Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society Advance Access originally published online on June 11, 2009
Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society 2009 2(3):413-427; doi:10.1093/cjres/rsp017
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This article appears in the following Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society issue: Transforming Work: New Forms of Employment and their Regulation [View the issue table of contents]
Employed under different rules: the complexities of working across organizational boundaries
a European Work and Employment Research Centre, Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, Booth Street West, Manchester M15 6PB, UK. jill.rubery{at}manchester.ac.uk, mick.marchington{at}mbs.ac.uk, damian.grimshaw{at}mbs.ac.uk, marilyn.carroll{at}mbs.ac.uk
b CLAHRC NDL, Sir Colin Campbell Building, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2TU, UK. sarah.pass{at}nottingham.ac.uk
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A major element of the transforming work debate is the spread of complex organizational forms. Hierarchical and strictly bounded employing organizations are said to be being replaced by fluid networks of organizations, working in partnership to achieve shared goals. Case studies of four co-production networks cast doubts on the extent to which employment hierarchies have lost salience. Inter-organizational relations are found to result not in the absence of hierarchies but in their overlapping, intertwining and fragmentation. These interactions raise problems of consistency and fairness within the employment relationship, particularly related to distributive justice, procedural justice and career development.
Keywords: hierarchy, networks, employment relationship, inter-organizational relations, careers, HRM consistency
Received on November 3, 2008. Accepted on April 27, 2009.
JEL Classifications:: D23, J30, M54, M55