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ICT has become a natural component in administrative
processes, and IT systems are increasingly emerging to support
core HR processes. However, given the often complex and
evaluative character of data in HR work when it comes to
e.g. competencies, attitudes and values the use of IT systems
in this context is not unproblematic. One concern has been
that an increased use of ICT in HR work would contribute to
an increased standardization and discipline of the employees,
at the cost of decreased flexibility and heterogeneity. But the
disciplinary power of standardized performance appraisal and
competence development may have both a limiting and an
enabling dimension as it shapes the agency of the employees
(Bergström, Hasselbladh, & Kärreman, 2009). An increased
use of ICT therefore could be an important contribution
to the socio-cultural control often found in PSFs and other
knowledge intensive organizations (Alvesson & Kärreman,
2007; Kärreman & Alvesson, 2004). The integration of IT and
HRM, often referred to as e-HRM (Bondarouk & Ruël, 2009),
have received growing attention in research during the past
decade. Still little is known about how ICT is used in HRM,
particularly in the HR work of network organizations. The
purpose of the paper is therefore to explore the use of ICT in
the work with Human Resources in PSFs. In some preliminary
results from a study of 23 professional service firms in eight
professional industries we can see that the use of ICT differs
widely between different PSFs. While some don’t use IT at
all others use ICT extensively to support their HR work.
Specifically the use of ICT is in many cases associated with the
need to manage, develop and keep track of talent.
17:06
Managing phased retirement. Experience from a large Swedish
manufacturing company
Palm, Kristina 1 ; Planander, Agneta 2
1 KTH, Industrial Economics and Management, Stockholm,
Sweden; 2 Lunds University, Service Management, Lund,
Sweden
This paper focuses on managerial, organisational and
individual effects of partial retirement in a large Swedish
manufacturing company. The following aspect were
investigated: health, knowledge transfer through partial
retirement, career path and rationalisation effects. A total of
ten interviews were made with employees within blue- and
white-collar sector, divided into partial retirement, full-time
working with entitlement to partial retirement, and supervisors.
The technicalities about partial retirement were also discussed
with representatives from the company and representatives
from involved trade unions. The analytic strategy is descriptive.
The interviews showed that the employees who were partial
retired where very satisfied, and they especially enjoyed the
extra free time they got. They all thought that they were less
tired and some even experienced better health. It was also
mentioned that is was valuable to get use to not working as
they were soon to be old-age retired. For those employees who
were entitled to partial retirement but had declined it, argued
that they really enjoyed working and that it would feel strange
not to be in the centre of action. The supervisors who had
employees working part-time in their department were positive,
although they experienced more difficulties with planning
work. One general problem was knowledge transferring and
opening up for career paths, which were two of the company’s
goals with partial retirement. It did not always worked out as
planned, and it was clear that it does not occur by itself, but
needs planning and managerial action.
17:07
Dealing with liminality - an important part of HRM for the
individual project worker
Borg, Elisabeth 1 ; Söderlund, Jonas 2
1 Department of Management and Engineering, Linköping
University, Linköping, Sweden; 2 Department of Leadership and
Management, BI Norwegian School of Management, Norway
An important trend observed in Swedish business is the
move towards flatter and more fluid organizations, of which
one emerging organizational form is the project-based
organization. Parts of project-based work is carried out in so
called knowledge collectivities; a team consisting of a mix of
differently specialized individuals with little previous experience
of working together, who will work together only for a limited
period of time. Such project workers are continuously moving
from team to team and from one problem-solving situation to
the next. Furthermore research has shown (Bredin, 2008) that
with project-based organizing comes increasing responsibility
on individual project workers to manage classic HRM aspects,
e.g. to manage and plan their career in moving between
different projects. However, there is limited research on project
workers and on how members of knowledge collectivities
handle the continuous shift of working situations.
One particularly interesting player in contemporary projects
and knowledge collectivities is the consultant. Consultants
are hired, not only to do peripheral tasks, but for their
accumulated knowledge and experience gained from previous
assignments. These individuals do not only move between
projects within one organization, but continuously change
between different problem solving context, teams and firms.
Researchers have argued (e.g. Garsten, 1999) that consultants
work in a state of ongoing ”liminality”, a concept denoting
individuals being in an ambiguous situation, neither belonging
to the group or context in which this person is acting nor
being completely outside of it. Working in liminality has
several positive and negative aspects for the individual worker.
However, how individuals cope with liminality and how they
deal with its consequences has been given little attention in
research. This paper reports on a diary study with thirteen
project working engineers employed by one of Sweden’s
leading technical consultancies. The study shows that dealing
with liminality is one important aspect of HRM which to
great extend is a responsibility that falls on the individual.
Furthermore, two types of liminality are found in the project
workers work situation; social and technical liminality and
four different liminality practices are used to deal with the
liminality. The study further shows that the level of awareness
of liminality in the work situation affects the liminality
practices the engineers turn to.
17:08
The consumerisation of the labour market:
Generation Y at work
Parment, Anders
Stockholm University, School of Business, Stockholm, Sweden
The labour market is undergoing a fundamental transition that
is strongly linked to the emergence of Generation Y, born appr.
1979 to 1990. This paper investigates attitudes and preferences
of Generation Y, and how they will affect supply-demand
mechanisms and characteristics of the labour market.
Generation Y has been subject to a great deal of research from
various perspectives: e.g. marketing, sociology and HRM, the
latter suggesting that Generation Y will increase the demands
on employers to support Generation Yers in their ambitious
plans to have a good career and reach a high level of selfrealisation
at work. By identifying a number of characteristics
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