Workplace Flexibility as an Organizational Response to the Aging of the Workforce: A Comparison of Nonprofit and For-Profit Organizations

ABSTRACT

The degree to which flexible work options are available to employees has been used as an indicator of the extent to which organizations have responded to workforce needs, including those related to the aging of the workforce. This article uses an organizational adaptation framework to determine factors that explain variation in the degree to which flexible work options are offered in for-profit and non-profit organizations. Findings indicate that while the scope of flexible work options offered was similar among for-profits and non-profits, the factors that predicted variance in the scope of these options differed somewhat between the two sectors.     

An Analysis of Supervisor Support of Policies on Workplace Flexibility

ABSTRACT

Workplace flexibility policies provide workers with an opportunity to attain a healthy work–life balance. This study utilized a secondary data set of 658 supervisors from a study that was commissioned by the work–life office of a major university in the Southern United States to get a better understanding of the implementation of flexibility policies at this university. The purpose of examining this secondary data set was to determine whether supervisors who have caregiving responsibilities are more likely to be supportive of workplace flexibility policies than those with no caregiving responsibilities. The findings indicate that supervisors who have caregiving responsibilities are no more likely to be supportive of workplace flexibility than those with no caregiving responsibilities. This finding is important to those who have a vested interest in understanding factors that may promote or undermine workplace policies that have direct impact on workers and their families. Future research and recommendations for practice are made.     

A Style of Flexibility: Re‐cognition of the Female Self —As Exemplified in the Shuanglong Village of the Tujia Ethnic Group in Enshi

本文通过对恩施双龙村的田野研究,认为女性既不是传统所认为的无主体的“他性”存在,也不是一些学者所认为的,是多种生存策略所体现的理性主体。女性的自我首先是一种情感主体,这种情感主体具有包容性和排他性双重特征。女性自我对于社会的意义在于：女性情感主体的包容性给乡村社会的整合赋予心理与实践的基础,而女性情感主体的排他性则给突破乡村社会既有规范与习俗创造了空间。女性通过一种“柔性的风格”参与了整个社会的建构。

关键词: 他性自我情感主体柔性的风格

On the basis of the findings of our fieldwork in Shuanglong Village of the Tujia ethnic group in Enshi, Hubei, we find that woman is neither the subjectless existence of “otherness” as traditionally regarded nor the rational subject embodying multiple survival strategies as defined by some scholars. The female self is primarily an emotional subject with the dual features of inclusion and exclusion. The significance of the female self for society lies in the fact that the inclusive aspect provides a psychological and practical basis for the integration of rural society, while the exclusive aspect creates a space for breaking through this society's existing norms and customs.     

医疗建筑的弹性设计和可持续更新

受人类社会发展和科学技术进步的影响,医疗建筑常常处于一种动态更新的过程中。在分析医疗建筑更新理论的基础上,以进化论的观点客观地阐述医疗建筑的发展更新规律,提出医疗建筑设计应提供灵活、适应性强的建筑形式和空间结构,提高医疗建筑自身的可利用程度和可调适能力,减少由建筑因素的限制而产生的资源浪费。     

RISK AND THE VALUE OF INFORMATION IN IRREVERSIBLE DECISIONS

The analysis of the nexus between the value of information and risk is examined for sequential decisions with different degrees of future commitment, as e.g. environmental decisions. We find that in the linear case a riskier environment in general will increase the value of information. This result will be extended in the separable case to decreasing and increasing stochastic returns to scale. An example shows the ambiguity in the general case.     

Routes to Part‐Time Management in UK Service Sector Organizations: Implications for Women’s Skills,Flexibility and Progression

This article examines the implications of part‐time working for mothers, particularly with regards to their occupational mobility and acquisition of skills, in UK service sector organizations following the implementation of the Part‐time Workers’ Directive in 2000. Through qualitative interviews with women and their managers in five hospitality workplaces, this article explores whether part‐time workers are potentially the ‘losers’ in the ‘winner‐takes‐all’ approach to career development. Discussions focus upon the extent to which part‐time workers can access career paths or, alternatively, whether part‐time management positions are the reserve of highly skilled women who are able to negotiate reduced hours after obtaining a management position full time. In conclusion, this article distinguishes between two forms of working‐time flexibility, which are named optimal and restrictive. The implications of these alternative types of flexibility, in terms of access to skill acquisition and occupational mobility, are then addressed.     

Hours,Scheduling and Flexibility for Women in the US Low‐Wage Labour Force

Research on women's experiences with work schedules and flexibility tends to focus on professional women in high‐paying careers, despite women's far greater prevalence in low‐wage jobs. This paper seeks to contribute to our understanding of the work‐hours problems faced by women precariously employed in low‐wage jobs by addressing how work‐on‐demand scheduling and other features of part‐time labour in the neoliberal economy limit women's ability to make ends meet. Using data from 17 in‐depth interviews, we identify four themes — unpredictable schedules, inadequate hours, time theft and punishment‐and‐control via hours‐reduction — and the problems they present. Results suggest that much‐championed flexible work policies that seek to encourage women's career advancement may have little bearing on the work‐hours dilemmas faced by low‐wage women workers. We conclude that social change efforts need to encompass work policies geared to low‐wage workers, such as guaranteed minimum hours and increases in the minimum wage.     

基于语料库的有标并列短语语体适应性考察

本文通过一个多语体小型语料库,考察现代汉语有标并列短语的语体适应性,发现不同语体在有标并列短语的出现频率、标记类型、并列项类型及多项式选择等方面都有显著差异,得出一些具体结论:有标并列短语语体分布的优选序列为"口述体<对话体<操作体<新闻体<法规体",不同标记类型有所差别;并列项的优选序列为"数量短语/代词<形容词<异类<动词<名词",但口述体、对话体中异类词、代词更为优选;多项式优选序列为"口述体<对话体<新闻体<操作体/法规体"。本文的结论将为并列短语的自然语言识别和处理提供参考性帮助。     

企业知识系统柔性战略的决策模型

通过形式化的模型,利用马尔可夫链过程描述企业知识状态的转移,通过对不同知识战 略变化的净现值比较,得出知识战略的优劣. 从柔性的时间维度与范围维度研究企业在3 类不 同知识状态下,所采用的知识状态变化的战略决策.     

产业转型企业战略柔性优化模型研究

战略演进的路径依赖特征往往会导致企业产业转型的失败,而以战略柔性为基础的动态竞争优势体系对于推进企业转型具有促进作用.但是,若一味地追求战略柔性,则有可能使企业陷入"柔性陷阱".为此,本文构建了环境不确定性和战略柔性水平的测度指标体系,提出了相应的匹配模型,将战略柔性与环境不确定性进行比较与匹配,以优化转型企业战略柔性配置.实现战略柔性的供需平衡.