Suggests a way in which the psychological contract can be reconceptualized as a construct with multiple foci. Presents an argument for examining psychological contracts with importance placed on work groups. Concludes that previous conceptualizations of the psychological contract have concentrated on the relationship between employee and organization. Argues that it is, however, more multifarious.
PurposeThis paper aims to examine the impact of perceived cultural differences in forging identity in virtual teams. Whilst there has been a great deal of research on team identification, little has been written about the influences of the virtual context on this process.Design/methodology/approachThe study reported in this paper was conducted in four companies and seven virtual teams operating across the UK, the USA, Brazil, Singapore, Malaysia and Myanmar.FindingsThe results show that perceived differences in national cultures and the way people work within the cultures has a significant impact on identification in virtual teams. This can lead to unhealthy racial and national stereotypes, which cause conflict between team members. The findings of this study highlight the importance of encouraging team members to value and understand differences and that it is necessary to promote a common goal to foster identification in international virtual teams.Originality/valueThe research provides a critical analysis of virtual working across international boundaries, focusing on employees rather than the technology.
PurposeThis editorial seeks to explore changes in both teamwork and developments in teamwork research over the last decade.Design/methodology/approachThe editorial review importantly focuses on the key debates that emerge from the papers covered in this special issue.FindingsA review of the papers in this special issue, as well as historical analysis of teamwork research, indicate that while traditionally, analysis of teamwork was embedded in a manufacturing archetype, much of the contemporary research on teamwork is centred on service sector work where issues of cultural diversity, customer service, and lack of normative integration or task interdependence are increasingly apparent. This editorial suggests that we need to take account of the expansion of the service sector when attempting to conceptualise teamwork and the challenges that collective forms of working in such an environment bring.Originality/valueThis editorial and the special issue more generally provide an important contribution to the development of understanding of how changes in the workplace have had an impact on organisational and academic interest in teamwork.
PurposeThis paper aims to examine the practice of teamwork in an under‐researched, yet growing industrial setting.Design/methodology/approachLongitudinal ethnographic‐styled methods of data collection were used and data was examined using the Team Dimensions Model.FindingsThe findings suggest the Team Dimensions Model, with the addition of a customer service perspective, is of use for identifying managerial objectives and organisational outcomes of teamwork. However, this does not suggest that teamworking is easy to implement in the hospitality setting.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings were obtained using unobtrusive participatory and observational methods and based on a single company.Practical implicationsThe paper allows management practitioners to reflect on realities of implementing teamworking under a corporate customer service initiative.Originality/valueThe paper takes an existing theory on teamworking and develops the theory in an under‐researched and growing industrial sector.
"This book explores the culture of modern high-tech workplaces and the different challenges and opportunities that new technologies present for modern workers and employers, reviewing various management practices throughout the world"--Provided by publisher
PurposeThe article seeks to analyse and explore the contradictions and variations in the concepts "team" and "teamwork" and their use in the NSW, Australia, commercial cleaning industry.Design/methodology/approachThe article utilises an ethnographic study of a large Australian cleaning firm. Data were collected using participant observation, field notes, and interviews with managers.FindingsThe study provides evidence for the limited uptake of the idealised form of teamwork in commercial cleaning and suggests that teamworking is another means of coordinating groups of workers. Furthermore, the findings support previous research into the paradox of teams without teamwork.Originality/valueThe research provides an insight into the largely neglected area of the reorganisation of work in commercial cleaning. It also provides a critique of the concept of teams and teamworking.
While software developers are typically associated with high-status, technical knowledge work, there is evidence of changing skills requirements within the industry. One notable feature is the increasing importance of social competencies, as well as technical skill, which have been proposed as a feature of many new economy occupations. This article examines how this change in skills in software work impacts on employability in the sector. Developers, managers and HR practitioners in four Scottish software organizations provide the empirical focus.
This article ands that a considerable proportion of learning and skills development for software workers occurs through learning from colleagues and other software professionals. Although the authors observed that employees were generally satis.ed with the formal training they received, very little knowledge acquisition actually takes place as part of a recognized training programme. Knowledge is frequently gained through project-based work both from other team members and the team or project work necessitating individuals to update their skills set. The data used within this article were collected using a combination of quantitative and qualitative techniques within ve software organizations in Scotland.
Purpose The purpose of this paper, a "thought piece", is to consider the everyday realities of homebased working and the implications for work during a global pandemic and beyond.
Design/methodology/approach The authors present a conceptual framework for considering the domestic sphere as a social space and apply this framework to consider the existing evidence base on homebased working. In particular, the authors consider the implications of homebased working during and after the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of gender.
Findings The authors identify key challenges in relation to flexibility, work intensification and socio-economic differences. Consideration of these areas highlights the potential pitfalls and challenges that are likely to persist as many organisations begin to plan for an increase in homebased working.
Originality/value The authors argue that some commentators have been too quick to celebrate the apparent successes of the sudden, unplanned move to intensive homebased working. Important differences in occupation, gender and other socio-economic factors will have important implications for the experience of homebased working for many workers and their co-residents.
During 2016, 30 individuals with a mental health condition (who claimed ESA, have had their ESA withdrawn and moved on to JSA, or have been directed into the WRAG group based on the decision of the WCA) were interviewed. The 30 participants were recruited throughout Scotland. In addition, we interviewed seven individuals who had involvement with various intermediaries, such as advocacy organisations, collective advocacy groups, Citizens Advice Bureau and (an ex employee of) Ingeus. Participants were recruited through advocacy organisations, voluntary groups and the local media. Overall, we established that the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) does not inspire confidence in participants in its adequacy for assessing mental health problems. There is concern that the assessors do not appear to have appropriate expertise in mental health. The WCA experience for many, caused a deterioration in people's mental health which individuals did not recover from. In the worst cases, the WCA experience led to thoughts of suicide. People felt that that there was an inconsistency in terms of GP recommendations and the WCA recommendations. Many people were subject to further upset and distress due to communication from the DWP being lost in the post. Having a mental health condition (MHC) in parallel with being unemployed and on benefits leads individuals to be confronted with multiple and competing stigmas, which they find hard to manage and these become self-reinforcing and self-perpetuating. The WCA and other mandatory structures, work against individuals developing or retaining employability skills as voluntary work is seen as demonstrating fitness for work; education is also not possible whilst receiving ESA. The system fails to recognise that for many, volunteering is good for wellbeing and may be 'as good as it gets'. Whilst the Scottish Government does not have control over the ESA component of Universal Credit, it needs to carefully consider how any benefits that is does have control over (e.g. DLA) are assessed and ...
This article explores the relationship between technology and occupational identity based on working-life biographical interviews with older telecommunications engineers. In the construction of their own working-life biographical narratives, participants attached great importance to the technology with which they worked. The article contends that workers' relationship with technology can be more nuanced than either the sociology of technology literature or the sociology of work literature accommodates. Adopting the concept of affordances, it is argued that the physical nature of earlier electromechanical technology afforded engineers the opportunity to 'fix' things through the skilled application of tools and act as autonomous custodians of 'living' machines: factors that were inherent to their occupational identity. However, the change to digital technology denied the affordances to apply hands-on skill and undermined key elements of the engineering occupational identity. Rather than simply reflecting the nostalgic romanticizing of the past, the biographies captured deterioration in the material realities of work.
The employability of graduates is often reduced to lists of de‐contextualised skills that graduates may or may not have and which may or may not translate to prized graduate positions. Recently, internships have become the way in which graduates acquire and demonstrate work‐readiness to potential employers. This article examines a particular type of internship in theICTsector, namely placements incorporated in degree education. The findings suggest that while internships can enhance employability and indeed be a mechanism for accessing permanent jobs, more often, instead of 'learning to labour', interns are expected to be productive workers. A mini labour market operates at the undergraduate level that advantages those already possessed of the required soft skills. The emphasis on soft skills signals a shift in the nature ofICTwork with attendant implications for education of workers in this sector, revealed by anchoring employability to particular labour process(es).
PurposeThe paper aims to investigate how teamwork contributes to successful maintenance practice within maintenance work in an industrial setting.Design/methodology/approachQualitative data were gathered from a single case. This includes interviews, participatory observation and document collection.FindingsThe findings suggest that even though TPM is originally a technologically‐based concept, the explanations for success or failure are mainly organisational, pointing to management style, collaboration between maintenance and production, involvement and teamwork. This case study shows that a high degree of team autonomy was an important contributor to success; a point not previously emphasized in the literature.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper provides a deep understanding of a unique case, but should be supplemented with more data in order to reach general conclusions.Practical implicationsMany companies struggle with implementing total productive maintenance. The paper provides an understanding on how TPM can successfully be supported by teamwork.Originality/valueFew case studies on TPM and teamwork are available. The main contribution of the paper is a deep understanding of teamwork and maintenance practices, and of including autonomy in TPM teams.
