Apologies for any cross-posting.
A new issue of Human Relations is available online: Human Relations October 2017; 70(10).
You might also like to take a look at recent issues: September 2017 70(9); August 2017 70(8); July 2017 70(7)
We hope you enjoy reading these articles.
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OCTOBER ISSUE ARTICLES
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Critical Essay: Organizational cognitive neuroscience drives theoretical progress, or: The curious case of the straw man murder
Michael JR Butler, Nick Lee and Carl Senior
Human Relations, 70(10): 1171–1190. First published date: February-02-2017, DOI 10.1177/0018726716684381
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0018726716684381
Abstract
In this critical essay, we respond to Lindebaum's argument that neuroscientific methodologies and data have been accepted prematurely in proposing novel management theory. We acknowledge that building new management theories requires firm foundations. We also find his distinction between demand and supply-side forces helpful as an analytical framework identifying the momentum for the contemporary production of management theory. Nevertheless, some of the arguments Lindebaum puts forward, on closer inspection, can be contested, especially those related to the supply side of organizational cognitive neuroscience research: functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) data, motherhood statements and ethical concerns. We put forward a more positive case for organizational cognitive neuroscience methodologies and data, as well as clarifying exactly what organizational cognitive neuroscience really means, and its consequences for the development of strong management theory.
Keywords: management, methodology, organizational cognitive neuroscience, practice, theory
Proactivity routines: The role of social processes in how employees self-initiate change
Heather C Vough, Uta K Bindl and Sharon K Parker
Human Relations, 70(10): 1191–1216, First published date: January-31-2017, DOI: 10.1177/0018726716686819
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0018726716686819
Abstract
Proactive work behaviors are self-initiated, future-focused actions aimed at bringing about changes to work processes in organizations. Such behaviors occur within the social context of work. The extant literature that has focused on the role of social context for proactivity has focused on social context as an overall input or output of proactivity. However, in this article we argue that the process of engaging in proactive work behavior (proactive goal-striving) may also be a function of the social context in which it occurs. Based on qualitative data from 39 call center employees in an energy-supply company, we find that in a context characterized by standardized work procedures, proactive goal-striving can occur through a proactivity routine – a socially constructed and accepted pattern of action by which employees initiate and achieve changes to work processes, with the support of managers and colleagues. Our findings point to the need to view proactive work behaviors at a higher level of analysis than the individual in order to identify shared routines for engaging in proactivity, as well as how multiple actors coordinate their efforts in the process of achieving individually-generated proactive goals.
Keywords: proactive work behaviors, proactivity, qualitative methods, routines, standardized work
The shaping of sustainable careers post hearing loss:
Toward greater understanding of adult onset disability, disability identity, and career transitions
David C Baldridge and Mukta Kulkarni
Human Relations, 70(10): 1217–1236. First published date: February-17-2017, DOI: 10.1177/0018726716687388
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0018726716687388
Abstract
Through this interview-based study with 40 respondents in the United States we have outlined enablers of career transitions and sustainable careers for professionals who have experienced severe hearing loss as adults. To sustain careers after adult onset disability, respondents engaged in a quest for meaning and big picture answers to 'who am I?' and 'am I still successful?' This included redefining themselves – e.g. I am now both a person with a disability (disability identity) and a successful professional (professional identity) – and career success (e.g. now I care about service to society as much as I care about material artifacts). Respondents also adopted new work roles where disability was a key to success (e.g. becoming an equal employment officer) and utilized social networks to continue being successful. Such redefining of work and networks supported the aforesaid quest for meaning and big picture answers. Findings not only indicate how individuals experience career success after a life-changing event but also help defamiliarize extant notions of ableism in workplace contexts.
Keywords: adult onset, career transitions, disability, disability identity, hearing loss, sustainable careers
How do we understand worker silence despite poor conditions – as the actress said to the woman bishop
Deborah Dean and Anne-marie Greene
Human Relations, 70(10): 1237–1257. First published date: May-12-2017, DOI: 10.1177/0018726717694371
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0018726717694371
Abstract
This article considers the customary choice of silence over voice of two groups of UK workers – women clergy and women actors – who routinely tolerate poor quality conditions rather than express dissatisfaction. We argue that a key mediating factor is an expanded version of Hirschman's (1970) concept of loyalty. The article considers how occupational ideologies facilitate loyalty as adaptation to disadvantage in ways that discourage voice, in framing silence as positive. Consequently, we also identify this type of loyalty as potentially salient in understanding silence in other occupations. A descriptive model comparing strength of occupational ideology and voicing of dissatisfaction is outlined, and through discussion of findings the article offers conceptual refinements of loyalty in accounting for worker silence.
Keywords: calling, loyalty, occupational ideologies, voice, women workers - actors, clergy
Trajectories and antecedents of integration in mergers and acquisitions:
A comparison of two longitudinal studies
Martin R Edwards, Jukka Lipponen, Tony Edwards, Marko Hakonen
Human Relations, 70(10): 1258–1290. First published date: March-17-2017, DOI: 10.1177/0018726716686169
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0018726716686169
Abstract
Despite existing research examining snapshots of employee reactions to organizational mergers and acquisitions (M&A), there is a complete absence of work theorizing or exploring rates of change in employees' organizational identification with the merged entity. We address this gap using two three-wave longitudinal panel samples from different M&A settings, tracking change in identification through a two-year period. Theorizing trajectories of change in identification across the organizations in both settings, we make predictions linked to expected antecedents of change in identification. Our research context (M&A-1) involves a merger of three Finish universities tracking 938 employees from each organization in three waves (nine months pre-merger to 24 months post-merger). Our second context (M&A-2) involves a multinational acquisition tracking 346 employees from both the acquired and acquiring organization in three waves (from two to 26 months post-acquisition). Using Latent Growth Modelling, we confirm predicted trajectories of change in identification. Across both samples, a linear increase (across Time 1, Time 2 and Time 3) in justice and linear decrease in threat perceptions were found to significantly predict a linear increase in identification across the post-M&A period. We discuss organizational identification development trajectories and how changes in these two antecedents account for changes in identification across M&A contexts.
Keywords: employee integration, identity, longitudinal research, M&A, mergers and acquisitions, organisational identification, organisational psychology
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FREE ACCESS FEATURED ARTICLE AND VODCAST FOR AUGUST
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Free access until 31 August 2017:
'Wow! That's so cool!' The Icehotel as organizational trope
Jonathan Pinto
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0018726715618764
Abstract
This article introduces the Icehotel, the world's first and largest hotel to be constructed entirely of ice and snow, as a unique and generative organizational trope. As a trope (and metaphor, in particular), it both supplements and complements Morgan's seminal book, The Images of Organization, and generates unique insights with regard to surprise, unifinality, purity, eco-coreness and rebirth. The Icehotel also serves as a lens for examining organizations through each master trope, that is, metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche and irony. Evidence of metonymy in language describing the Icehotel is presented. The case for synecdoche is made by arguing that the Icehotel is a species of two genera, that is, temporary organizations and paradoxical organizations. Also, the Icehotel is not only paradoxical (i.e. a form of irony), but also generates four other paradoxes, namely, the ways that organizations are evolutionary yet revolutionary, negative as well as positive, different yet similar and unsustainably sustainable. The Icehotel also exemplifies serious play – a particular approach for managing paradoxes. Finally, the article discusses implications for research and practice.
Keywords: irony, metaphor, metonymy, paradox, serious play, synecdoche
Free access vodcast: Dr Jonathan Pinto discusses his article
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo5jqYXe08c
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CELEBRATING 70 YEARS OF HUMAN RELATIONS
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Booking now – 70th Anniversary Workshop:
Can, and should, social science contribute to better quality jobs?
A 70-year retrospect and prospect
Tuesday 10 Oct 2017 at The British Academy, London SW1Y 5AH
Organizer: Prof. Paul K Edwards, former Editor-in-Chief, Human Relations
This year Human Relations celebrates its 70th Anniversary! As part of our celebrations, Human Relations will be running a workshop that will interest scholars of work and employment, policy makers in employers' organizations and trade unions, public officials, and researchers in research institutes with an interest in work and the labour market. It is intended to be an engaged conversation among experts. Numbers will be restricted.
There will four short (15 minute) presentations by experts in the field, taking specific examples to address some of the above questions, six short presentations from other participants on different aspects of work then space for questions and discussion, all leading up to a concluding round table of experts. [Read more...] To book your place at this event, please contact Claire Castle no later than 5 September 2017.
Reflections on the history of Human Relations
Human Relations is one of the oldest social science journals. It was established in 1947, ahead of journals such as the British Journal of Sociology (1950), and long before other leading management journals such as those published by the Academy of Management (the Journal, 1958, and the Review, 1976) and journals of work, organization and employment (e.g. Organization Studies, 1980 and Work, Employment and Society, 1987).
For the 70th anniversary of the journal's foundation, Professor Paul Edwards, FBA, looks back over its development and contents and offers a series of reflections:
- Human Relations: The first 10 years, 1947–1956
- Human Relations: 1957–1966
- Human Relations: 1967–1986
- Human Relations: 1987–1996 and beyond
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RECENT ONLINE FIRST PREVIEW ARTICLES
Access all OnlineFirst articles here: http://hum.sagepub.com/content/early/recent
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Global supply chains, institutional constraints and firm level adaptations:
A comparative study of Chinese service outsourcing firms
Jingqi Zhu and Glenn Morgan
Human Relations, first published date: August-18-2017 DOI: 10.1177/0018726717713830
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0018726717713830
Abstract
The focus on inter-firm governance relations within global supply chains analysis has left social relations at workplaces as a 'black box' and relatively underdiscussed. Through an in-depth, comparative study of two Chinese IT service providers for Japanese clients, this article explores how the work and employment relations in the supplier firm are shaped by the institutional contexts of both the supplier firm and the lead firm as well as by the nature of the global supply chain in which they are located. The article shows how the intersection of global supply chains and local institutional environments creates potential gaps between what is required by the lead firms and what is feasible within the supplier firms. Therefore, managers in the supplier firm have to negotiate ways of managing these expectations in the light of their own institutional constraints and possibilities. We identify three forms of adaptation made by the suppliers that we describe as wholesale adaptation, ceremonial adaptation and minimal adaptation to lead firms' expectations. We argue that these interactions and forms of adaptation can be extended and explored more generally in global supply chains and provide the basis for a fruitful integration of institutional approaches with global supply chain analysis.
Keywords: comparative case study, global supply chain, institutional analysis, service outsourcing, strategic choice, workplace relations
Analytics and expert collaboration: How individuals navigate relationships when working with organizational data
Joshua B Barbour, Jeffrey W Treem and Brad Kolar
Human Relations, first published date: August-18-2017, DOI 10.1177/0018726717711237
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0018726717711237
Abstract
Analytics is heralded as an important, new and increasingly widespread organizational function, and one that promises new approaches for generating value from organizational knowledge. What is not yet clear is how analytics may affect how organizations work with data, or how organizations can realize the benefits of analytics. Analytics, envisioned as not just a technical skill but a reconceptualization of data's place in the organization, may improve, challenge or undermine existing processes and procedures. Building upon scholarship on expert collaboration and multidisciplinary knowledge work, this study reports a mixed-methods investigation of the implementation of analytics at a Fortune 500 financial services company. The findings make multiple contributions, including (a) confirming the importance of relationships among organizational experts in analytics work; (b) exploring specific communicative strategies employed by practitioners in those relationships; (c) demonstrating that the functioning of those relationships may differ depending on the type of analytics work (i.e. the degree to which it involves requesting, collaborating or commissioning); and (d) indicating that analytics practitioners need autonomy, as well as technical acumen, to question entrenched ideas about organizational data and problems. The findings contribute to practice by identifying problems that may be common in implementing analytics and strategies employed to address them.
Keywords: analytics, data, expert collaboration, expert relationships, knowledge work
Women's employment patterns after childbirth and the perceived access to and use of flexitime and teleworking
Heejung Chung and Mariska van der Horst
Human Relations, first published date: August-17-2017, DOI 10.1177/0018726717713828
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0018726717713828
Abstract
This article sets out to investigate how flexitime and teleworking can help women maintain their careers after childbirth. Despite the increased number of women in the labour market in the UK, many significantly reduce their working hours or leave the labour market altogether after childbirth. Based on border and boundary management theories, we expect flexitime and teleworking can help mothers stay employed and maintain their working hours. We explore the UK case, where the right to request flexible working has been expanded quickly as a way to address work–life balance issues. The dataset used is Understanding Society (2009–2014), a large household panel survey with data on flexible work. We find some suggestive evidence that flexible working can help women stay in employment after the birth of their first child. More evidence is found that mothers using flexitime and with access to teleworking are less likely to reduce their working hours after childbirth. This contributes to our understanding of flexible working not only as a tool for work–life balance, but also as a tool to enhance and maintain individuals' work capacities in periods of increased family demands. This has major implications for supporting mothers' careers and enhancing gender equality in the labour market.
Keywords: flexible working, mothers' employment, panel survey, women's careers, working hours
Coding military command as a promiscuous practice? Unsettling the gender binaries of leadership metaphors
Karen Lee Ashcraft and Sara Louise Muhr
Human Relations, first published date: August-08-2017, DOI: 10.1177/0018726717709080
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0018726717709080
Abstract
Despite abundant scholarship addressed to gender equity in leadership, much leadership literature remains invested in gender binaries. Metaphors of leadership are especially dependent on gender oppositions, and this article treats the scholarly practice of coding leadership through gendered metaphor as a consequential practice of leadership unto itself. Drawing on queer theory, the article develops a mode of analysis, called 'promiscuous coding', conducive to disrupting the gender divisions that currently anchor most leadership metaphors. Promiscuous coding can assist leadership scholars by translating the vague promise of queering leadership into a tangible method distinguished by specific habits. The article formulates this analytical practice out of empirical provocations encountered by the authors: namely, a striking mismatch between their experiences in military fields and the dominant metaphor of leading as military command. Ultimately, the article seeks to move scholarly practices of leadership toward queer performativity, in the hopes of loosening other leadership practices from a binary grip and pointing toward new relational possibilities.
Keywords: gender, leadership, metaphor, military command, queer, sexuality
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VIRTUAL SPECIAL ISSUES
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- Knowledge and knowing in the study of organization: From commodity to communication
- Women, men, and work: Gender identity and gender differences in the workplace
- Diversity research: Theorizing the new frontier in sexual orientation diversity
- Change management
- Critical performativity
Editor's Choice Collections:
- Paper of the Year Award winners
- Classic papers from Human Relations
- Papers that have influenced Paul Edwards, former EIC
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WHY PUBLISH IN HUMAN RELATIONS?
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Human Relations is included in the FT50 list of journals (effective from January 2017) used by the Financial Times in compiling the FT Research rank, included in the Global MBA, EMBA and Online MBA rankings. It is an A* journal – the highest category of quality – in the Australian Business Deans Council (ABCD) Journal Quality List 2013. It is also ranked 4 in the Chartered Association of Business Schools (CABS) Academic Journal Guide 2015 and Human Relations is a top 5 interdisciplinary social sciences journal (Source: 2016 Journal Citation Reports® (Thomson Reuters, 2017):
2-year impact factor: 2.622 Ranked: 4/96 in Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary and 58/193 in Management
5-year impact factor: 4.027 Ranked: 2/93 in Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary and 50/186 in Management
Read the journal's mission statement.
Best wishes,
Claire Castle
Managing Editor, Human Relations
Tavistock Institute of Human Relations
Email: c.castle@tavinstitute.org
Website: www.humanrelationsjournal.org
Twitter: @HR_TIHR
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