At the Shores of Work

2021 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-183
Author(s):  
Sarah Ann Wells
Keyword(s):  
Work Life ◽  
Global Capitalism ◽  
Short Film ◽  
Work Time ◽  
Work Site ◽  
Work Space ◽  
Working Day ◽  
Temporal Dimensions ◽  
Modes Of Life

Abstract Shifting away from the paradigmatic factory gates, this article examines what comes into view as cinema approaches the port. Through a reading of Aloysio Raulino’s experimental short film Santos Port (Brazil, 1978), it shows how the port film is uniquely poised to view livelihoods that trouble narrow definitions of work and its spatial, temporal, and corporeal limits. Through its montage and unusual soundscape, Santos Port presents laboring bodies in excess of their labor in an elusive portrait of both a strike and of work-life relationships. Unwaged, overlooked forms of work and their relationship to broader modes of life are subject to an unprecedented attention. In the process, the port film queries what is meant by work, and in particular its spatial-temporal dimensions—the work site and the working day, the key site of struggle for labor under capitalism. Crucially, the port film is also where the labor of gender is thrown into stark relief, for understandings of work-time and work-space are indelibly and insistently gendered. The article concludes by suggesting how these expanded understandings of work are inflected by the geopolitical position of port films and their relationship to global capitalism.

scholarly journals Standardization of complementary work time in timber harvesting processes

2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 258-269
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Kamiński ◽  
Grzegorz Szewczyk ◽  
Janusz Kocel
Keyword(s):  
Accurate Determination ◽  
Timber Harvesting ◽  
Time Structure ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Work Time ◽  
Work Shift ◽  
Machine Technology ◽  
Working Day ◽  
Technology Level ◽  
The Impact

AbstractOne of the essential elements of work technology assessment is task performance time. In the working day structure, production times are crucial; however, under certain conditions, complementary work times can have a share of up to 30%. Accurate determination of the time structure of a work shift is very time consuming and requires time measurements using the methods of cumulative timing or snapshot observations. For this reason, the overall share of complementary work times in a work shift is usually estimated roughly, equally for all timber harvesting conditions. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of selected working environment factors on the share of complementary work times in a work shift, in technologies on the manual-machine and the machine levels. The analyses were carried out in 33 forest districts of the Regional Directorate of State Forests in Wrocław. Among forest contractors, surveys were carried out to analyse the time structure of a working day. For each forest district, analyses of environmental factors potentially relevant to the share of complementary work times in a work shift were carried out; these included field features, dispersion of stands, features of timber, area accessibility. The total share of complementary work times in the machine-level technology variant amounted to approx. 40% and was higher than the manual-machine technological variant, where this share amounted to approx. 35%. The models developed for standardization of the share of variability of complementary work times, in the case of the manual-machine technology level, took into account the share of timber assortments with the length of over 2.5 m as well as the share of upland and mountain sites. In the case of timber harvesting at the machine technology level, the standardization model included as significant the factors such as the share of coniferous forest sites, the number of forest complexes with an area of over 100 hectares, and the total length of roads. Therefore, the above features could be selected as decisive for the share of the complementary work time category out of the full set of environmental variables taken into consideration in the estimation of the time-consumption of timber harvesting processes.

scholarly journals Protect Your Sleep When Work is Calling: How Work-Related Smartphone Use During Non-Work Time and Sleep Quality Impact Next-Day Self-Control Processes at Work

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (8) ◽  
pp. 1757 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lilian Gombert ◽  
Anne-Kathrin Konze ◽  
Wladislaw Rivkin ◽  
Klaus-Helmut Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Sleep Quality ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Ego Depletion ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Work Time ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Control Processes ◽  
Smartphone Use ◽  
Working Day

In view of the rapid development of information and communication technologies, the present study sheds light on how work-related smartphone use during non-work time affects employees’ subsequent working day. Specifically, we examine work-related smartphone use and sleep quality as moderators of next-day self-control processes at work. Theorizing that work-related smartphone use and self-control demands deplete a common limited regulatory resource, we suggest a strengthening two-way interaction between work-related smartphone use during non-work time and next-day self-control demands at work in predicting employees’ ego depletion at work. Moreover, in a three-way interaction, we analyze whether this interaction depends on employees’ sleep quality, assuming that when intensive work-related smartphone use is followed by high-quality sleep, the taxed regulatory resource can replenish overnight. Results from our diary study covering 10 working days (n = 63) indicate that after evenings with high work-related smartphone use, employees experience disproportionate levels of ego depletion when dealing with self-control demands at work. Sleep quality, however, attenuates this interaction. In cases of high sleep quality, next-day self-control processes at work are no longer affected by work-related smartphone use. Based on these findings, we discuss implications for employees and employers regarding work-related smartphone use and the relevance of sleep in replenishing drained resources.

Health Behavior, Quality of Work Life, and Organizational Effectiveness in the Lumber Industry

1999 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 579-591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stewart I. Donaldson ◽  
Steve Sussman ◽  
Clyde W. Dent ◽  
Herbert H. Severson ◽  
Jacqueline L. Stoddard
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Health Behavior ◽  
Organizational Effectiveness ◽  
Employee Health ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Quality Of Work Life ◽  
Work Site ◽  
Quality Of Work ◽  
Work Site Health Promotion

A major incentive for work-site health promotion activities has been the promise of increased company profitability. Some critics have challenged the economic argument based on distal outcomes such as increased employee longevity and less morbidity later in life. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between employee health behavior, quality of work life, and proximal organizationally valued outcomes. Data were collected from a stratified random sample of employees working at Pacific Lumber Company ( N = 146), the largest single-site lumber mill in California. Although employee sleep patterns predicted health care utilization and psychological well-being, for the most part employee health behaviors were not strong predictors of proximal organizational effectiveness factors. However, quality-of-work-life factors significantly predicted organizational commitment, absenteeism, and tardiness frequency. The findings suggest the value of improving the system of work in which employees are embedded as part of comprehensive work-site health promotion efforts.

scholarly journals Cardiovascular and Self-Reported Recovery in Two-Shift Systems

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Stieler ◽  
Bettina Hunger ◽  
Reingard Seibt
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Blood Pressure Monitoring ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Work Life Balance ◽  
Life Balance ◽  
Shift Workers ◽  
Recovery Processes ◽  
Catering Industry ◽  
Working Day

Abstract. Recovery is necessary to maintain workers’ health and efficiency. Shift work has been associated with delayed recovery processes. The objective of this study was to examine the cardiovascular and self-reported recovery measures of German shift and day workers in the hotel and catering industry. Furthermore, it aimed to clarify to what extent shift groups differentiate given additional factors that influence recovery (ability to relax, lifestyle). The sample group consisted of 64 alternative shift workers (two-shift system with a low proportion of night work) and 96-day workers employed in the hotel and catering industry. Blood pressure monitoring was conducted for 24 hr during a working day, including the phases of work, leisure, and sleep, to assess cardiovascular reduction during leisure and sleep. The blood pressure status was measured over the course of a 4-day self-assessment period. Self-reported measures, including quality of sleep (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, PSQI), work-life balance (WPC), ability to relax (FABA), and lifestyle factors (physical activity, smoking, drinking), were assessed through questionnaires. Sixty-one participants (36%) were hypertensives. There were no significant effects of cardiovascular recovery regarding the reduction of blood pressure for the calculated differences between WORK – LEISURE, WORK – SLEEP, and LEISURE – SLEEP among shift and day workers. Shift workers reported a significantly less favorable work-life balance ( p = .017), a decreased ability to relax ( p = .001), and less regular physical activity ( p = .003). The workload within the two-shift system of the hotel and catering industry seems to have a lesser effect on cardiovascular means than on self-reported measures of recovery. The decisive factor is the ability to relax, which means psychological detachment from work. To enable a comprehensive recovery, an optimally designed recovery cycle is necessary for shift systems.

scholarly journals Analysing the machines working time utilization for improvement purposes

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-147
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Knop
Keyword(s):  
Working Time ◽  
Work Time ◽  
Effective Utilization ◽  
Main Work ◽  
Maintenance Time ◽  
Training Motivation ◽  
High Utilization ◽  
Time Utilization ◽  
Working Day

Abstract The article is a case study of the use of snapshot observation to analyse the factors causing time losses at selected laser burner stations, and to propose changes that will increase the effective utilization of working time. The purpose of this paper is to determine the best and worst utilization of working time at the examined workplaces, analyse the amount of time lost and identify the causes of losses, and propose solutions that will improve the utilization of working time. According to the snapshot observation, procedure 2 main - work and non-work - time fractions and 10 detailed time fractions in the working day were distinguished, and their percentage share for the analysed workstations was calculated. Analyses of the working day time utilization depending on the type of machines, days of observation, single shifts were done and selected results were averaged. The paper indicates that organizational and technical aspects, as well as the employees’ faults, were the main reasons for time losses. Research has shown that the generally examined group of workstations was characterized by a high utilization level of working time. An unfavourable phenomenon was the ratio of the main time to the auxiliary time, the high share of the maintenance time fraction of the workstations, and incorrect organization of the interoperation transport, low workers motivation, rush, and routine. It was found that further improvement of work efficiency and reduce time losses requires paying attention to the optimization of employees’ working conditions, training, motivation systems, and implementation of lean concept tools and MES/CMMS solutions into production.

scholarly journals Researchers working from home: Benefits and challenges

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. e0249127
Author(s):  
Balazs Aczel ◽  
Marton Kovacs ◽  
Tanja van der Lippe ◽  
Barnabas Szaszi
Keyword(s):  
Personal Experience ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Work Time ◽  
Working From Home ◽  
The Future ◽  
Traditional Work ◽  
And Coping ◽  
Coping Tactics ◽  
At Home

The flexibility allowed by the mobilization of technology disintegrated the traditional work-life boundary for most professionals. Whether working from home is the key or impediment to academics’ efficiency and work-life balance became a daunting question for both scientists and their employers. The recent pandemic brought into focus the merits and challenges of working from home on a level of personal experience. Using a convenient sampling, we surveyed 704 academics while working from home and found that the pandemic lockdown decreased the work efficiency for almost half of the researchers but around a quarter of them were more efficient during this time compared to the time before. Based on the gathered personal experience, 70% of the researchers think that in the future they would be similarly or more efficient than before if they could spend more of their work-time at home. They indicated that in the office they are better at sharing thoughts with colleagues, keeping in touch with their team, and collecting data, whereas at home they are better at working on their manuscript, reading the literature, and analyzing their data. Taking well-being also into account, 66% of them would find it ideal to work more from home in the future than they did before the lockdown. These results draw attention to how working from home is becoming a major element of researchers’ life and that we have to learn more about its influencer factors and coping tactics in order to optimize its arrangements.

Work-Life Synchronicity

2017 ◽  
pp. 1216-1224
Author(s):  
Jennifer Pollack Percival
Keyword(s):  
Effective Leadership ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Work Time ◽  
Life Balance ◽  
Intended Audience ◽  
Home Life ◽  
History Of ◽  
Strategic Leaders ◽  
Changing Society

Strategic leaders require the skills needed to manage both professional and personal responsibilities. The previous goal of accomplishing balance by being proficient in maintaining an evenness between “home life” and “work life” is no longer sufficient. The path to equilibrium has transformed from compartmentalized structures to a more fluid way of living due to advances in technology and a changing society. This chapter will introduce the concept of Work-Life Synchronicity. The history of work-life balance will be examined, and the way in which technology has impacted how work time and home time are being intertwined and synthesized will be discussed. The importance of how synchronicity impacts organizational success and productivity in relation to effective leadership and business practices will also be explored. The intended audience of this chapter is scholars, students, professors, and other professionals in the field of leadership.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document