scholarly journals Algorithmic management in food‐delivery platform economy in China

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Huang
Keyword(s):  
Food Delivery ◽  
Delivery Platform ◽  
Platform Economy

From Flexible Labour to ‘Sticky Labour’: A Tracking Study of Workers in the Food-Delivery Platform Economy of China

2021 ◽  
pp. 095001702110215
Author(s):  
Ping Sun ◽  
Julie Yujie Chen ◽  
Uma Rani
Keyword(s):  
Social Impact ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Food Delivery ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Current Debate ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
Labour Relations ◽  
Delivery Platform ◽  
Platform Economy ◽  
Labour Management

Despite considerable scholarly attention to the proliferation of gig work on digital platforms, research tracing the broad trends of labour relations is scant. Analysing interview and survey data on food-delivery workers in China between 2018 and 2019, this article demonstrates a trend of de-flexibilisation for workers, which contradicts the purported flexibility of platform-mediated work. It is argued that de-flexibilisation is achieved through intertwined labour management tactics, technological engineering, and the cultural normalisation of platform-dependent precarious jobs. Platform companies and third-party staffing agencies have jointly deployed algorithmic systems and communicative techniques to cultivate what we refer to as ‘sticky labour’. The study contributes to the current debate on working in platform capitalism by weighing the compound effects of labour management strategies, social impact of technological engineering of the work process, and the cultural normalisation of platform work.

scholarly journals How can millions of Chinese food delivery riders be managed in an orderly way: Based on the labor process theory

2021 ◽  
Vol 292 ◽  
pp. 02018
Author(s):  
Xiqing Xu ◽  
Tianhe Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Food Delivery ◽  
Labor Process ◽  
Process Theory ◽  
Management Mechanism ◽  
Labor Process Theory ◽  
Delivery Platform ◽  
Platform Economy ◽  
Chinese Food

Ordering food through smartphones brings millions of laborers into a new occupation -food delivery rider. To date, insufficient research has focused on this group of population in platform economy. This paper examines the management mechanism of Chinese food delivery industry based on Marxist labor process theory and its extensions. Three main findings are revealed. First, the food delivery platform strictly set online and off-line institutions to manage food delivery riders; second, riders are involved in an illusion of flexitime but indeed provide more labor forces; third, riders are not free as they are constantly monitored by platform’s algorithm driven by big data. Given this, the conclusion suggests that all platform enterprises should abide professional ethnics and undertake social responsibility and to liberate food delivery riders’ nature.

Delivering Solidarity: Platform Architecture and Collective Contention in China’s Platform Economy

2021 ◽  
pp. 000312242097998
Author(s):  
Ya-Wen Lei
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Food Delivery ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Work Relations ◽  
Labor Control ◽  
Platform Architecture ◽  
Collective Resistance ◽  
Delivery Platform ◽  
Control And Management ◽  
Platform Economy

This study examines how and when labor control and management leads to collective resistance in China’s food-delivery platform economy. I develop the concept of “platform architecture” to examine the technological, legal, and organizational aspects of control and management in the labor process and the variable relationships between them. Analyzing 68 in-depth interviews, ethnographic data, and 87 cases of strikes and protests, I compare the platform architecture of service and gig platforms and examine the relationship between their respective architecture and labor contention. I argue that specific differences in platform architecture diffuse or heighten collective contention. Within the service platform, technological control and management generates work dissatisfaction, but the legal and organizational dimensions contain grievances and reduce the appeal of, and spaces for, collective contention. Conversely, within the gig platform, all three dimensions of platform architecture reinforce one another, escalating grievances, enhancing the appeal of collective contention, and providing spaces for mobilizing solidarity and collective action. As a result, gig platform couriers are more likely to consider their work relations exploitative and to mobilize contention, despite facing higher barriers to collective action due to the atomization of their work.

scholarly journals Illusory freedom of physical platform workers: Insights from Uber Eats in Japan

2021 ◽  
pp. 103530462199246
Author(s):  
Hamza Umer
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Food Delivery ◽  
Jel Codes ◽  
Delivery Platform ◽  
Pros And Cons

Platform work is often advocated as offering freedom of work to labour. Contesting this claim, this article undertakes a comparative analysis of the pros and cons of food delivery platform work prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and argues that the freedom of food delivery platform workers is essentially an ‘illusory freedom’. In reality, platform work has only changed mechanisms through which companies can exercise control over labour and evade their employer obligations. As a case, the article examines the illusory freedom of food delivery platform workers associated to Uber Eats in Japan. The collective bargaining efforts of food delivery workers against the excessive control of Uber Eats and the extent of success of these efforts are also examined. The article concludes by discussing the possible factors that have undermined the effectiveness of the collective bargaining efforts of the labour union. JEL Codes: J52; J81

The Worker Capabilities Approach: Insights from Worker Mobilizations in Italian Logistics and Food Delivery

2020 ◽  
pp. 095001702095267
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Cini ◽  
Bartek Goldmann
Keyword(s):  
Technological Innovation ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Capabilities Approach ◽  
Food Delivery ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Platform Economy

Following years of declining labour activism, militant forms of worker mobilization have recently emerged in the Italian platform economy and logistics sector, exhibiting novel forms of organization and action repertoires. This article investigates two cases which have been ongoing since 2011, namely mobilizations by logistics porters and food delivery couriers. Both cases seem puzzling since workers have mobilized under circumstances normally associated with non-mobilization, meaning workplaces characterized by technological innovation and absent or ineffective trade unions. How have these mobilizations occurred? We argue that these workers successfully overcame such circumstances by relying on resources and opportunities related to their workplace and external to it, which they have been able to create and develop over several years. We gathered data from semi-structured interviews with workers, union representatives and lawyers, and participated at political meetings, strikes and protest events in four Italian cities between 2018 and 2019.

scholarly journals Consumer Attitudes and Purchase Intentions toward Food Delivery Platform Services

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (23) ◽  
pp. 10177
Author(s):  
Han-Shen Chen ◽  
Chia-Hsing Liang ◽  
Shu-Yi Liao ◽  
Hung-Yu Kuo
Keyword(s):  
Purchase Intention ◽  
Behavioral Control ◽  
Food Delivery ◽  
Subjective Norms ◽  
Purchase Intentions ◽  
Perceived Behavioral Control ◽  
Hedonic Value ◽  
Utilitarian Value ◽  
Delivery Platform ◽  
Positive Effect

With the advent of the Online to Offline (O2O) era, the rise of various food delivery platforms not only provides consumers with more choices, but also allows restaurant operators to reach more potential consumers and increase their additional revenue. This study is based on theory of planned behavior (TPB), and includes the ‘utilitarian value’ and ‘hedonic value’ as research variables. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to verify the research hypotheses, and to analyze consumers’ purchase intentions toward online food delivery platforms. An online survey was also conducted, and a total of 1300 questionnaires were distributed. After excluding invalid questionnaires with incomplete answers, a total of 1082 questionnaires were deemed valid, and the effective recovery rate was 83.23%. The research results were as follows: (1) the attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control of consumers will have a significant positive effect on utilitarian value and hedonic value; (2) the utilitarian and hedonic values have a significant positive effect on purchase intention; and (3) the utilitarian and hedonic values have a mediating effect on attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and purchase intention. Based on the above results, food delivery platform operators can identify the key factors that drive consumers to use their services in order to formulate effective management strategies and create greater business opportunities for their organizations.

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