Exploring the Link between Flexible Work and Organizational Performance

2009 ◽  
pp. 392-398
Author(s):  
Eva Rimbau-Gilabert
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Flexible Work ◽  
Developed Economies ◽  
Flexible Working ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Common Term ◽  
Working Practices ◽  
Definition Of

The expansion of flexible work experienced since the 1980s in developed economies is consistent with a more generic trend towards organizational flexibility, which many authors see as essential in order to compete in the dynamic global environment (Volberda, 1998). From this point of view, the changing demands of the environment have forced organizations to seek the ability to adapt rapidly and effectively as a means to be successful or even to survive. In the quest for flexibility, every area of the organization has been scrutinized in order to render it as “agile” as possible. In the human resources arena, this analysis has led to the definition of diverse “flexible working practices” (FWP) that describe a wide range of employment practices, which differ from the traditional full-time job with a fixed salary and a permanent contract. These practices have been described using other terms, such as “alternative” (Polivka, 1996; Powell & Mainiero, 1999), “non-standard” (Kalleberg, 2000), or “atypical” (De Grip, Hoevenberg, &m Willems, 1997), which coincide in denoting their divergence from the most traditional forms of employment. This article will show that quite different practices have been embraced by the common term “flexible working practices.” Subsequently, the results of empirical research regarding the implications for organizational performance of a number of flexible practices will be commented on.

Exploring the Link between Flexible Work and Organizational Performance

2011 ◽  
pp. 1298-1305
Author(s):  
Eva Rimbau-Gilabert
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Flexible Work ◽  
Developed Economies ◽  
Flexible Working ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Common Term ◽  
Working Practices ◽  
Definition Of

The expansion of flexible work experienced since the 1980s in developed economies is consistent with a more generic trend towards organizational flexibility, which many authors see as essential in order to compete in the dynamic global environment (Volberda, 1998). From this point of view, the changing demands of the environment have forced organizations to seek the ability to adapt rapidly and effectively as a means to be successful or even to survive. In the quest for flexibility, every area of the organization has been scrutinized in order to render it as “agile” as possible. In the human resources arena, this analysis has led to the definition of diverse “flexible working practices” (FWP) that describe a wide range of employment practices, which differ from the traditional full-time job with a fixed salary and a permanent contract. These practices have been described using other terms, such as “alternative” (Polivka, 1996; Powell & Mainiero, 1999), “non-standard” (Kalleberg, 2000), or “atypical” (De Grip, Hoevenberg, &m Willems, 1997), which coincide in denoting their divergence from the most traditional forms of employment. This article will show that quite different practices have been embraced by the common term “flexible working practices.” Subsequently, the results of empirical research regarding the implications for organizational performance of a number of flexible practices will be commented on.

scholarly journals A Translator’s Wanderings in TranslationStudiesWorld

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 79-99
Author(s):  
Brian Mossop
Keyword(s):  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Canadian Government ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Object Of Study

This semi-autobiographical article reflects on the discipline known as Translation Studies from the point of view of the author, who was a full-time Canadian government translator from 1974 to 2014, but also taught and wrote about translation. The narrative begins with the emergence of Translation Studies in Canada and in Europe and continues through the present neoliberal era, with reflection on a variety of topics including the English name of the discipline, the lack of definition of an object of study, the original role of the journal Meta, and the notion of translation as applied linguistics. The last section considers two fictive scenarios in which Translation Studies does not emerge, and translation is studied, right from the start, in ways much more closely linked to the translation profession, with a focus on translators rather than translations, and therefore on translational production rather than the analysis of completed translations.

Flexibility trap – the effects of flexible working on the position of female professionals and managers within a corporate environment

2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 225-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lenka Formánková ◽  
Alena Křížková
Keyword(s):  
Full Time ◽  
Flexible Work ◽  
Corporate Environment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Flexible Working ◽  
Time Work ◽  
Part Time ◽  
Managerial Positions ◽  
Female Professionals

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to analyse the experience of female part-time professionals with employee and managerial positions with the utilisation of flexible work arrangements in a corporate environment in the country with a full-time dominated work culture. The data represent a rare case study of the work environment in a Czech branch of one multinational company. This paper focusses on the position of female employees working part-time in professional and managerial positions. The reason for such an arrangement is their attempt to combine career and care for pre-school children. This paper evaluates the effects of flexible work policies in an environment where part-time work for female professionals is rarely available and, therefore, precious. In particular, this paper discusses conditions under which these arrangements are available and its impact on gender equality. Design/methodology/approach – The paper represents a rare case-study of an organisational environment. The seven analysed interviews derive from a larger study on the corporate environment which included 35 interviews and a series of participatory observations. In the analysis, the following questions are discussed: What is the position of employees working within flexible working arrangements in a specific corporate culture? Which aspects of flexible working arrangements affect the professional recognition and evaluation of the employees? To what extent and how do flexible working arrangements affect employee satisfaction with their working and private lives? Findings – The data reveal the diverse and often subtle forms of discrimination and exploitation of working mothers, who use the flexible working arrangement as a work-family reconciliation strategy. Female employees working with alternative working arrangements do not have equal bargaining power in comparison to other employees, regardless of whether they are professionals, and sometimes in managerial positions. At the formal level, the part-time professionals are restricted in pay and in access to the company benefits. In the informal relations within the workplace, their work lacks of sufficient recognition of colleagues and superiors. Overall, part-time work for female professionals and managers leads to an entrapment between the needs of their family and the expectations of their employer. Practical implications – The research reveals the practical limitation in introducing policies the work-life reconciliation policies. The results show the need to focus on promoting better conditions for employees working part-time. Also, it shows that managerial and highly demanding professional positions can be executed on a part-time basis if the work environment is open towards accepting this arrangement. Moreover, the findings outline the possibilities of developing workplace practices in the Czech Republic in a woman-friendly direction. Social implications – Specific legislative arrangements should be enacted, providing better protection for employees in non-standard employment. At the same time, the incentives for employers to enable part-time working arrangements should be provided. Originality/value – The amount of research on female professionals working part-time or from home is rather limited in context of the post-communist countries. The paper discusses the “double” tokenism of the women working in the leadership positions and at the same time in flexible working arrangements in the full-time working culture.

scholarly journals Legal status of a law enforcement official of Mongolia

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (4) ◽  
pp. 172-180
Author(s):  
Nyamsuren Erdenebulgan
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Administrative Law ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
Enforcement Official ◽  
Legal Situation ◽  
Special Service ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Definition Of

The author highlights the issues related to the essence and implementation of the legal status of a law enforcement official. These issues are the focus of attention of scientists (primarily specialists in administrative law), legislators, civil society, as well as of the employees themselves. The terms «legal status» and «legal situation» are analysed in details. The issues related to the definition of the legal status of a law enforcement official of Mongolia are considered. The author presents a wide range of opinions of lawyers on the content of the concept of «legal status of a law enforcement official», gives various classifications of the term of legal status, and presents his vision of this problem and its solution with regard to law enforcement agencies of Mongolia. The author agrees with the point of view of those specialists who point out that the specificity of the legal status of a law enforcement official, his rights and duties, requires adopting other components, such as responsibility, which are quite justified. The author also underlines that there is almost no mention of the key-concept «a law enforcement official» in Mongolian legislation. This led to a conclusion that this concept should be legalized before being considered in details. The research also briefly discusses the main results of the extensive work on reforming police in 2011–2015. The author notes that the absolute following the example of Western countries was not appropriate. Thus, the author criticizes some aspects of the transition of the police from a special service to a public one, for example, the procedure for assigning special ranks by positions held, which led to an outflow of specialists from the law enforcement sphere to other areas. The author concludes that legally fixed features characterizing the legal status of a law enforcement official are far from exhaustive and require further rethinking, research, improvement in law-making and law enforcement.

scholarly journals Flexible working for all? How collective constructions by Austrian employers and employees perpetuate gendered inequalities

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva-Maria Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Flexible Work ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Family Responsibilities ◽  
Family Work ◽  
Flexible Working ◽  
Strongly Connected ◽  
Part Time ◽  
Reconstructive Analysis

Objective: This paper pursues the question as to how extended flexible working possibilities in the labor market are legitimized among employers and employees and whether they have potential to mitigate inequalities. Background: Persistent and increasing gendered inequalities in Austria are reflected in the unequal division of unpaid family work in parental couples and in men’s stable full-time employment while women increasingly work part-time. In recent years, employers have expanded flexible working possibilities for all employees, regardless of their gender, also in leading positions and especially for those with family responsibilities. Method: We conducted six focus groups and 16 semi-structured interviews with employers (n=30) and employees (n=25) from 29 contrasting companies across Austria. An in-depth reconstructive analysis facilitated our exploration of collective notions and concepts associated with flexible work and career opportunities. Results: The respondents constructed part-time and flexible work as a new norm strongly connected to women with (potential) children. At the same time, employers and employees legitimized that these women must be protected from penalties resulting from the ideal worker norm still in force and must be variously supported by employers. However, men – the partners of women they could support by making use of these options and taking over childcare – are not constructed as a target group. Conclusion: In a cultural context such as Austria, family-friendly flexible working opportunities perpetuate rather than level gendered inequalities, as men’s need for those opportunities do not emerge in the constructions. The lack thereof is neither explicitly addressed nor challenged.

scholarly journals Halal entrepreneurship from Maqasid-al-Sharia’h perspective: inseparable concept for Halalpreneurs

Food Research ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (S1) ◽  
pp. 34-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.A. Abdullah ◽  
M.S.E. Azam
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Research Papers ◽  
Proper Understanding ◽  
The Past ◽  
Muslim Countries ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The World ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Conference Papers

Entrepreneurship has become one of the vital activities for economic development. It is synonymous with job creation, innovation, improvement in the societal well-being and economic growth in developed and developing countries alike. There is great interest in entrepreneurship globally as well as in Malaysia. Over the past few years, many individuals, as well as families, are actively engaged with the small business. Also, in light of the 2013 GEM study, 12.7% of Americans are effectively occupied with beginning a business or are the proprietor/director of a business that is under three years of age. Simultaneously, the Halal industry, that represents the global Islamic economy, is the fastest-growing market in the world with $2.3 trillion market value. Halal entrepreneurs (Halalpreneurs) are the major contributors to this achievement as they constitute a significant portion of the total establishment in most of the Muslim countries. That is the reason Entrepreneurship has turned into a conventional term that depicts a wide range of practices that include being innovative, devilish and tricky. Entrepreneurship has been defined by many scholars, researchers, industry players, and academicians globally which have also been perceived in the same way by most of the economies around the world. However, the Islamic economy looks at the concept of ‘entrepreneurship’ in a different way and perceives it as ‘Halalpreneurship’. To define entrepreneurship in the halal industry, although, the term ‘Halalpreneurship’ is being used, surprisingly the term has not been defined properly yet. It is essential for the Muslim entrepreneurs to have a proper understanding of Halalpreneurship from Maqasid-al-Shariah perspective. Such point of view is crucial to justify the term in the Halal industry and differentiate from conventional entrepreneurs. On this context, this paper provides concept and definition of Halalpreneurship justifying from the perspective of Maqasid-al-Sharia’h. It also identifies the differences between Halalpreneurs and entrepreneurs using secondary resources available in the forms of literature, research papers, journal papers, articles, conference papers, online publications, etc. The findings of the study will clarify the concept of Halalpreneurship from Maqasid-al-Sharia’h perspective and recognize Halalpreneurs distinguished from conventional entrepreneurs.

Good, theories of the

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine M. Korsgaard
Keyword(s):  
Human Life ◽  
Intrinsic Value ◽  
Moral Virtue ◽  
General Term ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Moral Sense ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Term Functions ◽  
Virtuous Life ◽  
Definition Of

‘Good’ is the most general term of positive evaluation, used to recommend or express approval in a wide range of contexts. It indicates that a thing is desirable or worthy of choice, so that normally, if you have reason to want a certain kind of thing, you also have reason to prefer a good thing of that kind. A theory of the good may consist in a general account of the good, which is meant to apply to all good things; or in a definition of ‘good’, an account of how the term functions in the language. Theories of the good have metaphysical implications about the relations of fact and value. Many ancient and medieval philosophers believed in the ultimate identity of the real and the good. Modern philosophers reject this identification, and have held a range of positions: realists, for example, hold that the good is part of reality, while certain moral sense theorists hold that when we call something good we are projecting human interests onto reality; and emotivists hold that we use the term ‘good’ only to signify subjective approval. Theorists of the good also categorize different kinds of goodness and explain how they are related. Good things are standardly classified as ends, which are valued for their own sakes, or means, valued for the sake of the ends they promote. Some philosophers also divide them into intrinsic goods, which have their value in themselves, and extrinsic goods, which get their value from their relation to something else. Various theories have been held about the relation between these two distinctions – about whether an end must be something with intrinsic value. Philosophers also distinguish subjective goods – things which are good for someone in particular – from objective goods, which are good from everyone’s point of view. Views about how these kinds of goodness are related have important implications for moral philosophy. Usually, a theory of the good is constructed in the hope of shedding light on more substantive questions, such as what makes a person, an action, or a human life good. These questions raise issues about the relation between ethical and other values. For example, we may ask whether moral virtue is a special sort of goodness, or just the ordinary sort applied to persons. Or, since actions are valued as ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, we may ask how these values are related to the action’s goodness or badness. We may also pose the question of whether a life that is good in the sense of being happy must also be a morally good or virtuous life. This last question has occupied the attention of philosophers ever since Plato.

scholarly journals The Analysis of Foreign Experience in Implementing Cluster Policy

2019 ◽  
pp. 13-26
Author(s):  
Alla Kalinina ◽  
Elena Petrova ◽  
Marina Lapina ◽  
Alexandra Rvacheva
Keyword(s):  
Critical Mass ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Competitive Advantages ◽  
Cluster Policy ◽  
Cluster Development ◽  
Geographical Concentration ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Regional Cluster ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Definition Of

The article represents the results of the comparative analysis of implementing cluster policy in foreign and Russian practice. The proposed methodology is based on the main characteristics of clusters (the presence of competitive enterprises, the presence of competitive advantages for cluster development in the region, geographical concentration and proximity, a wide range of participants and the presence of “critical mass”, the presence of links and interaction between cluster members) that characterize them as complex economic structures. Creating clusters involves a number of studies at the territorial level, which, above all, relate to determining the competitive advantages of the territory in a particular industry. Therefore, at the first stage of benchmarking, the authors propose to systematize theoretical approaches to the definition of “cluster” category. The second stage involves identifying the features of the cluster approach as a tool to improve the competitiveness of individual territories, regions, economies. At the last stage, authors determine structuring of foreign and Russian experience in the development of clusters and analyze the approaches to implementing cluster policy and identify their strengths and weaknesses. In contrast to the existing methods for assessing the potential of a cluster, the approach implemented in this article makes it possible to identify not only promising territories from the point of view of the industry clusterization, but also to identify possible participants of such a cluster, which is the most promising in forming regional cluster development programs in the regional economy. The article presents the approbation of the proposed methodology for the Russian Federation based on statistical data for 2014–2016. The authors highlight industries and enterprises that can be clustered, which will ensure adequate support of regional authorities.

scholarly journals GASTRONOMIC TOURISM IN THE CENTRAL BOSNIA REGION

2020 ◽  
pp. 7-25
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Research ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Objective Reality ◽  
Cause And Effect ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Scientific Disciplines ◽  
Research Competencies ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Formal Point

Abstract: Both cartography and tourismology are scientific disciplines that originated in geography. Until recently, it was considered that, along with other geosciences, they were only subdisciplines that deal with its individual segments in more detail. From the formal point of view, such theories can be justified to some extent, but essentially, we see that these are two very serious sciences with a wide range of scientific research competencies. Traces of cartographic and tourismological research can be found, from the oldest levels of development of human civilization when they developed under the auspices of geography to their later development as a discipline that studies and observes the Earth and its spheres from a cause-and-effect point of view. Since the separation from their „mother“ discipline and their further independent development, with specific scientific-research peculiarities, both cartography and tourism form a special way of studying the objective reality and interpretation of the observed. This paper will research the connection of these two sciences, which rely on each other, where appropriate solutions arise from mutual connections, which are in themselves answers to the questions asked. The specificity of the connection between these sciences is seen in the application of the cartographic method, ie enabling the perception of three important categories through the spatial, temporal and essential definition of the tourism specifics of the treated space. Cartography draws contents from tourism and tourism, in cartography and its numerous methods and means of expression, seeks the most expedient ways of presenting the obtained data.

scholarly journals INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL OF THE ENTERPRISE, ITS ESSENCE AND STRUCTURE

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (1(66)) ◽  
pp. 128-134
Author(s):  
Y.A. NAZARENKO
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Human Capital ◽  
Intellectual Capital ◽  
Intangible Assets ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Property Market ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Definition Of

Topicality. The transition of developed countries to postindustrial society caused increased attention to the research of intellectual capital of enterprises. Purpose and tasks. The purpose of the article is to systematize approaches to the definition of "intellectual capital" and its structure. Results. The systematization of different approaches to the definition of intellectual capital, which was carried out by I. Proskvirina, showed a lack of a common point of view on this phenomenon. This is due to the interdisciplinary nature of the study of intellectual capital. R. Gavrilova divided the existing definitions of �intellectual capital� into three groups, respectively, from the point of view of management, accounting, and human capital. Existing views on the structure of intellectual capital are based on the classification of its element, proposed by T. Stewart - human, organizational and client capital. Considered ideas about the structure of intellectual capital are very similar and include human capital, organizational and client capital. some representations also include emotional capital, process capital, intellectual property, market assets, etc. All types of capital that are part of the structure of intellectual capital, with the exception of human capital, have not received wide recognition and have not been studied by a wide range of scientists. This does not allow to establish conformity with the existing generally accepted views on types of capital and does not allow the use of the results of numerous studies on these types of capital (social capital, intangible assets). In this regard, the author's vision is the structure of intellectual capital, consisting of human capital, intangible assets and social capital. This made it possible to propose a new definition of �intellectual capital�. Conclusions. The proposed definition of �intellectual capital�, its structure and its components allows it to be considered not only in relation to enterprises, but also at the regional and national levels. This opens up new opportunities for assessing intellectual capital, using existing methods for evaluating human capital, intangible assets and social capital.

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