Episodes

18: Gig Economy, Labor Relations and Algorithmic Management

October 18, 2016 Dmitrijs Kravcenko 0:20:07
We discuss an article by Sarah O'Connor exploring the impact of gig economy and algorithmic management on the employees - what their experience is like, how their work is structured, and whether being a gig economy employee is everything it panned out to be. Gig economy, as well as its benefits and limitations, has been subject to much debate in social policy and labour relations.

17: Tokenism – Rosabeth Moss Kanter

September 20, 2016 Ralph Soule 0:19:36
In this episode, we read Rosabeth Moss Kanter’s paper “Some Effects of Proportions on Group Life: Skewed Sex Ratios and Responses to Token Women” (1977) which features as a chapter in her classic book, "Men and Women of the Corporation." In this article, Kanter explores how interactions within a group or an organization are affected by the different numbers of people from distinct social types. In particular, she focuses on groups with skewed gender ratios: a high proportion of men and a small number of women – the tokens. The study is based on observations and interviews with sales team which had recently started to incorporate women in its workforce and shows how structural factors stifled their potential.

16: Contingency Theory – Lawrence and Lorsch

August 30, 2016 Dmitrijs Kravcenko 0:10:02
We discuss Paul Lawrence and Jay Lorsch's book “Organization and Environment: Managing Differentiation and Integration” and a series of papers which advance an open systems perspective on organizations. The contingency school postulates that there is not one best way to structure work or an organization. An optimum course of action depends – is contingent – on the external and local conditions in which an organization is inserted.

15: Doing Interesting Research with Jorgen Sandberg LIVE

August 9, 2016 Dmitrijs Kravcenko
What is it about research that makes it interesting? Or, rather, at which point does a study become interesting? We invited Mats Alvesson to discuss his 2013 book - Constructing Research Questions: Doing interesting research (co-authored with Jorgen Sandberg) who proposes that the focal point of what contributes to something being interesting is found way before any results or implications. The focal point of what makes a research interesting has to do with the assumptions that go into the design of that research. 

14: Simply Managing, by Henry Mintzberg

August 2, 2016 Dmitrijs Kravcenko 0:11:18
The book we analyzed in this episode, Simply Managing (2013), is an updated study of managers conducted by Henry Mintzberg based on observing 29 managers at all levels of organizations across a range of industries and organizational structures: business, government, healthcare, and pluralistic organizations such as museums and non-governmental organizations.

13: Banana Time – Donald Roy

July 5, 2016 Dmitrijs Kravcenko 0:09:57
One of the most famous ethnographic works, Banana Time: Job Satisfaction and Informal Interaction describes Donald F. Roy's experience of working as a drill press operator (as in the picture on this page) for two months. Set against the backdrop of Taylor-inspired Scientific Management, the paper provides a thick description of the setting, the tools of work and, most importantly, behaviour and dynamics of the group of workers whom Roy was assigned to work with.

12: On the Value of Conferences — Emma Bell and Paul Duguid LIVE

June 7, 2016 Dmitrijs Kravcenko
Dmitrijs and Ralph are joined by Professors Paul Duguid and Emma Bell to talk about the value and form of conferences in promoting, disseminating and facilitating knowledge. The four of us shared some personal conference-attending experiences, considered the current format and emergent alternatives, and pondered on the nature of knowledge as such.

11: Culture and High Reliability – Bierly and Spender

May 31, 2016 Dmitrijs Kravcenko 0:13:15
We discuss Culture and High Reliability Organizing (HRO). While not universally known within management and organization studies, High Reliability is concerned with formal structure and process, as well as informal commitment, motivation and trust. HRO describes a subset of hazardous organizations that enjoy a high level of safety over long periods of time. What distinguishes types of high-risk systems is the source of risk, whether it is the technical or social factors that the system must control or whether the environment, itself, constantly changes.

10: Twelve Angry Men (1957) – Directed by Sidney Lumet

May 10, 2016 Dmitrijs Kravcenko 0:10:25
12 Angry Men, directed by Sidney Lumet, is one of the major milestones of film history. It dates back to 1957 and tells the story of a jury, the twelve angry men of the title, and how they decide on the innocence or guilt of a young boy accused of murder. The entire film takes place in the jury room, with the exception of a few scenes, namely those in the courthouse and in the bathroom. We use this story as a lens to discuss themes in organizational theory such as decision making and consensus building among groups.

9: Hawthorne Studies – Elton Mayo

April 19, 2016 Dmitrijs Kravcenko 0:09:41
The Hawthorne studies take their name from the Hawthorne works, a factory near Chicago which belonged to Western Electric. Even though these studies are traditionally solely associated with Mayo’s name, most of the experimental work was carried out by Fritz Roethlisberger (his graduate assistant) and William Dickson (head of the department of employee relations at Western Electric). The experiments took place between 1924 and 1932 and were commissioned because the company wanted to understand which was the optimal level of lighting to increase workers’ productivity. Mayo’s work "The Social problems of an Industrial Civilization" (1945) is the text we are reading for this episode. In this book, Mayo reports on a number of his research projects – including the studies in the Textile Mill in Philadelphia and the Hawthorne Studies previously mentioned – and provides an ambitious social commentary on industrial society.