Flexibility on whose terms?

Twiname, Linda; Humphries, Maria; Kearins, Kate

doi:10.1108/09534810610668346

Cited by 14 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Toward that end, I set out to work collaboratively with employees to improve their workplace well-being. The research became an opportunity to better understand the effects of a prevailing unitarist ethos and the risks to individuals in challenging that ethos under the emerging reinvigoration of a pluralist perspective (Twiname, Humphries, & Kearins, 2006) I aimed at the emancipatory aspirations of AR to support participants as they enhanced their shared understandings and developed their skills in working together collaboratively and respectfully.…”

Section: Employee Participationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Could Action Research Provide the Key to TrueWorkplace Collaboration?

Twiname¹

2008

Journal of Workplace Rights

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Management practices that serve principles of "efficiency" and "effectiveness" in the capitalist understanding of such notions have generated work practices that purport to empower employees under the guise of employee participation programs. In the fieldwork reported here, action research was used as a vehicle to initiate collaborative workplace engagements for the benefit of an organization and its employees. Our results have implications for action researchers and for social construction theory. We found that collaborative behaviors, modeled through action research to all organization levels, have the potential to initiate change toward respectful pluralist engagements. Authentic participation requires a supportive environment in order for organizations and their employees to truly flourish. It became apparent that New Zealand employment law provided a framework within which to work collaboratively, but the will to do so was not fully evident. However, through action research, the participants began to construct their "common sense" (Berger & Luckmann, 1966: 37) of their shared workplace reality and goals.

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Section: Employee Participationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Could Action Research Provide the Key to TrueWorkplace Collaboration?

Twiname¹

2008

Journal of Workplace Rights

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“…At the firm level, workforce flexibility strategies help to make changes to the composition of the workforce as a way of recruiting and retaining people. The use of flexibility strategies has increased during the recent past and is expected to remain popular in the years to come (Twiname et al, ).…”

Section: Review Of Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Practice of Workforce Flexibility-Internal, External, Numerical and Functional Flexibility

Wickramasinghe¹,

Wickramasinghe²,

Silva³

et al. 2019

Perf Improvement Qrtly

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There is a considerable absence of research literature that evaluates ways in which people management practices such as workforce flexibility operate in different contexts. The purpose of the study is to investigate four workforce flexibility strategies used in export‐based firms. These four strategies are external flexibility, internal flexibility, functional flexibility and numerical flexibility. To fulfil the objectives of the study, the paper presents results of four surveys conducted to investigate each of the flexibility strategies in Sri Lanka. Two of these surveys were conducted in the service sector of offshore IT outsourcing, while the other two were conducted in the export‐based manufacturing sectors of coir product manufacture and apparel manufacture. In another dimension, two studies were on employees at executive level and above, while the other two were on shop‐floor employees. The findings present the employees' interpretation of their experience of each flexibility strategy, and discuss theoretical and practical implications.

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“…To expose and demystify previously hidden assumptions, such as managers' claim to authority and control, critical theorists encourage reflection upon alternative epistemologies, such as sharing of power between managers and staff, that will ultimately lead to addressing power imbalances (Twiname et al 2006). In health care, decentralisation of power is important to ensure interprofessional collaboration.…”

Section: Review Of the Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%