Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- List of cases
- List of contributors
- Acknowledgements
- 1 The individual in the changing working life: introduction
- Part I Threats and challenges
- 2 New rules of work: exploring the boundaryless job
- 3 Changing work roles: new demands and challenges
- 4 The Demand-Induced Strain Compensation model: renewed theoretical considerations and empirical evidence
- 5 Job insecurity and employability among temporary workers: a theoretical approach based on the psychological contract
- 6 Independent contracting: finding a balance between flexibility and individual well-being
- 7 Work–family conflict in individuals' lives: prevalence, antecedents, and outcomes
- 8 My love, my life, my everything: work–home interaction among self-employed
- 9 Modern work and safety
- 10 Romantic relationships at work: old issues, new challenges
- 11 Ethnic diversity at work: an overview of theories and research
- Part II Individual attempts at restoring the balance
- Part III Intervention and promotion on the organizational level
- Index
- References
2 - New rules of work: exploring the boundaryless job
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 October 2009
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- List of cases
- List of contributors
- Acknowledgements
- 1 The individual in the changing working life: introduction
- Part I Threats and challenges
- 2 New rules of work: exploring the boundaryless job
- 3 Changing work roles: new demands and challenges
- 4 The Demand-Induced Strain Compensation model: renewed theoretical considerations and empirical evidence
- 5 Job insecurity and employability among temporary workers: a theoretical approach based on the psychological contract
- 6 Independent contracting: finding a balance between flexibility and individual well-being
- 7 Work–family conflict in individuals' lives: prevalence, antecedents, and outcomes
- 8 My love, my life, my everything: work–home interaction among self-employed
- 9 Modern work and safety
- 10 Romantic relationships at work: old issues, new challenges
- 11 Ethnic diversity at work: an overview of theories and research
- Part II Individual attempts at restoring the balance
- Part III Intervention and promotion on the organizational level
- Index
- References
Summary
Profit arises out of the inherent, absolute unpredictability of things, out of the sheer brute fact that the results of human activity cannot be anticipated and then only in so far as even a probability calculation in regard to them is impossible and meaningless.
(Knight, 1921: 311)In 1921, Frank H. Knight made a classic distinction between “risk” and “uncertainty” in economic endeavors, claiming that while risk can be calculated, uncertainty cannot. Since then, a variety of methods for assessing and reducing risk have been developed and used, while essentially ignoring uncertainty. In the 1970s, however, in the face of increasing international competition, oil crisis, floating currencies, political unrest, and the idiosyncratic demands of lifestyle consumption, turning a blind eye toward the uncertainties of enterprising was no longer a feasible option. Rather, uncertainty had to be recognized as a fundamental precondition of modern corporations. Out of Japan came the realization that planning and organizing for it, and not just against it, could provide a competitive advantage (Ouchi, 1981; Porter, 1990). The general strategy for coping with uncertainty, introduced by the Japanese, was to increase the flexibility of production (Piore and Sabel, 1984). The principles of flexibility have since been introduced into almost every aspect of corporate life.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Individual in the Changing Working Life , pp. 19 - 45Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008
References
Allvin, M. (2004). The individualisation of labour. In and (eds.), Learning to be employable (pp. 23–41). Houndsmills: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
and (2003). The future of work environment reforms: does the concept of work environment apply within the new economy?International Journal of Health Services 33: 99–111.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
, , , , , and (1998). Gränslöst arbete eller arbetets nya gränser: delstudie 1 (Arbete och Hälsa 1998:21). Stockholm: Arbetslivsinstitutet.Google Scholar
, , , and (1999). Frikopplad eller frånkopplad: om innebörder och konsekvenser av gränslösa arbeten (Arbete och Hälsa 1999:2). Stockholm: Arbetslivsinstitutet.Google Scholar
and (1992). Corporate culture and organizational symbolism. Berlin: de Gruyter.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1995). The boundaryless organization: breaking the chains of organizational structure. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
and (2001). The flexible workplace: a sourcebook of information and research. Westport, CT: Quorum Books.Google Scholar
and (1987). The shaping of social organization: social rule system theory with applications. London: Sage.Google Scholar
and (1991). Product development performance: strategy, organization, and management in the world auto industry. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.Google Scholar
(1997). Narrating the organization: dramas of institutional identity. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
(1994). Hypercompetition: managing the dynamics of strategic maneuvering. New York: The Free Press.Google Scholar
and (1992). The cult(ure) of the customer. Journal of Management Studies 29: 615–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foucault, M. (1978/2002). Governmentality. In (ed.), Essential works of Foucault 1954–1984, vol. 3: Power (pp. 201–22). London: Penguin.Google Scholar
(1980). Power/knowledge: selected interviews and other writings 1972–1977 by Michel Foucault. London: Harvester Wheatsheaf.Google Scholar
Foucault, M.(1982). The subject and power. In and (eds.), Michel Foucault: beyond structuralism and hermeneutics (pp. 208–28). London: Harvester Wheatsheaf.Google Scholar
(1984). The constitution of society: outline of the theory of structuration. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
(1978). Theoretical sensitivity: advances in the methodology of grounded theory. Mill Valley, CA: The Sociology Press.Google Scholar
and (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research. Chicago: Aldine.Google Scholar
(1994). Lean and mean: the changing landscape of corporate power in the age of flexibility. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
(1995). Human resource management: a strategic approach to employment. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.Google Scholar
(1992). Engineering culture: control and commitment in a high-tech corporation. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.Google Scholar
Miles, M. B. and Huberman, A. M. (1994a). Data management and analysis methods. In and (eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 428–44). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
and (1991). Organizational rules: a framework for understanding organizational action. Buckingham: Open University Press.Google Scholar
(1981). Theory Z: how American business can meet the Japanese challenge. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley.Google Scholar
and (1982). In search of excellence: lessons from America's best-run companies. New York: Harper and Row.Google Scholar
(1986). Information processing and human–machine interaction: an approach to cognitive engineering (vol. 12). Amsterdam: North-Holland.Google Scholar
and (1990). Ecological interfaces: a technological imperative in high tech systems?International Journal of Human Computer Interaction 2: 93ff.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1999). Powers of freedom: reframing political thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
and (1998). The burnout companion to study and practice: a critical analysis. London: Taylor and Francis.Google Scholar
. and (1990). Competing against time: how time-based competition is reshaping global markets. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
- 18
- Cited by