New ways of working (NWW): work space and cultural change in virtualizing organizations

ABSTRACT

This study offers a grounded theory of ‘new ways of working’ (NWW), an organizational design concept of Dutch origin with a global relevance. NWW concern business solutions for flexible workspaces enabled by digital network technologies. Theoretically, NWW are analysed with reference to Lefebvre’s theory on the ‘production of space’ and are defined along three dimensions: the spatiotemporal ‘flexibilization’ of work practices, the ‘virtualization’ of the technologically pre-defined organization, and the ‘interfacialization’ of meaning making in the lifeworld of workers. Empirically, NWW are explored in a case study of an insurance company which in 2007 radically implemented NWW. The case study consists of a longitudinal – before and after implementation – research based on ethnographic fieldwork, conducted in 2007 and 2010. The article contributes with a conceptual framework for the analysis and management of NWW, and highlights contradictions and ambiguities in the implementation and appropriation of this innovative organizational design.     

Managing lean capabilities through flexible workforce development: a process and framework

Many firms today are employing temporary contractual workers in order to help them to stay lean and flexible. The benefit of this approach is that the process of layoff is much easier. Thus, an emerging issue arises here, on how can firms manage and train temporary workers effectively? The core of lean adoption is through people, to have workers buy into the ideas and be part of the overall initiative. There is very little guidance available on how to deal with contractual workers who have less motivation and commitment to the firm given that they are only employed on a temporary basis. This article proposes a framework and process to assist firms in managing and training temporary workers to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the implementation of lean improvement initiatives.     

Human resource development practice: the paradox of empowerment and individualization

The main objective of the current paper is to point to the dualistic nature of HRD practice: employee empowerment strategy juxtaposed with high levels of individualization. HRD practice contributes to a series of dualities in organizations such as flexibility vs. loyalty, commitment vs. individualization and responsibility vs. alienation. The paper will argue that current HRD strategies have an individualistic role rather than an interactive and interpersonal influence for better knowledge sharing and organizational learning. The research implies that HRD should change its interventions in terms of how the individual is conceptualized to make knowledge actionable in social contexts to create favourable conditions for knowledge sharing and organizational learning.     

荷兰的就业政策及对我国的启示

荷兰的就业政策是欧盟各成员国中最为成功的,它特有的政府、企业和个人相互协商的制度,被总结成"荷兰模式",由此产生的灵活就业制度等,对我国就业政策有借鉴意义.我国在就业政策上要加强政府、企业和个人的协商,大力发展灵活就业,建立城乡统一的就业服务机构.     

论南宋的文章“活法”

学术界对诗歌"活法"论已有较充分的研究,但对文章"活法"则极少有人论及。事实上,在吕本中诗歌"活法"论的影响和推动下,南宋文章学界一直涌动着主张"活法"的潮流,也许"调门"不如诗界高,但在理论和实践两方面,其势头却一点也不逊色。南宋文章"活法"主要讲为文曲折和圆转,而尤其注意对古文"活法"的发掘,并将它运用到时文写作之中。与诗歌"活法"论一样,这深刻地影响了南宋及以后散文的发展。     

Gaussian Markov random field spatial models in GAMLSS

This paper describes the modelling and fitting of Gaussian Markov random field spatial components within a Generalized AdditiveModel for Location, Scale and Shape (GAMLSS) model. This allows modelling of any or all the parameters of the distribution for the response variable using explanatory variables and spatial effects. The response variable distribution is allowed to be a non-exponential family distribution. A new package developed in R to achieve this is presented. We use Gaussian Markov random fields to model the spatial effect in Munich rent data and explore some features and characteristics of the data. The potential of using spatial analysis within GAMLSS is discussed. We argue that the flexibility of parametric distributions, ability to model all the parameters of the distribution and diagnostic tools of GAMLSS provide an ideal environment for modelling spatial features of data.     

Analysis of dose-response in flexible dose titration clinical studies

Assessing dose-response from flexible-dose clinical trials (e.g., titration or dose escalation studies) is challenging and often problematic due to the selection bias caused by 'titration-to-response'. We investigate the performance of a dynamic linear mixed-effects (DLME) model and marginal structural model (MSM) in evaluating dose-response from flexible-dose titration clinical trials via simulations. The simulation results demonstrated that DLME models with previous exposure as a time-varying covariate may provide an unbiased and efficient estimator to recover exposure-response relationship from flexible-dose clinical trials. Although the MSM models with independent and exchangeable working correlations appeared to be able to recover the right direction of the dose-response relationship, it tended to over-correct selection bias and overestimated the underlying true dose-response. The MSM estimators were also associated with large variability in the parameter estimates. Therefore, DLME may be an appropriate modeling option in identifying dose-response when data from fixed-dose studies are absent or a fixed-dose design is unethical to be implemented.     

基于收益管理的高灵活性产品两阶段销售模型研究

Gallego和Phillps研究了航空公司销售由2种产品组成的灵活性产品,顾客购买了这种产品后,将由航空公司根据情况决定所乘班次.基于此并将此推广到更加灵活性的产品组合,即同时销售3种产品和它们的组合,建立了3种产品的随机动态模型.通过模型求解和算例,发现在一定条件下企业销售更高灵活性的产品组合可以分担风险,并增加企业的期望收益.     

言语之力成谋士之功——浅析《战国策》中策士说辞的技巧与魅力

<战国策>是从战国到秦间纵横家游说之辞和权变故事的汇编,相对于<左传>、<史记>而言,其言辞的灵活善变胜于对故事情节的安排.在策士们的各种游说和外交活动中,严密的逻辑思维、有力的雄辩口才,以及在面临困难时对才智的充分运用,都是他们成功的关键.<战国策>一书充分表现出纵横家们长于辞令的特点,言辞的丰富多彩,生动地展现了战国政治舞台上一幕幕精彩的瞬间画面.     

阜新市灵活就业问题研究

针对阜新市灵活就业人员就业过程存在的问题,采用了理论分析和图示结合的方法进行研究,指出了阜新市灵活就业存在文化程度低、年龄结构偏大、接受就业或再就业培训率较低等问题,描述了阜新市灵活就业人员工作时间长、工作状态疲惫、收入水平偏低等现状;提出了提供免费的就业或技能培训以及就业信息,对录用大龄工作者的用人单位给予税收或政策上的优惠,政府对灵活就业人员创业提供优惠政策等建议。实践证明,阜新灵活就业问题的研究有助于灵活就业问题的解决。