College of Behavioral & Social Sciences
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The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations..
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Item Firefighting in the New Economy: Changes in Skill and the Impact of Technology(2010) Ward, Brian W.; Landry, Bart; Sociology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)To better understand the shift in workers' skills in the New Economy, a case study of professional firefighters (n=42) was conducted using semi-structured interviews to empirically examine skill change and the impact of technology. A conceptual model was designed by both introducing new ideas and integrating traditional and contemporary social theory. The first component of this model categorized firefighters' skills according to the job-context in which they occurred, including: fire related emergencies, non-fire related emergencies, the fire station, and non-fire non-emergencies. The second component of this model drew from Braverman's (1998/1974) skill dimension concept and was used to identify both the complexity and autonomy/control-related aspects of skill in each job-context. Finally, Autor and colleagues' (2002) hypothesis was adapted to determine if routinized components of skill were either supplemented or complemented by new technologies. The findings indicated that skill change among firefighters was clearly present, but not uniform across job-contexts. A substantial increase in both the complexity and autonomy/control-related skill dimensions was present in the non-fire emergency context (particularly due to increased EMS-related skills). In fire emergencies, some skills diminished across both dimensions (e.g., operating the engine's pump), yet others had a slight increase due to the introduction of new technologies. In contrast to these two contexts, the fire station and non-fire non-emergency job-contexts had less skill change. Technology played a major role in the skill change experienced by firefighters. Surprisingly, aside from the introduction of computerized engine pumpers, the technology introduced did not diminish skill by replacing routinized tasks (Autor et al. 2002), and also did not create an overall decrease in firefighters' skill as would be suggested by Braverman (1998/1974). Instead new technologies tended to create new skills for firefighters, especially in the fire and non-fire emergency contexts. Similar to the consistent level of skill used in the fire station and non-fire non-emergency contexts, with only few exceptions (e.g., computers) technology's impact on firefighters' skill was found to be rather limited in these two dimensions. Using the tenets detailed in the conceptual model, a more elaborate understanding of skill change and technology's impact was able to be realized.Item `Do-It-Yourself': Self-checkouts, Supermarkets, and the Self-Service Trend in American Business(2009) Andrews, Christopher K.; Landry, Bart; Sociology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)A significant portion of sociology has always taken as its central focus the underlying relationship between economy and society. This dissertation continues this tradition by examining how self-service and its `do-it-yourself' ethos is changing the U.S. economy and the way in which Americans consume goods and services. Focusing upon the supermarket industry and the three principle stakeholder groups involved - employers, employees, and consumers - this dissertation examines why businesses are adopting automated checkout lanes. Particular attention is given to the reasons cited for their introduction, their effect upon work and employment in the industry, and the public's perception and attitude towards the technology. This dissertation adopts a multi-method approach, using information collected from eighty face-to-face interviews with customers, employees, and store managers, as well as secondary data and nonparticipant observation. Secondary data sources include published economic indicators and employment statistics, as well as information provided by newspapers and retail industry publications; nonparticipant observation was used to collect field notes documenting staffing levels, customer behavior, and other related information. Precisely why self-checkouts are being introduced remains a much-debated issue. Interviews indicate that organized labor and consumers view them as primarily a cost-cutting mechanism, yet labor costs within the industry continue to rise and employment remains relatively stable. At present, a number of social and economic barriers currently limit the extent of their use in stores; these factors include theft, maintenance, perceptions of service, internal controls, and specific labor contract provisions. Results also suggest that external, rather than internal, market factors may be driving current employment trends, including competition in the low-wage labor market and the emergence of non-union competition into the retail food industry. The benefits offered to consumers remains unclear. A majority of customers surveyed still prefer conventional cashier lanes, yet self-checkout clearly appeals to some consumers due to the perceived speed, control, and independence. However, results indicate that under most circumstances self-checkouts are not faster than conventional methods of checkout due to differences in user skill and experience. This may change, however, as similar self-service technologies become increasingly common in the service industry.Item Flat and Egalitarian? Evaluating Worker Hierarchies in Software Companies(2007-12-12) Dean, Paul; Landry, Bart; Sociology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The common view in the organizations literature is that, in the new economy, traditional worker hierarchies have now been replaced by flat, team-based arrangements. However, there have been few empirical studies that have tested this phenomenon. This paper seeks to fill this gap in the literature by evaluating the worker hierarchies of small and medium-sized software companies. By drawing on 61 in-depth interviews with workers and managers at 31 software companies, I assess several dimensions of organizational hierarchy. I found that worker hierarchies do not match our conceptions of traditional bureaucratic models, but formal hierarchies do remain, albeit with fewer layers. Management has relinquished decision-making on high-level decisions, while workers have gained more decision-making in production-level decisions and autonomy. I also outline the characteristics of new project-based hierarchies, which are more flexible worker hierarchies in which supervisory and managerial roles are fluid and fluctuating from one project to another.Item Location Choice, Product Choice, and the Human Resource Practices of Firms(2007-05-10) Freedman, Matthew L.; Haltiwanger, John C; Economics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis is comprised of three chapters. The first investigates the implications of industrial clustering for labor mobility and earnings dynamics. Motivated by a theoretical model in which geographically clustered firms compete for workers, I exploit establishment-level variation in agglomeration to explore the impact of clustering in the software publishing industry on labor market outcomes. The results show that clustering makes it easier for workers to job hop among establishments within the sector. Further, workers in clusters have relatively steep earnings-tenure profiles, accepting lower wages early in their careers in exchange for stronger earnings growth and higher wages later. These findings underscore the importance of geography in understanding labor market dynamics within industries. While the first chapter reveals striking relationships between the human resource practices and location decisions of high-technology establishments, the second chapter (joint with F. Andersson, J. Haltiwanger, J. Lane, and K. Shaw) draws key connections between the hiring and compensation policies of innovative firms and the nature of their product markets. We show that software firms that operate in product markets with highly skewed returns to innovation pay a premium to attract talented workers. Yet these same firms also reward loyalty; that is, highly skilled workers faithful to their employers enjoy higher earnings in firms with a greater variance in potential payoffs from innovation. These results not only contribute to our knowledge of firm human resource practices and product market strategies, but also shed light on patterns of income inequality within and between industries. Building on this final idea, the last chapter (joint with F. Andersson, E. Davis, J. Lane, B. McCall, and L. Sandusky) examines the contribution of worker and firm reallocation to within-industry changes in earnings inequality. We find that the entry and exit of firms and the sorting of workers and firms based on worker skills are key determinants of changes in industry earnings distributions over time. However, the importance of these and other factors in driving observed dynamics in earnings inequality varies across sectors, with aggregate shifts often disguising fundamental differences in the underlying forces effecting change.Item The New Economy of the United States: A New Mode of Production?(2006-06-06) Hepler, Bradford Boyd; Landry, Bart; Sociology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In the past several years, academics, journalists, federal regulators and business gurus have been writing about the development of a New Economy in the United States. According to New Economy supporters, the recent technological developments in information technology and the expansion of globalization are changing the economy, producing increases in productivity, and creating economic growth. However, critics of the New Economy have emerged who argued against the veracity of the claims of New Economy supporters. A debate about the existence of a New Economy has ensued with supporters of the New Economy noting new changes and phenomena in the economy and critics expressing skepticism about either the existence of a New Economy or the claims of New Economy supporters. I endorse the view that there is a New Economy because the recent revolution in information technology can be seen as a new mode of production, where workers utilize computers in the performance of job tasks at work. However, the adoption and utilization of the computer varies by industry and thus adoption of a New Economy is also expected to vary by industry. I will use the October 1984, October 1989, October 1993, October 1997, and September 2001 Current Population Surveys to test my hypothesis that a new mode of production has been adopted by examining computer usage within the six major industries of the economy. By 2001, computer usage had become dominant in the industries of 'Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate,' 'Wholesale Trade,' 'Manufacturing,' 'Communications and Public Utilities,' and certain sectors of the 'Service' economy, which is a strong sign that a New Economy had been adopted in these industries by 2001.Item PEACEKEEPING PARTICIPATION AND IDENTITY CHANGES IN THE JAPAN SELF DEFENSE FORCES:MILITARY SERVICE AS 'DIRTY WORK'(2005-08-04) Kurashina, Yuko; Segal, David R; Sociology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation examines (a) how a professional organization dealing with 'dirty work' (Hughes 1951, 1958) shape organizational practices and professional identity of its members in the process of seeking legitimacy and (b) how adaptation to a new task transforms these micro-institutional dynamics in the organization based on a case study of the Japan Self Defense Forces (SDF) and their peacekeeping participation. I utilize in-depth interviews with approximately 30 Japanese service members and survey data from 618 Japanese peacekeepers. Given an anti-militaristic culture in society and Constitutional restrictions against the possession of military power, the SDF have been developed as a constabulary military with limited legitimacy. Lack of legitimacy led the SDF to use symbolic management strategies to gain legitimacy, but their attempt unexpectedly put the organization into a 'vicious circle of legitimation' (Ashforth and Kreiner 1999), in which the aggressive attempt to pursue legitimacy aggravated skepticism of the observers and failed to increase legitimacy. Nonetheless, the SDF survived as a dirty work organization to protect the purity of the larger society. Contexualized by these institutional environments, service members have developed highly constabulary, less masculine, and civilianized identities. Since the early 1990s peacekeeping participation combined with the transformation of the work force structure has gradually lifted dirty work status of the SDF and provided service members with positive possible selves in their professional life. Regardless, the stigmatized status continues to regularize service members' behavior and professional identities. Increasing exposure to soldiers from other nations underscores their marginal position as military professionals. Japanese peacekeepers systematically focus on technical aspects to neutralize the militaristic nature of the contact. Moreover, the stringent rules of engagement (ROE) institutionalized by the anti-militarism sentiment in Japanese society help the SDF to maintain the consistency with the existing norms on the exercise of military power. At the same time, these imposed behavioral norms promote the fundamentally troubling, crisis-bearing arrangements that may routinize harmful practice and risk the safety of service members in the field. This dissertation contributes to the study of work organizations by illustrating the meaning creation and negotiation of identity in the micro-institutional dynamics in a socially stigmatized professional organization.