Karriere durch Auslandsentsendungen?

Generally, working abroad is considered to be beneficial for a career. Using the example of the German chemical industry it is shown that international assignments are not as widespread as could be assumed in view of the plethora of literature about expatriates. They are beneficial for a career in the sense that they provide the experience of working independently, and that is why expatriates retrospectively see their time working abroad as an important building block for their career. However, these assignments do not automatically result in promotion within the internal hierarchy after their return. Yet, the disappointment linked with this does not lead to an increased resignation quota. Expatriates remain loyal to their companies. Their careers are organization oriented, there is no question of boundaryless careers.     

Looking Forward,Looking Back: British Journal of Management 2000–2015

This paper reflects on 16 years of the British Journal of Management (BJM) and discusses what the future holds. The paper analyses publication statistics and submission figures, as well as Special Interest Group (SIG) affiliation of submissions over the more recent period of 2007–2015. It is found that human resource management has a clear dominance among the SIGs. Other fields that are well represented include strategy, work psychology, corporate governance and performance management. The paper also highlights that submissions to BJM are predominantly made by UK‐based authors, possibly reflecting the concentration of UK‐based academics among the pool of associate editors and the editorial board members.     

Ambivalenzen spätmoderner Identitäten: Vom proteischen Selbst in den neuen ArbeitsweltenAmbivalences of late modern identities: Thoughts on the protean self in the new work environments

This article of the journal “Gruppe. Interaktion. Organisation.” sheds light on the consequences of the new economy for the identity of its employees. The new work environment opens up new prospects for the individuals, but at the same time increases the risk of failure. The flexible capitalism glorifies the “protean career” and implies an image of man that encourages people to internalize a circle of escalation which can lead to burnout and depression. Health promotion and a critical reflection of the neo-liberal idea of man are needed to escape from this fatal circle. What is needed is a critical social diagnosis. Leadership and management are responsible for the sustainable implementation of health-promoting working conditions.     

Das DIN-Interview

The regulation of standardized social surveys by a German national and an international norm, distributed by the Deutsche Institut für Normung, Berlin, is presented, regarding general out-lines as well as important details. Furthermore, three perspectives are dealt with in which these regulations are important not only for market and opinion research institutes, but for the academic discipline of sociology as well. Firstly, sociology is a client of the institutes. Drawing upon regulations, it is better equipped to negotiate with the institutes and to justify specific demands. Secondly, sociology and the institutes are equally interested in public opinion. Both live from the trust of people in market and opinion research which is sustained through the regulations. Thirdly, sociology educates graduates to be employed by the institutes and should therefore know and teach the regulations. As for the future, the internationallization of the institutes and technical advances as online surveys require the permanent revision of the regulations.     

Service Productivity: What Stops Service Firms from Measuring It?

Productivity measurement poses a challenge for service organizations. Conventional management wisdom holds that this challenge is rooted in the difficulty of accurately quantifying service inputs and outputs. Few service firms have adequate service productivity measurement (SPM) systems in place and implementing such systems may involve organizational transformation. Combining field interviews and literature-based insights, the authors develop a conceptual model of antecedents of SPM in service firms and test it using data from 276 service firms. Results indicate that one out of five antecedents affects the choice to use SPM, namely, the degree of service standardization. In addition, all five hypothesized antecedents and one additional antecedent (perceived appropriateness of the current SPM) predict the degree of SPM usage. In particular, the degree of SPM is positively influenced by the degree of service standardization, service customization, investments in service productivity gains, and the appropriateness of current service productivity measures. In turn, customer integration and the perceived difficulty of measuring service productivity negatively affect SPM. The fact that customer integration impedes actual measurement of service productivity is a surprising finding, given that customer integration is widely seen as a means to increase service productivity. The authors conclude with implications for service organizations and directions for research.