Gendered Capitalism: Sewing Machines and Multinational Business in Spain and Mexico, 1850-1940 is a history of the gendered corporation, a study that examines how ideas and ideals about domesticity and the cultures of sewing and embroidery, being gender-specific, shaped the US-headquartered Singer Sewing Machine Company's operations around the world. In contrast to production-driven and culture-neutral analyses of the multinational enterprise, this book focuses on both the supply and the demand side to argue that consumers and the cultural worlds of those-mainly women-using the sewing machine for personal purposes or for the market shaped corporate organization. This book is a global history of Singer, but it also focuses on the cases of Spain and Mexico to highlight nations where the sewing machine multinational never established manufacturing operations. Casa Singer was a mostly profitable and a long-term selling and marketing operation in both countries. Gendered Capitalism demonstrates that local Spanish and Mexican agents, both men and women, developed and expanded Singer's selling system to the extent that the multinational company was seen as domestic, both in the location sense, and because of its focus on the private sphere of the home. By bringing the cases of Spain and Mexico, and the cultural, everyday realm of practices related to sewing and embroidery that the sewing machine was part of, to the center of the study of international business, Gendered Capitalism further reveals the layers of complexities and multitudes that conform the history of global capitalism. This book will be of interest to readers and scholars in the fields of business history, economic cultural history, management studies, international business, women's history, gender studies, and the history of technology.

Being watched and watching others is a universal feature of all human societies. How does the phenomenon of surveillance affect, interact with, and change the world of business? This concise book unveils a key idea in the history and future of management. For centuries managers have claimed the right to monitor employees, but in the digital era, this management activity has become enhanced beyond recognition. Drawing on extensive research into organizational surveillance, the author distils and analyses existing thinking on the concept with his own empirical work. Drawing together perspectives from philosophy, cutting-edge social theory, and empirical research on workplace surveillance, Surveillance is the definitive introduction to an intriguing topic that will interest readers across the social sciences and beyond.

As we become more and more of a global trading world, the challenges of leading and managing within this turbulent environment and its associated, complex, interconnected markets and disconnected relationships are indisputable, so just how far can any change requirements be practically engaged with, whilst also keeping the employee at the organisation's central core? Today's business world cries out for people who can lead with a cross-cultural global perspective, who can lead from the heart as well as the mind and address and manage problems on not just an integrated local level, but also with a healthy, holistic perspective. The subject of spirituality has long been discussed within academic research, but there still seems to be a misunderstanding and stagnation of both its real meaning and application amongst business academics, the population and organisations alike. This book aims to provide a realistic message to help those who are looking for some answers; for those who are looking for a way to advance their own skill-set and progress both their careers and the organisation's current standing; to move from being confused and insecure about strategies and tactics, to positively contributing to not only their own, but also to the employees' well-being and the business's overall purpose and intention. By basing the content upon real and relevant, interesting, modern-day perspectives, applications, requirements, opportunities and benefits, all combined into a manual for thought and a practical framework for action, this book will significantly and realistically move the subject of spirituality forward. This book will be of interest to researchers, academics and students with a special interest in the, positive, influence of spirituality within the workplace and everyday healthy living.

Multigenerational Communication in Organizations explores generational differences in the changing workplace from a communication perspective. Starting from the reality that a workplace can contain up to five different generations, these chapters examine topics like generational perceptions on the job search process; organizational culture; organizational identification; organizational crises; the dark side of workplace communication; remote working; and future challenges. Outlines of best practices and suggestions for application are provided based on the most recent data and corresponding literature. The authors also develop a data-forward understanding of Generation Z in context. This book is ideal for both scholars and practitioners in organizational communication and management, as well as for workplace managers and supervisors.

The Routledge Companion to Ethics, Politics and Organizations synthesizes and extends existing research on ethics in organizations by explicitly focusing on 'ethico-politics' - where ethics informs political action. It draws connections between ethics and politics in and around organizations and the workplace, examines cutting-edge areas and sets the scene for future research. Through a wealth of international and multidisciplinary contributions this volume considers the broad range of ways in which ethics and politics can be conceived and understood. The chapters look at various ethical traditions, as well as the discursive deployment of ethical terminology in organizational settings, and they also examine large scale political structures and processes and how they relate to different forms of politics which affect behaviour in organizations. These many possibilities are united by a focus on how ethics can be used to inform and justify the exercise of power in organizations. This collection will be a valuable reference source for students and researchers across the disciplines of organizational studies, ethics and politics.

British labour history has been one of the dominating areas of historical research in the last sixty years and this book, written in honour of Professor Chris Wrigley, offers a collection of essays written by leading British labour historians of that subject including Ken Brown, Malcolm Chase and Matthew Worley. It focuses upon trade unionism, the co-operative movement, the rise and fall of the Labour Party, and working-class lives, comparing British labour movements with those in Germany and examining the social and political labour activities of the Lansburys. There is, indeed, some important work connected with the cultural developments of the British labour movement, most obviously in the essay written by Matthew Worley on communism and Punk Rock. -- .

Theoretical and philosophical work on community has yielded multifold definitions and analytical frameworks. Kenneth C. Bessant reflects on the inherent complexity and diversity of this deeply intersubjective aspect of lived social experience. He explores the relational underpinnings of early and more contemporary approaches to the study of community, with a particular emphasis on their core assumptions, concepts, and tenets. Each of these perspectives offers a relatively distinct interpretation of community, while also revealing the intrinsically relational fabric of its perpetual emergence, dynamism, and transformation. The 'being-with' of relational social existence is the fundamental basis upon which all conceptions of community are built, and this is the epicenter around which the book revolves. Community is born of, exists within, and brings forth social relations. It is a living expression of relational willing, thinking, and acting.

This book uncovers the mysterious social and political structures of China's "Third Front," the large state-sponsored development of inland China during the late Maoist period. This movement gave birth to a few important industrial bases such as Panzhihua and Liupanshui and had significant impact on megacities such as Lanzhou, Wuhan, and Chongqing. Yet, this is scarcely known to the West and even the younger generation of Chinese. Chen explores the ways that new industrial structures and hierarchies were created and operated, using political and sociological methodologies to understand what is distinctive in the history of the Chinese corporation. This book will be of immense interest to political scientists, sociologists, China scholars, and researchers of alternative economic structures.

Professions and professionalism have played an integral part in business and society. In this book, Mike Saks provides a thorough overview of this field through an analysis of a range of professions, including, amongst others, accountants, doctors and lawyers. The book offers a critical analysis of such privileged occupational groups in modern societies. Anticipating a positive if changing role for such groups in the years ahead, the book outlines conflicting theoretical perspectives on professions and discusses current developments in an accessible, multi-disciplinary style. The book documents their evolution and contemporary transformation from medieval guilds to fully-fledged professions and international professional service firms, while pointing a path towards their future in the world of work and beyond. With insights into the recent challenges provided by clients, citizens, the state and corporations in neo-liberal societies, Professions provides a concise overview that will be essential reading for students, academics and others interested in the operation of these key occupational groups in business and society.

The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781003108436, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license. This book argues that the expansion of administrative activities in today's working life is driven not only by pressure from above, but also from below. The authors examine the inner dynamics of people-processing organizations-those formally working for clients, patients, or students-to uncover the hidden attractions of doing administrative work, despite all the complaints and laments about "too many meetings" or "too much paperwork." There is something appealing to those compelled to participate in today's constantly multiplying and expanding administration that defies popular framings of it as merely pressure from above. Hidden Attractions of Administration shows in detail the emotional attractiveness, moral conflicts, and almost magical features that administrative tasks often entail in today's organizations, supported by ethnographic studies consisting of over 200 qualitative interviews and participant observations from ten organizational settings and contexts across Sweden. The authors also question and complement explanations in administration-related research that have previously been taken for granted, arguing that it is a simplification to attribute all aspects of the change to New Public Management and instead taking into account what the classic sociologist Georg Simmel called an Eigendynamik: a self-reinforcing tendency that, under certain circumstances, needs only a nudge in an administrative direction to get going. By applying ethnography to issues of bureaucratization and meeting cultures and by drawing on findings in emotional sociology and social anthropology, this volume contributes to both the sociology of work and the study of human service organizations and will appeal to scholars and students working across both areas.

Professions and professionalism have played an integral part in business and society. In this book, Mike Saks provides a thorough overview of this field through an analysis of a range of professions, including, amongst others, accountants, doctors and lawyers. The book offers a critical analysis of such privileged occupational groups in modern societies. Anticipating a positive if changing role for such groups in the years ahead, the book outlines conflicting theoretical perspectives on professions and discusses current developments in an accessible, multi-disciplinary style. The book documents their evolution and contemporary transformation from medieval guilds to fully-fledged professions and international professional service firms, while pointing a path towards their future in the world of work and beyond. With insights into the recent challenges provided by clients, citizens, the state and corporations in neo-liberal societies, Professions provides a concise overview that will be essential reading for students, academics and others interested in the operation of these key occupational groups in business and society.

Being watched and watching others is a universal feature of all human societies. How does the phenomenon of surveillance affect, interact with, and change the world of business? This concise book unveils a key idea in the history and future of management. For centuries managers have claimed the right to monitor employees, but in the digital era, this management activity has become enhanced beyond recognition. Drawing on extensive research into organizational surveillance, the author distils and analyses existing thinking on the concept with his own empirical work. Drawing together perspectives from philosophy, cutting-edge social theory, and empirical research on workplace surveillance, Surveillance is the definitive introduction to an intriguing topic that will interest readers across the social sciences and beyond.

Revisiting divisions of labour is a reflection on the making of a modern sociological classic text and its enduring influence on the discipline and beyond. Ray Pahl's 1984 book is distinctive in the sustained impact it has had on how sociologists think about, research and report on the changing nature of work and domestic life. In this timely revisiting of a landmark project, excerpts from the original are interspersed with contributions from leading researchers reflecting on the book and its effects in the ensuing three decades. The book will be of interest to researchers, students and lecturers in sociology and related disciplines. -- .

Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden today all enjoy a reputation for strong labour movements, which in turn are widely seen as part of a distinctive regional approach to politics, collective bargaining and welfare. But as this volume demonstrates, narratives of the so-called "Nordic model" can obscure the fact that experiences of work and the fortunes of organized labour have varied widely throughout the region and across different historical periods. Together, the essays collected here represent an ambitious intervention in labour historiography and European history, exploring themes such as work, unions, politics and migration from the early modern period to the twenty-first century.

Originally published in 1982 Cheats at Work looks at occupations from an anthropological point of view, using a similar format to analysis of cultures in the study of anthropology. The author uses an extensive set of quotations drawn from over a hundred informants at all social levels. The interviews reveal a distinct set of ideologies and attitudes from various occupations. The book looks specifically at cheating, lying and deception in various occupations, and the interviews reveal how and why people cheat, and deceive their customers and clients, how they learn the concealed tricks and professions and how they justify this.

Published in 1994, this book gathers together a series of original studies on occupational socialization and the everyday realities of work. It includes detailed, empirically based accounts of a variety of occupational settings. Included are: social workers; trainee midwives; prison officers; accountants; teachers; psychiatrists; postgraduate research students. They all reflect the tradition of qualitative research that has been developed at Cardiff. This book was originally published as part of the Cardiff Papers in Qualitative Research series edited by Paul Atkinson, Sara Delamont and Amanda Coffey. The series publishes original sociological research that reflects the tradition of qualitative and ethnographic inquiry developed at Cardiff. The series includes monographs reporting on empirical research, edited collections focussing on particular themes, and texts discussing methodological developments and issues.

A sustainable European workforce has become increasingly relevant in our present day and age. Flexibility and job insecurity are omnipresent; organizational workforces are displaying growing diversity with respect to age, gender, ethnicity and family status; and Europe's welfare states are delegating more and more responsibility for the well-being of workers to employers. Now more so than ever, organizations need to consider investing in workers to improve their performance and level of satisfaction. These investments can take many forms, including flexible work arrangements, training plans, child-related policies and health programs. The crucial question is how to make this happen. Why do some organizations invest more and others less in their employees? Why do some employees make use of these investments and while others do not? Why do such investments sometimes improve employee performance and satisfaction and sometimes not? This book addresses precisely these questions. The book contributes a new, large-scale survey of 259 organizations, 869 work units, and 11,011 employees in six diverse economic sectors in the Bulgaria, Finland, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and UK to study the causes and consequences of organizational investments. This book appeals to undergraduate and postgraduate students, researchers and lecturers in the fields of Sociology, Business and Management, and Organizational Studies. It will also be useful for practitioners of Human Resource Management and others interested in workforce sustainability.

2020 will mark thirty years since the first publication of Judith Butler's ground-breaking book, Gender Trouble. Here, and in subsequent work, Butler argues that gender and other forms of identity can best be understood as performative acts. These acts are what bring our subjectivities into existence, enabling us to be recognized as viable employable social beings, worthy of rights, responsibilities and respect. The three decades since the publication of Gender Trouble have witnessed Butler become one of the most widely cited and controversial figures in contemporary feminist thinking. While it is only in her most recent work that Butler has engaged directly with themes such as work and organization, her writing has profound implications for thinking, and acting, on the relationship between power, recognition and organization. Whilst her ideas have made important in-roads into work, organization and gender studies that are discussed here, there is considerable scope to explore further avenues that her concepts and theories open up. These inroads and avenues are the focus of this book. Judith Butler and Organization Theory makes a substantial contribution to the analysis of gender, work and organization. It not only covers central issues in Butler's work, it also offers a close reading of the complexities and nuances in her thought. It does so by 'reading' Butler as a theorist of organization, whose work resonates with scholars, practitioners and activists concerned to understand and engage with organizational life, organization and organizing. Drawing from a range of illustrative examples, the book examines key texts or 'moments' in the development of Butler's writing to date, positing her as a thinker concerned to understand and address the ways in which our most basic desire for recognition comes to be organized within the context of contemporary labour markets and workplaces. It examines insights from Butler's work, and the philosophical ideas she draws on, considering the impact of these on work, organization and management studies thus far; it also explores some of the many ways in which her thinking might be mobilized in future, considering what scope there is for a non-violent ethics of organization, and for a (re)assembling of the relationship between vulnerability and resistance within and through organizational politics.

Germany is a central case for research on comparative political economy, which has inspired theorizing on national differences and historical trajectories. This book assesses Germany's political economy after the end of the "social democratic" 20th century to rethink its dominant properties and create new opportunities for using the country as a powerful lens into the evolution of democratic capitalism. Documenting large-scale changes and new tensions in the welfare state, company strategies, interest intermediation, and macroeconomic governance, the volume makes the case for analysing contemporary Germany through the politics of imbalance rather than the long-standing paradigm of institutional stability. This conceptual reorientation around inequalities and disparities provides much-needed traction for clarifying the causal dynamics that govern ongoing processes of institutional recomposition. Delving into the politics of imbalance, the volume explicates the systemic properties of capitalism, multivalent policy feedback, and the organizational foundations of creative adjustment as key vantage points for understanding new forms of distributional conflict within and beyond Germany. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of German Politics.

The Institutional Theory of the Firm examines recent and previous organization theory literature to advocate what Evans (1995) refers to as the "embedded autonomy" of the firm, as well as its role in being simultaneously anchored in, for example, corporate legislation and regulatory practices on the national, regional (i.e., within the European Union) and transnational levels, while at the same time being granted the right to operate with significant degrees of freedom within this legal-regulatory model. Seen in this view, the embedded autonomy of the corporation represents a theoretical view of the corporation that complements the market-based image of the corporation in economic theory. When advocating the institutional theory model, three forms of embedded autonomy are examined. First, the corporation is enacted as a legal entity sui juris-as a freestanding "legal person" in corporate law and within the regulatory framework that serves to enforce legislation in everyday life settings. Second, the corporation is embedded within what social theorists refer to as moral economies, the norms and values that regulate what are the socially acceptable and legitimate means for conducting business. Third and finally, the corporation is embedded in governance, a relatively complex economic concept that denotes legal and regulatory control on the societal and economic system levels, and on the level of the individual corporation. By combining the three forms of embeddedness, sanctioned by law, norms, and governance, the embedded autonomy of the firm is secured on the basis of a variety of social practices and resources. This book brings together a diverse literature including management studies, economic sociology, legal theory, finance theory, and mainstream economic theory to advance the argument that the corporation is best understood as what is embedded in a social and economic context, yet best serving its defined and stipulated ends by assuming considerable degrees of freedom to operate in isolation from various stakeholders. It will be of relevance for a variety of readers, including graduate students, management scholars, policy-makers, and management consultants interested in organization theory and management studies.

Macro-social marketing is an approach to solving wicked problems. Wicked problems include obesity, environmental degradation, smoking cessation, fast fashion, gambling, and drug and alcohol abuse. As such, wicked problems are those problems that are so complex and multifaceted, it is difficult to define the exact problem, its contributing factors, and paths to a solution. Increasingly, governments, NGOs, and community groups are seeking to solve these types of problems. In doing so, the issues with pursuing macro-level change are beginning to emerge. Issues stem from the interconnected nature of stakeholders involved with a wicked problem-where one change may create a negative ripple effect of both intended and unintended consequences. Macro-social marketing, then, provides a holistic and systemic approach to both studying and solving wicked problems. Within the chapters of this book, macro-social marketing approaches to analysing and defining wicked problems, to identifying stakeholders and potential ripple effects, and to implementing macro-level change are presented. In this emerging area of academia, the theories, models, and approaches outlined in this book are cutting edge and provide a critical approach from top researchers in the area. Both practical and theoretical aspects are presented as well as caveats on such societal and/or country-wide change. A must-have for social marketing academics and those interested in macro-level change at a practical or theoretical level.

Seismic changes in ideology and economic policy in China followed the death of Mao Zedong but one aspect of culture has remained constant: the use of 'Model Workers' for the purposes of propaganda and more recent public relations campaigns. In both a political and commercial context, the use of these individuals continues to thrive, and although the messages they promote have largely changed, their continued use indicates the extent to which they are believed to be an effective form of persuasion. Model Workers were deployed at key points in China's recent history and served to embody the Party's vision of the ideal Chinese citizen as they attempted to reshape the nation following a 'Century of Humiliation,' a ruinous war with Japan and a divisive civil war. This volume utilises the detailed analysis of posters, cinema and translations of related propaganda material to explore the extent of the influence of the Model Worker as a concept, on both propaganda and national policy.

The literature on gender and professions shows that professional careers continue to be impacted by gender - albeit with important differences among professions and countries. Much less researched is the issue of the significance of gender and age-cohort or generation to professional work. Gender, Age and Inequality in the Professions explores men's and women's experiences of professional work and careers through an intersectional lens by focusing on the intersection of gender and age. The chapters explore different professions - including Medicine, Nursing, Law, Academia, Information Technology and Engineering - in different Western countries, in the present and over time. Through original research, and critical re-analysis of existing research, each of the chapters explores the significance of gender and age-cohort or generation to professional work, with particular attention to professionals just entering professional careers, those building professional careers, and comparisons of men and women in professions across generational cohorts. The book contributes to literature on inequalities in the professions by demonstrating the ways in which gender and age converge to confer privilege and produce disadvantage, and the ways in which gender inequality is reproduced, and disrupted, through the activities of professionals on the job. The book constitutes a departure point for future research in terms of theoretical perspectives and empirical findings on how gendered and age-related processes are produced and reproduced in particular organisational, professional and socio-cultural contexts. To enhance generational understanding, relationships and collaboration in educational institutions, organisations and professions, the book ends with a section on policy recommendations for educators, professionals, professional organisations as well as policy- and decision-makers. This book will also appeal to students and researchers in the fields of Sociology, Gender Studies, Organisational and Management Studies, Law, Medicine, Engineering and Information Technology as well as related disciplines.

From the perspective of trade unions, European integration makes it more necessary than ever before to establish common political positions. At the same time, increasing heterogeneity between the member states makes the crafting of such positions more and more difficult. Can, under these circumstances, a joint political line among European trade unions emerge? To answer this question, the book sheds light on transnational trade union cooperation in the three most important policy fields: the debate around the Freedom of services, the discussion over a European minimum wage, and the efforts of international wage coordination. Drawing on the results of extensive field research based on a qualitative study among trade unions from Hungary, Poland, Sweden, and Germany, as well as representatives from the European level, this book points to a significant gap in European trade union politics between pretensions and reality. The findings provide a solid theoretical framework, suitable not only to explain current dynamics in the field of European trade unionism, but also promising for further research on the topic. With its focus on a contested political field, Trade Unions in the Course of European Integration contributes to practical and theoretical debates within European trade unionism. As an adequate understanding of European trade unionism in general and collective bargaining requires a twofold perspective on European integration and the role of trade unions in European labor relations, two fields of scholarly interest are being addressed. Moreover, with its focus on European trade unionism as an internationalist project of labor politics, the book will also appeal to those interested in the field of Global Labor Studies.

Workers and Workplaces in Revolutionary China collates documents detailing the conflict and politics of Chinese industrial development in the 1970s. Originally published in 1974, issues discussed in this volume include socialism, the harbour docks in china and tobacco factory workers. This title will be of interest to students of Asian studies, anthropology and politics.