Emilie Genin

IT self-employed workers between constraint and flexibility

This research focuses on the degree of work autonomy which IT self-employed workers enjoy. It relies on quantitative and qualitative data. We found that strategic autonomy (ability to choose ones work objectives) is linked to individual characteristics: education and expertise, whereas operational autonomy (ability to choose the adequate methods) is correlated to contextual factors such as the type of clients and the kind of contracts.

A balanced view of long work hours

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address the theoretical ordering of the associations between work hours, psychological demands, decision latitude, and psychological distress.Design/methodology/approach – A mediation model, predicting that the association between long work hours and psychological distress is mediated by psychological demands and decision latitude, was tested with a representative sample of 7,802 individuals in full‐time paid employment surveyed by a government agency. Structural equation modeling was used and the full mediation model was replicated for subsamples of men and women. The analysis controlled for demographic variables, work characteristics and socioeconomic status.Findings – As expected, decision latitude is associated with less and psychological demands with more psychological distress. Long work hours are associated with more decision latitude and psychological demands. The association between long work hours and psychological distress is mediated by psychological d...

Why the long hours? Job demands and social exchange dynamics.

BACKGROUND This study investigates the determinants of long working hours from the perspectives of the demand-control model [Karasek, 1979] and social exchange theory [Blau, 1964; Goulder, 1960]. OBJECTIVE These two theoretical perspectives are tested to understand why individuals work longer (or shorter) hours. METHODS The hypotheses are tested with a representative sample of 1,604 employed Canadians. RESULTS In line with Karaseks model, the results support that high job demands are positively associated with longer work hours. The social exchange perspective would predict a positive association between skill discretion and work hours. This hypothesis was supported for individuals with a higher education degree. Finally, the results support a positive association between active jobs and longer work hours. CONCLUSIONS Our research suggests that job demands and social exchange dynamics need to be considered together in the explanation of longer (or shorter) work hours.

Family, business and power: illustrating three extreme cases

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how small family business (SFB) leader‐founders exhibit a dominant logic of action over less dominant prevailing ones. The authors investigate three logics of action: family, power and economic.Design/methodology/approach – An exploratory qualitative research is conducted based on case studies. The authors use Cisneros and Genins conceptual model, to identify, through an iterative sampling frame, three extreme SFB cases where in the first the leader exhibits a dominant family logic, in the second, a dominant power logic and in the third, a dominant economic logic.Findings – The authors illustrate the characteristics of the SFB leaders when they exhibit a dominant logic of action and also present some of the implications of SFB leaders’ dominant logics of action on the SFB and the family and non‐family members.Research limitations/implications – The three extreme case studies provide an important building block for future studies based on larger samples...