This book is concerned with the rapid and varied changes in the nature of work and work relationships which have taken place in recent years. While technological innovation has been a key contributor to the nature and pace of change, other social and market trends have also played a part such as increasing workforce diversity, enhanced competition and greater global integration. Responding to these trends alongside cost pressures and the need for continued responsiveness to the environment, organizations have changed the way in which work is organized. There have also been shifts in product markets with growing demand for authenticity and refinement of the customer experience which has further implications for how work is organized and enacted. At the same time, employees have sought changes in their work arrangements in order to help them achieve a more satisfactory relationship between their work and non-work lives. Many have also taken increased responsibility for managing their own work opportunities, moving away from dependency on a single employer. The implications of these significant and widespread changes are the central focus of this book and in particular the implications for workers, managers, and organizations. It brings together contributions from an international team of renowned management scholars who explore the opportunities and challenges presented by technological and digital innovation, consumer, social and organizational change. Drawing on empirical evidence from Europe, North America and Australia, Work, Working and Work Relationships in a Changing World considers new forms of service work, technologically enabled work and independent professionals to provide in-depth insight into work experiences in the 21st Century.

New Ways of Organizing Work offers a broader understanding of changes to the way work is organized and the implications for relevant stakeholders. It brings together contributions from a well established group of international scholars to examine the nature and consequences of new ways of working. The book draws on studies of a variety of new forms of work, involving a diverse range of employees and drawing on experiences in a variety of countries. It includes three main empirical sections. The first focuses on different forms of work and working arrangements, stimulated by the use of technology, increased competitive pressure and media portrayal of work and working. In contrast to much other work in the field, a strong theme of this book is individuals' experiences of new ways of working. The second empirical section examines this theme with a specific focus on remote workers and their responses to new ways of working. Exploring contemporary trends towards increasing use of global teams, the third section examines the implications of distributed teams and the challenges for managing performance and knowledge transfer.

This book is concerned with the rapid and varied changes in the nature of work and work relationships which have taken place in recent years. While technological innovation has been a key contributor to the nature and pace of change, other social and market trends have also played a part such as increasing workforce diversity, enhanced competition and greater global integration. Responding to these trends alongside cost pressures and the need for continued responsiveness to the environment, organizations have changed the way in which work is organized. There have also been shifts in product markets with growing demand for authenticity and refinement of the customer experience which has further implications for how work is organized and enacted. At the same time, employees have sought changes in their work arrangements in order to help them achieve a more satisfactory relationship between their work and non-work lives. Many have also taken increased responsibility for managing their own work opportunities, moving away from dependency on a single employer. The implications of these significant and widespread changes are the central focus of this book and in particular the implications for workers, managers, and organizations. It brings together contributions from an international team of renowned management scholars who explore the opportunities and challenges presented by technological and digital innovation, consumer, social and organizational change. Drawing on empirical evidence from Europe, North America and Australia, Work, Working and Work Relationships in a Changing World considers new forms of service work, technologically enabled work and independent professionals to provide in-depth insight into work experiences in the 21st Century.

Recent years have seen changes taking place in the nature and conduct of work, stimulated by both organizational needs and the needs and desires of individual employees. Organizations have changed the way in which work is carried out in response to factors such as increased cost pressures and the need to operate in a global environment. Employees have also sought changes in their work arrangements in order to help them achieve a more satisfactory relationship between their work and non-work activities. Moreover, in some countries these changes have been augmented by legislative support. Such changes to the nature of work and the way in which it is carried out have wide-reaching implications for organizations, managers, and employees. New Ways of Organizing Work is concerned with examining contemporary changes to how work is conducted, how those changes are implemented, and how they are experienced by employees. The book brings together contributions from an international team of well-recognized scholars and provides empirical evidence from Europe, North America, Asia, and Australia. The book includes several studies that explore new forms of service work, the use of mobile technologies, and geographically distributed teams. Other studies address employee experiences with a specific focus on resistance, identity, and the construction of work / non-work boundaries.

An increasing number of people are choosing to pursue an international career. While many are sent overseas by their employers others choose to go it alone as independent expatriates. This book explores what it means to pursue an international career independently. It examines the experiences of a group of British expatriate academics who have left Britain to work in one of four countries: New Zealand, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey. It considers why they decided to expatriate, the nature of their subsequent experiences and how they evaluated those experiences in retrospect. While family and career played a dominant role, a search for adventure was the most dominant driver to expatriation. For many of the people who took part in this study expatriation was a modern day adventure characterised by professional and personal challenge as well as learning and transformation. The book is a useful resource for IHRM researchers and practitioners, particularly those managing expatriates. It is also useful for people considering expatriation as part of their own careers, particularly with respect to the impact on family, personal and professional development.