An understanding of the nature and forms of organisation, particularly with reference to industrial societies, is a key area in sociological analysis. This book discusses and explains what concepts to employ and what analytical procedures to adopt as well as conveying a sense of the theoretical and empirical diversity involved in the study of organisations.Among the questions explored are:why do we classify organisations in particular ways and for what purpo...

The image of a job captures our imagination from an early age, usually prompted by the question 'What do you want to be when you grow up?'. Work -- paid, unpaid, voluntary, or obligatory -- is woven into the fabric of all human societies. For many of us, it becomes part of our identity. For others it is a tedious necessity. Living is problematic without paid work, and for many it is catastrophic. Steve Fineman tells the fascinating story of work - how we strive for security, reward, and of...

A provocative discussion of the role of technology and its accompanying rhetoric of limitless progress in the concomitant rise of joblessness and unemployment.

There was once a time when 'work' was inextricably linked to survival and self-preservation; where the farmer ploughed the land so their family could eat. But the sun has long since set on this idyllic tableau, and what was once an integral part of life has slowly morphed into a painful and meaningless ritual, colonising almost every part of our lives - endless and inescapable.In The Mythology of Work, Peter Fleming examines how neoliberal society uses the ritual of work (and the t...

With computer, fax machines, and other technologies becoming commonplace, more and more people are running businesses from their homes and making a good living in the process. "Money" has been tracking the trend, and, in this new guide, two of the magazine's writers explain how to turn a hobby into a business, find money to start, create a winning business plan, manage cash flow, write great press releases, find low-cost health insurance and safeguard retirement, and much more.

This well-researched study should be read by anyone with an interest in worker cooperatives, community economic development, and work redesign programs.― Contemporary SociologySince its founding in 1956 in Spain's Basque region, the Mondragón Corporation has been a touchstone for the international cooperative movement. Its nearly three hundred companies and organizations span areas from finance to education. In its industrial sector Mondragón has had a ric...

These proceedings summarize the best papers in each research area represented at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the German Gesellschaft für Arbeitswissenschaft, held at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) from February 26-28. The meeting featured more than 160 presentations and 30 posters reflecting the diversity of subject matter in the field of human and industrial engineering.

Feminism, Gender and Universities demonstrates the positive and robust impacts that feminism has had on higher education, through the eyes and in the words of the participants in changing political and social processes. Drawing on the ’collective biography’ of leading feminist scholars from around the world and current evidence relating to gender equality in education, this book employs methods including biographies, life histories, and narratives to show how the feminist project to transf...

Generation of decent livelihood opportunities ought to be among the most important objectives on any meaningful agenda of economic development. On this front, however, the Indian experience has remained seriously inadequate. During the first four decades after Independence, India’s achievements with respect to the problems of poverty, unemployment and occupational structural transformation were modest at best. Since the early 1990s, during the era of neo-liberal reforms, while economic gro...

This book brings together two leading researchers in the field to provide a comprehensive overview of the shadow economy from a global perspective. Reviewing the advantages and disadvantages of different ways of measuring the informal sector, the authors evaluate its size and key determinants across the world. Williams and Schneider clearly establish the persistence and prevalence of the shadow economy, analysing the narrowness of existing policy approaches and explaining how these fail to...

This book takes the reader on a journey that spans over three decades of manufacturing trends on a very personal level as seen through the eyes of a typical blue collar factory worker. Cutting corners and cutting wages may goose the bottom line briefly, but over the long term they destroy employees' ability to get the job done. Anecdotes from the contemporary American manufacturing world expose management's utter disrespect for workers, from unsafe and unsanitary work conditions to low pay...

This master reference is essential if you contract with the government!Correctly pricing your goods or services—and making certain that those prices are in compliance with myriad federal rules and regulations—is essential to doing business with the government…and ensuring your commercial success. Cost-Based Pricing: A Guide for Government Contractors shows you how to appropriately estimate and price for government contracts and defend those...