Across the social sciences, scholars are increasingly showing how people 'work' to construct organizational life, including the rules and routines that shape and enable organizational activity, the identities of people who occupy organizations, and the societal norms and assumptions that provide the context for organizational action. The idea of work emphasizes the ways in which people and groups engage in purposeful, reflexive efforts rooted in an awareness of organizational life as constructed in human interaction and changeable through human effort. Studies of these efforts have identified new forms of work including emotion work, identity work, boundary work, strategy work, institutional work, and a host of others. Missing in these conversations, however, is a recognition that these forms of work are all part of a broader phenomenon driven by historical shifts that began with modernity and dramatically accelerated through the twentieth century. This book introduces the social-symbolic work perspective, which addresses this broader phenomenon. The social-symbolic work perspective integrates diverse streams of research to examine how people purposefully and reflexively work to construct organizational life, including the identities, technologies, boundaries, and strategies that constitute their organizations. In this book, the authors define social-symbolic work and introduce three forms - self work, organization work, and institutional work. Social-symbolic work highlights people's efforts to construct the social world, and focuses attention on the motivations, practices, resources, and effects of those efforts. This book explores eight distinct streams of social-symbolic work research, drawing on a broad range of examples from the worlds of business, politics, sports, social movements, and many others. It provides researchers, students, and practitioners with an integrative theoretical framework useful in understanding social-symbolic work, a survey of the main forms of social-symbolic work, a rich set of theoretical opportunities to inspire new studies, and practical methodological guidance for empirical research on social-symbolic work.

Employee engagement, accountability, and true commitment--not management's well-thought-out initiatives--are the real key to achieving results. In The Power of Strategic Commitment readers learn how to improve strategic processes by enlisting the support of managers, employees, boards, suppliers, investors, and others to promote company-wide ownership. The book outlines the key factors that determine commitment and reveals how readers can continuously measure buy-in, involve everyone in creating their own piece of a larger organizational future, tailor commitment strategies for individual employees, keep everyone on the road to achieving stated goals, hire fully-engaged talent, and create a commitment-inspiring rewards system.Most managers and executives don't have a clear system for ensuring the support they need from those around them. But creating and sustaining the kind of buy-in that drives results starts with you. The Power of Strategic Commitment provides practical methods for getting everyone to not only accept and support, but actually embrace organizational initiatives and promote long-term success.

"Teams have evolved into an important structure in business today--and are now needed more than ever. An insightful collection of activities, "Team Workout" provides facilitators, trainers, leaders, and managers with a wide variety of tools to increase team effectiveness and upgrade skills and knowledge within today's challenging organizational environment. The book focuses on such current team issues as virtual teams, trust-building, customer satisfaction, recognition, and respect. Trainers will learn the key ideas that underlie all of the activities in this manual, including: * Each team has a common purpose, mission, or goal * Members are interdependent; they need each other to achieve their purpose * Agreement that working together effectively will help to reach their goal. This collection will help team leaders, team-building specialists, trainers, and others interested in creating collaborative, harmonious and effective work teams."

"Breakthrough innovation is a prerequisite for success in almost any organization, yet the actual management of innovation has only recently begun to receive the attention it deserves. Here, innovation thought leader Elaine Dundon offers a ""how-to"" prescription for building creative and strategic innovation skills at all levels of an organization (rather than focusing on decision-making levels only) -- and explains how to produce measurable results that translate directly to the bottom line.

Using field-tested concepts and practical examples, and featuring easy-to-apply processes and concrete thinking tools, this straight-talking book provides a broadly applicable guide to innovation -- one that's not limited to a specific industry sector. Today's most comprehensive, one-stop innovation resource, it describes:

* The three necessary components of innovation -- creative, strategic, and transformational thinking

* Methods for applying innovative thought to existing products, processes, and business models

* 90 great innovations and 90 trends to consider"

Are you over 50 and facing a crossroads in life? Feel you're too old to change or don't have time to start over? Think again. In this down-to-earth book, Cindy Galvin explains why it's never too late to launch your next career. With cheeky wit, Cindy takes you on a journey with clients who transformed their lives by developing careers filled with purpose. She explains why it's never been a better time to create the life you want. Cindy's book is a toolbox you can dip into for help with: * Leveraging decades of experience, skills and wisdom * Building a `success network' * Recognising the control and influence you have

"No more ""checking for feet."" This illuminating guide gets people to tell the truth at the meeting--not in the bathroom afterwards.

Almost everybody does it--lie, that is. In one recent survey 93% of people admitted to lying regularly at work Why? Because it's safer than telling the truth.

Sadly, organizations cannot succeed in this poisonous world of half-truths, strategic omissions, and doctored information. To function optimally, businesses must create an environment where people feel free to tell the truth, no matter how disturbing. Only then can organizations unleash the responsiveness, creativity, and enthusiasm necessary to achieve their goals.

This unique book shows how, using the formal process of ""dialogue,"" such a place can be built. In a lively discussion, the author shows managers how to use this technique to encourage truth-telling by reducing fear, prompting self-examination, and opening minds * build trust where suspicion and cynicism held sway * inspire individuals to think and learn as a group * help groups talk through tough issues and move to collaborative action."

What do you do when work is overwhelming, it feels like you're completely lost, and every mistake you make seems to pile more pressure on your shoulders? 'This book is the resilience you need to adapt and thrive as you enter the workplace.' Paul Jarvis, author of Company of One ________________ The definitive careers guide for starting out in today's working world. It's never been tougher to get started in your career. In a world where entry-level positions require years of experience, it can feel like you've fallen behind before you've even begun. Even when you finally manage to get yourself a job, how do you make sure you're standing out from the crowd and succeeding? In How to Go to Work, careers experts Lucy Clayton and Steven Haines deliver the indispensable guide to surviving and thriving at work. Whether you've just begun working your first Saturday shift, you're about to start an apprenticeship, or you're already climbing the leadership ladder, it's chock-full of the vital advice you need to jump-start your professional life. This practical and accessible guide will show you how to: - Find the right work experience and internships to make the best of your time - Deal with mistakes and handle the pressure that comes with professional work - Gain confidence, authority and resilience, and thrive in your role - Navigate the ups and downs of your early career and make fast progress From getting your foot through the door, to dealing with office politics and toxic workplaces, to negotiating pay, pensions and promotions, How to Go to Work is the essential manual for anyone embarking upon or consolidating their career. Using the collective wisdom of CEOs, creatives, scientists, activists and professionals in every industry, presented in the style of an entertaining but direct guide, Clayton and Haines prepare you for the ride of your life. ________________ 'A vital book to anyone trying to get their head round the challenges or work. Deadly serious advice delivered in a style that is never deadly serious. An important but entertaining read' Bruce Daisely, bestselling author of The Joy of Work 'Full of invaluable advice for those at the start of their career' Cate Sevilla, author of How to Work Without Losing Your Mind

Whether you call it "harvesting intangible assets" or "intellectual property management," organizations must make the most of everything they have to remain competitive and experience continual growth. In this thought-provoking book, author Andrew J. Sherman shares insights and expertise gleaned from his work with some of the world's leading companies who have capitalized on intellectual assets such as patents, trademarks, customer information, software codes, databases, business models, home-grown processes, and employee expertise. Featuring instructive examples from organizations including Proctor & Gamble, IBM, and Google, Harvesting Intangible Assets reveals how companies large or small can uncover their intellectual property rights that are hiding just below the strategic surface. You'll learn how to implement IP-driven growth and licensing strategies, foster a culture of innovation, turn research and development into revenue, and maximize your company's profits. Smart companies reap what they sow. This book gives readers the tools they need for a profitable harvest.

Today, a large proportion of the world's states are under authoritarian governments. These countries limit participation rights, both in the political sphere and in the workplace. At the same time, they have to generate consent in the workplace in order to ensure social stability and prevent the escalation of conflicts. But how do companies generate consent given that employee voice and interest representation may be limited or entirely absent? Based on a review of research literature from sociology, organizational psychology, and behavioural economics, this book develops a theory of consent generation and distinguishes three groups of consent-producing mechanisms: socialization, incentive mechanisms, and participation and interest representation. It presents an empirical analysis of how these mechanisms work in Russian and Chinese automotive factories and shows how socio-cultural factors and labour regulation explain the differences between both countries regarding consent and control in the workplace. The book contributes to two research debates. First, it examines the generation of consent in the workplace-a core topic of the sociology of work and organization. Its particular focus is on consent generation in authoritarian societies. Secondly, the book contributes to the debate about the reasons for the completely different trajectories of post-communist Russia and China. The book provides an empirical analysis that explains the different work behaviours of employees in both countries and links the micro-level of the workplace and the macro-level of institutions and organizational cultures.

Grounded in research, DRIVERS provides an accessible and practical guide for leaders to understand and apply the science of intrinsic motivation and trust at work. The DRIVERS are the true performance currency.

Corporate Social Performance In The Age Of Irresponsibility - Cross National Perspective is authored by a range of international experts with a diversity of backgrounds and perspectives and provides a collection of ideas, examples and solutions on CSP implementation in the time of irresponsibility. Although Corporate Social Performance (CSP) has become important part of the management agenda of many enterprises and many companies adding socially responsible statements to their websites and mission statements some firms behave irresponsibly while at the same time acting positively on some dimensions- "corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) and responsibility can exist at the same time in the same firm." (Gonzalez-Perez, 2011). This volume is aimed at presenting Corporate Social Performance concept from distinct cultural perspectives with the reference to responsible and irresponsible practices of various entities from different parts of the world.

Optimal development of contemporary businesses is dependent on a number of factors. By creating novel frameworks for organizational behavior, effective competitive advantage can be achieved. The Handbook of Research on Organizational Culture and Diversity in the Modern Workforce is a comprehensive reference source for the latest scholarly content on components and impacts on effecting culturally diverse workplace environments. Highlighting a range of pertinent topics such as emotional intelligence, human resources, and work-life balance, this publication is ideally designed for managers, professionals, researchers, students, and academics interested in emerging perspectives on organizational development.

Although the Latin American region has shown an impressive growth in educational attainment over the past two decades, that education has failed to yield expected benefits. A mounting body of research and policy debates argues that the quantity of education is not an adequate metric of human capital acquisition. Rather, individuals' skills - what they actually know and can do - should stand as policy targets and be fostered across the life course. Evidence from around the world shows that both cognitive and socio-emotional skills are demanded by employers and favorably affect a range of outcomes, including educational attainment and employment outcomes. Through original empirical research investigating the role of cognitive and socio-emotional skills in shaping adults' labour market outcomes in Bolivia, Colombia, El Salvador, and Peru, supplemented by similar studies in other Latin American countries, this review confirms that cognitive skills matter for reaping labour market gains in terms of higher wages and formal jobs in Latin America; but so do socio-emotional skills. Moreover, socio-emotional skills seem to particularly influence labour force participation and tertiary education attendance as a platform to build knowledge. The study also presents a policy framework for skills development by: (i) providing insights by developmental psychologists about when people are neuro-biologically, socio-emotionally, and situationally ready to develop socio-emotional skills, and (ii) suggesting new directions in cognitive development.

Identity matters. Who we are in terms of our intersecting identities such as gender, race, social class, (dis)ability, geography, and religion are integral to who we are and how we navigate work and life. Unfortunately, many people have yet to grasp this understanding and, as a result, so many of our work spaces lack appropriate responses to what this means. Therefore, Identity Intersectionalities, Mentoring, and Work?life (Im) balance: Educators (Re)negotiate the Personal, Professional, and Political, the most recent installment of the work?life balance series, uses an intersectional perspective to critically examine the concept of work?life balance. In an effort to build on the first book in the series, that focused on professors in educational leadership preparation programs, the authors here represent educators across the P?20 pipeline (primary and secondary schools in addition to higher education). This book is also unique in that it includes the voices of practitioners, students, and academics from a variety of related disciplines within the education profession, enabling the editors to include a diverse group of educators whose many voices speak to work?life balance in unique and very personal ways. Contributing authors challenge whether the concept of work?life balance might be conceived as a privileged -and even an impractical?endeavor. Yet, the bottom line is, conceptions of work?life balance are exceptionally complex and vary widely depending on one's many roles and intersecting identities. Moreover, this book considers how mentoring is important to negotiating the politics that come with balancing work and life; especially, if those intersecting identities are frequently associated with unsolicited stereotypes that impede upon one's academic, professional and personal pursuits in life. Finally, the editors argue that the power to authentically "be ourselves" is not only important to individual success, but also beneficial to fostering an institutional culture and climate that is truly supportive of and responsive to diversity, equity, and justice. Taken together, the voices in this book are a clarion call for P?12 and higher education professionals and organizations to envision how identity intersectionalities might become an every?day understanding, a normalized appreciation, and a customary commitment that translates into policy and practice.

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.

In the last decades diversity and its management has become a feature of modern and postmodern organizations. Different practices have spread around the globe focusing on the organizing and management of inclusion and exclusion of persons and identities based on different genders, sexual orientations, racial and ethnic backgrounds, ages, and (dis)abilities as well as religious beliefs. However, although increasingly recognized as important, the discourses of diversity are multifaceted and not without controversy. Furthermore, diversity management practices have the potential to reproduce both inclusion and exclusion. The book presents the foundations of organizing and managing diversities, offers multidisciplinary, intersectional and critical analyses on key issues, and opens up fresh perspectives in order to advance the diversity debate. It also inspires new debates on diversity by encouraging scholars to broaden their research agendas and assists students and scholars to increase their understanding of the field and its current discussions. The contributors are a team of leading diversity scholars from all over the world.

The Research in Careers series is designed in five volumes to provide scholars a unique forum to examine careers issues in today's changing, global workplace. What makes this series unique is that the volumes are connected by the use of Mainiero and Sullivan's (2006) Kaleidoscope Career Model (KCM) as the organizing framework and the theme underlying the volumes. In this volume, Striving for Balance, we consider how individuals seek a healthy alignment between work and nonwork. In addition to building upon the established literature on work/family conflict, the chapters in this volume also examine the reciprocal positive influences between work and nonwork, considering such issues as balancing work with commitments to others, including spouse/partner, children, elderly relatives, friends, and the community. Chapters 1 and 2 of this volume focus on macro?issues surrounding work/nonwork balance, specifically studying the effectiveness of organizational policies. In Chapter 1, Westring, Kossek, Pichler and Ryan explore if there is a gap between an organization's adoption of work/nonwork policies and its offering of a supportive environment for the employees' use of such policies. In Chapter 2, Purohit, Simmers, Sullivan and Baugh draw from social exchange theory and the compensation literature to examine how employees' satisfaction with their organization's discretionary (i.e., not legally required) support initiatives influences their work?related attitudes and personal well?being. Chapters 3 and 4 examine balance from a micro perspective, focusing on generational differences in balance as well as how individuals' reactions to work?nonwork conflicts influence career outcomes. In Chapter 3, Stawiski, Gentry and Baranik study balance using the lens of generational differences, exploring the relationship between work?life balance and promotability for members of the Baby Boom generation and Gen X. In Chapter 4, Boyd, Keeney, Sinha and Ryan discuss their qualitative analysis of how 1,359 university alumni's reactions to work?life conflict events shaped their career choices, including entry, participation, and attrition decisions. Their approach offers a different lens to examine work?life conflict. Chapters 5 and 6 provide two perspectives on where scholars should focus their future research efforts in studying work/nonwork balance. In Chapter 5, van Emmerik, Bakker, Westman and Peeters provide a conceptual examination of the processes that affect work?family conflict, family?work conflict, and the overall resulting work/nonwork balance or imbalance. In Chapter 6, Bataille offers a multi?dimensional definition of work?family balance and develops a framework, which recognizes the dominant dimensions of work-family balance.