scholarly journals Analysing power and control in work organizations: Assimilating a critical socio-psychodynamic perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 355-371
Author(s):  
Severin Hornung ◽  
Thomas Höge
Keyword(s):  
Social Institutions ◽  
Work Organizations ◽  
Managerial Control ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Political Ideologies ◽  
Power And Control ◽  
Neoliberal Ideology ◽  
Constitutive Components ◽  
The Individual ◽  
And Control

This conceptual article draws on critical traditions from several social science disciplines, notably, social, political, and systems theory, sociology, psychology, and management studies, as it seeks to explore, assemble, and integrate some constitutive components of a socio- and psychodynamic perspective on power and control in work organizations. At its core is an archetypal taxonomy of formal (economic), real (technocratic), normative (ideological), and formative (biopolitical) modes of power and managerial control through various means and combinations of commodification (contracts, compensation, competition), coercion (commands, constraints, compliance), cooptation (culture, consent, commitment), and creation (corrosion, conception, coevolution). Other integral elements are domains or foci of inquiry, specifically, interests, ideologies, institutions, and identities. These domains are linked to meta-, macro-, meso-, and micro-levels of analysis, resembling economy, society, organization, and individual. Accordingly, behavioural control and psychological governance processes are reinforced by a pervasive economic system logic, cascading into political, social, and psychodynamic sublogics. These taxonomies are integrated with concepts from the depth and dynamic psychology and traced across economic (meta-system interests), societal (macro-political ideologies), organizational (meso-social institutions), and individual (micro-psychodynamic identities) levels revealing patterns of self-similarity. It is argued that societal subsumption and subjugation reproduce psychodynamic subjectification (submission, sublimation) at the individual level, mediated by the subordinating and socializing forces inherent in organizational control systems. Discussed are implications for the dynamics of power and control in contemporary societies, organizations, and individuals under hegemonic governance of neoliberal ideology.

scholarly journals Interactive effects between travel behaviour and COVID-19: a questionnaire study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinbao Zhang ◽  
Jaeyoung Lee
Keyword(s):  
Early Stage ◽  
Travel Behaviour ◽  
Interactive Effects ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Passenger Volume ◽  
Spatial Autoregressive ◽  
Railway Passenger ◽  
The Individual ◽  
And Control

Abstract This study has two main objectives: (i) to analyse the effect of travel characteristics on the spreading of disease, and (ii) to determine the effect of COVID-19 on travel behaviour at the individual level. First, the study analyses the effect of passenger volume and the proportions of different modes of travel on the spread of COVID-19 in the early stage. The developed spatial autoregressive model shows that total passenger volume and proportions of air and railway passenger volumes are positively associated with the cumulative confirmed cases. Second, a questionnaire is analysed to determine changes in travel behaviour after COVID-19. The results indicate that the number of total trips considerably decreased. Public transport usage decreased by 20.5%, while private car usage increased by 6.4%. Then the factors affecting the changes in travel behaviour are analysed by logit models. The findings reveal significant factors, including gender, occupation and travel restriction. It is expected that the findings from this study would be helpful for management and control of traffic during a pandemic.

Perceived marketization in Poland: Translating key concepts of institutional anomie theory to the micro level

2021 ◽  
pp. 147737082199685
Author(s):  
Jacek Bieliński ◽  
Andreas Hövermann
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Structural Equation Models ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Institutional Anomie Theory ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Anomie Theory ◽  
Representative Random Sample ◽  
Order Factor ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
The Individual

Institutional anomie theory (IAT) describes the potentially criminogenic impact of economically dominated social institutions. Although originally cast at the macro level of society, more efforts have emerged lately to capture the IAT framework on the individual level, resulting in a need for appropriate measures representing the presumed marketization processes. Our study addresses this need by offering a theoretically derived, comprehensive measure of the individual-level instantiation of an anomic culture depicted in IAT, that is, ‘marketized mentality’. Structural equation models testing for the single higher-order factor marketized mentality are calculated with a representative random sample of Poland’s population. Finally, the implications and limitations resulting from the analyses are discussed.

scholarly journals Conceptualizing Competences in E-Services Adoption and Assimilation in SMEs

2010 ◽  
pp. 225-238
Author(s):  
Ada Scupola
Keyword(s):  
Medium Size ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Management Level ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
System A ◽  
Conceptual Skills ◽  
Reservation System ◽  
The Individual ◽  
And Control ◽  
Business To Business

This article investigates the competences deemed necessary both at top managerial and individual levels for the successful adoption and assimilation of business-to-business e-services in small and medium size enterprises. To this end, an in-depth case study of a business-to-business e-service system, a Web-based travel reservation system, was conducted. The results show that three main competences, namely vision, value and control, are important at top management level for the primary adoption of e-services. For secondary adoption and assimilation, three categories of competences were identified as being important either to have or to develop at the individual level, namely technical, interpersonal and conceptual skills.

Engaging With the Participatory Geoweb

Crowdsourcing ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 560-577 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon M. Corbett ◽  
Logan Cochrane
Keyword(s):  
Experiential Learning ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Organizational Capacity ◽  
Organizational Dynamics ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Citizen Engagement ◽  
Power And Control ◽  
Participatory Processes ◽  
The Individual ◽  
And Control

Maps were historically used as tools of the elite to maintain and expand power and control. The development of participatory mapmaking and the geoweb have opened new avenues for broader citizen engagement and therefore challenge traditional power dynamics. This chapter analyzes three examples and presents experiential learning around participatory processes and VGI contributions. Specifically we explore who is contributing their information, what are their motivations and incentives, in what ways do users interact with available technologies, and how is this contributing to change? We conclude by discussing the roles of motivations, the type of contribution, organizational capacity and leadership, and objectives. In comparing and contrasting these case studies we examine the individual and organizational dynamics of engagement, and how this can better inform the discourse about VGI.

Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill Theresa Messing
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Assessment Instruments ◽  
Lethal Violence ◽  
Female Victims ◽  
Power And Control ◽  
The Individual ◽  
And Control

Intimate partner violence—the continual and systematic exercise of power and control within an intimate relationship that often also includes physical and sexual violence—has emerged as a significant and complex social problem warranting the attention of social workers. Risk and protective factors have been identified at the individual, family, community, and societal levels. Some of these risk factors for repeat and lethal violence have been organized into risk assessment instruments that can be used by social workers to educate and empower survivors. Intimate partner violence has multiple negative health and mental health consequences for female victims and their children. Social workers in all areas of practice should be prepared to intervene with victims of intimate partner violence in a culturally competent manner using a strengths-based framework.

scholarly journals Influence of Individual- and National-Level Factors on Attitudes toward Intimate Partner Violence

2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 685-701 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brittany E. Hayes ◽  
Katharine A. Boyd
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
National Level ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Demographic And Health Surveys ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Individual

The study evaluated if individual- and national-level factors influence intimate partner violence (IPV) attitudes. Using Demographic and Health Surveys’ data, multilevel modeling was used to analyze 506,935 females nested in 41 nations. The results indicated that the respondents in nations with higher levels of gender inequality, measured by the Social Institutions and Gender Index, were more likely to agree a husband is justified to abuse his wife when she argues with him. National-level attitudes toward IPV and decision making at the individual level were significant predictors of IPV attitudes. The presence of another female while the survey was administered and differences across nations in question wording significantly affected IPV attitudes. The results confirm that both individual- and national-level factors shape individual IPV attitudes. National policies and programming should address gender inequality and patriarchal attitudes.

scholarly journals Politička (zlo)upotreba ljudske prirode

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Erma Ivoš
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Recent Decade ◽  
Social Function ◽  
The Other ◽  
Power And Control ◽  
The Individual ◽  
And Control ◽  
Liberal Individualism

The ideology of neoconservatism which marked the most recent decade and without understanding of which it is not possible to explain the structural changes in the modem society consists of a double interpretation of human nature. One is philosophical-metaphysical which has roots in Judeo- Cristian conception and the classical philosophical circle, and the other is rational and utilitaristic which has roots in liberal individualism and utilitarianism of Bentham, Smith, Mises and Friedmann. These two, although mustally different concepts are in the function of ideology which, hiding under the traditional culturological customs, has a definite social function of conquering power and control over the intermediary structures between an individual and the society, such as church, shool and family. The concept of man as a being limited by the possibilities of action who finds freedom only on the market, is actually the ideological operationalization of the classical division between politics and power on one hand, and the individual and citizenship on the other.

scholarly journals Regional Living Conditions and the Prevalence, Awareness, Treatment, Control of Hypertension at the Individual Level in Russia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergey Alekseevich Maksimov ◽  
Yulia A. Balanova ◽  
Svetlana A. Shalnova ◽  
Galina A. Muromtseva ◽  
Anna V. Kapustina ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Positive Impact ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Living Conditions ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Final Sample ◽  
The Individual ◽  
And Control ◽  
Regions Of Russia

Abstract Background. The objective of this study was to analyze the influence of the living characteristics of large regions on the possible presence, awareness, management and control of hypertension at the individual level in the Russian population.Methods. Regional characteristics were obtained from the official website of the Federal State Statistics Service of Russia. Principal component analysis was used to reduce the dimensionality of data; it allowed defining 5 integral regional indices: Socio-Geographical, Demographic, Industrial, Mixed, Economic. Presence, awareness, management and control of hypertension were assessed according to the data of the cross-sectional stage of ESSE-RF study that was conducted in 2013-2014. The final sample included 19,791 patients from 12 regions of Russia. Generalized estimation equations were used to determine associations between regional indices and presence, awareness, management and control of hypertension at the individual level taking into consideration nested data structures (individuals in regions).Results. The Socio-Geographic Index demonstrated the positive impact on hypertension among male (OR = 1.18; 95% CI: 1.05-1.32), undereducated individuals (OR = 1.14; 95% CI: 1.02-1.27) and elderly people (OR = 1.16; 95% CI: 1.02-1.32). Awareness of hypertension is positively associated with Demographic (OR = 1.13; 95% CI: 1.02-1.25) and Industrial Indices (OR = 1.15; 95% CI: 1.01-1.33). Worsening of social environment (Socio-Geographic Index) reduces adherence to management (OR = 0.76; 95% CI: 0.64-0.90) and control of hypertension (OR = 0.79; 95% CI: 0.69-0.90). Impact of regional living conditions on the prevalence of hypertension is not high, compared to the individual predictors, but for the awareness, treatment and control of hypertension, this influence is important.Conclusions: The study performed allowed assessing the influence of living characteristics of the population in the large regions of Russia on the prevalence of hypertension and on the awareness, management and control of this disease. The data obtained provide new knowledge not only in terms of epidemiology of cardiovascular diseases in Russia but also in general, that is, in the context of studying the influence of living conditions on the health of population.

scholarly journals Offshore outsourcing of R&D to emerging markets: information systems as tools of neo-colonial control

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zehra Sayed ◽  
Henrik Agndal
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Scientific Discovery ◽  
Organizational Level ◽  
Offshore Outsourcing ◽  
Knowledge Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Power And Control ◽  
And Control

Purpose This paper analyzes how information systems (IS) can serve as tools of neo-colonial control in offshore outsourcing of research and development work. It draws on critical work examining business and knowledge process outsourcing. Design/methodology/approach The paper reports an empirical study of how laboratory information management systems (LIMS) shape offshore outsourcing practices involving Western client firms and Indian contract research organizations (CROs) in the pharmaceutical industry. The study adopted a multi-actor perspective, involving interviews with representatives of Western clients, Indian CROs, system validation auditors, and software vendors. The analysis was iterative and interpretative, guided by postcolonial sensitivity to themes of power and control. Findings The study found that LIMS act as tools of neo-colonial control at three levels. As Western clients specify particular brands of LIMS, they create a hierarchy among local CROs and impact the development of the local LIMS industry. At inter-organizational level, LIMS shape relationships by allowing remote, real-time and retrospective surveillance of CROs’ work. At individual level, the ability of LIMS to support micro-modularizing of research leads to routinization of scientific discovery, negatively impacting scientists’ work satisfaction. Originality/value By examining multiple actors’ perceptions of IS, this paper looks beyond the rhetoric of system efficiency characteristic of most international business research. As it explores dynamics of power and control surrounding IS, it also questions the proposition that outsourcing of high-end work will move emerging economies upstream in the value chain.

The shi, diplomats, and urban expansion during the Warring States Period

2020 ◽  
pp. 656-671
Author(s):  
Andrew Meyer
Keyword(s):  
Urban Expansion ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
The State ◽  
State Governments ◽  
Technological Advancement ◽  
Warring States Period ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Warring States ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Economic Specialization

The shi, or “knights,” were not a coherent class during the Warring States period, though figures identified as such were central to the social, political, and cultural dynamism of the era. As the fragmentary states of the early Zhou era politically consolidated, the nature of the aristocracy changed. The aristocracy bifurcated into a steeply divergent populace of “kings” and their kin at the top and the mass of undifferentiated knights far below. Although not exactly a period of shi ascendancy, it was, at the individual level, a time of very fluid social mobility. State governments grew in power to the point of being able to determine the power and status even of hereditary aristocrats. All social positions became gauged in relation to their utility for the state. Low-born knights could rise to positions of high power and status through meritorious service to the state. Diplomacy became a field in which talents for strategy or rhetoric could earn great merit. Some of the most influential figures of the Warring States were humble knights that distinguished themselves as diplomats. Social fluidity was likewise embodied in urbanization. As the Warring States saw rapid population growth, technological advancement, and economic specialization cities grew in size and changed in character. Where they had once been principally military and cult centers, they evolved into centers of commerce and manufacturing in which new communities and social institutions took shape.

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