IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-04845366.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Won't Get Fooled Again? Theorising Discursive Constructions of Novelty in the 'New' World of Work

Author

Listed:
  • Jeremy Aroles

    (School for Business and Society, University of York, University of York [York, UK])

  • Aurélie Leclercq-Vandelannoitte

    (LEM - Lille économie management - UMR 9221 - UA - Université d'Artois - UCL - Université catholique de Lille - Université de Lille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • John Hasard

    (Alliance MBS - Alliance Manchester Business School - University of Manchester [Manchester])

  • William M Foster

    (University of Alberta)

  • Edward Granter

    (Birmingham Business School - University of Birmingham [Birmingham])

Abstract

This article outlines how notions of novelty define today's work practices and debates whatthe discursive construction of work as 'new' means. On the one hand, we highlight a misplaced emphasis on change and novelty that can lead to unnecessary dichotomization in the characterisation and discursive construction of work practices and organizational phenomena.On the other, we specify substantive continuities in a range of strategic, organizational and employment arrangements. As such, we contend that a critical evaluation of key characteristics of contemporary work reveals that they are often not unique. Instead, these characteristics reflect the extending, rebranding or reshaping of measures and processes fashioned in earlier forms of value production. Ultimately, we theorise how the promotion of the 'new' world of work reflects structures and practices somehow altered in appearance, yet still analogous in substance, to those found in the traditional employment and production fabric of organizations.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeremy Aroles & Aurélie Leclercq-Vandelannoitte & John Hasard & William M Foster & Edward Granter, 2024. "Won't Get Fooled Again? Theorising Discursive Constructions of Novelty in the 'New' World of Work," Post-Print hal-04845366, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04845366
    DOI: 10.1177/09500170241300948
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-04845366v1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hal.science/hal-04845366v1/document
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/09500170241300948?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Holly Patrick-Thomson & Michael Kranert, 2021. "Don’t Work for Free: Online Discursive Resistance to Precarity in Commercial Photography," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 35(6), pages 1034-1052, December.
    2. Andrew Corbett & Joep Cornelissen & Andrew Delios & Bill Harley, 2014. "Variety, Novelty, and Perceptions of Scholarship in Research on Management and Organizations: An Appeal for Ambidextrous Scholarship," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1), pages 3-18, January.
    3. John Van Maanen, 2011. "Ethnography as Work: Some Rules of Engagement," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 218-234, January.
    4. Gerber, Christine, 2022. "Gender and precarity in platform work: Old inequalities in the new world of work," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 37(2), pages 206-230.
    5. John Hassard & Jonathan Morris & Leo McCann, 2012. "‘My Brilliant Career’? New Organizational Forms and Changing Managerial Careers in Japan, the UK, and USA," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(3), pages 571-599, May.
    6. Jeremy Howells, 2012. "The geography of knowledge: never so close but never so far apart," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 12(5), pages 1003-1020, September.
    7. Patricia Everaert & Gerrit Sarens & Jan Rommel, 2010. "Using Transaction Cost Economics to explain outsourcing of accounting," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 93-112, July.
    8. Anjali Chopra & Priyanka Bhilare, 2020. "Future of Work: An Empirical Study to Understand Expectations of the Millennials from Organizations," Business Perspectives and Research, , vol. 8(2), pages 272-288, July.
    9. Jonathan Morris & John Hassard & Rick Delbridge & Takahiro Endo, 2021. "Understanding managerial work in the modern Japanese firm: The influence of new organizational forms and changing human resource management practices," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 42(4), pages 1378-1406, November.
    10. Colin Hales, 2005. "Rooted in Supervision, Branching into Management: Continuity and Change in the Role of First‐Line Manager," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(3), pages 471-506, May.
    11. Elena Cefis & Riccardo Leoncini & Luigi Marengo & Sandro Montresor, 2023. "Firms and innovation in the new industrial paradigm of the digital transformation," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 1-16, January.
    12. Collin Constantine, 2017. "Economic structures, institutions and economic performance," Journal of Economic Structures, Springer;Pan-Pacific Association of Input-Output Studies (PAPAIOS), vol. 6(1), pages 1-18, December.
    13. Leo McCann & Jonathan Morris & John Hassard, 2008. "Normalized Intensity: The New Labour Process of Middle Management," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(2), pages 343-371, March.
    14. François-Xavier de Vaujany & Aurélie Leclercq Vandelannoitte & Iain Munro & Yesh Nama & Robin Holt, 2021. "Control and Surveillance in Work Practice: Cultivating Paradox in ‘New’ Modes of Organizing," Post-Print hal-03268925, HAL.
    15. Kevin DAVIS, 2016. "Changing Organizational Form: Demutualization And The Privatization Of Communal Wealth ? Australian Credit Union Experiences," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 87(4), pages 603-621, December.
    16. Janssen, M. & Stoopendaal, A.M.V. & Putters, K., 2015. "Situated novelty: Introducing a process perspective on the study of innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(10), pages 1974-1984.
    17. Roger L. M. Dunbar & William H. Starbuck, 2006. "Learning to Design Organizations and Learning from Designing Them," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 17(2), pages 171-178, April.
    18. Melissa Mazmanian & Wanda J. Orlikowski & JoAnne Yates, 2013. "The Autonomy Paradox: The Implications of Mobile Email Devices for Knowledge Professionals," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(5), pages 1337-1357, October.
    19. Gerald Friedman, 2014. "Workers without employers: shadow corporations and the rise of the gig economy," Review of Keynesian Economics, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 2(2), pages 171-188, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nada Endrissat & Aurélie Leclercq Vandelannoitte, 2021. "From sites to vibes: Technology and the spatial production of coworking spaces," Post-Print hal-03332209, HAL.
    2. Jan-Erik Vahlne & Jan Johanson, 2017. "From internationalization to evolution: The Uppsala model at 40 years," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 48(9), pages 1087-1102, December.
    3. Bill Harley & Dries Faems & Andrew Corbett, 2014. "A Few Bad Apples or the Tip of an Iceberg? Academic Misconduct in Publishing," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(8), pages 1361-1363, December.
    4. Viktoria Maria Baumeister & Leonie Petra Kuen & Maike Bruckes & Gerhard Schewe, 2021. "The Relationship of Work-Related ICT Use With Well-being, Incorporating the Role of Resources and Demands: A Meta-Analysis," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(4), pages 21582440211, November.
    5. Muhammad, Tufail & Ni, Guohua & Chen, Zhenling & Mallek, Sabrine & Dudek, Marek & Mentel, Grzegorz, 2024. "Addressing resource curse: How mineral resources influence industrial structure dynamics of the BRI 57 oil-exporting countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    6. Gilles Paché, 2020. "Inside Delivery Platforms: The Covid-19 Pandemic And After," Post-Print hal-03041080, HAL.
    7. Santana, Monica & Cobo, Manuel J., 2020. "What is the future of work? A science mapping analysis," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 846-862.
    8. Yi Sun & Shihui Li & Lingling Yu, 2022. "The dark sides of AI personal assistant: effects of service failure on user continuance intention," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 32(1), pages 17-39, March.
    9. Dragoș Adăscăliței & Jason Heyes & Pedro Mendonça, 2022. "The intensification of work in Europe: A multilevel analysis," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 60(2), pages 324-347, June.
    10. Armanda Cetrulo & Dario Guarascio & Maria Enrica Virgillito, 2020. "Anatomy of the Italian occupational structure: concentrated power and distributed knowledge," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 29(6), pages 1345-1379.
    11. Anja Schulze & Stefano Brusoni, 2022. "How dynamic capabilities change ordinary capabilities: Reconnecting attention control and problem‐solving," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(12), pages 2447-2477, December.
    12. Geissinger, Andrea & Laurell, Christofer & Sandström, Christian, 2020. "Digital Disruption beyond Uber and Airbnb—Tracking the long tail of the sharing economy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    13. Ruthanne Huising, 2014. "The Erosion of Expert Control Through Censure Episodes," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(6), pages 1633-1661, December.
    14. Christian P Theurer & Andranik Tumasjan & Isabell M Welpe, 2018. "Contextual work design and employee innovative work behavior: When does autonomy matter?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(10), pages 1-35, October.
    15. Michael Lounsbury & Christine M. Beckman, 2015. "Celebrating Organization Theory," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(2), pages 288-308, March.
    16. Jens Thoemmes, 2024. "Negotiating Telework in France: Collective Bargaining Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic," Post-Print hal-04619772, HAL.
    17. Rainoldi, Mattia & Ladkin, Adele & Buhalis, Dimitrios, 2025. "Digital nomads' work-leisure management practices," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    18. Andrea Salvatori & Seetha Menon & Wouter Zwysen, 2018. "The effect of computer use on job quality: Evidence from Europe," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 200, OECD Publishing.
    19. Bitsch, Vera & Yakura, Elaine K., 2007. "Middle Management in Agriculture: Roles, Functions, and Practices," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 10(2), pages 1-28.
    20. Helena Barnard & Robin Cowan & Moritz Müller, 2016. "On the value of foreign PhDs in the developing world: Training versus selection effects," Working Papers of BETA 2016-04, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04845366. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.