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Despite unanimous agreement in the existing literature that morale influences employee performance, no well‐defined measure of morale exists. In Russia, identifying the factors that contribute to employee morale is particularly important since firms face difficult financial challenges imposed by the decade‐long economic and political transition that began in January 1992. The study aims to develop a robust measure of morale and focuses on the factors that influence morale among Russian workers.

Survey data were collected from Russian employees at two different points in time, 1995 and 2002, in five Russian cities (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Taganrog, Rostov and Azov). The study used regression analysis to assess the influence of expected rewards on employee morale.

The paper finds that among the workers participating in the study, expectation of receiving a desired reward contributes to high morale, with expected monetary rewards having a higher influence that expected non‐monetary rewards, but praise for a job well done and a feeling of accomplishment also contribute positively to employee morale. There is a significant correlation between positive attitudes toward work and morale, and a positive correlation between performance assessment and morale. Demographic characteristics (age and gender) have no discernable influence on morale when controls are included for work experience.

Data are cross‐sectional rather than longitudinal and sampling is purposive rather than random.

The research suggests that if companies are not financially able to provide monetary rewards, managers can focus on developing a work environment that is friendly and fosters mutual respect. Managers have control over praise and it costs nothing to praise employees for a “job well done.”

No study to date has examined Russian worker morale nor tested morale measures developed in developed market economies on Russian workers. The study develops three reliable measures of morale.

David Buckingham (1998, 2000) has recently argued against rigid dichotomies in the contemporary study of commercial artefacts and childhood culture. On the one hand, children are seen as easy victims of commercial exploitation from big companies, and on the other, they are seen as highly competent agents, immune to any outside influence. Both views feature different types of romanticism. The view of children as victims is partly created around Victorian ideas of childhood innocence, whereas the romantic view of the active child sees children as open, creative, and competent learners, who effortlessly acquire new literacies, including media literacies. Such a view is partly implicitly inscribed into the Swedish School Curriculum (1998) (Läroplan för det obligatoriska skolväsendet, förskoleklassen och fritidshemmet. Lpo 94. [Curriculum for the compulsory school, the pre-school class and the after-school centre. Lpo 94]). In his criticism of the passive-active dichotomy, Buckingham argues in favour of studies of actual practices, that is, what young people actually do with artefacts and media, instead of empty speculations, far away from children’s play arenas. Buckingham’s own studies are mainly based on group interviews with children in the U.K., where he has analysed what was said on a micro level. A fundamental principle in his research is that children’s agency can be seen in their language use. Also, he advocates that we contextualize children’s activities by analysing the social processes of which they form a part. One way of doing this is to relate a study of children’s everyday interactions to media debates and to changes in our views of children as social agents (Buckingham, 1994).

Purpose: The main objective of this study is to provide an overview of the extent of labor and skills shortages that exist in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector in Malta and gain insights into the dependency on foreign labor. Methodology: This study draws upon primary data generated from two research instruments, namely in-depth interviews and an online questionnaire. Various in-depth interviews were conducted with key institutional actors. In addition to the interviews, six locally based companies were requested to complete an online questionnaire. Secondary data from ICT surveys, official documents were consulted. Findings: Findings emerged from this study relate to each of the four seminal thematics, namely, demand and supply, rationale for employing foreign labor, wages, and challenges of foreign labor employment. Practical Implications: This study examined the current contribution of foreign labor in the ICT sector. Unsustainable growth in the ICT sector creates a demand for skilled labor which is currently not locally available. Significance: ICT is one of the most rapidly developing economic sectors in Malta. Labor shortages can slow down economic growth, if not addressed. The annual number of ICT graduates is insufficient. For this sector to continue to thrive and further consolidate itself within the Maltese economy, there will be a continued dependency on the importation of highly skilled foreign labor.

Persons with intellectual disabilities (ID) who offend are treated differently depending on the national jurisdiction. Norway and Denmark are two such examples. The differences in care models may also have an impact on staff perspectives. This paper aims to study the differences between Norwegian and Danish staff members within secure forensic ID services.

A cross-sectional study involving Norwegian (n = 145) and Danish staff (n = 279) in secure forensic learning disabilities services was conducted. The response rates were 50% in Denmark (n = 147) and 69% in Norway (n = 98), respectively. An electronic survey covering five sets of topics (demographic characteristics, working conditions, workplace culture, work motivation and work resilience) was used. The findings was statistically analysed using SPSS.

This study confirmed that staff in the two neighbouring countries have common conceptions of their employment. Danish staff were more exposed to violent incidents (t = 4.1(237); p < 0.001). There was greater concern with workplace safety in Denmark (t = 5.2(237); p < 0.001) compared to more team-based and rigid working conditions in Norway (t = −2.6(237); p < 0.01).

These differences are discussed in relation to some important national differences in a professional culture, educational systems, service organisation and legal issues that possibly add realistic explanations to the findings.

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate and problematize how the expansion of project and temporary work challenges the traditional industrial work organization and its internal and supportive institutions. It highlights the transformation dilemma, which occurs when traditional industrial institutions are confronted by project organizations. It also discusses how one may prepare to meet these challenges.

The long-run incremental changes in organizational structures of the economy are described in an economic historical context, focusing on the organizational form of work and the employment regimes. Challenges, at the societal, organizational and individual levels, related to the “projectification” process are illustrated in considering the case of Sweden.

Project dense industries, like media, entertainment and consultancy, are growing faster than the rest of the economy. The share of project work in permanent organizations is increasing. More than a third of all working hours in industrialized countries, like Germany, was labeled as project work in 2013. This transformation challenges basic conditions for how work is designed and regulated, like the stipulated and uniform work time or the permanent and stable work place. Central institutions of today, like the labor law and the educational system, are challenged.

“Projectification” challenges traditional conditions of work and work life institutions and organizations, like the social partners, the educational and law systems.

The paper brings together and problematizes several aspects of “projectification” of work life. It highlights what kind of challenges work and work-related institutions meet and discusses how to handle some of them, like education.

Many unemployed people become self‐employed. Self‐employment, however, does not necessarily lead to success. The main objective of the paper is to compare the economic outcome and success as self‐employed between those who entered self‐employment from paid employment, unemployment and inactivity. The question is if individuals who enter self‐employment from a weak position on the labour market are equally successful as those who enter self‐employment from a stronger position.

Micro‐econometric methods are used to estimate first the propensity to become self‐employed in the period 1998‐2002 among Swedish‐born men aged 20‐60 years who were unemployed, inactive or wage earners in 1998, and second, the economic outcome of self‐employment. Economic outcome in 2002 is measured using income from self‐employment and having employees in the firm.

The study finds that the unemployed, and even more the inactive, are overrepresented among those who become self‐employed. Those who were wage earners in 1998 have higher incomes and are also employing other people in their business to a much higher extent in 2002 than those who were unemployed or inactive in 1998.

The results indicate that support for unemployed to become self‐employed should be implemented with great care. The economic outcome of self‐employment is inadequate for many who were unemployed earlier.

The study will be valuable for those who are interested in those who become self‐employed and in the economic outcome of self‐employment for different groups.

The gender gap in the employment in industries differs based on the industries. Even if construction industry (CI) is a labor-intensive industry, women employment rate is significantly low in the CI. CI is one of the significant labor-intensive industries having environmental footprint. As reduction in its environmental footprint can contribute to environmental sustainability, investments in CI and in reduction in its environmental footprint can have multiplier effect on the countries’ development as well as on the sustainable development (SD). Increase in the women employment in the CI can support achievement of sustainable development goals as it can support reduction in the gender gap in this industry. Furthermore, it can support sustainability performance of the CI as women have potential to prioritize sustainability criterion in their decision-making processes. Especially, women at the top management levels can foster their companies’ sustainability performance. Based on an in-depth literature review, this chapter investigates roles of empowerment of women and increasing women employment in supporting environmental sustainability and SD. This chapter identifies causes of the low employment rate of women in the CI. Furthermore, this chapter examines ways for empowering women and increasing their employment rate in the CI to support environmental sustainability and SD. Additionally, recommendations on future policies and strategies at the CI level to support reduction in the gender gap to enhance CI’s role in the environmental sustainability are provided. This chapter can be useful to policy-makers, researchers and professionals.

New technology for equipping returnable transport items (RTI) with unique identification (e.g. RFID) give food industry companies new opportunities for improving business processes. The efficient exploitation poses new demands on the information technology systems in general and on the underlying information models in particular. This paper aims to introduce a generic information model where functionality for handling RTIs with unique identification is included.

Functional requirements are analysed based on process descriptions and use case examples from a real production environment. Detailed information modelling was then done in several iterations using entity‐relationship diagrams. Validation of the model was done based on use cases typical for the food industry.

The model described is developed within the broad scope of looking at opportunities for using wireless technology to improve business processes and traceability. This includes RFID, RF based sensors, sensor networks and real time location system (RTLS). It is vital that these large amounts of data are linked to identifiable entities for later retrieval and analysis. Unique identification of RTIs can be utilised to ensure that sensor data can be linked both to the RTI and to the content of the RTI. The links between the RTI and the content of the RTI are a basis for improving traceability.

Based on the information model, the next step is to develop a detailed specification for the implementation of the model. The results from the implementation will be used for further evaluation of the model, and might lead to improvements and changes in the model.

Enabling technologies like RFID often lead to changes in existing processes and systems. This work is a contribution to developing more stable and application‐independent information models in food processing companies.

The paper shows that leveraging unique identification of returnable transport items to provide a finer meshed granularity and increased operational visibility of traceable units will not only improve traceability but will also give a more precise basis for process improvements and product differentiation in a food business.

Increased focus on safe and healthy food has resulted in the need for implementing electronic chain traceability. This poses challenges both regarding technical solutions and business processes. The purpose of this paper is to report from a research project where implementation in a value chain for farmed salmon is used to investigate these challenges.

The first step in the project was to establish a complete value chain for farmed salmon as a basis for further study. The second step was to use theoretical concepts of internal traceability and chain traceability as a basis for analyzing the status of each company regarding readiness to implement electronic chain traceability. The third step was to compare the final level of implementation in each company with the level of implementation readiness at the start of the project.

Implementation of electronic chain traceability may involve changes both in work processes and software systems. This study shows that a set of criteria regarding implementation readiness can be used to assess the challenges and risks involved. Coherence between implementation readiness and the final level of implementation is indicated.

This research is limited to companies in a specific food sector. The generalization of the results for use in other sectors needs to be investigated.

Because of the increasing demand for improving chain traceability, it can be expected that implementation readiness regarding electronic chain traceability solutions will be an important factor in selecting partners in food value chains.

The large number of companies involved in this study is a good basis for evaluating the complexity of implementing electronic chain traceability. This paper describes guidelines and assessment criteria for companies planning to implement such solutions.

This chapter illustrates the ways in which The Open University (OU), one of the leading distance learning universities in the world, uses a range of social media to engage members of the public in learning. The OU has been an early adopter of innovative technologies which enabled public engagement right from its inception, forty years ago, contributing to fulfilling its ethos of social justice. It is this aim to remove barriers and provide learning materials to a wide audience, including those who may be excluded from other learning institutions, which has been a major strategic driver of recent changes. Today the OU harnesses a range of social media to continue to develop this strategic policy. The OU's ecology of openness includes a presence on externally developed social media such as YouTube, iTunesU, Facebook and Twitter, which are used as platforms to transfer knowledge and expertise to interested members of the public and encourage academic debate. Alongside these, the OU has also developed its own cutting edge social media platforms, which also allow public engagement. Key OU platforms include OpenLearn, a website that gives free access to a vast range of OU course materials; and Cloudworks, a site for finding, sharing and discussing learning and teaching ideas, experiences and issues. This chapter explores the achievements of the OU in using social media to engage with public audiences, as well as highlights the challenges and issues encountered.