The Journal of Entrepreneurial and Organizational Diversity
This article investigates how care workers understood ownership and experienced employeeownership... more This article investigates how care workers understood ownership and experienced employeeownership through the exercise of workplace participation and control. To date much of the scholarly work has focused on formal governance arrangements, types of participation and the limitations of worker control, in particular debating the validity of the degeneration thesis. Furthermore, studies tend to be concentrated on small-scale cooperatives or specific marginal examples, but employee-owned enterprises have also been introduced in other sectors, including in English health, social care and well-being sectors. By drawing on two case studies providing care services, this study brings new insights by centring on how staff understood, embraced, and subsequently contested the foundational concept of ownership. The subsequent implications for intraorganisational conflict and the lived experience of staff are explored within a theoretical framework based on (1) how different social science disciplines embrace the concept of ownership, (2) workplace participation within employee-owned entities and (3) the unique characteristics of care services. The paper's originality lies in combining new empirical data in the context of these three areas. This contribution enhances our understanding of how employees interpret being "an owner", as well as informing scholarly and public-policy debates about the future models for care provision.
Circle Economy is an impact organisation that connects and empowers a global community to create ... more Circle Economy is an impact organisation that connects and empowers a global community to create the conditions for transformation towards the circular economy. Our mission is to accelerate the transition through practical and scalable insights and solutions that address humanity's greatest challenges. The Circular Jobs Initiative is a knowledge centre that aims to ensure the transition to the circular economy is positive for work and workers. We are committed to promoting this mission by working with employers, workers, governments, multilateral organisations, education institutions and research organisations to shape this future. With the support of the Goldschmeding Foundation, the Circular Jobs Initiative develops and shares knowledge and best practices on the future of jobs for the circular economy and translates this knowledge into practical and scalable solutions.
This paper examines the growth of the UK coworking space (CWS) sector in the context of the COVID... more This paper examines the growth of the UK coworking space (CWS) sector in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing on data from a multi-year study comprising 44 interviews with CWS owners, managers, and other key economic actors. The paper offers a novel contribution by drawing on critical political economy to conceptualise CWS as capitalist enterprises providing fixed capital of an independent kind in competitive markets increasingly shaped by changing urban commercial real estate dynamics which necessitate that CWS adapt their business models to remain economically viable. The paper finds the entry of large corporate actors in the CWS sector is forcing smaller independent CWS to diversify to remain competitive. This pressure inhibits the ability of CWS to adhere to – and offer services matching – the aims of early CWS, namely the cultivation of a community of like-minded individuals who cowork to reduce rental costs and social isolation. These findings are theoretically and em...
Recent years have witnessed the proliferation of factoryless goods producers (FGPs) in the contem... more Recent years have witnessed the proliferation of factoryless goods producers (FGPs) in the contemporary global economy. In this chapter, we outline a theory of externalization to explain not only the existence of factoryless goods producers, but also their ability to exert effective control over the activities throughout their organizationally-fragmented global value chains (GVCs). We stress the key role played by isolating mechanisms both in providing this control and in conferring upon the FGPs the power to determine the distribution of the value created within their GVCs.
This paper discusses how different forms of cross-border employee mobility all contribute to esta... more This paper discusses how different forms of cross-border employee mobility all contribute to establishing social ties across different units of multinational enterprises (MNEs). Despite the growing recognition of the significance of employees' cross-unit social ties in MNEs for both individuals and the organisation, the mechanisms for creating such ties remain underspecified. We contribute to closing this gap by identifying the role that an array of forms of international mobility can play in promoting employees' (cross-unit) social ties inside MNEs. We draw upon empirical accounts of the job-related international mobility experiences of 72 high-skilled employees in three leading MNEs in the mobile telecommunications sector. Guided by a framework that utilizes some of the key concepts of the debate on social ties and social capital, we discuss traditional expatriation, short-term assignments, localised transfers and business travel in terms of the structure and strength of t...
Circle Economy is an impact organisation that connects and empowers a global community to create ... more Circle Economy is an impact organisation that connects and empowers a global community to create the conditions for transformation towards the circular economy. Our mission is to accelerate the transition through practical and scalable insights and solutions that address humanity's greatest challenges. The Circular Jobs Initiative (CJI) is a knowledge centre that aims to ensure the transition to the circular economy is positive for work and workers. We are committed to promoting this mission by working with employers, workers, governments, multilateral organisations, education institutions and research organisations to shape this future. With the support of the Goldschmeding Foundation, the Circular Jobs Initiative develops and shares knowledge and best practices on the future of jobs for the circular economy and translates this knowledge into practical and scalable solutions. SUPP ORTED BY THE C JI ADVISORY BOARD ANTO NI US SCHRÖ D ER Scientist, TU Dor tmund Social Research Centre "This important policy paper stresses the relevance of green skills not only for industry but also for policy and civil society. Increasing circular economy upskilling of the workforce, but also of society, as such is necessary-in order to lead to new social practices. Closing the skills gap can lay the groundwork for unfolding the potential of new economic and technological solutions as well as infrastructures in a better way. Appropriate vocational education and training measures and innovative learning arrangements are needed to close the skills gap immediately."
In advanced economies the 'greening' of the economy is widely seen as promising extensive job cre... more In advanced economies the 'greening' of the economy is widely seen as promising extensive job creation and upskilling, alongside its other benefits. In popular and policy rhetoric, the growing importance of 'green skills' is asserted frequently. This study critically examines these claims within the context of the electronic waste management sector in the United Kingdom. Drawing on the cases of a non-profit organisation and a small private enterprise in North West England, we observe that despite government support for developing skills in e-waste, both the development and utilisation of skills remain minimal. Critically, the relatively more skill-intensive process of reuse is substantially less profitable than recycling and resource capture. The study concludes by noting that the expectations from the green economy for high-quality jobs need to be assessed within the context of similar, misplaced celebrations of previous transformations of work to avoid recycling the same promises.
This paper discusses the literature on the established determinants of productivity in the retail... more This paper discusses the literature on the established determinants of productivity in the retail sector. It also draws attention to some neglected strands of research which provide useful insights into strategies that could allow productivity enhancements in this area of the economy. To date, very few attempts have been made to integrate different specialisms in order to explain what drives productivity in retail. Here this paper rectifies this omission by putting together studies from economics, geography, knowledge management and employment studies. It is the authors’ view that quantitative studies of retail productivity should focus on total factor productivity in retailing as the result of competition/composition effects, planning regulations, information and communications technology, the multinational operation element and workforce skills. Further, the fact that retail firms possess advantages that are transferable between locations suggests that investment in strategies enh...
This article explores the realities of managerial work in two major British supermarket chains. W... more This article explores the realities of managerial work in two major British supermarket chains. While the prescriptive literature welcomes the displacement of bureaucratic management by rote with leadership, empirical accounts of what managers actually do underscore how the purported tenets of leadership tend to disappear upon closer inspection, even at the discursive level. This study observes and discusses the discrepancy between the rhetoric of leadership articulated by executives at the corporate head offices and the actual roles and responsibilities of managers in stores. Work was tightly controlled and managers had little real freedom. We draw on empirical evidence to argue both that while leadership in practice secured only trivial freedoms such freedoms were highly valued and that academic analysis should follow these managers in their ability to distinguish between rhetorical flourishes and reallife job design. Leadership in practice is mundane and local.
The Journal of Entrepreneurial and Organizational Diversity
This article investigates how care workers understood ownership and experienced employeeownership... more This article investigates how care workers understood ownership and experienced employeeownership through the exercise of workplace participation and control. To date much of the scholarly work has focused on formal governance arrangements, types of participation and the limitations of worker control, in particular debating the validity of the degeneration thesis. Furthermore, studies tend to be concentrated on small-scale cooperatives or specific marginal examples, but employee-owned enterprises have also been introduced in other sectors, including in English health, social care and well-being sectors. By drawing on two case studies providing care services, this study brings new insights by centring on how staff understood, embraced, and subsequently contested the foundational concept of ownership. The subsequent implications for intraorganisational conflict and the lived experience of staff are explored within a theoretical framework based on (1) how different social science disciplines embrace the concept of ownership, (2) workplace participation within employee-owned entities and (3) the unique characteristics of care services. The paper's originality lies in combining new empirical data in the context of these three areas. This contribution enhances our understanding of how employees interpret being "an owner", as well as informing scholarly and public-policy debates about the future models for care provision.
Circle Economy is an impact organisation that connects and empowers a global community to create ... more Circle Economy is an impact organisation that connects and empowers a global community to create the conditions for transformation towards the circular economy. Our mission is to accelerate the transition through practical and scalable insights and solutions that address humanity's greatest challenges. The Circular Jobs Initiative is a knowledge centre that aims to ensure the transition to the circular economy is positive for work and workers. We are committed to promoting this mission by working with employers, workers, governments, multilateral organisations, education institutions and research organisations to shape this future. With the support of the Goldschmeding Foundation, the Circular Jobs Initiative develops and shares knowledge and best practices on the future of jobs for the circular economy and translates this knowledge into practical and scalable solutions.
This paper examines the growth of the UK coworking space (CWS) sector in the context of the COVID... more This paper examines the growth of the UK coworking space (CWS) sector in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing on data from a multi-year study comprising 44 interviews with CWS owners, managers, and other key economic actors. The paper offers a novel contribution by drawing on critical political economy to conceptualise CWS as capitalist enterprises providing fixed capital of an independent kind in competitive markets increasingly shaped by changing urban commercial real estate dynamics which necessitate that CWS adapt their business models to remain economically viable. The paper finds the entry of large corporate actors in the CWS sector is forcing smaller independent CWS to diversify to remain competitive. This pressure inhibits the ability of CWS to adhere to – and offer services matching – the aims of early CWS, namely the cultivation of a community of like-minded individuals who cowork to reduce rental costs and social isolation. These findings are theoretically and em...
Recent years have witnessed the proliferation of factoryless goods producers (FGPs) in the contem... more Recent years have witnessed the proliferation of factoryless goods producers (FGPs) in the contemporary global economy. In this chapter, we outline a theory of externalization to explain not only the existence of factoryless goods producers, but also their ability to exert effective control over the activities throughout their organizationally-fragmented global value chains (GVCs). We stress the key role played by isolating mechanisms both in providing this control and in conferring upon the FGPs the power to determine the distribution of the value created within their GVCs.
This paper discusses how different forms of cross-border employee mobility all contribute to esta... more This paper discusses how different forms of cross-border employee mobility all contribute to establishing social ties across different units of multinational enterprises (MNEs). Despite the growing recognition of the significance of employees' cross-unit social ties in MNEs for both individuals and the organisation, the mechanisms for creating such ties remain underspecified. We contribute to closing this gap by identifying the role that an array of forms of international mobility can play in promoting employees' (cross-unit) social ties inside MNEs. We draw upon empirical accounts of the job-related international mobility experiences of 72 high-skilled employees in three leading MNEs in the mobile telecommunications sector. Guided by a framework that utilizes some of the key concepts of the debate on social ties and social capital, we discuss traditional expatriation, short-term assignments, localised transfers and business travel in terms of the structure and strength of t...
Circle Economy is an impact organisation that connects and empowers a global community to create ... more Circle Economy is an impact organisation that connects and empowers a global community to create the conditions for transformation towards the circular economy. Our mission is to accelerate the transition through practical and scalable insights and solutions that address humanity's greatest challenges. The Circular Jobs Initiative (CJI) is a knowledge centre that aims to ensure the transition to the circular economy is positive for work and workers. We are committed to promoting this mission by working with employers, workers, governments, multilateral organisations, education institutions and research organisations to shape this future. With the support of the Goldschmeding Foundation, the Circular Jobs Initiative develops and shares knowledge and best practices on the future of jobs for the circular economy and translates this knowledge into practical and scalable solutions. SUPP ORTED BY THE C JI ADVISORY BOARD ANTO NI US SCHRÖ D ER Scientist, TU Dor tmund Social Research Centre "This important policy paper stresses the relevance of green skills not only for industry but also for policy and civil society. Increasing circular economy upskilling of the workforce, but also of society, as such is necessary-in order to lead to new social practices. Closing the skills gap can lay the groundwork for unfolding the potential of new economic and technological solutions as well as infrastructures in a better way. Appropriate vocational education and training measures and innovative learning arrangements are needed to close the skills gap immediately."
In advanced economies the 'greening' of the economy is widely seen as promising extensive job cre... more In advanced economies the 'greening' of the economy is widely seen as promising extensive job creation and upskilling, alongside its other benefits. In popular and policy rhetoric, the growing importance of 'green skills' is asserted frequently. This study critically examines these claims within the context of the electronic waste management sector in the United Kingdom. Drawing on the cases of a non-profit organisation and a small private enterprise in North West England, we observe that despite government support for developing skills in e-waste, both the development and utilisation of skills remain minimal. Critically, the relatively more skill-intensive process of reuse is substantially less profitable than recycling and resource capture. The study concludes by noting that the expectations from the green economy for high-quality jobs need to be assessed within the context of similar, misplaced celebrations of previous transformations of work to avoid recycling the same promises.
This paper discusses the literature on the established determinants of productivity in the retail... more This paper discusses the literature on the established determinants of productivity in the retail sector. It also draws attention to some neglected strands of research which provide useful insights into strategies that could allow productivity enhancements in this area of the economy. To date, very few attempts have been made to integrate different specialisms in order to explain what drives productivity in retail. Here this paper rectifies this omission by putting together studies from economics, geography, knowledge management and employment studies. It is the authors’ view that quantitative studies of retail productivity should focus on total factor productivity in retailing as the result of competition/composition effects, planning regulations, information and communications technology, the multinational operation element and workforce skills. Further, the fact that retail firms possess advantages that are transferable between locations suggests that investment in strategies enh...
This article explores the realities of managerial work in two major British supermarket chains. W... more This article explores the realities of managerial work in two major British supermarket chains. While the prescriptive literature welcomes the displacement of bureaucratic management by rote with leadership, empirical accounts of what managers actually do underscore how the purported tenets of leadership tend to disappear upon closer inspection, even at the discursive level. This study observes and discusses the discrepancy between the rhetoric of leadership articulated by executives at the corporate head offices and the actual roles and responsibilities of managers in stores. Work was tightly controlled and managers had little real freedom. We draw on empirical evidence to argue both that while leadership in practice secured only trivial freedoms such freedoms were highly valued and that academic analysis should follow these managers in their ability to distinguish between rhetorical flourishes and reallife job design. Leadership in practice is mundane and local.
This paper discusses how different forms of cross-border employee mobility all contribute to esta... more This paper discusses how different forms of cross-border employee mobility all contribute to establishing social ties across different units of multinational enterprises (MNEs). Despite the growing recognition of the significance of employees' cross-unit social ties in MNEs for both individuals and the organisation, the mechanisms for creating such ties remain underspecified. We contribute to closing this gap by identifying the role that an array of forms of international mobility can play in promoting employees' (cross-unit) social ties inside MNEs. We draw upon empirical accounts of the job-related international mobility experiences of 72 high-skilled employees in three leading MNEs in the mobile telecommunications sector. Guided by a framework that utilizes some of the key concepts of the debate on social ties and social capital, we discuss traditional expatriation, short-term assignments, localised transfers and business travel in terms of the structure and strength of the cross-unit ties they engender, as well as their accessibility. We find (1) that it is not only traditional long-term assignments in the form of expatriation that enable individuals to create cross-unit social ties; and, (2) that different forms of international mobility promote cross-unit social ties in variable ways and to different extents.
This article argues that multinational corporations may provide critical relief routes for women ... more This article argues that multinational corporations may provide critical relief routes for women workers' progress in managerial careers in national contexts where their career paths with domestic employers remain blocked by traditional and institutional practices. It illustrates this possi- ...
This document is made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the publi... more This document is made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the reference above. Full terms of use are available: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/pure/userguides/explore-bristol-research/ebr-terms/
A Research Agenda for International Business and Management, Jun 2021
The introductory chapter by Geppert and Bozkurt provides the background context for the book and ... more The introductory chapter by Geppert and Bozkurt provides the background context for the book and introduces the contributions. The chapter begins by noting the increasing critiques of the research focus and outputs of International Business and Management as a field, with recent comments claiming a state of “crisis”. After a brief overview of the development of the discipline and its core thematic concerns over time, the chapter first summarizes the “mainstream” response and proposals. These include a demand for IB/M to explore a broader range of topics, greater interdisciplinarity and engage with “big questions” around key societal challenges. Then the critical perspectives in the field and their key propositions are discussed. Three key obstacles for revitalization of the field are highlighted: the limited attempts at substantial breaks from the established core in theorizing, lack of methodological diversity, and the question of the skills and training of IB/M scholars to undertake the proposed changes. The ten substantive chapters and the commentary in the book are presented as examples of “out of the box” thinking that illustrate how the field can be revitalized.
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