View full metadata
THIS DOI METADATA WAS LAST UPDATED: 2024-01-10 23:02
Cite as
-
Full Title
STUDI ORGANIZZATIVI
-
Publisher
FrancoAngeli
-
ISSN
0391-8769 (Printed Journal)
1972-4969 (Online Journal)
-
Journal Issue Number
2
-
Journal Issue Designation
2
-
Journal Issue Date (YYYY/MM)
2019/01
-
Full Title
Perceived autonomy and discretion of mobile workers
-
By (author)
-
First Page
31
-
Last Page
61
-
Language of text
English
-
Publication Date
2019/01
-
Copyright
2018 FrancoAngeli srl
Introduction or preface
In the beginning, remote working was enthusiastically presented as a means for transforming traditional ways of working thanks to the possibility of separating working activities from the physical constraints imposed by offices and factories. The assumption behind such enthusiasm - from both managers' and employees' perspectives - was that being physically at a distance from managerial control would increase workers' autonomy (Sewell and Taskin, 2015; Lake, 2015). Nowadays scholars are debating whether remote working - or better, so-called smart working - can really open up new possibilities for workers to make autonomous decisions in the regulation of their work, or, on the contrary, it increases managers' control over work processes, thus reducing the actual autonomy of workers (Brey, 1999; Vendramin and Valenduc, 2016). The present paper proposes to examine the question starting from the analytical distinction between autonomy and discretion (Maggi, 2003/2016). Particularly, based on a recently proposed theoretical framework (Albano et al., 2018), we consider these two concepts as dichotomous dimensions that can be combined in order to identify four types of "organization personality" (Barnard, 1938) - that is, four prevailing ways in which the individual can contribute to the organizational process: other-directed, discretionary, relatively autonomous, and mainly autonomous. Finally, we performed a factor analysis of some variables drawn from the sixth wave (2015) of the European Working Conditions Survey in a subsample of four industrialized countries (Germany, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom) characterized by robust digitalization of industrial production, to measure the consistency of the four types of organization personality in two groups of respondents: mobile workers (a proxy group of smart workers) and other categories of workers (traditional). The results show that in our sample the perception of relative autonomy is more widespread among mobile workers than in other categories of workers. Smart working seems to be a way for achieving ‘dependable role performance' (Katz and Kahn, 1966) in complex work processes without foregoing innovative and autonomous behaviours.
Reference list of
10.3280/SO2018-002002
Unstructured Citation
Albano, A., Bertolini, S., Curzi, Y., Fabbri, T. M., Parisi, T. (2018), “DigitAgile: the Office in a Mobile Device. Threats
and Opportunities for Workers and Co\mpanies”, in Ales, E., Curzi, Y., Fabbri, T., Rymkevich, O., Senatori, I., Solinas, G.
(eds.), Working in Digital and Smart Organizations. Legal, Economic and Organizational Perspectives on the Digitalization
of Labour Relations, London, Palgrave Macmillan.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77329-2_10
Unstructured Citation
Ashforth, B. E., Kreiner, G. E., Fugate, M. (2000) “All in a day’s work: Boundaries and micro role transitions”, Academy of
Management Review, 25: 472-491.
https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2000.3363315
Unstructured Citation
Azad, B., Salamoun, R., Greenhill, A., Wood-Harper, T. (2016), “Performing Projects with Constant Connectivity: Interplay
of Consulting Project Work Practices and Smartphone Affordances”, New Technology, Work and Employment, 31/1: 4-25.
https://doi.org/10.1111/ntwe.12061
Unstructured Citation
Bandura, A. (1977), “Self-efficacy: toward a unifying theory of behavioral change”, Psychological review, 84(2): 191-215.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.84.2.191
Unstructured Citation
Barnard, C. J. (1938), The Functions of the Executive, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, MA (trad. it. Le funzioni del dirigente, Torino, Utet, 1970).
Unstructured Citation
Bertolini, S. (2006), “La conciliazione per le lavoratrici atipiche”, Economia e lavoro, Anno XL, 1: 57-71.
Unstructured Citation
Browne, M. W., Cudeck, R. (1993), “Alternative ways of assessing model fit”, Sage focus editions, 154, 136-162.
Unstructured Citation
Bruni, A. (2005), “La socialità degli oggetti e la materialità dell’organizzare: umani e non-umani nei contesti lavorativi, Studi Organizzativi, 1: 113-129
Unstructured Citation
Butera, F., Bagnara, S., Cesaria R., Di Guardo S. (2008), Knowledge Working. Lavoro, lavoratori, società della conoscenza, Milano, Mondadori Università.
Unstructured Citation
Cavazotte, F., Lemos, A. H., Villadsen, K. (2014), “Corporate Smart Phones: Professionals’ Conscious Engagement in Escalating
Work Connectivity”, New Technology, Work and Employment, 29(1): 72-87.
https://doi.org/10.1111/ntwe.12022
Unstructured Citation
Chen, L., Nath, R. (2008). “A socio-technical perspective of mobile work”, Information Knowledge Systems Management, 7(1,2): 41-60.
Unstructured Citation
Davis, D.D., Polonko, K. A. (2001), Telework in the United States: Telework America Survey 2001, International Telework Association and Council.
Unstructured Citation
Deci, E., Ryan, R. M. (1985), Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behaviour, Springer Science & Business
Media.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2271-7
Unstructured Citation
Dioguardi, G. (2001), Presentazione in “Studi Organizzativi”, 1: 7-12.
Unstructured Citation
Drucker, P. (1957), Landmarks of tomorrow, New York, Harper.
Unstructured Citation
Dumas, T. L., Sanchez-Burks, J. (2015) “The professional, the personal, and the ideal worker: Pressures and objectives shaping
the boundary between life domains”, The Academy of Management Annals, 9: 803-843.
https://doi.org/10.5465/19416520.2015.1028810
Unstructured Citation
Eurofound, ILO (2017), Working anytime, anywhere: The effects on the world of work, Geneva, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, and the International Labour Office.
Unstructured Citation
European Commission (2010), The Increasing Use of Portable Computing and Communication Devices and its Impact on the Health of EU Workers, Luxembourg, Publication Office of the European Union.
Unstructured Citation
European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (2017), European Working Conditions Survey Integrated Data File, 1991-2015, [data collection], 2nd Edition, UK Data.
Unstructured Citation
Herzberg, F. (1966), Work and the nature of man, World, Cleveland.
Unstructured Citation
Herzberg, F. (1968), “One more time: How do you motivate employees?”, Harvard Business Review, 46(1): 53-62.
Unstructured Citation
Herzberg, F. (1976), The managerial choice, Dow Jones-Irwin, Homewood, IL.
Unstructured Citation
Jeyasingham, D. (2016), “Open spaces, supple bodies? Considering the impact of agile working on social work office practices”,
Child & Family Social Work, 21(2): 209-217.
https://doi.org/10.1111/cfs.12130
Unstructured Citation
Katz D., Kahn R.L. (1966), The Social Psychology of Organizations, John Wiley & Sons, New York.
Unstructured Citation
Kirk, J., Belovics, R. (2006), “Making e‐working work”, Journal of Employment Counseling, 43(1):39-46.
https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-1920.2006.tb00004.x
Unstructured Citation
Lake, A. (2015), The Smartworking Handbook, (2nd edition) Flexibility Ltd.
Unstructured Citation
Liegl, M. (2014), “Nomadicity and the Care of Place—on the Aesthetic and Affective Organization of Space in Freelance Creative
Work”, Computer Supported Cooperative Work, 23(2): 163-183.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-014-9198-x
Unstructured Citation
Maggi, B. (2003), De l’agir organisationnel. Un point de vue sur le travail, le bien-être, l’apprentissage, Octarès, Toulouse (TAO Digital Library, Bologna, 2016, 2a ed.).
Unstructured Citation
Mazmanian, M., Orlikowski, W. J., Yates, J. (2013), “The Autonomy Paradox: The Implications of Mobile Email Devices for Knowledge
Professionals”, Organization Science, 24(5): 1337-1357.
https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1120.0806
Unstructured Citation
Nunnally, J.C. (1978), Psychometric Theory, McGraw Hill, New York.
Unstructured Citation
Parolin, L.L. (2008), “Workplace studies: tecnologia e interazione sociale nei contesti di lavoro”, Studi Organizzativi, 1: 145-164.
Unstructured Citation
Romano, T. (2007), “Il fallimento di una tecnologia dell'informazione in un'organizzazione scolastica: realismo critico e conversazioni interiori”, Studi Organizzativi, 1: 175-196.
Unstructured Citation
Schneiberg, M., Clemens, E. S. (2006), “The typical tools for the job: Research strategies in institutional analysis”, Sociological
Theory, 24(3):195-227.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9558.2006.00288.x
Unstructured Citation
Sewell, G. (2012), “Employees, organizations and surveillance”, in K. Ball, K., Haggerty, K.D., Lyon, D. (eds.), The handbook of surveillance studies, London, Routledge.
Unstructured Citation
Staples, D. S., Hulland, J. S., Higgins, C. A. (1999), “A self-efficacy theory explanation for the management of remote workers
in virtual organizations”, Organization Science, 10(6): 758-776.
https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.10.6.758
Unstructured Citation
Taskin, L. (2010), “Déspatialisation: Un enjeu de gestion”, Revue Française de Gestion, 36(202): 61–76.
https://doi.org/10.3166/rfg.202.61-76
Unstructured Citation
Thomas, K. W., Velthouse, B. A. (1990), “Cognitive elements of empowerment: An “interpretive” model of intrinsic task motivation”, Academy
of management review, 15(4): 666-681.
https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1990.4310926
Unstructured Citation
Tims, M., Bakker, A.B. (2010), “Job crafting: Towards a new model of individual job redesign”, South African Journal of Industrial
Psychology, 36(2): 1-9.
https://doi.org/10.4102/sajip.v36i2.841
Unstructured Citation
Tims, M., Bakker, A.B., Derks, D. (2012), “Development and validation of the job crafting scale”, Journal of Vocational Behavior,
80(1): 173-186.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2011.05.009
Unstructured Citation
Valsecchi, R. (2006), “Visible moves and invisible bodies: The case of teleworking in an Italian call centre”, New Technology,
Work and Employment, 21(2): 123-138.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-005X.2006.00168.x
Unstructured Citation
Vendramin, P., Valenduc, G. (2016), “Le travail virtuel. Nouvelles formes d'emploi et de travail dans l'économie digitale”, working paper (http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/174224).
Unstructured Citation
Weick, K.E. (1990), “Technology as Equivoque: Sensemaking in New Technologies”, in Goodman, P., Sproull, L.S. (eds.), Technology and Organizations, San Francisco, Jossey Bass.
Unstructured Citation
Wrzesniewski, A., Dutton, J. E. (2001), “Crafting a job: Revisioning employees as active crafters of their work”, Academy
of Management Review, 26(2): 179–201.
https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2001.4378011
Unstructured Citation
Zamarian, M. (2017), “Smart working o working smart?” In Neri M., Smart working: una prospettiva critica, Quaderno del Programma Di Ricerca “L’officina di organizzazione”, Bologna, TAO Digital Library.
Unstructured Citation
Zanutto, A. (2007), “Innovazione tecnologica e telemedicina: retorica dei progetti e pratiche di transizione”, Studi Organizzativi, 2: 143-160.
Unstructured Citation
Zuboff, S. (1988), In the age of the smart machine: The future of work and power, New York, Basic Books