Valerie Egdell

Extending working lives: age management in SMEs

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a study of age management in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK.Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative data collection and exploratory research with six SMEs comprising of: initial interviews with representatives from the SMEs; action research activities designed to raise awareness of age management issues and age discrimination legislation; and follow‐up interviews to ascertain if awareness raising activities resulted in any changes, or planned changes, in policy, practice and attitudes towards older workers.Findings – Good practice in age management can be found in SMEs, but was not found to be part of a systematic strategy. Negative practices and attitudes towards older workers are observed, with positive and negative age stereotypes coexisting. Negative stereotypes displayed can undermine the perceived economic value of older workers. There may be a gap between policy and practice, but awareness raising campaigns that reach employer...

Who cares? Managing obligation and responsibility across the changing landscapes of informal dementia care.

ABSTRACT This paper explores the different ways in which informal carers for people with dementia negotiate their care-giving role across the changing organisational and spatial landscape of care. In-depth qualitative data are used to argue that the decisions of carers are socially situated and the result of negotiations involving individuals, families and wider cultural expectations. These decisions affect where care occurs. In addressing these issues this paper draws attention to the lack of choice some carers may have in taking on the care-giving role; how and why carers draw upon support; and the different expectations of the care-givers capabilities across the different sites of care, specifically at home and in nursing homes. It concludes that research and policy attention should focus on how the expectations about the role and abilities of carers are affected by where, and how, care is delivered. In doing so this paper contributes to the emerging health geography literature on care-giving as well as developing the spatial perspective in the established gerontological literature.

Development of Support Networks in Informal Dementia Care: Guided, Organic, and Chance Routes through Support

Accroître les connaissances sur le développement de réseaux de soins pour personnes atteintes de démence est impératif dans les pays avec des populations vieillissantes avec l’augmentation de la dépendance sur les soins informels. Cette étude a utilisé une approche qualitative pour identifier les voies complexes prises par les aidants naturels de personnes atteintes de démence dans le développement de leurs réseaux de soins. Elle a examiné les données d’entrevue de 13 aidants naturels de personnes atteintes de démence. Trois chemins ont été identifiés: Les chemins guidés, les chemins organiques, et les chemins de chance. L’argument principal de cet article est que ces chemins résultent, non seulement des ressources que les aidants naturels peuvent utiliser, mais également des espérances variables du rôle des aidants naturels. En outre, les résultats fournissent un cadre potentiel pour examiner les expériences des aidants naturels qui s’occupent de personnes atteintes d’autres maladies chroniques. Increasing knowledge about factors that shape the development of care networks for people with dementia is imperative in countries with aging populations that are relying increasingly on informal care. This study used a qualitative approach to identify the complex routes through support taken by informal caregivers for people with dementia in the development of their care networks. Interview data were collected from 13 caregivers. Three routes through support were identified: guided routes, organic routes, and chance routes. This article’s principal argument is that these routes are the outcomes not only of the resources that caregivers draw upon, but also of their varying expectations regarding the role of the informal caregiver. The identification of the three routes through support provides a potentially valuable framework for examining the experiences of caregivers for individuals with other long-term health conditions.

Third sector independence: relations with the state in an age of austerity

Third sector organisations deliver a range of public services for government. They are valued and trusted by commissioners, clients and wider society because of their independence. However, the extent to which the third sector is independent is questioned. Drawing on qualitative longitudinal research with third sector organisations in Scotland, this article explores how third sector organisations delivering public services manage the demands of changing funding structures and relationships with government, and the implications for their independence. It explores how organisations understand and negotiate the tension between their independence and missiondriven social action, and delivering commissioned and contracted public services. In doing so, it highlights the challenges to independence in a dynamically changing political, policy and financial climate, as well as opportunities for organisations to emphasise their distinctive contribution to public service delivery.

Third Sector Experiences of Work Programme Delivery

This paper explores the organisational experiences of governmental policy change and implementation on the third sector. Using a four-year longitudinal study of 13 third sector organisations (TSOs) it provides evidence based on the experiences of, and effects on, third sector organisations involved in the UK’s Work Programme in Scotland. The paper explores third sector experiences of the Work Programme during the preparation and introductory phase, as well as the effects of subsequent Work Programme implementation. By gathering evidence contemporaneously and longitudinally a unique in-depth analysis is provided of the introduction and implementation of a major new policy. The resource cost and challenges to third sector ways of working for the organisations in the Work Programme supply chain, as well as those not in the supply chain, are considered. The paper considers some of the responses adopted by the third sector to manage the opportunities and challenges presented to them through the implementation of the Work Programme. The paper also reflects on the broader context of the employability services landscape and raises questions as to whether, as a result of the manner in which the Work Programme was contracted, there is evidence of a move towards service homogenisation, challenging perceived TSO characteristics of service innovation and personalisation.

Operationalisation of the Capability Approach

The holistic and multilayered structure offered by the Capability Approach makes this theoretical framework particularly suitable for conceptualising and contextualising complex socioeconomic phenomena. However, several challenging issues on how to operationalise it are inevitably raised. Extensive and growing empirical applications of the Capability Approach in many fields of investigation show that researchers can meet many of the challenges posed by this approach by adopting various empirical strategies and technical solutions. This chapter aims to provide an overview of the recent empirical literature on capabilities, labour markets and education in Europe, using examples from recent European projects inspired by, or based on, the Capability Approach and offering interesting examples for those who wish to make use of this approach for future investigation in this field.

Buying into Capitalism? Employee Ownership in a Disconnected Era: Buying into Capitalism?

This article considers whether employee ownership mitigates the negative workplace outcomes identified by the Disconnected Capitalism Thesis (DCT). Drawing on a programme of in‐depth interviews with workers and managers in employee‐owned businesses (EOBs), the article reveals how they are partially insulated from the vicissitudes endemic within contemporary capitalism. In contrast to the workplace outcomes envisaged within the DCT, these firms are characterized by strong workforce participation, high levels of employment security, active employee engagement and strong levels of employee creativity. Not only are these features beneficial for productivity and firm performance, they generate a form of ‘connected’ capitalism, partially offsetting wider negative systemic forces at play in the economy.

Buying into Capitalism? Employee Ownership in a Disconnected Era

This article considers whether employee ownership mitigates the negative workplace outcomes identified by the Disconnected Capitalism Thesis (DCT). Drawing on a programme of in‐depth interviews with workers and managers in employee‐owned businesses (EOBs), the article reveals how they are partially insulated from the vicissitudes endemic within contemporary capitalism. In contrast to the workplace outcomes envisaged within the DCT, these firms are characterized by strong workforce participation, high levels of employment security, active employee engagement and strong levels of employee creativity. Not only are these features beneficial for productivity and firm performance, they generate a form of ‘connected’ capitalism, partially offsetting wider negative systemic forces at play in the economy.

Buying into Capitalism? Employee Ownership in a Disconnected Era (Forthcoming/Available Online)

This article considers whether employee ownership mitigates the negative workplace outcomes identified by the Disconnected Capitalism Thesis (DCT). Drawing on a programme of in‐depth interviews with workers and managers in employee‐owned businesses (EOBs), the article reveals how they are partially insulated from the vicissitudes endemic within contemporary capitalism. In contrast to the workplace outcomes envisaged within the DCT, these firms are characterized by strong workforce participation, high levels of employment security, active employee engagement and strong levels of employee creativity. Not only are these features beneficial for productivity and firm performance, they generate a form of ‘connected’ capitalism, partially offsetting wider negative systemic forces at play in the economy.

A capability approach to career development: An introduction and implications for practice

In the UK, the concept of employability is influential in current conceptualizations of career development. It is an example of a discourse underpinned by faith in individual transformation as a response to unstable labour markets, a position that is not unproblematic when structural factors are taken into account. This article introduces an alternative perspective, the capability approach, to encourage debate about its value, and to begin to outline what it means for career counselling and development practice. An overview of the capability approach is provided, and the resonance between the concerns of the capability approach and those of career development practitioners will be highlighted. Key difficulties in applying the approach are identified before implications of the capability approach for practice are considered.