies within Set the Standard are those that transformed two local hospitals into nationally recognized organizations, and can transform any company of into an environment of intentional effort and action.

Just because a problem is invisible doesn't mean it's not affecting your operation. While communication, distance, and culture are often ignored as real threats to your results, these unnoticed forces are negatively affecting companies that operate internationally. Globalization has amplified a series of obstacles we not have paid enough attention to in our organizations. Ultimately, it's humans that solve problems in coordination with other humans, and this requires excellent communication. Currently, people must coordinate actions and collaborate with teams sitting in geographically separated places. Misunderstandings and lack of clarity, however, cause high, unbudgeted costs. Global Lean: Seeing the New Waste Rooted in Communication, Distance, and Culture highlights the waste created by these interactions and adopts Lean thinking to provide methods, approaches, and real case studies to eliminate these problems at the source. As organizations evolve into global networks, Lean initiatives must now meet new needs. The book follows the story of a CEO and his company that, while successful in their local environment, are heavily impacted by new obstacles as they expand internationally. It illustrates how they adopt Lean methodologies to bring hidden problems to the surface.

From Chinese factories making cheap toys for export, to sweatshops in Bangladesh where name-brand garments are sewn - studies on the impact of globalization on workers have tended to focus on the worst jobs and the worst conditions. But in When Good Jobs Go Bad, Jeffrey Rothstein looks at the impact of globalization on a major industry - the North American auto industry - to reveal that globalization has had a deleterious effect on even the most valued of blue-collar jobs. Rothstein argues that the consolidation of the Mexican and U.S.-Canadian auto industries, the expanding number of foreign automakers in North America, and the spread of lean production have all undermined organized labor and harmed workers. Focusing on three General Motors plants assembling SUVs - an older plant in Janesville, Wisconsin; a newer and more viable plant in Arlington, Texas; and a ""greenfield site"" (a brand-new, state-of-the-art facility) in Silao, Mexico - When Good Jobs Go Bad shows how global competition has made nonstop, monotonous, standardized routines crucial for the survival of a plant, and it explains why workers and their local unions struggle to resist. For instance, in the United States, General Motors forced workers to accept intensified labor by threatening to close plants, which led local unions to adopt ""keep the plant open"" as their main goal. At its new factory in Silao, GM had hand-picked the union - one opposed to strikes and committed to labor-management cooperation - before it hired the first worker. Rothstein's engaging comparative analysis, which incorporates the viewpoints of workers, union officials, and management, sheds new light on labor's loss of bargaining power in recent decades, and highlights the negative impact of globalization on all jobs, both good and bad, from the sweatshop to the assembly line.

'This comprehensive volume provides excellent coverage of the scholarly landscape for virtual teaming. Ivanaj and Bozon have integrated a variety of research streams and practical techniques that should prove to be very useful for anyone studying or working in virtual teams. The chapter on leadership and conflict management is an especially thoughtful and welcome addition to the literature, given we know less about these arenas, and yet they tend to be critical roadblocks for many teams. I commend the authors on developing an excellent resource!' - Cristina Gibson, University of Western Australia The book Managing Virtual Teams explores the critical elements that must be considered in managing virtual teams in organizations from structural, managerial, and process points-of-view. Based in solid research, the book provides a deep look at the nature of virtual teams and the factors that enable their success. Using a text-analysis method, the book consolidates results from both academic and practitioners' sources about virtual team inputs, processes, and outcomes. It lays out in clear detail the key characteristics of virtual teams and traces their emergence within organizations and research literature. Managing Virtual Teams addresses the particular practices of virtual teams, not only technological-focused but also socio-emotional, including the managerial attitudes required in virtual environments seeking well-performing teams. Incorporating case studies and research results, this book demonstrates how academic research can be used to successfully manage businesses in a virtual context. This book is a valuable contribution with clear guidelines for managerial practice, both for researchers interested in learning about virtual teams and to managers and organizations dealing with the challenges of managing them. Students will also benefit from this book as they learn how to become effective and operational virtual team members, and in future, successful managers.

Adapting Building for Changing Uses discusses the comprehensive refurbishment of buildings to enable them to be used for purposes different to those originally intended. For those involved in the often risky business of conversion of buildings from one type of use to another, Adapting Building for Changing Uses provides secure guidance on which uses may be best suited to a particular location. This guidance is based on a unique decision tool, the "Use Comparator", which was developed through research carried out at UCL in the mid 1990's. The "Use Comparator" compares the physical and locational characteristics of a building with the characteristics best suited to various types of use. A total of 77 targeted types of use are evaluated, in contrast to the 17 uses normally considers by regulatory planners. Adapting Building for Changing Uses also identifies the key problems experienced by building managers involved in assembling the coalition of Producers, Investors, Marketeers, Regulators and Users, which makes the key decisions in "Adaptive Reuse". The book explores the differing perceptions and attitudes of these key decision agents to matters such as cost, value, risk and robustness, and offers advice on how to avoid the potential for project failure that these differences present.

This book provides insight into the potential for the market to protect and improve labour standards and working conditions in global apparel supply chains. It examines the possibilities and limitations of market approaches to securing social compliance in global manufacturing industries. It does so by tracing the historic origins of social labelling both in trade union and consumer constituencies, considering industry and consumer perspectives on the benefits and drawbacks of social labelling, comparing efforts to develop and implement labelling initiatives in various countries, and locating social labelling within contemporary debates and controversies about the implications of globalization for workers worldwide. Scholars and students of globalisation, development, corporate social responsibility, human geography, labour and industrial relations, business ethics, consumer behaviour and fashion will find its contents of relevance. CSR practitioners in the clothing and other industries will also find this useful in developing policy with respect to supply chain assurance.