It is important for corporation to maintain ¡§flexibility¡¨ in order to enhance core competitive edge and to respond to market change quickly. So to have flexible human resource measures is an important organization strategy. Since high-tech industry is going to be the trend for Taiwan, the research will begin with the high-tech industry and explore the relations between ¡§financial performance resulted from flexible work arrangement¡¨ and ¡§overall organization performance¡¨. In addition, the research will also discuss, with different organizational characteristics and various extent of manpower allocation measures, whether the financial outcome resulted from flexible human resource measures would have an impact on the overall organization financial performance outcome. Therefore, 344 questionnaires were distributed in Hsinchu Science District and high-tech companies in greater Taipei area. 69 valid questionnaires and 3 not valid questionnaires were collected in Hsinchu while 43 valid questionnaires were collected in northern Taiwan. There were in total 112 valid questionnaires. The research will analyze organization characteristics and conditions (such as the scale of business, total month of existence of the company since it was founded, capital structure, number of departments and number of rankings) with frequency distribution, descriptive statistics, and matrix. In addition, the research will also use ¡§linear association¡¨ to examine the influence ¡§the interrelations among organization background, measures¡¦ extent of flexibility, flexible measures and the extent of flexibility¡¨ has toward ¡§organization overall finance performance¡¨. On the other hand, we use ¡§related analysis¡¨ to explore the association between ¡§flexible measures¡¦ financial performance of job capacity, quantity and salary¡¨ and ¡§overall flexible finance performance¡¨. The findings are as below: 1. In the various flexible high-tech industry human resource measures, it is correlated from both the profit performance resulted from developing multi-task staff, and the overall organization profit performance. 2. It is negatively correlated between the performance resulted from non-typical employee or the fluctuated salary, and the overall organization profit performance. It can be found in the interviews that depending on the industry characteristics, the outcome of high-tech companies to out-source non-core operation and to adopt fluctuate salary is not as good as the outcome of conventional industries. 3. The more the number of departments is, the more detailed job specification is. So, by assigning these non-core operations to the non-typical employee, the cost of time and manpower can be saved and the effectiveness and efficiency can be increased. 4. The cost of hiring a foreign employee is way lower than that of hiring a native employee with similar work experience. Therefore, it can lower the human resource cost for high-tech industry to adopt high proportion of foreign employees. 5. The human resource cost here refers to ¡§salary cost, welfare cost, training cost, dismissal fee and retirement fee¡¨. In high-tech industry, it is highly emphasized on the employees¡¦ welfare and training. Employees¡¦ salary is pretty good, too. So, it should be carefully evaluated the cost of downsizing and retaining extra employees. From this we can see the significant influence of downsizing on the decrease of human resource cost. Although downsizing might jeopardize the morale, it is still a form of warning in certain way. 6. The more the number of departments is, the larger the scale of organization is. Many training cost or welfare measures can be cost-effective under the situation of larger economic scale. 7. On the other hand, from the valid questionnaire collected, we found that most non-typical staff is in the position of non-professional operations. This is different from what we found in the literature review ¡§to react to environment with flexibility, we should simplify organization design and manpower allocation, or outsource those non-core operations¡¨. Further exploration on this is required for future researchers to explore.

Flexible work arrangements (FWAs) are widely implemented in organizations today. Yet very little information exists about why individuals are attracted to organizations that offer FWAs. The purpose of the current study was to tease apart the influence of the dimensions of FWAs: flextime and flexplace (both structural and perceived), as well as the combination of the two on organizational attraction and anticipated organizational support. Individual difference variables that have the potential to impact individuals’ attraction to organizations that offer FWAs were also examined as moderating variables. The mediating effect of anticipated organizational support was also examined. Upper level undergraduate students (N = 190) participated in a 3x3 within-subjects experiment in which they rated nine hypothetical organizations that varied in flextime and flexplace. Results from multilevel analysis indicated that significant variance in organizational attraction as well as anticipated organizational support is attributable to the type of work arrangement offered (both flexibility in time and place), with flextime having a stronger effect than flexplace. Contrary to expectation, effects were independent; there was not a significant interaction between flextime and flexplace. The relationship between (both structural and perceived) flexplace and organizational attraction was stronger for individuals who prefer to integrate their work and nonwork roles. Additionally, the relationship between (both structural and perceived) flextime and organizational attraction was stronger for individuals who reported a stronger need for medical treatment. Finally, the relationship between perceived flextime and organizational attraction as well as the relationship between perceived flexplace and organizational attraction were stronger for those who reported more role demands. Contrary to expectation, sociability did not moderate the flexplace-organizational attraction/anticipated organizational support relationships. Limitations and future directions for research on FWAs are discussed.

Thesis (Ph.D)--Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009. / Committee Co-Chair: Hayriye Ayhan; Committee Co-Chair: Sigrun Andradottir; Committee Member: David M. Goldsman; Committee Member: Douglas G. Down; Committee Member: Robert D. Foley. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

In a workplace marked by increasing change and competing commitments, business leaders require an increased understanding of alternative work programs. Utilizing spillover theory, motivator-hygiene theory, and adaptive structuration theory, this single case study was an exploration of the strategies that business leaders use for flexible work schedules and virtual work programs. The population consisted of 3 managerial business executives and 6 employees within a midwestern United States division of a global blood management solutions firm. The data collection process included a series of semistructured interviews, a focus group, and the assessment of company documentation. Methodological triangulation identified 5 emerging themes: program assessment and monitoring, standard set of virtual working hours, remote office setup, increased virtual communication, and promotion of quality of life. The transferability of this single case study remains with the reader and future researchers to determine. Future researchers may discover that the findings contribute to social change by better preparing organizations for success while simultaneously positioning individuals to attain optimum balance across life and work responsibilities.

With the increasing need for highway maintenance and the decreasingly available funds, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Austin District has sought to better utilize maintenance section employee resources by implementing a compressed workweek. The primary goal of this thesis is to establish a framework and methodology to study the effects of a compressed workweek on maintenance crews in both rural and urban environments. Secondly, this thesis will provide a background of best practices of popular flexible work arrangements, including compressed workweeks, telework, and flextime. The compressed workweek is a type of flexible work arrangement that allows employees to work longer days during a part of the week in exchange for a partial or full day off later in the week. Compressed workweeks can offer numerous benefits to maintenance crews, including increased production, less set up and shut down time per week, decreased operating costs, reduced overhead, and increased employee morale. TxDOT will implement a six-month pilot project in two rural maintenance sections and one urban section. Compressed workweeks have proven to be successful in other districts with rural maintenance sections, but application of a compressed workweek in an urban maintenance section has yet to be studied. Therefore, maintenance crew activity data from previous years will be compared to data collected during the trial period to understand changes in productivity and to estimate vehicle operating costs. Lastly, surveys of maintenance employees will be conducted throughout the study to solve any personal issues that arise as well as determine employee satisfaction with the new schedule. / text

Este trabalho é uma tentativa de reconstituir as atividades profissionais de um grupo de jornalistas free-lancers da Grande Porto Alegre, com o objetivo de identificar as condições de trabalho e as perspectivas de resistência dos modernos trabalhadores flexíveis da imprensa regional. Na década de 1990, o jornalismo free-lance difundiu-se em todo o país, especialmente com o fechamento de sucursais de jornais e revistas do Rio de Janeiro e de São Paulo em outras capitais brasileiras e a contratação de free-lancers para as vagas dos profissionais demitidos nesse processo. O free-lancer, que no passado era visto como um outsider, tornou-se figura cada vez mais presente nas redações jornalísticas da Região Metropolitana de Porto Alegre. Esse fenômeno está associado ao processo de reestruturação produtiva, que ganhou fôlego no Brasil na década de 1990, e ao surgimento de um novo modelo de acumulação capitalista em substituição ao fordismo. Para os trabalhadores – e profissionais qualificados, como os jornalistas, não constituem uma exceção –, freqüentemente as mudanças na gestão nas empresas e a flexibilização dos contratos de mãode- obra resultam em deterioração das condições de trabalho e menor segurança no emprego, o que compromete também sua capacidade de organização coletiva. A pesquisa que fundamentou este trabalho consistiu de 18 entrevistas com jornalistas free-lancers da Região Metropolitana de Porto Alegre. A partir de seus depoimentos acerca de sua atividade profissional, procedeu-se à elaboração de uma tipologia do jornalismo free-lance praticado na região e à análise das condições objetivas de trabalho desses profissionais, enfatizando aspectos como renda, jornada e local de trabalho, repouso e percepção da atividade sindical. Quanto a este último aspecto, a pesquisa procurou investigar as possibilidades coletivas e individuais de resistência dos trabalhadores aos processos de reestruturação produtiva em curso atualmente na imprensa do Rio Grande do Sul. / This paper is an attempt to reconstitute the professional activities of free-lancer journalists from Porto Alegre region, identifying ther labour conditions and resistance prospects. In the nineties, free-lancer journalism increased in the whole country, especially after the close down of regional branches of São Paulo’s and Rio de Janeiro’s newspapers and magazines. Many journalists were fired in this process, and free-lancers took their places in the regional press. Seen until recently as an outsider, free-lancer became a typical worker in the press of Porto Alegre region in the last decade. This phenomenon is linked to the rising of a new capitalism standard, after the crisis of fordism and the productive reorganisation of brazilian companies in the nineties. To the workers – and journalists are not an exception –, management changes and flexible recruitment frequently mean worst labour conditions and uncertainty, which affects their collective organisation. This research consists of 18 interviews with free-lancer journalists from Porto Alegre region. Their accounts based the making of a free-lancer journalism typology and an analysis of their labour conditions, emphasising aspects like income, working time, vacations and perception of labour union’s activities. This research also focused individual and collective possibilities of labour resistance in the press of Rio Grande do Sul

Este trabalho é uma tentativa de reconstituir as atividades profissionais de um grupo de jornalistas free-lancers da Grande Porto Alegre, com o objetivo de identificar as condições de trabalho e as perspectivas de resistência dos modernos trabalhadores flexíveis da imprensa regional. Na década de 1990, o jornalismo free-lance difundiu-se em todo o país, especialmente com o fechamento de sucursais de jornais e revistas do Rio de Janeiro e de São Paulo em outras capitais brasileiras e a contratação de free-lancers para as vagas dos profissionais demitidos nesse processo. O free-lancer, que no passado era visto como um outsider, tornou-se figura cada vez mais presente nas redações jornalísticas da Região Metropolitana de Porto Alegre. Esse fenômeno está associado ao processo de reestruturação produtiva, que ganhou fôlego no Brasil na década de 1990, e ao surgimento de um novo modelo de acumulação capitalista em substituição ao fordismo. Para os trabalhadores – e profissionais qualificados, como os jornalistas, não constituem uma exceção –, freqüentemente as mudanças na gestão nas empresas e a flexibilização dos contratos de mãode- obra resultam em deterioração das condições de trabalho e menor segurança no emprego, o que compromete também sua capacidade de organização coletiva. A pesquisa que fundamentou este trabalho consistiu de 18 entrevistas com jornalistas free-lancers da Região Metropolitana de Porto Alegre. A partir de seus depoimentos acerca de sua atividade profissional, procedeu-se à elaboração de uma tipologia do jornalismo free-lance praticado na região e à análise das condições objetivas de trabalho desses profissionais, enfatizando aspectos como renda, jornada e local de trabalho, repouso e percepção da atividade sindical. Quanto a este último aspecto, a pesquisa procurou investigar as possibilidades coletivas e individuais de resistência dos trabalhadores aos processos de reestruturação produtiva em curso atualmente na imprensa do Rio Grande do Sul. / This paper is an attempt to reconstitute the professional activities of free-lancer journalists from Porto Alegre region, identifying ther labour conditions and resistance prospects. In the nineties, free-lancer journalism increased in the whole country, especially after the close down of regional branches of São Paulo’s and Rio de Janeiro’s newspapers and magazines. Many journalists were fired in this process, and free-lancers took their places in the regional press. Seen until recently as an outsider, free-lancer became a typical worker in the press of Porto Alegre region in the last decade. This phenomenon is linked to the rising of a new capitalism standard, after the crisis of fordism and the productive reorganisation of brazilian companies in the nineties. To the workers – and journalists are not an exception –, management changes and flexible recruitment frequently mean worst labour conditions and uncertainty, which affects their collective organisation. This research consists of 18 interviews with free-lancer journalists from Porto Alegre region. Their accounts based the making of a free-lancer journalism typology and an analysis of their labour conditions, emphasising aspects like income, working time, vacations and perception of labour union’s activities. This research also focused individual and collective possibilities of labour resistance in the press of Rio Grande do Sul

Este trabalho é uma tentativa de reconstituir as atividades profissionais de um grupo de jornalistas free-lancers da Grande Porto Alegre, com o objetivo de identificar as condições de trabalho e as perspectivas de resistência dos modernos trabalhadores flexíveis da imprensa regional. Na década de 1990, o jornalismo free-lance difundiu-se em todo o país, especialmente com o fechamento de sucursais de jornais e revistas do Rio de Janeiro e de São Paulo em outras capitais brasileiras e a contratação de free-lancers para as vagas dos profissionais demitidos nesse processo. O free-lancer, que no passado era visto como um outsider, tornou-se figura cada vez mais presente nas redações jornalísticas da Região Metropolitana de Porto Alegre. Esse fenômeno está associado ao processo de reestruturação produtiva, que ganhou fôlego no Brasil na década de 1990, e ao surgimento de um novo modelo de acumulação capitalista em substituição ao fordismo. Para os trabalhadores – e profissionais qualificados, como os jornalistas, não constituem uma exceção –, freqüentemente as mudanças na gestão nas empresas e a flexibilização dos contratos de mãode- obra resultam em deterioração das condições de trabalho e menor segurança no emprego, o que compromete também sua capacidade de organização coletiva. A pesquisa que fundamentou este trabalho consistiu de 18 entrevistas com jornalistas free-lancers da Região Metropolitana de Porto Alegre. A partir de seus depoimentos acerca de sua atividade profissional, procedeu-se à elaboração de uma tipologia do jornalismo free-lance praticado na região e à análise das condições objetivas de trabalho desses profissionais, enfatizando aspectos como renda, jornada e local de trabalho, repouso e percepção da atividade sindical. Quanto a este último aspecto, a pesquisa procurou investigar as possibilidades coletivas e individuais de resistência dos trabalhadores aos processos de reestruturação produtiva em curso atualmente na imprensa do Rio Grande do Sul. / This paper is an attempt to reconstitute the professional activities of free-lancer journalists from Porto Alegre region, identifying ther labour conditions and resistance prospects. In the nineties, free-lancer journalism increased in the whole country, especially after the close down of regional branches of São Paulo’s and Rio de Janeiro’s newspapers and magazines. Many journalists were fired in this process, and free-lancers took their places in the regional press. Seen until recently as an outsider, free-lancer became a typical worker in the press of Porto Alegre region in the last decade. This phenomenon is linked to the rising of a new capitalism standard, after the crisis of fordism and the productive reorganisation of brazilian companies in the nineties. To the workers – and journalists are not an exception –, management changes and flexible recruitment frequently mean worst labour conditions and uncertainty, which affects their collective organisation. This research consists of 18 interviews with free-lancer journalists from Porto Alegre region. Their accounts based the making of a free-lancer journalism typology and an analysis of their labour conditions, emphasising aspects like income, working time, vacations and perception of labour union’s activities. This research also focused individual and collective possibilities of labour resistance in the press of Rio Grande do Sul

Interest in flexible work arrangements has proliferated in the last years, fuelled by technological advancements that allow people to work from anywhere at any time. This systematic literature review explores the impact of flexibility in time and place of work on intra-group relations and subsequent effects on group-level outcomes. Findings suggest that flexibility in place of work has positive effects on employee-supervisor relationships but negative effects on co-worker relationships. Although teleworkers remain well connected to their co-workers and overall workgroup communication does not appear to change, informal socialisation processes are affected. Knowledge sharing and creation is subsequently challenged. Furthermore, managers of mixed workgroups face issues of fairness and justice as well as challenges of creating and maintaining group cohesion when some of their employees are not always present. However, little is known of how flexibility in time of work impacts intra-group relations and group outcomes from groups containing flexible workers have not been explored. This paper therefore identifies significant gaps in the literature and presents opportunities for further research.

The thesis aims to present to its reader all social law instruments currently available in the Czech legal system, serving to adjust the employment relationship individually, particularly working conditions. The intention here is to introduce the widest possible spectrum of flexible opportunities of work and to inspire employers and employees to negotiate working conditions most favourable for them. This step should change the labour market in a way that the knowledge of flexible instruments leads to the expected growth of potential employees, and consequently to greater economic prosperity of employers. The basis of the whole proposed adjustment lies in the idea of satisfied employees who are more efficient and capable of maintaining their position on the labour market for the longest possible period of their working life solely because of appropriate individual arrangements. Let us assume that an employee who gains more freedom due to flexible conditions, leading in turn to a reconciliation of his/her work and personal life, will be more satisfied, stable and less stressed at work then another employee who has to choose between these two essential parts of his/her life and give preference to one of them on a day-to-day basis. Cases like the latter end up in burnout, as well as in physical and...