7,211 research outputs found

    Industry Platforms: A New Mode of Coordination in the Economy

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    This discussion paper is a plea for an urgently needed shift in perspective: from the concentration of social science research on the ubiquitous platforms of the consumption- and communication-based internet to the investigation of the platform-oriented reorganization of industrial distribution, production and innovation processes, which has so far received far less attention. The paper focuses on two questions. Firstly, what distinguishes industrial platforms from the platforms that characterize the consumption- and- communication-based internet? Can typical peculiarities and overarching characteristics of platform-based forms of work and organization in industry be identified? And secondly, do platforms represent an independent form of organization and coordination of industrial market, production and innovation processes that is substantially different from organized networks? The paper undertakes an empirical mapping and classification of the little explored field of industrial platforms and discusses from a theoretical-conceptual perspective why platforms should be conceived of as a sui generis form of organization whose dominant mode of coordination can be described as rule-based curation

    LIPIcs, Volume 251, ITCS 2023, Complete Volume

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    LIPIcs, Volume 251, ITCS 2023, Complete Volum

    UNPUBLISHING THE NEWS: AN ASSESSMENT OF U.S. PUBLIC OPINION, NEWSROOM ACCOUNTABILITY, AND JOURNALISTS’ AUTHORITY AS “THE FIRST DRAFT OF HISTORY”

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    Unpublishing, or the manipulation, deindexing, or removal of published content on a news organization’s website, is a hotly debated issue in the news industry that disrupts fundamental beliefs about the nature of news and the roles of journalists. This dissertation’s premise is that unpublishing as a phenomenon challenges the authority of journalism as “the first draft of history,” questions the assumed relevance of traditional norms, and creates an opportunity to reconsider how news organizations demonstrate their accountability to the public. The study identifies public opinions related to unpublishing practices and approval of related journalistic norms through a public opinion survey of 1,350 U.S. adults. In tandem, a qualitative analysis of 62 editorial policies related to unpublishing offers the first inventory and assessment of emerging journalistic practices and the normative values journalists demonstrate through them. These contributions are valuable to both the academy and the news industry, as they identify a path forward for future research and provide desired guidance to U.S. news organizations. Findings suggest that in response to the unpublishing phenomenon, American journalists defend their professionalism primarily through the traditional professional paradigm of accuracy, invoking it to legitimize new guidelines whether those policies permitted or denounced unpublishing as a newsroom practice. Findings also show newsrooms are pledging increased levels of accountability to their communities and society at large, but how they might demonstrate that accountability more tactically was absent from policy discourse. In addition, both American adults and news organizations place a high value on the accuracy of previously published news content, yet the groups’ temporal conceptions of accuracy must be reconciled. Ultimately, the unpublishing phenomenon presents an opportunity for journalists to redefine their notions of accountability to their communities. Based on these findings, the study concludes with a call for American news organizations to abandon claims as the “first draft of history” in the digital era and assume the role of information custodians, proactively establishing and managing the lifecycle of content.Doctor of Philosoph

    Effects of municipal smoke-free ordinances on secondhand smoke exposure in the Republic of Korea

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    ObjectiveTo reduce premature deaths due to secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure among non-smokers, the Republic of Korea (ROK) adopted changes to the National Health Promotion Act, which allowed local governments to enact municipal ordinances to strengthen their authority to designate smoke-free areas and levy penalty fines. In this study, we examined national trends in SHS exposure after the introduction of these municipal ordinances at the city level in 2010.MethodsWe used interrupted time series analysis to assess whether the trends of SHS exposure in the workplace and at home, and the primary cigarette smoking rate changed following the policy adjustment in the national legislation in ROK. Population-standardized data for selected variables were retrieved from a nationally representative survey dataset and used to study the policy action’s effectiveness.ResultsFollowing the change in the legislation, SHS exposure in the workplace reversed course from an increasing (18% per year) trend prior to the introduction of these smoke-free ordinances to a decreasing (−10% per year) trend after adoption and enforcement of these laws (β2 = 0.18, p-value = 0.07; β3 = −0.10, p-value = 0.02). SHS exposure at home (β2 = 0.10, p-value = 0.09; β3 = −0.03, p-value = 0.14) and the primary cigarette smoking rate (β2 = 0.03, p-value = 0.10; β3 = 0.008, p-value = 0.15) showed no significant changes in the sampled period. Although analyses stratified by sex showed that the allowance of municipal ordinances resulted in reduced SHS exposure in the workplace for both males and females, they did not affect the primary cigarette smoking rate as much, especially among females.ConclusionStrengthening the role of local governments by giving them the authority to enact and enforce penalties on SHS exposure violation helped ROK to reduce SHS exposure in the workplace. However, smoking behaviors and related activities seemed to shift to less restrictive areas such as on the streets and in apartment hallways, negating some of the effects due to these ordinances. Future studies should investigate how smoke-free policies beyond public places can further reduce the SHS exposure in ROK

    Boundary Spanner Corruption in Business Relationships

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    Boundary spanner corruption—voluntary collaborative behaviour between individuals representing different organisations that violates their organisations’ norms—is a serious problem in business relationships. Drawing on insights from the literatures on general corruption perspectives, the dark side of business relationships and deviance in sales and service organisations, this dissertation identifies boundary spanner corruption as a potential dark side complication inherent in close business relationships It builds research questions from these literature streams and proposes a research structure based upon commonly used methods in corruption research to address this new concept. In the first study, using an exploratory survey of boundary spanner practitioners, the dissertation finds that the nature of boundary spanner corruption is broad and encompasses severe and non-severe types. The survey also finds that these deviance types are prevalent in a widespread of geographies and industries. This prevalence is particularly noticeable for less-severe corruption types, which may be an under-researched phenomenon in general corruption research. The consequences of boundary spanner corruption can be serious for both individuals and organisations. Indeed, even less-severe types can generate long-term negative consequences. A second interview-based study found that multi-level trust factors could also motivate the emergence of boundary spanner corruption. This was integrated into a theoretical model that illustrates how trust at the interpersonal, intraorganisational, and interorganisational levels enables corrupt behaviours by allowing deviance-inducing factors stemming from the task environment or from the individual boundary spanner to manifest in boundary spanner corruption. Interpersonal trust between representatives of different organisations, interorganisational trust between these organisations, and intraorganisational agency trust of management in their representatives foster the development of a boundary-spanning social cocoon—a mechanism that can inculcate deviant norms leading to corrupt behaviour. This conceptualisation and model of boundary spanner corruption highlights intriguing directions for future research to support practitioners engaged in a difficult problem in business relationships

    Breastfeeding, motherhood and employment: the experience of breastfeeding mothers returning to work in Qatar

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    Participation of women in employment in Qatar has increased significantly over the past 10 years, from 12.4% in 2011 to 37% in 2020, with 64.1% of working women also being married (Planning and Statistics Authority, Qatar). Their professional commitments notwithstanding, most of these women are also mothers, with many breastfeeding. The Quran demands that mothers breastfeed their children for the first two years of their lives. This thesis explores this tension between a rapid increase in mothers entering the labour market, and the specific historic, cultural and religious expectations upon mothers in Qatar, which create challenges for mothers, employers and policy makers that are different from those of working mothers in the Global North and need further consideration. This thesis employed a qualitative research methodology in which a total of 50 breastfeeding, professional, working mothers in the public and private sectors of Qatar were interviewed. The thesis adopts a multifaceted theoretical framing. First, matricentric feminism (O’Reilly, 2016) and Hay’s concept of intensive mothering are considered in terms of their applicability, and expanded upon in seeking to make sense of the tensions and challenges the women experienced as they returned to work following birth and a relatively short maternity leave of only 50 and 60 days, in the private and public sectors respectively, within this particular context in the Global South. Second, the theory of the gendered institution, as proposed by Acker in 1990, posits that breastfeeding mothers cannot embody the ‘ideal worker’ construct due to considerations such as the roles they can handle, interpersonal interactions, self-efficacy, and culture. Third, under maternal bodies at work theory by Gatrell, Cooper and Kossek's (2017), breastfeeding mothers are perceived as social pollutants. According to this theory, women's experiences are influenced by the perspective that maternal bodies belong in the private sphere and that their presence in the workplace is repugnant to other workers. Finally, the experiences of breastfeeding women are analysed from the perspective of their embeddedness in multiple layers of contexts, in line with the theorisation of Lewis and Den Dulk (2008). There are four layers of contexts taken into account the global, national/regional and institutional layers. Under this theoretical position, the thesis appreciates the reality that different factors interact to produce magnified or suppressed effects. Through the lens of this multifaceted theoretical framework, the findings from the interviews are analysed through thematic analysis.This thesis therefore significantly contributes to the literature on working mothers through its location in an Islamic country, and through its orientation and exploration of the significance of the religious context at the intersection of gender and employment in particular, which remains underexplored. The findings show how the mothers’ return to work is complicated by the ways in which employment policies on pregnancy, maternity and breastfeeding are not aligned with Islamic doctrine on what is expected of women seeking to conform to ideas of being a ‘good Muslim mother’ In line with matricentric feminism, the findings show that Qatari women have displayed increased propensity to seek opportunities under professional employment as a way of advancing their interests as women and mothers, while also taking care of their families. The participation of women in the workplace has magnified the effects of intensive mothering, whereby women are expected to pursue professional acheivements in the workplace, while also being a good mother in accordance with the guidelines by Islam. These guidelines impose two years breastfeeding period after the birth of a baby, in addition to other domestic responsibilities. However, the novel work-related responsibilities have made fulfilling this mandate challenging for these women. The limitations arise from circumstances that can be explained through elements of the gendered organisation since most workplaces are not set up to facilitate breastfeeding. Similarly, women are found not to fit the ‘ideal worker’ image, thus limiting the extent to which they can exercise agency. It is also apparent from the resrach findings that the maternal body of the Qatari breastfeeding women in the study is perceived as a pollutant and repugnant in most workplaces and public spaces. While providing breastfeeding facilities in the workplace and accommodating breastfeeding activities could solve some of these challenges, most of the workplaces where the women interviewed work have not taken such measures. Finally, there is evidence that most breastfeeding mothers' experiences can be linked to multiple factors based on layers of contexts, starting with the global, national/regional and finally at the institutional level. The effects of the failure by Qatar to ratify the Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No. 183) has played a role in subsequent actions such as the provision of insufficient leave days. Furthermore, institutions have not been mandated to accommodate the interests of breastfeeding mothers by providing the necessary facilities, such as private rooms for breastfeeding or for the expression of milk. These circumstances function to cause and magnify the challenges that breastfeeding mothers experience in practice upon their return to work. It also highlights the different ways they sought to overcome these challenges. It highlights how women in Qatar find themselves in a situation in which they are compelled to adhere to religious guidelines and organisational policies that are in conflict with each other. The implications of these findings for theory, policy and practice are explored from a feminist perspective in the final discussion and conclusion. The proposal for policy changes focus on adjustments to the limited maternal leave days to provide breastfeeding mothers with more time to take care of the infant. Changes to Human Rresources policies in the workplace such as job-sharing can also provide stop-gap measures to accommodate the interests of breastfeeding mothers. For practice, it is necessary for a multi-stakeholders and multi-sector approach to developing solutions to the challenges that contribute to the negative experiences of Qatari mothers who breastfeed at work

    Frivolous Floodgate Fears

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    When rejecting plaintiff-friendly liability standards, courts often cite a fear of opening the floodgates of litigation. Namely, courts point to either a desire to protect the docket of federal courts or a burden on the executive branch. But there is little empirical evidence exploring whether the adoption of a stricter standard can, in fact, decrease the filing of legal claims in this circumstance. This Article empirically analyzes and theoretically models the effect of adopting arguably stricter liability standards on litigation by investigating the context of one of the Supreme Court’s most recent reliances on this argument when adopting a stricter liability standard for causation in employment discrimination claims. In 2013, the Supreme Court held that a plaintiff proving retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act must prove that their participation in a protected activity was a but-for cause of the adverse employment action they experienced. Rejecting the arguably more plaintiff-friendly motivating-factor standard, the Court stated, “[L]essening the causation standard could also contribute to the filing of frivolous claims, which would siphon resources from efforts by employer[s], administrative agencies, and courts to combat workplace harassment.” Univ. of Tex. Sw. Med. Ctr. v. Nassar, 570 U.S. 338, 358 (2013). And over the past ten years, the Court has overturned the application of motivating-factor causation as applied to at least four different federal antidiscrimination statutes. Contrary to the Supreme Court’s concern that motivating-factor causation encourages frivolous charges, many employment law scholars worry that the heightened but-for standard will deter legitimate claims. This Article empirically explores these concerns, in part using data received from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Specifically, it empirically tests whether the adoption of the but-for causation standard for claims filed under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and by federal courts of appeals under the Americans with Disabilities Act has impacted the filing of discrimination claims and the outcome of those claims in federal court. Consistent with theory detailed in this Article, the empirical analysis provides evidence that the stricter standard may have increased the docket of the federal courts by decreasing settlement within the EEOC and during litigation. The empirical results weigh in on concerns surrounding the adoption of the but-for causation standard and provide evidence that the floodgates argument, when relied on to deter frivolous filings by changing liability standards, in fact, may do just the opposite by decreasing the likelihood of settlement in the short term, without impacting the filing of claims or other case outcomes
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