Socio-Cultural Factors and the Work Environment

Employees are affected not only by internal organizational environments but also by external ones such as family, community, and society. Social and cultural factors affect how employees are viewed by others in the organization as well as how they respond to their work environments. Immigrants, in particular, are affected by their acculturation processes. Thus, when employees negotiate organizational workplaces, they need to factor in the influence of socio-cultural forces. Stereotyping is one way in which the external environment is manifest in workplaces. It has been found to be persistent, influential, and deeply impactful on careers. Stereotypes are affected by social and cultural factors, and in turn, they affect workplaces by shaping employees' perceptions and experiences. At the same time, the external environment can also present positive attributes for employees, for instance by being a source of social and emotional capital.

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 106-115
Author(s):  
Sindorela Doli Kryeziu

Abstract In our paper we will talk about the whole process of standardization of the Albanian language, where it has gone through a long historical route, for almost a century.When talking about standard Albanian language history and according to Albanian language literature, it is often thought that the Albanian language was standardized in the Albanian Language Orthography Congress, held in Tirana in 1972, or after the publication of the Orthographic Rules (which was a project at that time) of 1967 and the decisions of the Linguistic Conference, a conference of great importance that took place in Pristina, in 1968. All of these have influenced chronologically during a very difficult historical journey, until the standardization of the Albanian language.Considering a slightly wider and more complex view than what is often presented in Albanian language literature, we will try to describe the path (history) of the standard Albanian formation under the influence of many historical, political, social and cultural factors that are known in the history of the Albanian people. These factors have contributed to the formation of a common state, which would have, over time, a common standard language.It is fair to think that "all activity in the development of writing and the Albanian language, in the field of standardization and linguistic planning, should be seen as a single unit of Albanian culture, of course with frequent manifestations of specific polycentric organization, either because of divisions within the cultural body itself, or because of the external imposition"(Rexhep Ismajli," In Language and for Language ", Dukagjini, Peja, 1998, pp. 15-18.)


2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 21-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasmin B. Kafai ◽  
Deborah A Fields ◽  
William Q. Burke

Previous efforts in end-user development have focused on facilitating the mechanics of learning programming, leaving aside social and cultural factors equally important in getting youth engaged in programming. As part of a 4-month long ethnographic study, we followed two 12-year-old participants as they learned the programming software Scratch and its associated file-sharing site, scratch.mit.edu, in an after-school club and class. In our discussion, we focus on the role that agency, membership, and status played in their joining and participating in local and online communities of programmers.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 8008
Author(s):  
Seungbeom Kim ◽  
Yooneun Lee ◽  
Byungchul Choi

The office environment has changed rapidly due to the recent COVID-19 outbreak. Companies consider various types of remote work environments to contain the spread of the virus. Among them, a satellite office is a type of remote work environment where a number of employees are allocated to their nearest office. The benefits from satellite offices are twofold: The significant reduction of travel distance also reduces the amount of carbon emission and fuel consumption. In addition, dividing employees into smaller groups significantly reduces the potential risks of infection in the office. This paper addresses a satellite office allocation problem that considers social and environmental sustainability and infection control at work. In order to evaluate the effect of different satellite office allocation, quantitative measures are developed for the following three criteria: carbon emission, fuel consumption, and the probability of infection occurrence at work. Simulation experiments are conducted to investigate different scenarios of regional infection rate and modes of transportation. The results show that adopting satellite offices not only reduces carbon emission and fuel consumption, but also mitigates business disruption in the pandemic.


2021 ◽  
pp. 096973302098831
Author(s):  
Priscilla N Boakye ◽  
Elizabeth Peter ◽  
Anne Simmonds ◽  
Solina Richter

Background: While there have been studies exploring moral habitability and its impact on the work environments of nurses in Western countries, little is known about the moral habitability of the work environments of nurses and midwives in resource-constrained settings. Research objective: The purpose of this research was to examine the moral habitability of the work environment of nurses and midwives in Ghana and its influence on their moral agency using the philosophical works of Margaret Urban Walker. Research design and participants: A critical moral ethnography was conducted through the analysis of interviews with 30 nurses and midwives, along with observation, and documentary materials. Ethical considerations: After receiving ethics approval, signed informed consent was obtained from participants before data collection. Results: Five themes were identified: (1) holding onto the values, identities, and responsibilities of being a midwife/nurse; (2) scarcity of resources as limiting capacity to meet caring responsibilities; (3) gender and socio-economic inequities shaping the moral-social context of practice; (4) working with incoherent moral understandings and damaged identities in the context of inter- and intra-professional relationships; and (5) surviving through adversity with renewed commitment and courage. Discussion: The nurses and midwives were found to work in an environment that was morally uninhabitable and dominated by the scarcity of resources, overwhelming and incoherent moral responsibilities, oppressive conditions, and workplace violence. These situations constrained their moral agency and provoked suffering and distress. The nurses and midwives negotiated their practice and navigated through morally uninhabitable work environment by holding onto their moral values and commitments to childbearing women. Conclusion: Creating morally habitable workplaces through the provision of adequate resources and instituting interprofessional practice guidelines and workplace violence prevention policies may promote safe and ethical nursing and midwifery practice.


2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 99-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Besley ◽  
Torsten Persson

Low-income countries typically collect taxes of between 10 to 20 percent of GDP while the average for high-income countries is more like 40 percent. In order to understand taxation, economic development, and the relationships between them, we need to think about the forces that drive the development process. Poor countries are poor for certain reasons, and these reasons can also help to explain their weakness in raising tax revenue. We begin by laying out some basic relationships regarding how tax revenue as a share of GDP varies with per capita income and with the breadth of a country's tax base. We sketch a baseline model of what determines a country's tax revenue as a share of GDP. We then turn to our primary focus: why do developing countries tax so little? We begin with factors related to the economic structure of these economies. But we argue that there is also an important role for political factors, such as weak institutions, fragmented polities, and a lack of transparency due to weak news media. Moreover, sociological and cultural factors—such as a weak sense of national identity and a poor norm for compliance—may stifle the collection of tax revenue. In each case, we suggest the need for a dynamic approach that encompasses the two-way interactions between these political, social, and cultural factors and the economy.


2017 ◽  
Vol 40 (6) ◽  
pp. 779-798 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica G. Smith ◽  
Karen H. Morin ◽  
Leigh E. Wallace ◽  
Eileen T. Lake

Missed nursing care is a significant threat to quality patient care. Promoting collective efficacy within nurse work environments could decrease missed care. The purpose was to understand how missed care is associated with nurse work environments and collective efficacy of hospital staff nurses. A cross-sectional, convenience sample was obtained through online surveys from registered nurses working at five southwestern U.S. hospitals. Descriptive, correlational, regression, and path analyses were conducted ( N = 233). The percentage of nurses who reported that at least one care activity was missed frequently or always was 94%. Mouth care (36.0% of nurses) and ambulation (35.3%) were missed frequently or always. Nurse work environments and collective efficacy were moderately, positively correlated. Nurse work environments and collective efficacy were associated with less missed care (χ2 = 10.714, p = .0054). Fostering collective efficacy in the nurse work environment could reduce missed care and improve patient outcomes.


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