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Flexible Work Practices: Analysis from a Pragmatist Perspective
Flexible Arbeitspraktiken: Eine Analyse aus pragmatischer Perspektive
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Abstract Traditional human resource management (HRM) research can hardly relate to today's developments in the world of work. Organizational boundaries are blurred because of the complexity due to globalization, digitalization, and demographic changes. In practice, new ways of organizing work can be found th... view more
Traditional human resource management (HRM) research can hardly relate to today's developments in the world of work. Organizational boundaries are blurred because of the complexity due to globalization, digitalization, and demographic changes. In practice, new ways of organizing work can be found that depend on the specifics of the work situation. In this paper, we build on the economics of convention (EC) to elaborate on the current challenges HRM scholarship is confronted with and provide a theoretical lens that goes beyond the tension between market and bureaucracy principles in actual employment settings. We apply EC’s situationalist methodology to examples of the challeng-ing coordination of flexibility in the workplace. We explain two hybrid forms of coordination – compromises and local arrangements – and highlight the dy-namics of employment practices in organizations related to these forms. Thereby, we show that different modes of coordination in employment are applied in a fluctuating manner that depends on the specific situations. In doing so, we further seek to remind HRM scholars of the fruitfulness of the pragmatist per-spective in analyzing work practices, as well as extending its conceptual toolkit for future analysis.... view less
Keywords
human resource management; work organization; type of employment; flexibility; bureaucracy
Classification
Human Resources Management
Sociology of Work, Industrial Sociology, Industrial Relations
Free Keywords
Human Resource Management; employment practices; pragmatism; economics of convention; market; flexible work
Document language
English
Publication Year
2019
Page/Pages
p. 73-91
Journal
Historical Social Research, 44 (2019) 1
Issue topic
Markets, Organizations, and Law - Perspectives of Convention Theory on Economic Practices and Structures
ISSN
0172-6404
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed