Supply Chains and Porous Boundaries: The Disaggregation of Legal Services

The economic downturn has had significant effects on law firms, and is causing many of them to rethink some basic assumptions about how they operate. In important respects, however, the downturn has simply intensified the effects of some deeper trends that preceded it, which are likely to continue after any recovery that may occur. This paper explores one of these trends, which is corporate client insistence that law firms “disaggregate” their services into discrete tasks that can be delegated to the least costly providers who can perform them. With advances in communications technology, there is increasing likelihood that some of these persons may be located outside the formal boundaries of the firm. This means that law firms may need increasingly to confront the make or buy decision that their corporate clients have regularly confronted for some time. The potential for vertical disintegration is a relatively recent development for legal services, but is well-established in other sectors of the global economy. Empirical work in several disciplines has identified a number of issues that arise for organizations as the make or buy decision becomes a potentially more salient feature of their operations. Much of this work has focused in particular on the implications of relying on outsourcing as an integral part of the production process. This paper discusses research on: (1) the challenges of ensuring that work performed outside the firm is fully integrated into the production process; (2) coordinating projects for which networks of organizations are responsible; (3) managing the transfer of knowledge inside and outside of firms that are participants in a supply chain; and (4) addressing the impact of using contingent workers on an organization’s workforce, structure, and culture. A review of this research suggests considerations that law firms will need to assess if they begin significantly to extend the process of providing services beyond their formal boundaries. Discussing the research also is intended to introduce concepts that may become increasingly relevant to law firms, but which currently are not commonly used to analyze their operations. Considering how these concepts are applicable to law firms may prompt us to rethink how to conceptualize these firms and what they do. This paper therefore is a preliminary attempt to explore: (1) the extent to which law firms may come to resemble the vertically disintegrated organizations that populate many other economic sectors and (2) the potential implications of this trend for the provision of legal services,the trajectory of legal careers, and lawyers’ sense of themselves as members of a distinct profession

MAXIMIZING THE PERFORMANCE AND JOB-RELATED BEHAVIORS OF CONTRACT AND PERMANENT IT WORKERS

As the use of contracting for Information Technology (IT) services steadily in- creases, IT managers are challenged with reconciling the need for flexibility achieved through the use of contract workers, with the need to understand the factors that maximize the performance and behaviors of contract and permanent IT workers. While several research studies have focused on motivation factors, they have focused either on environment factors such as jobs, or individual factors such as the need for challenge, versus focusing on both environment and individual factors as joint determinants. Also, studies that have examined motivation factors of contract work- ers, lack a comparison to permanent workers. To bridge these gaps, this dissertation develops a model that compares not only the job characteristics experienced (environ- ment factor) by contract and permanent IT workers, but also the job characteristics expected and preferred (individual factors) by contract and permanent IT workers. Further, it applies a complementary needs-supplies perspective of Person-Job Fit The- ory to predict the effect of the expected-experienced job characteristics fit and the preferred-experienced job characteristics fit on the performance and behaviors of con- tract and permanent IT workers. A partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLSSEM) approach is utilized to test the effect of fit. The study sheds new light on Person-Job Fit and its ability to affect the performance and behaviors of contract and permanent IT workers, while avoiding the methodological limitations of prior studies in this area

Job Satisfaction in Agile Development Teams: Agile Development as Work Redesign

Agile software-development advocates claim that an important value proposition of agile methods is that they make people more motivated and satisfied with their jobs. While several studies present anecdotal evidence that agile methods increase motivation and satisfaction, research has not theoretically explained or empirically examined how agile development practices relate to team members’ feelings about their work. Drawing on the management and software-development literature, we articulate a model of job design that connects agile development practices to perceptions of job characteristics and, thereby, improve agile team members’ job satisfaction. Using data collected from 252 software-development professionals, we tested the model and found a positive relationship between agile project-management and software-development practices and employees’ perceptions of job characteristics. Further, we found direct effects between agile development-practice use and job satisfaction. Finally, we found interaction effects between the use of agile project-management and software-development approaches and the perception of job autonomy. With this study, we contribute to the literature by theoretically explaining and directly evaluating agile development practices’ impact on individuals’ perceptions about their job characteristics and on their job satisfaction

The Unequal Incidence of Non-Standard Employment across Occupational Groups: An Empirical Analysis of Post-Industrial Labour Markets in Germany and Europe

The paper addresses an often neglected question in labour market research: to which extent do outcomes aggregated on the national level disguise occupational diversity in employment conditions? In particular, how and why do occupational groups differ with regard to the incidence of non-standard employment? To explore these questions, the paper derives a detailed occupational scheme from the literature, capturing the variety of labour market outcomes within countries. In a second step, the scheme is theoretically linked to the topic of non-standard work. It is argued that different degrees of skill specificity across occupational groups produce diverging incentives for flexible and long-term employment, respectively. This leads to the expectation of (some) service-sector occupations showing stronger tendencies towards non-standard employment than those in the industrial sector. Based on European and German micro data, the categorisation is used to decompose various labour market indicators. The results clearly demonstrate the unequal incidence of non-standard employment along the lines of the suggested categorisation. Moreover, the longitudinal perspective suggests that traditionally functioning occupational groups will be crowded out by more destandardised ones.temporary employment, low-pay, labour market dualisation, occupational groups, post-industrial labour markets, Germany

The role of worker tenure and employment heterogeneity on software development work activities

Software development group effectiveness depends on many factors, and understanding those factors is vital to project success, especially when considering the time and money that is dedicated to said projects.  Therefore, this study examines the role of worker tenure and employment heterogeneity on exploration and exploitation work completed within an organization’s software development group.  Analysis of time tracking data within one financial services organization over a three years period demonstrates that worker tenure and employment heterogeneity do play an important role in shaping work activities.  Worker tenure exhibited a negative relationship with exploration and exploitation activities, suggesting a critical mechanism through which an organization can elicit innovative and incremental development efforts.  Further, the positive effect of employment heterogeneity on exploration and exploitation suggests that employment diversity can also provide a means to encourage innovative and incremental development activities.  Findings highlight the notion that group composition plays a meaningful role in shaping the focus of software development work within an organization

Understanding the Careers of IT Freelancers on Digital Labor Platforms

Online freelancing as an alternative working form increasingly gains prominence in research and practice. Here, independent workers offer services on digital labor platforms. While the general understanding of this form of work increases, IT work performed in this form is not fully understood. Especially the collaborative nature of IT work and the high, rapidly changing skill level required, affects the career development of IT freelancers. Therefore, this study aims to understand how the careers of IT freelancers evolve. To answer our research question, we conduct an exploratory analysis of twelve IT freelancers on a digital labor platform. We develop an IT freelancing career process model. Furthermore, we outline advancement and decline mechanisms and different exit options from the digital labor platform. We also illustrate the role of IT freelancer teams. Our findings thus contribute to the body of knowledge on IT work and alternative work forms on digital labor platforms

Bridging the Security Gap between Software Developers and Penetration Testers: A Job Characteristic Theory Perspective

Building on Job Characteristics Theory (JCT), this article suggests that job characteristics differ between software developers and penetration testers; and subsequently, this generates different levels of job motivation related to information security protection between these groups. This study proposes a research model based on JCT to examine the differences in job motivation between software developers and penetration testers. Insights gained from the research model can be used to: (1) bridge the security gap between software development and penetration testing for alleviating software vulnerabilities and (2) propose viable suggestions to promote mutual understanding between both professional groups for improving software security. Moving beyond the propositions offered by the research model, this study will design and build a laboratory experiment to capture the actual behaviors related to job motivation

Multi-factor motivation model in software engineering environments

In software engineering environments, motivation has become an imperative tool for increasing the productivity and creativity levels of projects. The aim of this research is to develop a validated conceptual multifactor and motivating model that represents the interaction between the organisational, occupational and interpersonal factors in software engineering environments. However, the application of well-known motivation tools cannot guarantee high motivational levels among the members of software engineering teams. Therefore, several phenomena have been monitored and empirically tested related to the daily practices in the software engineering industry. Reviewing the literature on motivation in software engineering uncovered a list of influential factors that could motivate individuals in the workplace. These factors have been suggested as being grouped into three categories (interpersonal, occupational and organisational). The literature review stage was followed by a preliminary study to discuss and validate these factors in greater detail by interviewing eight experts drawn from the software engineering industry. The preliminary study provided this research with an initial conceptual model that could broaden the understanding of the recent state of motivation in software engineering environments. The initial model was validated and expanded by conducting two types of research (quantitative and qualitative) based on the type of information gleaned. Accordingly, 208 experienced software engineers and members of teams in the software development industry were involved in this research. The results from this research revealed a statistically significant interaction between factors from different categories (interpersonal, occupational and organisational). This interaction has helped in developing an updated new model of motivation in software engineering. In addition, the application of motivation theories in software engineering could be affected by some work-related factors. These factors were found in this research to be member role, contract types, age, organisational structure and citizenship status. Thus, all these factors have been given a high consideration when designing rewards systems in software engineering

The Changing Workplace: A Survey of Employees’ Views and Experiences. The National Workplace Surveys 2009, Vol.2 Employees

Abstract included in text

More and Better Jobs in Home-Care Services

[Excerpt] This study examines recruitment and retention measures in community-based care and support services for adults with disabilities and health problems. It focuses on 10 EU Member States: Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom. It examines 30 case studies from these countries, analysing initiatives that were successful either in creating more jobs in the provision of health and social care for adults in the community or in improving the quality of jobs, with the aim of both attracting new recruits and retaining existing staff