The Impact of the Industry 4.0 Concept on Slovak Business Sustainability within the Issue of the Pandemic Outbreak

Many studies have found that the most significant job structure changes in the Slovak business environment can be expected in production and logistics. The biggest manpower shortages are in the fields of mechanical engineering, production, construction, information sciences and communication technologies, and medical sciences. The smallest manpower shortage can be found in the humanities and social science areas. The main objective of this research was to assess the trends within the Slovak labor market from the perspective of the companies that participated in a survey focused on their assumptions on job structure changes in the context of the implementation of the elements of Industry 4.0. The estimation was based on a questionnaire conducted during the spring months of 2020 with the participation of 175 companies and institutions. The results showed that one third of companies anticipate job cuts in the implementation of smart industry. Along with the job position disposal and the qualified staffs’ need for new jobs, the demands of employers regarding the level of education are growing. On the other hand, three quarters of companies are not only willing but also ready to participate in human resource vocational training and requalification focused mainly on technical skills.

Bridging structural and micro-level factors in cultural labor studies

Purpose This study aims to examine how the organizational structure of arts groups and their administrative personnel’s socio-demographic attributes affect the working conditions of and create tensions for their staff. Recent discussion about the cultural industries and labor has pursued two strands – macro-level research expounds on the organization of cultural industries and labor market; and micro-level studies focus on the work and employment of cultural practitioners. Very few of them, however, articulate the relationships between the two levels. This study contributes to the literature with a multilevel framework that examines the interplay between the structural conditions and personal factors in which labor–capital relationships evolve. Design/methodology/approach This study applies a qualitative approach to collect and analyze data. It conducted 39 in-depth interviews with arts managers and administrators from a sample of 18 performing arts organizations across four performing arts sectors in Hong Kong, namely, drama, music, dance and opera. The stratified sample covers arts organizations of different funding models – the public “nationalized” form, the mixed-economy form, and the privatized form. Findings This study shows that the funding and organization model of arts organizations resulted in various forms of job structure, and that the practitioners’ socio-demographic background shapes their career expectations. The job structure and career expectations together affect the labor turnover and influence organization strategies. Originality/value This study’s methodological contribution lies on its application of a multilevel framework to analyze the relationships between the macro- and the micro-level factors underpinning the working conditions of labor in the cultural industries. Besides, it contributes to the discussion about “labor precariousness” with empirical evidence from a comparative study of arts managers and administrators from organizations across four performing arts sectors.

Stillingsstrukturens betydning for samspillet mellem forskning og undervisning

Universiteternes stillingsstruktur har betydning for, hvordan universiteterne kan varetage undervisning og forskning – herunder sikre samspillet mellem hovedopgaverne. Artiklen kortlægger hvordan de 5 stillingscirkulærer der har været fra 1994 til i dag har ført til forskydninger i ansættelsespraksis på universiteterne i retning af relativt flere midlertidige stillinger med altovervejende fokus på forskning. Det konkluderes, at der er behov for et fornyet politisk fokus på hvordan samspillet mellem forskning og undervisning kan styrkes, og at stillingsstrukturen er et vigtigt sted at sætte ind. The Job Structure for Academic Staff affects how universities organize teaching and research and particularly how they can ensure interplay between the two fundamental tasks. The article maps how five different Job Structures from 1994 to today have led to a shift in employment practices at universities towards temporary positions with a focus on research. It is concluded that the interplay between research and teaching could be strengthened, and that a revision of the Job Structure for Academic Staff is an important element in this endeavour.

The Lives and Deaths of Jobs: Technical Interdependence and Survival in a Job Structure

Prior work has considered the properties of individual jobs that make themmore or less likely to survive in organizations. Yet little researchexamines how a job's position within a larger job structure affects itslife chances and thus the evolution of the larger job structure over time.In this article, we explore the impact of technical interdependence on thedynamics of job structures. We argue that jobs that are more enmeshed in ajob structure through these interdependencies are more likely to survive.We test our theory on a quarter-century of personnel and job-descriptiondata for the non-academic staff of one of America’s largest publicuniversities. Our results provide support for our key hypotheses: jobsthat are more enmeshed in clusters of technical interdependence are lesslikely to die. At the same time, being part of such a cluster means that ajob is more vulnerable if its neighbors disappear. And the "protection" oftechnical interdependence is contingent: it does not hold in the face ofstrategic change or other organizational restructurings. Weoffer implications of our analyses for research in organizationalperformance, careers, and labor markets.

Being trainer in civil society: The motivational effect of trainers’ individual characteristics and structural job characteristics of training projectsSivil toplum alanında eğitmenlik: Eğitimci motivasyonunu etkileyen bireysel özellikler ve eğitim projelerinin yapısal iş özellikleri

The aim of this research is to understand the motivation of trainers who work in civil society as one of the most influential actor of the sector and take important roles in lifelong learning programs and non-formal training projects. The individual characteristics and the features of job structure that trigger the trainers to work in civil society are investigated. Since we didn’t meet any study on this issue in the local literature, the qualitative methodology was preferred in order to investigate research question in the context of Turkey. Data were collected by semi-structured interviews with 11 trainers. The inductive qualitative data analysis was applied to transcribed interviews and MAXQDA 11 was used as qualitative data analysis software. Results showed that trainers’ self-construal based on their role in civil society is one of the individual characteristics that directs trainers to work in civil arena. Trainers’ behavioral competencies like adaptation and team working; and technical competencies like being able to use training methods and tools effectively are other themes under individual characteristics that motivate trainers. Basic individual values like sensitivity to social problems, worldview from the angle of human rights and democracy, and scientific approach were observed as the factors that lead people to work in civil organizations. The structural characteristics of training program like the project topic, target groups, and relationship within the team were among the dimensions of job structure. Moreover, frequency of training delivery, time pressure, and compensations were salient themes of working conditions in training projects. In this paper, the effect of all these factors on trainers’ motivation to involve in the civil society training projects is going to be discussed. ÖzetBu araştırmanın amacı sivil toplum alanının en etkili aktörlerinden biri olan ve yaygın eğitim çalışmalarında önemli roller üstlenen sivil alan eğitmenlerinin çalışma motivasyonlarının anlaşılmasıdır. Hangi bireysel özelliklerin ve işin yapısından kaynaklanan hangi unsuların eğitmenleri sivil alanda çalışmaya yönelttiği incelenmektedir. Ulusal literatürde bu konuda bir çalışmaya rastlanmadığından, özellikle araştırma sorusunun Türkiye bağlamında anlaşılması için nitel araştırma yöntemi tercih edilmiştir. Onbir sivil alan eğitmeni ile yarı yapılandırılmış mülakat gerçekleştirilmiştir. Deşifre edilen görüşmeler üzerinde tümevarıma dayalı içerik analizi uygulanmış, nitel veri analizi programı olarak da MAXQDA 11 kullanılmıştır. Bulgular, bireyin benlik tanımlamasını sivil alanda üstlendiği eğitmenlik rolü üzerinden yapmasının, bireysel tetikleyicilerden birisi olduğunu göstermektedir. Eğitmenlerin adaptasyon, takım çalışması gibi davranışsal yetkinlikleri ile eğitim yöntem ve araçlarına hâkimiyeti gibi teknik yetkinlikleri diğer bireysel özelliklerdir. Son olarak, toplumsal sorunlara duyarlılık, hak ve demokrasi temelli dünya görüşü, bilimsel yaklaşım gibi temel değerler de kişileri sivil alanda çalışmaya güdüleyen unsurlardır. Sivil toplum eğitmenlerinin yürüttükleri eğitim programının yapısı, yani, projenin türü, konusu, hedef kitle ve ekip içindeki ilişkiler gibi özellikler, işin yapısal özellikleri arasında yer almaktadır. Eğitimi verme sıklığı, zaman kısıtları ve ücretlendirme gibi unsurlar da eğitim projesindeki çalışma koşulları kapsamında görüşmelerde öne çıkan temalar arasındadır. Bu makalede, bu unsurların eğitmenlerin motivasyonu üzerindeki etkileri tartışılacaktır.