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Article
Publication date: 19 June 2020

Jutta Viinikainen, Petri Böckerman, Marko Elovainio, Christian Hakulinen, Mirka Hintsanen, Mika Kähönen, Jaakko Pehkonen, Laura Pulkki-Råback, Olli Raitakari and Liisa Keltikangas-Järvinen

A prominent labour market feature in recent decades has been the increase in abstract and service jobs, while the demand for routine work has declined. This article examines…

Abstract

Purpose

A prominent labour market feature in recent decades has been the increase in abstract and service jobs, while the demand for routine work has declined. This article examines whether the components of Type A behaviour predict workers' selection into non-routine abstract, non-routine service and routine jobs.

Design/methodology/approach

Building on the work by Barrick et al. (2013), this article first presents how the theory of purposeful work behaviour can be used to explain how individuals with different levels of Type A components sort into abstract, service and routine jobs. Then, using longitudinal data, it examines whether the components of Type A behaviour predict occupational sorting. Estimations were performed based on the linear regression method.

Findings

The results show that the Type A dimension “leadership” was associated with a higher level of abstract and service job tasks in occupation. High eagerness-energy and responsibility were also positively linked with occupation's level of abstract tasks. These results suggest that workers sort into jobs that allow them to pursue higher-order implicit goals.

Originality/value

Job market polarisation towards low-routine jobs has had a pervasive influence on the labour market during the past few decades. Based on high-quality data that combine prime working-age register information on occupational attainment with information about personality characteristics, the findings contribute to our knowledge of how personality characteristics contribute to occupational sorting in terms of this important job aspect.

Details

Employee Relations: The International Journal, vol. 42 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0142-5455

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 April 2024

Narsymbat Salimgereyev, Bulat Mukhamediyev and Aijaz A. Shaikh

This study developed new measures of the routine and non-routine task contents of managerial, professional, technical, and clerical occupations from a workload perspective. Here…

Abstract

Purpose

This study developed new measures of the routine and non-routine task contents of managerial, professional, technical, and clerical occupations from a workload perspective. Here, we present a comparative analysis of the workload structures of state and industrial sector employees.

Design/methodology/approach

Our method involves detailed descriptions of work processes and an element-wise time study. We collected and analysed data to obtain a workload structure that falls within three conceptual task categories: (i) non-routine analytic tasks, (ii) non-routine interactive tasks and (iii) routine cognitive tasks. A total of 2,312 state and industrial sector employees in Kazakhstan participated in the study. The data were collected using a proprietary web application that resembles a timesheet.

Findings

The study results are consistent with the general trend reported by previous studies: the higher the job level, the lower the occupation’s routine task content. In addition, the routine cognitive task contents of managerial, professional, technical, and clerical occupations in the industrial sector are higher than those in local governments. The work of women is also more routinary than that of men. Finally, vthe routine cognitive task contents of occupations in administrative units are higher than those of occupations in substantive units.

Originality/value

Our study sought to address the challenges of using the task-based approach associated with measuring tasks by introducing a new measurement framework. The main advantage of our task measures is a direct approach to assessing workloads consisting of routine tasks, which allows for an accurate estimation of potential staff reductions due to the automation of work processes.

Details

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 March 2010

Anssi Smedlund

The purpose of this paper is to propose that there is not one ideal network structure of knowledge flow, but many, and that the network structures of knowledge flows between…

1245

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose that there is not one ideal network structure of knowledge flow, but many, and that the network structures of knowledge flows between employees in teams are task‐related.

Design/methodology/approach

Ideal knowledge network structures in teams are examined on the basis of the literature. A case study of a well‐established team, presented with social network analysis methods, reveals the different structures of knowledge flow.

Findings

According to the case study, it is shown that the network structures of knowledge flow are different in different tasks. It is suggested on the basis of theory that the ideal knowledge network structures are hierarchical for routine tasks, core‐peripheral for development tasks and ego‐centric for idea generation tasks.

Research limitations/implications

The research design presented in this paper should be applied to more cases to ascertain its validity.

Practical implications

This paper provides means for understanding, assessing and managing knowledge networks in teams.

Originality/value

Flows of knowledge have been found to be an important area in network research. This paper shows how they are structured according to the nature of the tasks.

Details

Team Performance Management: An International Journal, vol. 16 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1352-7592

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 28 May 2019

Joanna Kho, Andreas Paul Spee and Nicole Gillespie

This chapter advances understanding of how professional expertise is enacted and created to accomplish routines in the context of technology-mediated work. Information and…

Abstract

This chapter advances understanding of how professional expertise is enacted and created to accomplish routines in the context of technology-mediated work. Information and communication technologies broaden the participation of professionals with various specialist skills and expertise to accomplish work together, which is particularly salient in health care. Broadening participation, however, creates jurisdictional conflict among professionals. Thus, a key challenge of interprofessional work is the need to mutually adapt established professional routines and overcome jurisdictional conflict to perform interdependent routine tasks. The authors examine how professionals adapt established routines by analyzing the new interactions and interdependent actions required to accomplish technology-mediated geriatric consultation routines. The findings of this study show that professionals create new patterns of actions that are shaped by relational forms of professional expertise, namely selective and blending expertise. The findings and theoretical insights contribute to the literature on routine dynamics by highlighting the importance of relational expertise, and showing how it can transform and destabilize otherwise established professional routines.

Details

Routine Dynamics in Action: Replication and Transformation
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78756-585-2

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 August 2017

Haifen Lin, Michael Murphree and Sali Li

The purpose of this paper is to expand the understanding of the process by which organizational routines emerge in entrepreneurial ventures. The emphasis is on the role of…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to expand the understanding of the process by which organizational routines emerge in entrepreneurial ventures. The emphasis is on the role of management and interaction in shaping shared schemata among members of the enterprise.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses a longitudinal interpretive and exploratory case study based on semi-structured interviews, archival material and naturalistic observation at a startup enterprise in China.

Findings

Focusing on the process through which shared schemata emerge to lay the foundation for routines in new firms, the authors find shared schemata emerge through a three-stage process: individual schemata emergence, partially shared schemata emergence and organizationally shared schemata emergence. Analogical transfer, strong foundational leadership and horizontal interaction among employees facilitate the development of individual schemata and their evolution into the shared schemata underlying organizational routines.

Research limitations/implications

This paper contributes to the understanding of routine formation in entrepreneurial ventures by creating a framework of the stages of development of organizational routines, as well as the role management plays in each stage. This contribution fits within the emergent field of microfoundations, linking individual actions and cognition to organizational outcomes and adding to this the contribution of social interaction.

Practical implications

Managers in new Chinese enterprises could benefit from understanding the importance of routinization and the managerial approaches which facilitate routine formation. This will increase the likelihood of firm survival as well as the competitive strength of the firm.

Originality/value

To date, there has been little research on how routines arise in entrepreneurial ventures, and none on explicitly the role for management and interaction in fostering routinization.

Details

Chinese Management Studies, vol. 11 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-614X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 July 2017

Haifen Lin, Mengya Chen and Jingqin Su

The purpose of this paper is to address how management innovations are implemented deeply at the most micro level of organizations, namely, organizational routines, or to…

3833

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to address how management innovations are implemented deeply at the most micro level of organizations, namely, organizational routines, or to investigate the process through which organizational routines evolve in implementing management innovations, with existing routines overturned and new routines created and solidified.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper adopts an interpretive and exploratory case study on the case of Day-Definite (DD) innovation which has successfully brought Arima World Group Company Limited (HOAU) into a new value-added arena, in terms of timing, security and high service quality. Considering that DD innovation reflects a systematic innovation of the whole organization, this paper focuses on it to explore the complex implementation mechanism of management innovation. Multiple approaches were utilized during data collection to meet criteria for trustworthiness, including semi-structured interviews, archival data and observation; and the data analysis went through a five-step process.

Findings

The results confirm management innovation as a complex project concerning organizational routines which represent a central and fundamental element of organizations. Also, it finds that organizational routines evolve in innovation implementation through a three-phase process consisting of the existing-routine-domination phase, the new-routine-creation phase and -solidification phases, each exhibiting different innovation activities and characteristics of participants’ cognition and behaviors; recreation of new routines is the key for routine evolution, thus for success of management innovations.

Research limitations/implications

This research is constrained by several limitations. The set-up framework of organizational routine evolution in innovation implementation needs a further confirmation in more organizations; other elements, such as cognition of managers, resource orchestration, environmental elements or organizational culture, should be considered for the success of innovation implementation; and more attention should be paid to the potential power asymmetries among participants and its potential influence on forming shared schemata and subsequent new routines, besides interactions and role taking.

Originality/value

The findings offer some valuable insights for further research on management innovation and organizational routines and hold important implications for management practices. This research extends research on management innovation and the Kurt Lewin Change Theory and Change Model to explore innovation implementation at a most micro level; furthers research on organizational routines, especially routine dynamic theory, by holding the two-component view and exploring the process through which organizational routines evolve; and contributes to research on the relationship between organizational routines and innovations by taking an organizational routines’ perspective. It reminds managers of the depth and complication of innovation implementation.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 30 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-4814

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 April 2024

Giovanni Gallo, Silvia Granato and Michele Raitano

The Covid-19 pandemic appears to have engendered heterogeneous effects on individuals’ labour market prospects. This paper focuses on two possible sources of a heterogeneous…

Abstract

Purpose

The Covid-19 pandemic appears to have engendered heterogeneous effects on individuals’ labour market prospects. This paper focuses on two possible sources of a heterogeneous exposition to labour market risks associated with the pandemic outbreak: the routine task content of the job and the teleworkability. To evaluate whether these dimensions played a crucial role in amplifying employment and wage gaps among workers, we focus on the case of Italy, the first EU country hit by Covid-19.

Design/methodology/approach

Investigating the actual effect of the pandemic on workers employed in jobs with a different degree of teleworkability and routinization, using real microdata, is currently unfeasible. This is because longitudinal datasets collecting annual earnings and the detailed information about occupations needed to capture a job’s routine task content and teleworkability are not presently available. To simulate changes in the wage distribution for the year 2020, we have employed a static microsimulation model. This model is built on data from the Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (IT-SILC) survey, which has been enriched with administrative data and aligned with monthly observed labour market dynamics by industries and regions.

Findings

We measure the degree of job teleworkability and routinization with the teleworkability index (TWA) built by Sostero et al. (2020) and the routine-task-intensity index (RTI) developed by Cirillo et al. (2021), respectively. We find that RTI and TWA are negatively and positively associated with wages, respectively, and they are correlated with higher (respectively lower) risks of a large labour income drop due to the pandemic. Our evidence suggests that labour market risks related to the pandemic – and the associated new types of earnings inequality that may derive – are shaped by various factors (including TWA and RTI) instead of by a single dimension. However, differences in income drop risks for workers in jobs with varying degrees of teleworkability and routinization largely reduce when income support measures are considered, thus suggesting that the redistributive effect of the emergency measures implemented by the Italian government was rather effective.

Originality/value

No studies have so far investigated the effect of the pandemic on workers employed in jobs with a different degree of routinization and teleworkability in Italy. We thus investigate whether income drop risks in Italy in 2020 – before and after income support measures – differed among workers whose jobs are characterized by a different degree of RTI and TWA.

Details

International Journal of Manpower, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7720

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 July 2007

Annika Lantz and Agneta Brav

What is required of job design and production planning, if they are to result in a work group taking a self‐starting approach and going beyond what is formally required of it…

6636

Abstract

Purpose

What is required of job design and production planning, if they are to result in a work group taking a self‐starting approach and going beyond what is formally required of it? This paper aims to contribute to group research by testing a theoretical model of relations between job design on the one hand (captured as completeness, demand on responsibility, demand on cooperation, cognitive demand, and learning opportunities), and reflexivity and learning processes within natural work groups in industry on the other hand.

Design/methodology/approach

The results are based on detailed task analyses and questionnaires from 40 work groups at the shop‐floor level in manufacturing industry in Sweden.

Findings

Job design and work routines show strong effects on reflexivity and learning processes. Four dimensions of job design – completeness, demand on cooperation, cognitive demand and learning opportunities – impact on reflexivity and learning processes. Job design correlates with social routines, and social routines with work routines.

Practical implications

It is crucial to create a job design that puts challenging demands on the group if group processes are to be characterized by reflexivity and learning. Managers have a challenging task to provide both a space and a climate that supports reflexivity and learning. All functions affected by production planning need to be involved in job design to balance conflicts between productivity and innovation.

Originality/value

Detailed task analysis is worthwhile as it captures aspects that are prerequisites for innovative groups not previously accounted for.

Details

Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 19 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-5626

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 February 2018

Lei Li, Qingyun Huang, KwanHo Yeung and Zhaoquan Jian

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of human-computer interaction (HCI) on customers’ perceived electronic service (e-service) value and the mediating role of…

1012

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of human-computer interaction (HCI) on customers’ perceived electronic service (e-service) value and the mediating role of task-technology fit (TTF) in that effect.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper develops a model based on service-dominant logic (SDL) and TTF theory, and validates it using a hierarchical regression with the data collected from 634 online banking customers in Guangdong Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in China.

Findings

The findings reveal that HCI in e-service contexts comprises five components. Three fundamental components (i.e. technology functionality, customer technology readiness and task routine) contribute to value co-creation. Two core components (i.e. interaction between customer technology readiness and technology functionality, and interaction between task routine and technology functionality) are inhibitors, but the inhibitory effect of the former is only significant in the Guangdong sample. TTF takes a mediating role in these relationships, but the mediating effect of the former core component is only significant in the Guangdong sample.

Originality/value

This paper explains two basic questions about the trigger points of value co-creation in e-service contexts (i.e. what their operational definitions are and how to measure them) and unlocks the “black box” of value co-creation by taking TTF as a mediator. SDL and TTF theory are extended. The paper provides suggestions for how practitioners can efficiently advance value co-creation with customers.

Details

Industrial Management & Data Systems, vol. 118 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-5577

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 December 2023

Yazhen Xiao and Huey Yii Tan

Voice assistant technology represents one of the most radical artificial intelligence innovations. Drawing on the processing fluency theory and consumer learning literature, this…

Abstract

Purpose

Voice assistant technology represents one of the most radical artificial intelligence innovations. Drawing on the processing fluency theory and consumer learning literature, this study aims to explore how consumer acceptance of new products is influenced by voice assistant function (VAF), along with the impacts of role clarity and learning modality.

Design/methodology/approach

Four between-subjects experimental studies were conducted. Study 1 tested the main effect of VAF on consumer acceptance. Study 2 included role clarity as a mediator between VAF and consumer acceptance. Study 3 examined the moderation effect of learning modality and contrasted the effectiveness of experiential and verbal learning in helping increase consumer acceptance. Study 4, as a post hoc study, tested serial mediations to validate whether processing fluency was indeed the mechanism explaining the indirect relationship between VAF and consumer acceptance via role clarity.

Findings

The negative impact of VAF on consumer acceptance was demonstrated in all four studies. Studies 2 and 3 showed VAF decreased role clarity which further influenced consumer acceptance. Moreover, Study 3 evidenced that experiential learning was more effective than verbal learning in increasing consumer acceptance of voice-assisted products via role clarity. Study 4 demonstrated that VAF decreased role clarity, which in turn decreased processing fluency, leading to lower consumer acceptance.

Originality/value

This research views the usage of voice-assisted products as a coproduction process between consumers and the VAF. Accordingly, findings provide novel insights into processing fluency of tasks assisted by VAF through the lens of role clarity and learning modality, which enriches the understanding of potential barriers and opportunities for consumers to accept voice-assisted products.

Details

Journal of Product & Brand Management, vol. 33 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1061-0421

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 37000