Suchergebnisse

During 2016, the UK Data Service has been collaborating with a UK government department on an initiative to open National Food Survey data. What are the rewards and challenges of repurposing previously safeguarded data? This presentation will cover elements such as negotiation, re-licencing, privacy and disclosure review, and the upgrade of legacy data to improve the experience for users old and new.

In the light of heightened concern around data security, this paper will highlight some of the measures that can be used to develop and strengthen security in data archiving. We will discuss the different approaches which can be taken towards the construction of firm and resilient data and information security policies within the social science data archiving communities. While international standards can provide theoretical guidelines for the construction of such a policy, procedures need to be informed by more practical considerations. We will draw attention to the necessity of following a holistic approach to data security, which includes the education of data creators in the reduction of disclosure risk, the integration of robust and appropriate data processing, handling and management procedures, the value of emerging technological solutions, the training of data users in data security, the importance of management control as well as being informed by emerging government security and digital preservation standards.

This article contributes to the literature on compassion in organisations by exploring, through the sociology of relational work, how compassion emerges against the backdrop of what is described as structural toxicity; that is, structures, policies and practices that create the material stage upon which compassion may, or may not, materialise. Underfunding, social deprivation and draconian performance measures are all examples of structural toxicities that may trigger relational toxicity, that is conflict, suffering and disconnection at work but also where compassion may emerge in various forms. It is against this backdrop that we seek to address the conceptual and empirical gap in current understandings of compassion in organisations. Theorising from the empirical field, a case is presented in which compassion emerges as a product of the ongoing relational work of teachers in response to structural toxicities that trigger repeated instances of emotional pain and suffering but also joy and engagement with their work and each other.

Theoretical and empirical contributions to meaningful work (MW) have flourished in the last two decades; investigating how the interplay of organizational factors with employee attitudes and experiences enables or denies MW. This paper reviews MW literature in the fields of management and organizational behaviour, political philosophy, the humanities and sociology with the aim of identifying and comparing conceptualizations of MW and how they relate to low-skilled work. The review illustrates that a wide range of MW concepts either interpret low-skilled work as bereft of essential sources for MW, or focus exclusively on workers' innate drive to make meaningful experiences and thereby neglect the politics of working life. Making the point that low-skilled work can also be meaningful, the paper develops a framework for low-skilled work that has at its heart the interplay between the unique characteristics and dynamics of the labour process and workers' agential responses. The framework rests on a combination of labour process analysis and industrial relations approaches, along with sociological concepts of agency. It develops three interdependent conceptual dimensions of core autonomy, respectful recognition and derived dignity that aim to capture MW in low-skilled work settings. The framework contributes to vibrant debates in the MW literature by showcasing how meaningfulness emerges through bottom-up collective and individual practices, relations and strategies that are reflective of the formal structures, demands and relations of low-skilled work. ; Output Status: Forthcoming/Available Online

Strengthening Data Security: An Holistic Approach

PurposeThis paper aims to present exploratory, empirical data from an ethnographic study into workplace humour and fun. It explores the notion that workplace humour and fun are influenced by the creation of boundaries that either enable or constrain activities.Design/methodology/approachQualitative data were gathered from four New Zealand companies within different industries. Mixed methods were used and included semi‐structured interviews, participant observation and document collection.FindingsThe findings suggest that organisational culture is influential in boundary creation. In three formal companies, boundaries for humour and fun activities were narrower, and this constrained humour activities. In an informal company, wider boundaries resulted in humour activities that were unrestrained which created an unusual and idiosyncratic company identity.Research limitations/implicationsIt would be useful to replicate this exploratory research in different workplace sectors and environments.Originality/valueBoundaries constructed through social processes are assuming greater importance in modern organisations. However, research has not investigated boundaries around workplace humour and fun. Understanding boundaries may assist work groups when creating (and promoting) fun. This original research considers both managerial and employee concerns, and findings extend theory on workplace fun and humour.

The past three decades have been characterized by dramatic labour market developments including the mass entry of women to exclusively male domains. Professional work is particularly indicative of this trend where growth in female membership has fuelled optimistic predictions of shattered glass ceilings and gender equality. This article seeks to challenge these predictions and to explore the associated assumptions linked with the feminization of work in the UK. It does so by focusing on three professional groups: law, teaching and management which, despite some substantial differences, present a common and recurrent theme in the gendered processes of professional projects that marginalize, downgrade and exploit women and women's work. It is argued that the fluidity of such processes lead to a series of paradoxes as the professions are increasingly dependent on the contribution of their female members and yet numerical feminization, without truly including women, serves to undermine and even reverse professional projects.

PurposeThis paper aims to critically examine the dynamics of fun and well‐being at work, as experienced and perceived by senior managers in a public sector context.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on research into well‐being with a British Local Authority, focusing on 12 senior managers through verbal accounts of their own experiences and perceptions of fun initiatives.FindingsThe data reveal that managers were not having "fun". However, well‐being at work emerged as central to influencing and enabling "fun at work" and was strongly linked to eight organisational factors (Working Time Arrangements; Stress Management; Communication Strategies; Reward Strategies; Management Development; Team Working; Relationships with Stakeholders; Clarification and Reduction in Change Initiatives). Thus whilst "Fun at work" prescriptions are common in the literature, findings from these accounts indicate people might be happier to experience better well‐being at work.Research limitations/implicationsSenior managers' accounts of well‐being identified salient issues, thus providing a basis for broader research in this area.Practical implicationsAttention to the material aspects of employment relations is recommended over 'silly hat day' prescriptions. Organisations wishing to enhance fun at work could focus efforts on creating organisational conditions that encourage well‐being through the eight identified factors. This has relevance for the employment relationship, and for practitioners and academics alike.Originality/valueThis study makes a distinctive contribution to the fun at work literature by providing rich empirical data, and extending the "tenets of fun" to consider an alternative conceptualisation of "well‐being at work" instead of the organised/managed fun activities presently embraced in the literature.

"Following a decade of radical economic and workplace restructuring, it is important to understand how state employment policies support or deny human flourishing. This article utilizes a realist document analysis approach and reviews European employment policy through a moral economy lens. It fuses different moral economy approaches, drawing together the work of Karl Polanyi and Andrew Sayer a multi-layered conceptual lens is offered that explores the tensions between a commodification of labour and human needs. A dominant market ideology is revealed, highlighting how quality work has been subsumed by the flexicurity agenda in the EU." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))