Does studying the past help us understand the future? an examination of the expectations of Gen X knowledge workers

Abstract

Three demographic realities (large baby boom cohort, increasing longevity, declining birthrates) are driving unprecedented global shifts in population age distribution and require organizations wishing to attract, retain and engage mid-career, potentially disenfranchised talent in the 35 to 45-year-old age bracket (i.e. ‘Gen X’) to rethink management practices. This situation motivated the present research – a multi-method case study of Gen X knowledge workers that theoretically develops and uses objectivist grounded theory data analysis methodology to empirically test a typology describing possible subgroups within this cohort of employees who differ in terms of their formative experiences in the labor market. Analysis of data identified four subgroups within our sample of Gen X knowledge workers which share various similarities but also differ dramatically concerning what they expect from and how they view their current employer. Findings support the idea that different formative labor market experiences can result in generational sub-cohorts who want different things from employers and perceive the world differently. These findings can be used by researchers to launch further study of other potential subgroups in Gen X and other generational cohorts, and to organizations and practitioners in developing more effective recruitment and retention strategies for Gen X knowledge workers.     

我国农村劳动力转移法律问题研究——以“民工荒”现象为例

我国一向被认为廉价劳动力"无限供给",经过20多年的发展,却出人意料地大范围出现"民工荒",农村劳动力转移已经成为危及当代中国经济发展前景的关键问题.这需要从管理学、经济学、社会学等多学科角度进行分析和探讨,特别需要在法学视野下对农村劳动力转移进行研究.以利益为理论基点,在对"民工荒"现象有所诠释和成因剖析,并进而构建完善农村劳动力转移的路径选择.     

金融工作者作业效率的影响因素及提升途径

在金融创新日趋活跃的今天,金融业工作者的效率提升为金融业实践及理论界所关注。金融业是知识密集型行业,金融工作者作为典型的知识型员工,是金融业最重要的资本。金融工作是一项无形的、知识性、非规律性、协同性、创新性的智力活动,其过程较难监控,并且结果难以计量,其工作效率的提高会受到工作者自身因素、工作任务因素、组织管理因素和组织环境因素的影响。因此,有效设计工作环境、优化工作流程、引入先进科学技术以及科学的管理方法成为金融工作者效率提升的有效途径,金融实践案例和相应的数据提供了佐证。     

Economic transition and the determinants of self-employment in urban China: 2007–2013

Abstract

Why was there a large growth in self-employment in urban China during the economic transition period? There are two hypotheses proposed to answer this: the disguised unemployment hypothesis that there is no opportunity to access the formal sector to gain better work, and the business creation hypothesis that successful business owners create new jobs for others, new business opportunities, and many innovative new products for society, as pointed out in previous studies. Using CHIP2007 and CHIP2013, this paper tests the two hypotheses. The main conclusions are as follows: First, generally, utilizing the imputed wage premiums, which were used in previous studies, the business creation hypothesis is rejected; the disguised unemployment hypothesis is supported for both the local urban resident and the migrant groups in 2007 and 2013. Second, the results that utilized the new wage premiums based on the imputed employee wages in the private sector show that the business creation hypothesis is supported when a worker chose to become an employer for both the migrant group and the local urban resident group in 2013. Third, the business creation hypothesis is relevant for the older generation group of local urban residents in 2013.     

What is behind low wages in central and eastern Europe?

This paper compares wages across Europe in relation to the characteristics of workers and firms, with a particular focus on wage levels in central and eastern European countries. Worker and workplace endowments can be taken as a proxy for labour productivity. We estimate the extent to which wage differences observed at an aggregate level can be related to the different compositions of workforces and workplaces, as well as the types of jobs conducted in separate countries. We also decompose the observed differences in returns on endowments by identifying the sectors and occupational categories that contribute most to the wage gaps observed at the aggregate level. The wage gaps in low-wage countries actually appear larger once differences in worker, work and workplace characteristics are controlled for. In contrast, the differences in wages between high-wage countries diminish when we control for these endowments. The wage gap between East and West thus seems to be explained by a much lower return on skills and other characteristics rather than by differences in the composition of workforces and firms. Sectoral and occupational analysis suggests that central and eastern European countries have developed a generalised low-cost and low-wage model, with relative returns particularly low on higher skills. There is much less wage disparity across European countries in more labour intensive and lower-paid services sectors, such as accommodation and food service activities. The magnitude of the wage gap seems to be driven by the relative position of sectors and occupations in high-wage countries.     

工业工程技术在神龙公司襄樊工厂的应用

以生产轿车发动机、变速箱、车桥的机加工厂为例,阐述了一人多机、快速换型、精益生产等工业工程技术在生产现场的应用情况,以及在生产能力、劳动生产率、物流及信息流方面取得的成果,供相关人员参考或引用。     

分类明确户口迁移政策下的农民工培训转型研究

户籍制度是当代中国影响最为深远的社会政策。文章以分类明确户口迁移政策为研究问题的出发点,分析其给予农民工成为市民以契机和挑战,认为农民工职业教育需从只注重技能培训转向技能培训与市民化教育并行的综合培训,在注重经济层面的市民化基础上,更加关注社会层面、文化层面的市民化教育,完成真正意义上的市民化。     

The environmental,social and economic effects of recent technological changes in sugarcane on the State of São Paulo,Brazil

From 2007 to 2017, the Agro‐Environmental Protocol of the Sugar and Energy Sector was in force, an agreement between sugarcane mill owners and the State Government of São Paulo, Brazil, proposing to eliminate sugarcane burning as a method to facilitate the harvest. Simultaneously, the sugarcane harvest was becoming widely mechanized while, under the interests of capital accumulation, the mills were entering the information and communication technology era and providing the agricultural processes with more precise and immediate management and technological controls, similar to those implemented in the mills' administrative and industrial operations in the 1990s. Short‐term factors, including environmental factors, favoured sugarcane technological changes. As a result, there was a mass layoff of rural workers and an increasing number of people/workers in agricultural mechanization, transportation and maintenance of machinery and administrative as well. The whole process highlighted the differences between mills, resulting in small and medium sugarcane farmers and mills to become the most impacted, in operational and financial terms, by the accelerating mechanization of the sugarcane industry as a whole.     

Worker Cooperatives in the Theory of the Firm: Marx and Veblen on Technological Determinism

This article contends that, in their treatments of worker cooperatives, the predominant theories of the firm adhere to the logic of technological determinism, and can accordingly be evaluated using the ideas of Thorstein Veblen and Karl Marx. Invoking these patriarchs’ respective distinctions between instrumental and ceremonial institutions and between the technical and social relations of production, the article argues that, contrary to contemporary theories of the firm, worker cooperatives possess an inherent but often latent advantage in implementing bureaucratic organizational structures, enjoying their instrumental/technical benefits for technology and coordination without incurring their ceremonial/social drawbacks for behavior and cooperation.     

Multiple foci of commitment in a professional service firm: balancing complex employment relations

Employees of professional service firms (PSFs) have attachments to multiple groups, which may be either compatible or conflicting: their employer, their clients and their profession. We analyse the antecedents of commitment to these three foci based on a survey of 510 employees in a large PSF in Norway. The main findings are as follows: (1) low quality of internal work relations is negatively associated with employer commitment and draws employees towards external foci of commitment – the clients and the profession; (2) role conflict is associated with stronger commitment to the client organisation and the profession; and (3) autonomy and transferability of skills are associated with stronger commitment to the profession, but does not undermine commitment to the employer. The article contributes to our understanding of the conditions under which employees identify with external groups and when commitment to the employer may be compromised. The findings have implications for how managers can help to increase the commitment of employees involved in complex employment relations.