Non-union employee representation, union avoidance and the managerial agenda

Non-union employee representation is an area which has attracted much interest in the voice literature. Much of the literature has been shaped by a dialogue which considers NERs as a means of union avoidance. More recently however scholars have suggested that for NERs to work in such contexts, they may need to be imbued with a higher set of functionalities to remain viable entities. Using a critical case study of a union recognition drive and managerial response in the form of an NER, this article contributes to a more nuanced interpretation of the literature dialogue than hitherto exists. A core component of the findings directly challenge existing interpretations within the field; namely that NERs are shaped by a paradox of managerial action. It is argued that the NER failed to satisfy for employees because of a structural remit, rather than through any paradox in managerial intent.

Work-life Conflict and Social Inequality in Western Europe

Recent debates on time-use suggest that there is an inverse relationship between time poverty and income poverty (Aguiar and Hurst in Q J Econ C(3):969-1006, 2007), with Hammermesh and Lee (Rev Econ Stat 89(2):374-383, 2007) suggesting much time poverty is 'yuppie kvetch' or 'complaining'. Gershuny (Soc Res Int Q Soc Sci 72(2):287-314, 2005) argues that busyness is the 'badge of honour': being busy is now a positive, privileged position and it is high status people who work long hours and feel busy. Is this also true of work-life conflict? This paper explores the relationship between work-life tension and social inequality, as measured by social class, drawing on evidence from the European Social Survey. To what extent is work-life conflict a problem of the (comparatively) rich and privileged professional/managerial classes, and is this true across European countries? The countries selected offer a range of institutional and policy configurations to maximise variation. Using regression modelling of an index of subjective work-life conflict, we find that in all the countries under study, work-life conflict is higher among professionals than non-professionals. Part of this is explained by the fact that professionals work longer hours and experience more work pressure than other social classes, though the effect remains even after accounting for these factors. While levels of work-life conflict vary across the countries studied, country variation in class differences is modest. We consider other explanations of why professionals report higher work-life conflict and the implications of our findings for debates on social inequality.

Perceptions of high-involvement work practices and burnout: the mediating role of job demands

This study examined the impact of perceived high-involvement work practices on job demands (role conflict, role overload and role ambiguity) and burnout (emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation). The study was conducted in a Canadian general hospital. Findings from structural equation modelling (N = 545) revealed that perceived HIWPs were significantly and negatively related to job demands and burnout. Role conflict and role overload have a significant positive association with emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation. Finally, role conflict and role overload partially mediate the relationship between perceived HIWPs and burnout. We discuss the theoretical and managerial implications of these findings for our understanding of how HIWPs influence the job demands and burnout of employees.

Theorizing temporary spatial clusters and institutional boundary-work in industrial markets

To better understand the nature of temporary spatial clusters (TSC’s) in industrial marketing settings, this conceptual paper first provides a theoretical synthesis of spatial understanding from the industrial marketing (IM) and economic geography (EG) fields, focusing particularly on Doreen Massey’s work on relational space. This leads to a conceptual schema for organizing the IM literature in terms of spatiality, and which also helps clarify the ontological nature of TSCs. We then move to introduce the notion of institutional boundary-work, drawing on the work of Thomas Gieryn, and Andrea Brighenti’s examination of territorology, to conceptualize the activities of market actors engaged in the ongoing social accomplishment of TSCs. Such activities, we suggest, involve these actors ‘marching’ boundaries to assume network influence and maintain market order in IM settings. In summary, therefore, our paper addresses two fundamental questions: i) How do we conceptualize the form of TSCs in IM settings? And, ii) what function(s) are TSCs performing (and how is this being undertaken) in IM? The paper closes by providing methodological guidance for how a research agenda on TSCs within IM activity might be developed, followed by a summary of the managerial implications that emerge from our theorizations.

Criminal Conversations: Rogues, Words and the World in the Work of Daniel Defoe

Even as Daniel Defoe's roguish protagonists notably Moll Flanders and Colonel Jack try to separate themselves from illicit itinerants, they are implicated further in deviance. Moll and Jack both embody and exploit ambiguous moral and spatial arrangements, and use hybrid linguistic formulations, all of which collocate the roguish and the reputable. By brilliantly realizing this interpenetration of words and worlds, Defoe problematises eighteenth-century efforts to demarcate the illicit and itinerant along the lines of space, rank, gender and language. Such efforts facilitated deviant mobility as much as they demonised it. Much scholarship has attended to Defoe's representations of criminality and poverty. This article develops such research to re-position him in a tradition of rogue-writing that stylishly problematises normative discriminatory practices.

Merely Birds of Passage: Lady Hariot Dufferin's Travel Writings and Medical Work in India, 1884-88

This article examines the travel writings and medical work in India of Lady Hariot Dufferin, Vicereine of India between 1884 and 1888. Lady Dufferin accompanied her husband, the Viceroy Lord Dufferin, through various social and political engagements in India, and carved her own niche in colonial and postcolonial history as a pioneer in the medical training of women in India. The article examines her travel writings on India and explores the nature of her complicity in the Raj, as well as the gendered nature of the separate public role she created for herself in relation to her 'zenana work' in providing medical care for the women of India. The author suggests that, through her work, Lady Dufferin challenges and extends the theoretical paradigms of postcolonialist and feminist critiques of empire.

Hidden Gems: systematically searching electronic databases for research publications for social work and social care.

Context: Electronic bibliographic databases are a key source for professional publications about social work and community care more generally. This article describes and evaluates a method of identifying relevant articles as part of a systematic review of research evidence. Decision making about institutional and home care services for older people is used as an example. Method: Four databases (Social Science Citation Index, Medline, CINAHL, and Caredata) that abstract publications relevant to health and social services were searched systematically to identify relevant research studies. The items retrieved were appraised independently using a standard form developed for the purpose. The searches were compared in terms of sensitivity, precision, overlap between databases, and inter-rater reliability. Results: The search retrieved 525 articles, of which 276 were relevant. The four databases retrieved 55%, 41%, 19%, and 1% of the relevant articles respectively, achieving these sensitivities with precision levels of 54%, 48%, 84% and 94%. The databases retrieved 116, 73, 24 and 15 unique relevant articles respectively, showing the need to use a range of databases. Discussion: A general approach to creating a search to retrieve relevant research has been developed. The development of an international, indexed database dedicated to literature relevant to social services is a priority to enable progress in evidence-based policy and practice in social work. Editors and researchers should consider using structured abstracts in order to improve the retrieval and dissemination of research.

Accessing Social Work Case Files for Research Purposes: Some Issues and Problems

The use of social work case files as an important research resource is being threatened by the increasing regulation of both the research process and access to personal identifiable information. While these developments can be seen as a reaction to specific incidents of inappropriate research and the misuse of personal information, it is argued that the pendulum has swung too far the other way, and in seeking to protect the rights of vulnerable individuals, the lives of these same individuals may go unstudied with the consequence that they receive less appropriate services. Drawing upon the current research of the authors, this article explores the difficulties encountered in gaining access to social work case files for research purposes without the explicit consent of service users and highlights the uncertainty surrounding this issue. Suggestions are made for improvements in the situation.

Gaining Access to Data Sources in Statutory Social Work Agencies: The Long and Winding Road

This paper details a researcher's experience of gaining access to three statutory social work agencies in order to conduct a study examining how social workers respond to family support cases and how parents and carers experience the intervention of social workers in these cases. The stages in gaining access are outlined, the gate-keepers involved at each stage are identified and some of the difficulties encountered are highlighted and discussed. The paper concludes that researchers need to give greater priority to access considerations and that social work agencies need to give greater priority to co-operation with researchers.