Search results

1 – 10 of over 83000
Open Access
Article
Publication date: 9 February 2018

Renato Koch Colomby, Andrea Poleto Oltramari and Maria Beatriz Rodrigues

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the phenomenon of work from eight different and subsidiary perspectives: physiological, cultural, spiritual, ideological, economic…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the phenomenon of work from eight different and subsidiary perspectives: physiological, cultural, spiritual, ideological, economic, political, legal and psychosocial.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on an exploratory quantitative survey with a probability sample composed of 407 cases. The bibliographic review resulted from several readings about the phenomenon of work and the impacts arising from these different perspectives.

Findings

The analysis of the data collected confirmed that the meaning and the sense of work are multifaceted. The authors also found that work is an important source of reflection and learning in people’s life. The research instrument promoted thinking and analysis of the participants’ careers. The research process resulted in mutual and interactive learning of investigators and investigation.

Research limitations/implications

The data collection came from a single source: a written questionnaire. This limits the scope of the data and raises interpretative discussion concerning the contents of the answers. For future reference, the authors suggest to complement it with different techniques of data collection, associating qualitative and quantitative approaches.

Practical implications

The main contributions of the paper are, on the one hand, the effort of synthetizing and recording eight different categories of analysis of the multiple and possible meanings of work, which were elaborated using the available literature, and on the other hand, to understand and analyze those categories using the perception of a numerically meaningful sample of the public, coming from different backgrounds.

Social implications

The purpose of this paper is to propose a guideline for future studies so that they could choose with increased awareness the initial perspectives at the basis of the analyses. This study could encourage continuity and provide greater incentives on this increasingly relevant subject.

Originality/value

After analyzing the data, it was acknowledged that work cannot be seen from a single perspective, but it must be viewed in its multifaceted character and sense. The published material on the meanings of work usually focuses on specific professions and careers, the authors argue that this fact limits the scope of perspectives and interpretations of the phenomenon.

Details

Revista de Gestão, vol. 25 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2177-8736

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 August 2022

Hamdi Tekin

The aim of this study is to measure the impact of the factors affecting construction labor productivity by focusing on different types of construction works during and after the…

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study is to measure the impact of the factors affecting construction labor productivity by focusing on different types of construction works during and after the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey, as well as discuss solutions and immediate actions.

Design/methodology/approach

This research was conducted in two steps. First, a quantitative survey was carried out to determine the dimension of factors negatively affecting construction labor productivity and the loss rate of different construction works from the employee perspective. The factors were identified through a literature review. The crucial relationships were highlighted as a result of a statistical analysis. Second, a survey was performed to determine the loss rate through a comparison of man-hour values before and after the beginning of the pandemic from the employer perspective. After an analysis and comparison of the results, semi-structured interviews were performed to discuss all findings and discover ways to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on construction labor productivity.

Findings

The results of the study clearly show that construction labor productivity was deeply affected by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Legal obligations, such as social distancing, wearing masks, and limitations on the number of workers, have been major drivers for lower labor productivity. Such obligations have a profound impact on interior construction works, especially based on teamwork. Concerning employer and labor-related factors, problems with getting payments on time, loss of income, and financial hardships are the leading factors resulting in decreased worker performance. Excavation, insulation, and plastering works were determined as the most affected construction works under the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Research limitations/implications

The quantitative portion of this study is limited to a sample of respondents in the Turkish construction industry. Further research is necessary to provide an in-depth review into construction labor productivity in other countries with a larger respondent sample. Another limitation is sourced by the dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic, which may turn out that some findings are outdated. Despite these limitations, the insights from this study may enable employers to understand the major drivers and deep impacts of labor productivity loss by uncovering the main vulnerabilities during the pandemic. Recommended measures may also help policy-makers and stakeholders in the construction industry take necessary and immediate actions to ensure better construction labor productivity.

Originality/value

The study may contribute to a better understanding of a pandemic's impact on labor productivity by focusing on both employee and employer perspectives, especially in developing countries. The paper may help employers decide which priority measures are required for each construction work separately. The study is crucial not only for minimizing the negative effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on labor productivity but also for preparing for the post-pandemic era.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 29 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 February 2020

Aamar Ilyas, Muhammad Shehryar Shahid and Ramraini Ali Hassan

Conventionally, the marginalised population was considered to engage in child labour due to poverty, education or lack of other options, but indeed, a few children work…

Abstract

Purpose

Conventionally, the marginalised population was considered to engage in child labour due to poverty, education or lack of other options, but indeed, a few children work voluntarily. However, a growing number of scholars, in recent years, have drawn their attention to the valuable question, “why children are engaged in child labour in the informal economy”. Even though a few studies have explored the motives of informal workers, to our knowledge not a single paper has explored the motives of child labourers working in the informal economy. The purpose of this study is to fill this gap by evaluating the motives of child labourers, through three competing theorisations of the informal economy.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, face-to-face structured interviews of 45 child labourers were conducted, who worked in different automobile workshops in the city of Lahore, Pakistan. Respondents were selected using the snowball sampling technique as this strategy is suitable for researching sensitive issues and is feasible for small sample sizes.

Findings

The main finding is that no single explanation is universally applicable to all child labourers. Some (27 per cent) justify their participation in the informal sector as driven by necessity (structuralist perspective), majority (40 per cent) explain their participation in the informal economy as a rational economic choice (neo-liberal perspective) and finally, more than a quarter of respondents (31 per cent) engaged in child labour due to their own free will or voluntarily to work for their family (post-structuralist perspective). This study also revealed that entrepreneurial spawning is a key determinant of child labour as the majority of children, in our study, working in automobile workshops intended to start their own workshop business in the future.

Research limitations/implications

This article shows that children early engaged in work with entrepreneurial intention/spawning. Entrepreneurial education is very important in a child’s life. Entrepreneurial education will be a ticket to fulfill their dreams and learn new things with entrepreneurial attitude.

Practical implications

Government should develop the vocational training institutes for children who left the schools.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the body of literature by providing a better understanding of why children work in informal employment, an occupation generally perceived as constituting exploitative working conditions. This study also contributes to the wider literature of entrepreneurship by exploring “entrepreneurial spawning” as one of the major reasons underlying the participation of children in informal work.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 40 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 November 2019

Raghunandan Reddy, Arun Kumar Sharma and Munmun Jha

The purpose of this paper is to examine perspective of “gendered labour process” to explore the aspectsof managerialism, which utilize gender as a control measure to achieve its…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine perspective of “gendered labour process” to explore the aspectsof managerialism, which utilize gender as a control measure to achieve its ends. The paper seeks to integrate gender and labour process theory and contribute to studies on gendering of organizations that focus on organization logic as well as integrated studies of labour process theory and gender.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper utilizes thematic analysis as the method for analysing the interviews of senior managers in an information technology service organization in India, to identify managerial ideologies and practices.

Findings

A gendered labour process perspective could reveal the institutional orders that systemically discriminate or exclude women in organizations, rather than gender ideologies alone.

Practical implications

Rather than focussing on gender sensitization alone, as is the case with the gender diversity initiatives, it may be fruitful to revisit work design and work organization, to identify and implement changes, so that women’s marginalization and exclusion from certain workplaces could be minimized.

Social implications

A view of gendered labour process could aid public policies aimed at enabling women to continue their employment without disruptions.

Originality/value

The paper attempted to integrate gender and labour process theory by delineating the organization logic that deploys gender as a means of managerial control.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 39 no. 9/10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 2 October 2003

Daniel B Cornfield and Holly J McCammon

Labor movements have played a central role in promoting democracy, the expansion of welfare states, and improvements in working conditions in many regions of the world during the…

Abstract

Labor movements have played a central role in promoting democracy, the expansion of welfare states, and improvements in working conditions in many regions of the world during the last century (Jose, 2002). Despite the central social, political and economic role of labor movements, labor union memberships have declined in many world regions during the last quarter-century. Labor union memberships have declined with increasing global economic competition and capital mobility, the advent of neo-liberal macroeconomic policies, privatization of public services, changes in production technology, the substitution of casual, flexible and contingent employment arrangements for formal, bureaucratic internal labor markets, the restructuring of national economies from manufacturing to services, and mounting employer resistance to unionization (Clawson & Clawson, 1999; Cornfield & Fletcher, 2001; Griffin et al., 1990; Jose, 2002; Olney, 1996; Western, 1997, 1998).

Details

Labor Revitalization: Global Perspectives and New Initiatives
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-153-8

Article
Publication date: 1 February 2004

Inge Sieben and Andries de Grip

Analyses whether the participation of workers in general, sector‐specific, and firm‐specific training affects their expectations on job mobility within or outside the call centres…

2806

Abstract

Analyses whether the participation of workers in general, sector‐specific, and firm‐specific training affects their expectations on job mobility within or outside the call centres sector. Distinguishes between the perceived difficulty to find an equally attractive job and the inclination to quit for another job. Employing data on 525 call centre agents working in eight call centres in The Netherlands, finds that training does not significantly affect the perceived labour market perspectives of call centre agents, nor influence expected job mobility inside or outside the sector. The inclination to quit the present job within two years is the same for agents with and without training. There is one exception, however. Agents who followed firm‐specific training significantly less often considered quitting for a job in another call centre. All this is good news for firms offering training. Another finding, however, might be more problematic. The work experience of agents positively affects their labour market perspectives inside the sector. In addition, agents with more experience are more inclined to quit for a job in another call centre. This means that firms need to keep their employees satisfied.

Details

Journal of European Industrial Training, vol. 28 no. 2/3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0590

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 17 June 2009

G. Carchedi

While many inconsistencies can be found in Marx's theory if one chooses a view of reality in which time is absent, these inconsistencies disappear if the view is taken that time…

Abstract

While many inconsistencies can be found in Marx's theory if one chooses a view of reality in which time is absent, these inconsistencies disappear if the view is taken that time is an essential component of that theory. The debate is thus between the simultaneist and the temporalist camp. This article sides with the temporalist approach but at the same time it argues that both sides have focused mainly on quantitative and formal logic aspects. This is the limit of the debate. The debate should move on from being only a critique and counter-critique of each other applying only formal logic to the issue of consistency to showing how and whether the different postulates (a time-less versus a time-full reality) and the interpretations deriving from them are an instance of a wider theory of radical social change. From this angle, simultaneism implies equilibrium and thus a view of the economy tending toward its equilibrated reproduction. Capitalism is thus theorized as an inherently rational system and any attempt to supersede it is irrational. This is simultaneism's social content. Temporalism, if immersed in a dialectical context, reaches the opposite conclusions: the economy is in a constant state of nonequilibrium and tends cyclically toward its own supersession. Capitalism is inherently irrational and any attempt to supersede it is rational. Simultaneist authors should now show how their approach to the issue of consistency fits into a broader theory furthering the liberation of Labor.

To choose a dialectical view of temporalism is thus to take sides for Labor.

Details

Why Capitalism Survives Crises: The Shock Absorbers
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84855-587-7

Article
Publication date: 29 January 2024

Prakash Shrestha, Dilip Parajuli and Bibek Raj Adhikari

This paper aims to examine the current quality of work-life (QWL) situation and the effectiveness of labor laws for promoting QWL in the context of Nepalese workplaces.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the current quality of work-life (QWL) situation and the effectiveness of labor laws for promoting QWL in the context of Nepalese workplaces.

Design/methodology/approach

It uses a descriptive-interpretative-qualitative approach to analyze the responses. Information is gathered through discussions with 85 higher- and middle-level managers of large and medium-sized organizations.

Findings

The majority of Nepalese organizations accept safe and healthy working conditions, social relevance of work-life, social integration in the work organization, and work and total life space as the key aspects of QWL. They have become even more critical as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, they face challenges in providing employees with opportunities for continued growth and security, immediate opportunity to use and develop human capacities, adequate and fair compensation and constitutionalism in the work organization. QWL-related provisions in Labour Act, 2017, play a vital role in promoting the QWL situation. The QWL programs offer many benefits to employees’ private and working lives. The lack of such programs would undoubtedly have negative consequences for Nepalese companies. Compliance with labor laws will promote a better QWL situation at Nepalese workplaces.

Research limitations/implications

Only managerial perspectives are considered for examining the current situation of QWL and the effectiveness of QWL-related provisions of the Labour Act, 2017. It excludes the views of union leaders.

Practical implications

This paper indicates that labor laws’ QWL-related provisions are effective. It also provides several policy measures for promoting a better QWL in Nepalese workplaces.

Originality/value

This study presents QWL-related legal provisions and the actual situation at the workplaces of Nepal. It also presents the key aspects of QWL in the context of Nepal.

Details

International Journal of Law and Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-243X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 April 2017

Cristina Inversi, Lucy Ann Buckley and Tony Dundon

The purpose of this paper is to advance a conceptual analytical framework to help explain employment regulation as a dynamic process shaped by institutions and actors. The paper…

1377

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to advance a conceptual analytical framework to help explain employment regulation as a dynamic process shaped by institutions and actors. The paper builds on and advances regulatory space theory.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper analyses the literature on regulatory theory and engages with its theoretical development.

Findings

The paper advances the case for a broader and more inclusive regulatory approach to better capture the complex reality of employment regulation. Further, the paper engages in debates about the complexity of employment regulation by adopting a multi-level perspective.

Research limitations/implications

The research proposes an analytical framework and invites future empirical investigation.

Originality/value

The paper contends that existing literature affords too much attention to a (false) regulation vs deregulation dichotomy, with insufficient analysis of other “spaces” in which labour policy and regulation are formed and re-formed. In particular, the proposed framework analyses four different regulatory dimensions, combining the legal aspects of regulation with self-regulatory dimensions of employment regulation.

Details

Employee Relations, vol. 39 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0142-5455

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 June 2023

Yiran Cheng, Xiaorui Zhou and Yongjian Li

Digital transformation is a confidence booster in intrapreneurship, but few have examined its impact on intrapreneurship. Further, quantitative analyses exploring the impact of…

Abstract

Purpose

Digital transformation is a confidence booster in intrapreneurship, but few have examined its impact on intrapreneurship. Further, quantitative analyses exploring the impact of Chinese enterprises' digital transformation on intrapreneurship at the micro-level are rare. Most enterprises do not have the dividend for digital transformation, and few enterprises have successfully achieved digital transformation through intrapreneurship, internal management re-engineering and technological innovation. This study investigates the effect of digital transformation on intrapreneurship in Chinese real economy enterprises.

Design/methodology/approach

The study develops and tests a theoretical model that digital transformation impacts intrapreneurship by promoting working capital turnover and furtherly influencing labor input. Panel data of 1,638 Chinese-listed companies between 2007 and 2020 were used to complete the empirical test.

Findings

Digital transformation impacted labor input, with an inverted-U shaped relationship between the two, and labor input significantly stimulated intrapreneurship. This effect promoted labor input's impact on working capital. Chinese real economy enterprises generally increase labor investment to promote intrapreneurship. Heterogeneity analysis revealed that enterprises' asset scale and ownership attributes uniformly affected labor input.

Originality/value

This study provided empirical evidence of the promotional effect of real economy enterprises' digital transformation on intrapreneurship. Further, it advanced the literature by examining this relationship at the micro-level. Moreover, the data sample was long-term and included most industries, thus providing representative results with practical implications.

Details

Management Decision, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 83000