Issue no.2, March 2007
The Temporal Sensitivity of Enforced Accelerated Work Pace: A grounded theory building approach...
Graham John James Kenealy, BA (Hons), Ph.D. Candidate & Susan Cartwright, Ph.D., MSc., BA, CPsychol Abstract This research explores how a large national UK government organisation copes with radical structural change over time and provides an insight into the temporal effects of ‘Enforced Accelerated Work Pace’ on behaviour and receptivity within an organisational context. The stages of ‘Acceptance’, ‘Reaction’ and ‘Withdrawal’ capture the essence of the ‘Coping Reflex Actions relating to Enforced Accelerated Work Pace’, all sensitive to the effects of time. ‘Temporal Sensitivity’; the duration of the changes to work patterns played a large part in the behavioural responses. The underlying logic of this research is grounded theory building, a general method that works well with qualitative data collection approaches and involves inducting insights from field based, case data (Glaser, 1998). A methodology discovered and developed by Glaser and Strauss (1967), negating all others. Keywords: Organisational Change, Organisational Behaviour, Accelerated Work Pace, Change Fatigue. Introduction Change justification and content are well researched, well rehearsed and very well accepted but the temporal and situational aspects of change have largely been ignored by the researchers of the past. Furthermore, there is a distinct absence of strong social science theorising about change receptivity linked to the pace and rate of change, a view well documented by Pettigrew et al., (2001). Whilst the nature of organisational change has generally been acknowledged as dynamic, empirical studies have approached it largely in a static way. Researchers have frequently used comparative cross-sectional ‘snap-shot’ methods to understand organisational change. Even when granularity of time scales are introduced where different time frames reveal different things, change itself remains conceptualised as static and the same cross sectional ‘snap-shot’ method employed. In simple terms, change has been conceptualised in terms of structure rather than action; the emphasis has been on ‘change’ rather than ‘changing’ (Weick and Quinn, 1999; Amis et al., 2004). More recent research has also identified the lack of temporal sensitivity of past research into organisational change dynamics and has concluded that in complete contrast to the single snapshot methods historically adopted by researchers that temporality is an essential integral feature of organisational behaviour and as such should not be treated implicitly (Avital, 2000; Pettigrew et al., 2001). Pacing and receptivity are analytically interdependent and alignable (Pettigrew et al., 2001) and there is no doubt that research into the pace of organisational change is important to revealing more about the dynamics of radical change programmes and that there is an obvious shortage of empirical research in this area with obvious gaps in the literature as a consequence (Pettigrew et al., 2001; Amis et al., 2004). The Research Setting The subject organisation is The Environment Agency (EA), a UK government organisation responsible for pollution control, regulation and improving the environment. Employing over 11,000 staff with an annual budget of £650 million the EA is spread across eight regions of England and Wales namely: Southern Region, Thames Region, South West Region, Midlands Region, Anglian Region, North West Region, North East Region and Wales. Methodology Grounded theory building was chosen over all other methods because of the project focus, that of looking at rarely explored phenomenon for which extant theory did not appear to be appropriate. In such situations, a grounded theory building approach is more likely to generate novel and accurate insights into the phenomenon under study rather than reliance on either past research or office bound thought experiments (Glaser and Strauss, 1967). The primary instrument of data collection...Reincentivizing Work: A grounded theory of work and sick leave
Hans O. Thulesius, Ph.D. & Birgitta E. Grahn, Ph.D. Abstract Work capacity has a weak correlation to disease concepts, which are insufficient to explain sick leave behavior. With data mainly from Sweden, a welfare state with high sickness absence rates, our aim was to develop an explanatory theory of work and sick leave.We used classic grounded theory for analyzing data from 130 individual interviews of people working or on sick leave, physicians, social security officers, and literature. More than 60,000 words and hundreds of typed and handwritten memos were the basis for the writing up of the theory. In this paper we present a theory of “reincentivizing work”. To understand incentives we define work disability as hurt work drivers or work traps. Work drivers are specified as work capacities + work motivators, monetary and non-monetary. Incentives are recognized when hurt work drivers are assessed and traps identified. Reincentivizing is done by repairing hurt work drivers and releasing from traps. In our theory of reincentivizing work, hurt work drivers and traps are recognized and then repaired and released. The theory may add to social psychological research on work and sickness absence, and possibly inform future changes in sick leave policies. Background The sickness absence rate in Sweden is one of the highest in the world (Ljungqvist & Sargent, 1998). Sweden has generous sick leave policies and strong job protection legislation. There is no upper time limit for sick leave, and a low risk of loosing employment due to sickness absence. Monetary compensation from social security limits the loss of buying power to 0-20% after tax for people with low to average incomes on sick leave (Esser, 2005). A too soft and disincentivizing social security system was a central political issue leading to a shift in Swedish government 2006. In welfare states such as Sweden monetary work motivators are weak as compared to laissez-faire economies such as USA (Rae, 2005) while non-monetary motivators for working such as plight and pride are stronger in welfare states (Johansson & Palme, 2004). Although Swedish sick leave compensation is generous a sick leave trajectory often involves shame and distrust. Against this background common disease concepts are inadequate to explain sick leave behavior since work capacity alone shows little correlation to disease severity (Melamed, Groswasser& Stern, 1992; Riegel, 199; Englund, 2000). Therefore our aim of this study was to generate an explanatory theory of work and sick leave. Methods Data collection started in 2003. We did 22 formal and 40 informal interviews with people working and on sick leave, informal interviews with 30 Swedish health care professionals (physicians and nurses), and formal interviews and focus group interviews with 6 employees of the Swedish social insurance agency (Försäkringskassan, FK). We did secondary analysis of taped and transcribed formal interviews with 20 participants in a Swedish rehabilitation study (Grahn, Stigmar & Ekdahl, 1999; Grahn, Borgquist & Ekdahl, 2004) and 12 American employees of a public transportation company (Potts, 2005). We examined data from expert group meetings, conferences, and literature data as well as quantitative data on sick leave in a cohort of 196 people. Participation by the first author in international grounded theory workshops 2003-2006 was a source of both interview data and memos. We did classic grounded theory (GT) analysis according to Glaser (Glaser, 1978, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2005) aiming at generating conceptual theories that are abstract of time, place and people. Classic GT differs from most studies using qualitative data that often are presented as GT...Creative Cycling of News Professionals
Astrid Gynnild, Ph.D. Abstract The theory of creative cycling emerged from my PhD study of news professionals in Norway. The study was carried out according to classic grounded theory principles (Glaser and Strauss 1967, Glaser 1978, 1998, 2001, 2005), and the area of interest was the performance of news journalism in the multimedia age. The theory runs counter to widespread tendencies of industrial age thinking in news media. It emphasizes news professionals’ search for meaning in their daily work, and suggests that their main concern is self-fulfillment through original contribution. The dilemma and resolution, creative cycling, is a basic social process continuously going within inner and outer framings. It consists of three interrelated dimensions: productive processing, breaks and shifts and inspirational looping. Key words: multimedia, news journalism, productive processing, inspirational looping, knowledge workers, selfmonitoring. Introduction News reporters worldwide are facing the most extensive changes in media history. Digitalization and global networks have provided new options for instant news dissemination, and many news reporters are seeking to establish new work practices and exploring means of orientation and adjustment across publishing platforms. Multitasking, instant publishing and staff reductions require skill crossovers and new work approaches. Being a news reporter and a manager for many years myself, I was quite curious about news journalists as shapers of new knowledge in the multimedia age. In my own career, I frequently experienced that many aspects of daily news production are taken for granted and as such, they tend not to be identified or conceptualized. News production is still an underresearched field. By studying news reporters I also hoped to get in touch with tendencies in the job market that might apply to other groups of knowledge workers. To the extent that media organizations can be considered showcases for upcoming business trends, the tendency is clear: Competition in the job market is increasing; individuals tend to be more concerned about losing their jobs, more and more news reporters earn their living as freelancers, and the socio-economic motivation to be a skilful and attractive journalist is stronger than ever due to greater investment and stiff competition between news media. The theory of creative cycling was generated from a grounded theory all-is-data-approach: oral, written, and observational data from a wide array of sources; visits to more than a dozen Norwegian newsrooms including multimedia corporations, newspapers, online newspapers, radio and TV; about 20 qualitative interviews with news reporters; many informal talks with news journalists, face to face and by phone, and data gathered from books, chronicles, magazines, news stories and the web. When referring to individuals I have, for practical reasons, consistently called them “he”. Gender did not appear to be of significant importance to the theory so “he” is simply used as a unisex term. Moreover, the reader will find that the terms news professional, news reporter and journalist are used synonymously. The terms include writers, photographers, managers, graphic artists, producers, designers, copy editors and editors, in practice all professionals involved in daily news making. The Theory of Creative Cycling The main concern of news reporters is self-fulfilment through original contribution. Their aspiration is the development and realization of talents and capabilities through professional journalistic work. The main concern is resolved through creative cycling, which is a cyclic social process simultaneously going on at psychological and structural levels. Creative cycling is the opportunity and basic need for moving in and out, back and forth within and between inner and outer framings in such a way that individual...Rehumanising Knowledge Work through Fluctuating Support Networks: A grounded theory...
Judith A. Holton, Ph.D. Abstract Through the basic social structural process of fluctuating support networks, knowledge workers self-organise to overcome the dehumanising impact of a rapidly changing workplace context. Such networks operate outside the formal organisation. They are epiphenomenal – self-emerging, self-organising, and selfsustaining. Participation is voluntary and intuitive. The growth of fluctuating support networks facilitates a rehumanising process which serves to counterbalance the dehumanisation that knowledge workers experience in the face of persistent and unpredictable change. The core variable of the theory, the basic social psychological process of rehumanising, is characterised by authenticity, depth and meaning, recognition and respect, safety and healing and kindred sharing. Rehumanising gives meaning to work while sustaining energy and commitment. Fluctuating support network relationships offer members validation and subtle support. Members pursue shared interests and passions. Activities are characterised by challenge, experimentation, creativity and learning. The resultant sense of achievement renews energy and builds confidence, enhancing commitment and bonding thereby sustaining network engagement. Social Structural Conditions Precipitating Network Engagement Today’s knowledge workplace is increasingly characterised by complexity, compression and intensification; the result of continuous and often rapid change (Foley, 2002) and where perhaps the only thing constant is change. Even the largest and most successful organisations may unexpectedly encounter a “zone of turbulence” (Pascale, 1994 in Kirkbride & Durcan, 2002). An increasing diffusion of boundaries within and between organisations renders knowledge work highly interdependent. At the same time, careers are largely viewed as “boundaryless” and workers as nomads moving from organisation to organisation, either of choice or of necessity, as their environments continually reconfigure (Drucker, 2002; Pittinsky & Shih, 2004; Sullivan, 1999). Added to this, the compression of time created by communications technologies and increasing workloads has fostered compressed, dehumanised interactions. While there is an increasing recognition that knowledge work is more organic and interconnected, many organisations remain trapped in linear, assembly-line work structures and processes. Coping with the complexity, compression and turbulence of change has raised levels of workplace stress so that it is now a significant factor for many. In particular, the workload intensification so often associated with downsizing leaves line managers little time to focus attention on human resource management issues (MacNeil & Renwick, 2002). Managers describe the immensity of the change underway in organisations as causing many workers to give up and barely function. Motivation and commitment decline. Management in the midst of such change is much less about predicting, planning and controlling and much more about facilitating and coaching performance. The dynamics involved in coping with change inevitably generate resistance (Bovey & Hede, 2001; Galt, 2002). Knowledge workers respond in various ways. Entrenchment is a common response as individual workers “silo” their efforts and work in pockets with minimal interaction or movement across the silos, keeping “heads down” and “staying under the radar”. The more people fear the uncertainty of further change, the more they seek to retain the status quo as a means of establishing equilibrium within their environment (Chakravorti, 2004). With sufficient resistance, the work environment becomes staid and segmented, effectively “dumbing down” the organisation and its people. The workplace ossifies. Over time, an aura of pendulous resistance pervades as systems and workers become stagnant and stale. Over time, the syndrome leaves workers less and less open to future change efforts. A cultural resistance to change produces increasingly tentative and qualified responses to subsequent organisational change initiatives. Engagement may be superficial and transient. While recognising that change is needed, workers become risk averse. They lose their...All Is Data
Barney G. Glaser, Ph.D., Hon. Ph.D. ……Although data is plural “is” sounds better All is data” is a well known Glaser dictum. What does it mean? It means that exactly what is going on in the research scene is the data, what ever the source, whether interview, observations, documents. It is not just what is being, how it is being and the conditions of its being told, but all the data surrounding what is being told. It means what is going on has to be figured out exactly what it is for conceptualization, NOT description. Data is always as good as far as it goes, and there is always more to keep correcting the categories with more relevant properties. All is data is a grounded theory statement, not applicable to QDA. Data is discovered for conceptualization to be what it is for a theory. It is discovered by constant comparison which generates a category and properties that vary it. The data is what it is and the researcher collects, codes and analyzes exactly what he has: whether baseline data, properline data, vague data, interpreted data or conceptual data (see “Doing GT”). There is no such thing as bias, or objective or subjective, interpreted or misinterpreted, etc. It is what the researcher is receiving (as a human being, which is inescapable). Data is what the researcher is constantly comparing with tedium, to be sure, as he generates categories and their properties. Remember again, the product will be transcending abstraction, NOT accurate description. While the QDA researcher may be disappointed with what he is collecting, the GT researcher’s job is to analyze its components, its type of data, and take a conceptual perspective on it. Good as far as it goes means the GT researcher is always doing a perspective on a perspective (data) with the goal of generating a theory that resolves continually a main concern, which, as I have said many times, accounts for the main action in a substantive area. For the GT researcher the world is totally empirical. As he collects data his job is to deal with exactly what is happening, not what he would want to happen, not what his own interest would wish the data to be. The data is not “truth” it is not “reality”. It is exactly what is happening. The GT researcher has to be oriented to each course of action having its own meaning. To be sure it does. And once the GT researcher lets this meaning emerge and sees the pattern, he/she will feel “sure” that this is what is going on. This sureness can not be known beforehand. It emerges conceptually through constant comparison. That the data may not be reality or the truth, should not disturb the GT researcher. He should keep in mind that, after all, socially structured, vested fictions run the world, accurate descriptions run a poor second. Thus data is what is occurring, it is socially produced and it is up to the GT researcher to figure it out, BECAUSE the participants are doing it, talking it, using it, think it, are it, respond to it, offer it and so forth. It is going on right in front of the GT researcher! For example, treating talk (an interview) as data comprises not just what was said, but that the talk was given, in a certain way, in a certain context, with a certain endurance, in a culture, with talk story attached etc., etc. The...