Science, Technology, Enterprise and Society

2020 ◽  
pp. 239395752096780
Author(s):  
Christian Smit
Keyword(s):  
Work Environment ◽  
Well Being ◽  
First Century ◽  
Work Organisation ◽  
Positive Perception ◽  
Work Processes ◽  
New Developments ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
Digital Work ◽  
Further Development

One of the greatest challenges for civil societies, politicians and organisations around the globe in the twenty-first century is the digitisation and automatisation of work processes. Through means of machine learning, new mechanical product developments, and a further development of digital work organisation, fundamental aspects of the working reality are changing. The arguments of this essay show that some scholars predict a massive replacement of manufacturing jobs by machines. Others show that people fear to arrive at a feeling of overextension through constant availability or new developments in how firms are organised. All of these aspects can have drastic implications on a macroeconomic level and for the mental health and general well-being of workers. Henceforth, it is utterly important to analyse the implications of digitisation thoroughly and not prematurely arrive at an overly positive perception of such changes in the work environment.

scholarly journals Workplace Innovation through Proactivity. Job Crafting and Work Engagement Dynamics among Remote Workers in Italy.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arianna Costantini ◽  
Serena Rubini
Keyword(s):  
Work Engagement ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Job Crafting ◽  
Bayesian Estimator ◽  
Work Organisation ◽  
Remote Work ◽  
Work Processes ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Remote Workers ◽  
Workplace Innovation

In this chapter, we adopt a psychological perspective to the study of workplace innovation in Italy. Framing our contribution in the context of remote working and workplace innovation before, during, and after the COVID-19 emergency, we investigate how proactive behaviours (i.e., job crafting) transforming remote work processes resulted in different levels of work engagement during the pandemic. Three-wave longitudinal data were collected from a final sample of 35 remote workers (N=105 observations). Results from multilevel analyses with Bayesian estimator showed that remote working was associated with higher frequencies of behaviours aimed at actively distancing by one’s work role, which in turn was associated with lower work engagement. On the other side, employees reporting more efforts to optimise their work processes proactively reported higher engagement than those displaying less proactivity towards remote work organisation. These findings highlight the need for remote working solutions to account for individual proactivity in enacting remote work processes, since such behaviours are significant predictors of work engagement, a key factor to allow higher organisational performance and work-related well-being.

scholarly journals Workability and Well-Being at Work Among Cut-To-Length Forest Machine Operators

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Heli Kymäläinen ◽  
Juha Laitila ◽  
Kari Väätäinen ◽  
Jukka Malinen
Keyword(s):  
Work Environment ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Work Organisation ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Occupational Groups ◽  
Work Shift ◽  
Machine Operators ◽  
Information Work

This study assessed the situation of Finnish cut-to-length (CTL) machine operators’ work well-being with workability index (WAI), investigated CTL machine operators’ lifestyle habits, and collected operators’ good practices to maintain and promote well-being and vitality at work. A questionnaire was conducted in electronic form, including questions concerning background information, work environment, work organisation, well-being at work and free time, and workability index. Mean WAI among respondents was 42.2 points (max. 49) falling into the rank »good«, while the current workability compared with the lifetime best was 8.2 (range 0–10). WAI was strongly impacted by age (p<0.000), the score declined during ageing, and standard deviation grew. The results were in line with previous WAI studies. Statistic differences were found between youngest age group (age≤25) versus all others. Compared to other studies and occupational groups, CTL machine operators’ WAI was average. Operators revered independent nature of work and forest as a working environment, thus promoting and maintaining well-being at work. Furthermore, breaks during work shift, with or without physical exercise, was recognised to ensure and retain vitality and concentration at work.

The Uses of Affordable Social Investment

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anton Hemerijck
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
First Century ◽  
Paradigm Change ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
Welfare Capitalism ◽  
Methodological Innovation ◽  
Policy Paradigm ◽  
Fiscal Austerity ◽  
Second Use

The final chapter concludes with five contemporary ‘uses’ of social investment, in full recognition of limits underscored by critics. The first ‘use’ of social investment therefore concerns its ‘paradigmatic’ bearings. To what extent does social investment represent a distinct policy paradigm for twenty-first-century welfare capitalism? A second ‘use’ relates to paradigm change, in the sense of theoretical progress inspiring interdisciplinary methodological innovation, in particular with respect to the empirical assessment of well-being ‘returns’ on social investment. The third more practical ‘use’ covers the identification of virtuous social investment policy mixes of ‘stocks’, ‘flows’, and ‘buffers’. The fourth ‘use’ is geographically confined to the European conundrum of overcoming the fiscal austerity to make way for social investment reform, as means to reignite socioeconomic convergence, at least for the Eurozone. The more general final use of social investment bears on the ‘politics of social investment’ in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

scholarly journals “How Do We Actually Do Convergence” for Disaster Resilience? Cases from Australia and the United States

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shefali Juneja Lakhina ◽  
Elaina J. Sutley ◽  
Jay Wilson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
First Century ◽  
Urban Resilience ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Systemic Risks ◽  
Work Community ◽  
Research Findings

AbstractIn recent years there has been an increasing emphasis on achieving convergence in disaster research, policy, and programs to reduce disaster losses and enhance social well-being. However, there remain considerable gaps in understanding “how do we actually do convergence?” In this article, we present three case studies from across geographies—New South Wales in Australia, and North Carolina and Oregon in the United States; and sectors of work—community, environmental, and urban resilience, to critically examine what convergence entails and how it can enable diverse disciplines, people, and institutions to reduce vulnerability to systemic risks in the twenty-first century. We identify key successes, challenges, and barriers to convergence. We build on current discussions around the need for convergence research to be problem-focused and solutions-based, by also considering the need to approach convergence as ethic, method, and outcome. We reflect on how convergence can be approached as an ethic that motivates a higher order alignment on “why” we come together; as a method that foregrounds “how” we come together in inclusive ways; and as an outcome that highlights “what” must be done to successfully translate research findings into the policy and public domains.

Twenty-First Century Developments in the Field of Science, Technology, and International Relations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan H. Fritsch
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
International System ◽  
First Century ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
Black Boxes ◽  
Politics And Culture ◽  
Nuanced Understanding ◽  
Global Affairs ◽  
Traditional Approaches

Traditionally, international relations (IR) conceptualized technology primarily as a static, neutral, and passive tool, which emanates from impenetrable black boxes outside the international system. According to this predominant instrumental understanding of technology, IR “added” technology as a residual variable to existing explanatory frameworks. Consequently, qualitative systemic change—as well as continuity—could only be addressed within existing models and their respective core variables. Subsequently, traditional approaches increasingly experienced difficulties to adequately capture and explain empirically observable systemic changes in the form of growing interdependence, globalization, or trans-nationalization, as well as a plethora of technology-induced new policy challenges. Contrary to traditional conceptualizations, a growing number of scholars have instead embarked on a project to open the “black box” by redefining technology as a highly political and integral core component of global affairs that shapes and itself is shaped by global economics, politics, and culture. A rapidly growing body of theoretically diverse interdisciplinary literature systematically incorporates insights from science and technology studies (STS) to provide a more nuanced understanding of how technology, the global system, and its myriad actors mutually constitute and impact one another.

scholarly journals Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on Employees’ Anxiety and Safety Behavior at Higher Educational Institutions in Banjarmasin

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 295-304
Author(s):  
Rizky Nastiti ◽  
Devi Rusvitawati
Keyword(s):  
Work Environment ◽  
Work Performance ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Higher Educational Institutions ◽  
Safety Behavior ◽  
Universities And Colleges ◽  
Equipment Safety ◽  
Higher Educational

The policy to return to work amidst the pandemic has caused anxiety among employees, including those who work at universities and colleges. In order to maintain organization’s performance in the era of COVID-19, the management needs to pay attention to employees’ adjustment and well-being. Moreover, figuring out employees’ anxiety level and safety behavior during the pandemic will help the managements ease their employees’ anxiety and improve their work performance. Thus, this study focuses on the impacts of COVID-19 on employees’ anxiety and safety behavior at higher educational institutions in Banjarmasin. A total of 78 responses were collected from employees of higher educational institutions in Banjarmasin. From the data analysis, it was found that physical concerns and psychological concerns had significant impacts on anxiety and safety behavior. This study offers suggestions for institutions to provide adequate protective equipment safety and enforce their human resource management to help their employees cope with new work environment.

scholarly journals An Association of Quality of Life and Ageing Perceptions Among Community Dwelling Older Adults in Uganda

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joy Louise -Onoria ◽  
Raymond Odokonyero ◽  
Bruno Giordani ◽  
Dickens Akena ◽  
Emmanuel Mwesiga ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Older Persons ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
Life Questionnaire ◽  
Social Activities ◽  
Positive Perception

Abstract Background: Uganda’s population, though, largely characterized by young people, has seen the number of people aged 60 and over grow from 686,000 twenty years ago, to 1,433,596 in 2014. Effective caring for the well-being of this population requires strategic and deliberate planning that involves quality of life (QoL) assessments. QoL assessments among the elderly are important in evaluating the efficacy of strategies, such as health interventions, welfare programs, health care, and well-being of the elderly. However, elderly in Uganda face several challenges, ranging from loneliness, poor housing, lack of social and financial support, and poor health. These may negatively affect older persons’ quality of life and consequently their perceptions and attitudes towards aging. Methods: The study was carried out in 2019 in the communities of Nansana and Busukuma town councils in Wakiso district, Uganda. The participants were 380 people 60 years and older. To establish the association between perceptions of ageing and QoL, this study utilized a locally adapted version of the Older Person’s Quality of Life Questionnaire (OPQOL) and the Brief Ageing Perceptions Questionnaire (B-APQ). The OPQOL assesses three domains of QoL: Health QoL (HQoL); Social economic QoL (SQoL); and Psychosocial QoL (PQoL). The B-APQ assesses perceptions about physical age, participation in social activities, and perceptions about ability to regulate emotions as one ages. Pearson’s Chi-square tests were used to characterize the relationship between the perceptions and quality of life.Results: The majority of the respondents, 61% (95%CI 56.7-64.8), had negative perceptions towards ageing. Eighty six percent had poor HQoL, 90% poor SQoL and 83% poor PQoL. There was a significant association between good HQoL and positive perception about participation in social activities (X2 = 7.3670, P = 0.007) as well as with positive perception on regulation of emotions (X2 = 18.1803, P<0.001). There was a significant association between good SQoL and positive perception about participation in social activities (X2 = 5.3472, P = 0.021), as well with positive perception on regulation of emotions (X2 = 10.5128, P<0.001). A significant association between good PQoL and positive perception on regulation of emotions (X2 = 9.2414, P= 0.002).Conclusion: Positive perceptions of ageing are associated with good QoL. Directly addressing perceptions of ageing could be a low cost and effective strategy to improve the QoL of older persons in SSA

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