The Oxford Handbook of Work and Organization

A book relevant and useful for industrial engineers

By Stephen Ackroyd

Published 2005
Oxford University Press
678 pages

About the book

The last twenty-five years of the twentieth century was a period of extraordinary change in organizations and the economies of the developed world. This continues today. Such has been the scale and momentum of events that, for some analysts, the only comparable periods are the early part ofthe twentieth century in which the shift to mass production and large-scale organization was accomplished, or the industrial revolution itself a hundred years earlier.

Researchers in Europe and the USA in particular have been studying change in work and organizations, but there has been little attempt to systematize and draw together the results of their work. So far, the emphasis amongst writers on organizations considering the problem of contemporary change has been on ways of conceptualizing events, rather than also considering evidence. But what has actually happened? How much of the flux of events is real change, and how much mere change in emphasis in which apparent change is overlaying organizational continuity? How far are changes in particular events and sectors connected, and is an overall understanding of complex processes possible?

The Oxford Handbook of Work and Organization aims to bring together, present and discuss what is currently known about work and organizations and their connection to broader economic change in Europe and America. Issues of conceptualization are not neglected but, in contrast to other comparable volumes, the emphasis is firmly on what is known what and has been observed by researchers. The volume contains a range of theoretically informed essays, written by leading authorities in their respective fields, giving comprehensive coverage of changes in work, occupations, and organizations. It constitutes an invaluable overview of the accumulated understanding of research into work, occupations and organizations in recent decades. It shows that in almost every aspect of economic institutions, change has been considerable.

The subject area of work, occupations and organizations is considered in five major sections of the volume: I, Work, Technology, and the Division of Labour; II, Managerial Regimes and Employee Responses; III, Organizing and Organizations; IV, Occupations and Organizations and V. Organizations,Institutions, and Boundaries. In this way the contemporary situation in work and organizations is considered extensively in its different dimensions and interconnections. The contributors have been selected for their expertise and include many leading authors in organizational analysis andsubstantive research. The handbook is thus an authoritative statement, and offers a valuable account of organizations at this time.

Contents
Mapping the Changing Study
1
souday, rubery, ailon
WORK TECHNOLOGY
17
badham, appelbaum, fordist
Labor Markets and Flexibility
31
fordist, heery, lepak
Organizational
74
reskin, daday, tigges
Skill Formation Systems
95
finegold, sako, streeck
Technology and the Transformation of Work
115
sociotechnical, badham, orlikowski

Interdisciplinary
138
stasser, appelbaum, delbridge
MANAGERIAL REGIMES
163
souday, kunda, ailon
Design
200
cappelli, useem, maanen
Human Resource Management
220
boxall, macduffie, delbridge
Knowledge Management
242
consultancies, biometrician, managerialist
Industrial Relations and Work
263
tripartism, nonunion, darbishire
Labor Movements and Mobilization
283
bircham, jowell, nonunion
Resistance Misbehavior and Dissent
305
misbehavior, jermier, giacalone
OCCUPATIONS
327
minings, berlant, freidson
Conflict and Control
338
jsms, babson, grievance
Service Workers in Search of Decent Work
356
leidner, herzenberg, korczynski
What We Know and Mostly Dont Know
376
zussman, skilling, vallas
The Changing Nature of Professional Organizations
404
hinings, suddaby, pinnington
The Nature and Relevance of Internal
425
ilms, doeringer, autor
ORGANIZING
447
hebdon, interorganizational, mncs
From Direct
462
japanization, fordism, interorganizational
Interfirm Relations as Networks 508
interfirm, tncs, gereffi
Changes in the Organization of Public Services
530
colling, bordogna, strehl
Understanding Multinational Corporations
554
multinationals, birkinshaw, ghoshal
Corporate Restructuring 577
multidivisional, jabil, solectron
Explaining 602
elger, meiksins, sklair
Index
626
privatization, isomorphism, turnbull