Untitled - socium.ge

Labor in the network society 177these are all analytical categories that have been developed in recent years thatrecognize the fluid boundaries of firms, while identifying sources of competitivenessthat lie outside the activities of firms (Castells and Hall, 1994;Schoenberger, 1997; Simmie, 1997; Storper, 1997). Developing these alternativesto the firm as the fundamental unit of economic analysis has been widelyaccepted in the study of the organization of production, but is much less integratedinto studies of work, employment, and labor markets. This limits ourability to understand contemporary labor dynamics. An assumption of strongfirm boundaries neglects the increasing importance of non-firm specificknowledge, and work activities that cut across those firm boundaries, as workerscommunicate more regularly with customers, suppliers, and colleagues inother firms. Focusing on employment in single firms obscures the impact onemployment conditions of temporary employment and subcontracting relationships,and minimizes the importance of career trajectories that cross multiplefirms. Attention to internal and external flexibility leads to acore–periphery perspective that can miss the importance of work that may beperipheral to a single firm’s efforts, but central to the functioning of an industrialcomplex. Thus an approach to labor-market flexibility that is rooted in thefirm as the basic unit of analysis limits our understanding of many of thedimensions of flexibility.Amore useful framework for understanding labor flexibility is to make adistinction between flexible work and flexible employment, where work refersto the actual tasks performed by workers in the process of economic activity,and employment refers to the contractual relationship (both explicit andimplicit) that shapes labor control and compensation. Making this distinctionbetween flexible work and flexible employment – both of which may cut acrossfirm boundaries – is particularly valuable in analyzing those aspects of laborflexibility that are driven by broad trends in the development of the informationeconomy, versus those that are primarily driven by firms’ human resourceand management practices (see table 7.1).Table 7.1Dimensions of flexible laborWorkThe actual activities people do whileengaged in the process of productionAspects of flexible workRapid changes in quantity of work requiredRapid changes in skills, knowledge,information, and relationships requiredfor workReflexivity in work tasksEmploymentThe informal and formal contractualrelationship between worker and employerAspects of flexible employmentRise in external employment relations(temporary, sub-contracted labor)Weakening of direct employment contractMediated management practices