Making qualitative research accessible and acceptable in the scientific management arena: a life-world perspective

Western organizational culture, in part founded on the scientific management (Taylorist) techniques employed by Henry Ford, tends to emphasize the capture and control of explicit forms of knowledge, and technological advancement has encouraged this tendency. This is apparent within hegemonic business practices (e.g. ITIL IT Service Management processes) which emphasize quantitative data collection. In contrast, managers are often frustrated by an inability to take control of tacit forms of knowledge, embodied within the worker and acknowledged as important for organizational success, yet resistant to effective quantitative data collection. As a business school researcher I was faced with the challenge of deciding upon a research method that would enable my interpretations to be both credible within the academic community and accessible and acceptable within the IT Service Management practitioner community. By close observation of specific work activity as it is experienced by the IT support worker, recording as much data as possible relating to the cerebral and sensory experience of the worker, the research attempts to draw diagrammatic patterns that provide some clarity for managers over the forms of knowledge that are used by a worker or team. The paper reflexively considers this qualitative research from the different life-world perspectives of the researcher-perceived academic and practitioner recipients of the research, seeking credibility, accessibility and acceptability across these life-worlds whilst maintaining researcher integrity

A very modern professional: the case of the IT service support worker

The IT profession has retained a reputation as a ‘privileged area of the labour market’ (Webster, 2005, p.4; Bannerji, 2011). Workers practicing IT skills have been at the forefront of the competitive drive for innovation and efficiency gains promoted by a neoliberal enterprise ideology (Blackler et al, 2003). In the last two decades, as systems thinking (e.g. Ackoff, 1999) and customer-centric practices (e.g. Levitt, 2006) have converged in a globally powerful IT service management (ITSM) ‘best practice’ discourse (Trusson et al, 2013), the IT service support worker has emerged to be a worker-type of considerable socio-economic importance. Aside from keeping organizational information systems operative, when such systems fail these workers are called upon to rapidly restore the systems and thus head-off any negative commercial or political consequences. Yet these workers are acknowledged only as objectified resources within the ITSM ‘best practice’ literature (e.g. Taylor, Iqbal and Nieves, 2007) and largely overlooked as a distinctive contemporary worker-type within academic discourse. This paper, through analysis of salary data and qualitative data collected for a multiple case study research project, considers the extent to which these workers might be conceived of as being ‘professionals’. The project approached the conceptual study of these workers through three lenses. This paper focuses on the project’s consideration of them as rationalised information systems assets within ‘best practice’ ITSM theory. It also draws upon our considerations of them as knowledge workers and service workers. We firstly situate the IT service support worker within a broader model of IT workers comprising four overlapping groupings: managers, developers, technical specialists and IT service support workers. Three types of IT service support worker are identified: first-line workers who routinely escalate work; second-line workers; and ‘expert’ single-line workers. With reference to close associations made with call centre workers (e.g. Murphy, 2011) the status of IT service support workers is explored through analysis of: (i) salary data taken from the ITJOBSWATCH website; and (ii) observational and interview data collected in the field. From this we challenge the veracity of the notion that the whole occupational field of IT might be termed a profession concurrently with the notion that a profession implies work of high status. Secondly, the paper explores two forces that might be associated with the professionalization of IT as an occupation: (i) rationalisation of the field (here promoted by the British Computer Society); and (ii) formalisation of IT theoretical/vocational education. A tension is identified, with those IT service support workers whose work is least disposed to rationalisation and whose complex ‘stocks of knowledge’ (Schutz, 1953) have been acquired through time-spent practice laying claim to greater IT professional status. Thirdly, consideration is given to individuals’ personal career orientations: occupational, organizational and customer-centric (Kinnie and Swart, 2012). We find that whilst organizations expect IT service support workers to be orientated towards serving the interests of the organization and its clients, the most individualistically professional tend towards being occupationally orientated, enthusiastically (re)developing their skills to counter skills obsolescence in an evolving technological arena (Sennett, 2006)

The Servitization Of The IT Function: Implications For The IT Professional

This development paper notes that IT work has been increasingly subjected to processes associated with ‘servitization’ through managerial frameworks that espouse working practices managed according to principles of scientific rationalisation (specifically but not exclusively, ITIL). This has been (re -)shaping the experience of working as an IT technical professional, and thereby has implications for professional identity. In the following short paper, some of the literature in relation to this matter is discussed (as the basis for a future research project). This paper suggests how managerialism is embedded within the IT servitization discourse and this has implications for de - skilling and loss of professional autonomy

Resigned robots and aspiring artisans: a conceptualisation of the IT service support worker

In the last two decades the IT service support worker has emerged to be a worker-type of considerable socio-economic importance. Such workers are symbolic of the trends towards the importance of information/knowledge and information technology within modern economic/political systems. Such systems, heavily influenced by governmental bodies and business organisations, have aggrandised the use of rationalising customer-centric management techniques. And yet such symbolic workers are largely hidden and unacknowledged as a specific type of worker in the business literature. This thesis represents an attempt to conceptualise the IT service support worker as a worker-type, inducing a conceptual model that identifies three aspects to the worker: information systems worker; knowledge worker and service worker and considers them from each of these perspectives. This qualitative research draws on a rich mix of observational and interview data collected across five UK organisations to produce a narrative that suggests that, for different IT service support workers, those different aspects tend to be variably emphasised within their team roles. The study additionally offers a theoretical conclusion that IT service support workers might reasonably be divided into different classes depending upon not only the design of their team role but also their individual career orientations and the nature of the knowledge they actually use in their work. Four such classes are identified as being of particular significance and these are evocatively named: Resigned Robots ; Constrained Careerists ; Establishment Experts and Aspiring Artisans . Whilst being outside of the scope of this study, it is suggested that this novel typology might also be useful for classifying other worker groupings. The study is intended to be useful for the enhancement of IT service management practice and makes several contributions in this regard. These include the need for managers to recognise the importance of experientially-acquired knowledge for efficiency in IT service support work and a suggestion that managers might tailor HRM practices for different classes of worker

‘Shinu Shika Nai’ – ‘There is Nothing to Do but to Die’: Contextualising the Rising Young Female Suicide Rate in Japan

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the suicide rate for the 18-39 age cohort of Japanese women has been drastically subverting a long period of prior sustained decline. This work is an anthropological study of social conditions contributing to a social zeitgeist in which these young women are taking their own lives, as told in survivor and advocate testimonies. It seeks to question the ways ideas around what suicide means in the Japanese cultural context to stakeholders in the suicide process. It further elucidates how these ideas exist, and how they have evolved to be meaningful to young women in contemporary Japan

The role of hair loss in cancer identity: perceptions of chemotherapy-induced alopecia among women treated for early-stage breast cancer or ductal carcinoma in situ

Background: The trauma of chemotherapy-induced alopecia is well documented. However, less is known about how the stereotypical cancer identity affects social interactions. Objective: The aim of this study is to explore women's experiences of hair loss resulting from breast cancer treatment, from a sociological perspective. Methods: Twenty-four women who had been treated for early-stage breast cancer or ductal carcinoma in situ were interviewed. References to hair (loss) were isolated from their narratives. Results: Findings confirm previous research that hair loss can be traumatic. The stigma attached to both having a cancer patient identity and nonconformity with norms of appearance means that women must decide how much to reveal and to whom. An unexpected finding was that distressing experiences were reported by some women who had not lost their hair. Conclusions: Hair is important to identity; therefore, there are implications for social interactions whether women decide to disguise their hair loss or not. There may also be implications for women who do not lose their hair because they fail to conform to the stereotypical appearance of the bald cancer patient. Future research should consider the role of stereotypes in patient experiences. Implications for Practice: Nurses should provide sufficient information and support to prepare patients for the impact on self-perception and social interactions when facing hair loss. Also, patients should be forewarned about the possible implications of not conforming to the cancer stereotype. In addition, greater education among the wider population about the possible side effects of cancer treatments may prevent women feeling stigmatized while already undergoing a stressful experience

Reflexive Self-Identity and Work: Working Women, Biographical Disruption and Agency

The article examines how women workers reflexively shape their self-identities and work identities following a significant biographical disruption incurred by breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. Based on interviews with 22 women navigating their post-diagnosis life course, the article addresses participants’ challenges in their relationships with paid employment, their responses and self-identity narratives. It finds that women strive to revise and innovate their self-identity and work identity in the midst of personal and social constraints in working life. They craft their cancer disruptive experiences into new developments of who they are, and want to be, as persons and as workers. Multiple intersectional features of participants’ work-related self-identity are identified, including reassessment of priorities, capabilities and workplace relations

A mixed-methods study of challenges and benefits of clinical academic careers for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals

Objectives: The clinical academic trajectory for doctors and dentists is well-established, with research embedded in their career development. Recent years have also seen a burgeoning interest and push for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals (NMAHPs) to pursue a clinical academic career. However, the NIHR 10 year review suggested that there may be problems with progression post Master’s degree level for this group, with nurses and midwives receiving less NIHR funding than AHPs. This study responds to these concerns, tracking the progression and exploring experiences of NMAHPs in the East Midlands region of England. Design: An online survey and in-depth interviews were used to capture a wide range of experiences.Participants: 67 NMAHPs who were pursuing a clinical academic career were surveyed, supplemented by 16 semi-structured in-depth interviews.Results: Three themes emerged during data analysis: Embarking on a clinical academic career; overcoming barriers; and benefits.Conclusions: NMAHPs are motivated to pursue a clinical academic career by a drive to improve services for the benefit of patients and the NHS more widely, as well as for personal development and career progression. People working in these roles have opportunities to explore possible solutions to issues that they encounter in their clinical role through academic study. Findings reveal benefits emanating from the individual level through to (inter)national levels, therefore academic study should be encouraged and supported. However, investment is needed to establish more clinical academic roles to enable NMAHPs to continue to utilise their experience and expertise post-PhD, otherwise the full extent of their value will not be recognised

Living with a new normal: women’s experiences following treatment for early-stage breast cancer or DCIS

This thesis explores the experiences of 24 women who were treated for early-stage breast cancer (ESBC) or ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) in the UK between 6 months - 29 years previously. These experiences are important because better detection and treatments have resulted in increasing numbers of women surviving for longer. My own experience of ESBC, revealed in extracts from my research journal, brought both benefits and drawbacks to the research but ultimately resulted in a unique perspective. Participants accessed through a press release were interviewed in-depth. Data were then analysed using narrative and thematic analysis. Bury’s (1982) concept of illness as a biographical disruption was used as the theoretical framework but a consideration of the context revealed that ESBC/DCIS is not always experienced as disruptive. Analysis also revealed that the post-treatment period can present further challenges as loss of medical support can coincide with withdrawal of social support. Some participants reported feeling isolated and vulnerable post-treatment. Often their feelings were at odds with public expectations based on media representations of ‘successful’ breast cancer survivors, and the high profile of breast cancer charities which can suggest ‘pink fluffy’ imagery. Ongoing disruption to their bodies and relationships can mean that women feel in an ambiguous state which can be likened to a state of liminality (Turner, 1969). The current research combines the concepts of biographical disruption and liminality for the first time in a study of ESBC/DCIS, therefore enabling consideration of gendered aspects of the experience. In particular, the importance of breasts to femininity and sexuality can have implications for identity and relationships. I argue that, whilst women do not return to the ‘normality’ of pre-diagnosis, the wide range of experiences and emotions in the post-treatment period can be conceptualised as a ‘new normal’

‘An end to the job as we know it’: how an IT professional has experienced the uncertainty of IT outsourcing.

This article foregrounds the voice of an IT professional who is directly employed by a large British company and who, along with colleagues, is experiencing career uncertainty resulting from a management initiative to replace the established workforce with an alternative labour supply provided by a global IT services company. As an account that reflects the uncertainty of the age, the narrative offers insights into current discussions concerning the contemporary nature and experience of work generally. More specifically it tells of a loss of confidence and status of technical professionals as they are methodically undermined by the confident assertion of a ‘shareholder value’ rhetoric. The suggestion is made that the application of commercial-professional rationality to the outsourcing of IT operations may underestimate the commercial risks associated with the loss of embodied technical knowledge gained across time as IT systems evolve to become complex constructions