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Theme 5: Inclusive Economies, 'Decent Work', Ethics, Fairness and Sustainability

Theme members: Dr Peter Butler, Dr Chibuzo Ejiogu, Beth Miller, Dr Never Muskwe, Professor Jonathan Payne and Dr Jennifer Robinson

This theme considers a broad range of issues relating to the intersection between the employment relationship, social justice, institutional change and the lived experience of work. This takes in an eclectic range of topics including migration, human rights, ethics and sustainability (Ejiogu); the connection between belief and "work" in modernity and how belief shapes our approach to the activity referred to as "work" (Robinson) and the issue of whether highly routinised work can provide ‘good’ jobs in a modern economy (Butler, Muskwe and Payne). There is also consideration  of leadership inequalities in the public sector with a focus on BAMEs (Muskwe) while an important strand of emergent research utilises labour process theory to consider the precursors of resilience amongst  teachers (Miller).

Project: "Voices and Images of Migration, Exploitation, Reintegration and Emancipation in Nigeria (VIOMEREN)", Chibuzo Ejiogu (Principal Investigator) with Ojebode, A; Ejiogu, A. and Ioron Aloho, N. - approx. £30,000 AHRC GCRF Network+ Phase 2 Antislavery Knowledge Network 2019-2021). 

Theme member: Chibuzo Ejiogu 

Voices and Images of Migration, Exploitation, Reintegration and Emancipation in Nigeria (VIOMEREN) is a research project investigating and documenting the lived experiences of returnee migrants in Nigeria through art-based participatory action research.

VIOMEREN attempts to problematize the narrow focus on rescue from physical and sexual compulsion. It does so by linking the specific phase of human trafficking during transit to socio-cultural and economic compulsions encountered during pre-migration and reintegration phases and seeks to articulate the voices and perspectives of returnee migrants in relation to accountability and financial transparency in policy interventions of which they are beneficiaries.

VIOMEREN aims to facilitate the initiation and development of the Nigerian Literary and Arts Antislavery Collective (NLAAC), the first antislavery group of its kind in Nigeria. The goal of NLAAC is to bring together returnee migrants who have been victims of human trafficking with literary and art practitioners, students, teachers and researchers to record the memory, narratives and lived experiences of victims of modern slavery and articulate their voices using visual and literary art as well as innovative and community-based methods. 

This research supports the achievement of SDG 8.7 which links the promotion of full and productive employment and decent work for all to the eradication of forced labour, human trafficking and modern slavery. More information can be found at the .

This project is linked to a wider research agenda on the interconnections between migration, precarious work and modern slavery.

Publications 

Ejiogu, C. (2020). “Restrictions and Resistance In The Postcolonial Periphery: Labour Power And Skilled Migrant Workers In The United Kingdom”. In Hammer, A. and Fishwick, A. (eds.) The Political Economy of Work in the Global South: Reflections on Labour Process Theory. Critical Perspectives on Work and Employment Series. Basingstoke: Macmillan International Higher Education (Accepted/In Press). 

Ejiogu, C. (2018). “Precariousness in Unlikely Places: The Role of High-Skilled Migrant Worker Networks in Resisting and Reproducing Precarity”. In Fedyuk, O. and Stewart, P. (eds.) Inclusion and Exclusion in Europe: Migration, Work and Employment Perspectives. London: ECPR Press/ Rowman & Littlefield International

Project: Sustainable Human Resource Management, Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Ethics

Theme members: Chibuzo Ejiogu, Jennifer Robinson

Sustainable Human Resource Management is a new, exciting and emerging concept that links HRM strategy and practices to the concepts of sustainability and sustainable development. Sustainable development was famously defined by the Brundtland Commission’s report, Our Common Future, as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs highlighting the ‘three pillars’ of sustainability (economic, social and environmental considerations). Sustainable HRM builds on, and goes beyond, the concept of ‘Green HRM’ to consider ways in which organisations and their HRM systems may simultaneously promote positive economic, social and environmental (ecological) outcomes for current and future generations (a triple bottom line approach). Sustainable HRM would usually be integrated with wider organisational strategies in relation to sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Research on Sustainable HRM falls within a wider research agenda investigating the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) concept of Decent Work and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8 which emphasizes full and productive employment and decent work for all as part of the United Nation’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Decent Work, CSR and Sustainable HRM all occur within specific contexts. Therefore, valuable insights can be drawn from research on the business environment, national and transnational regulation, global values chains, sector-specific and industry-specific contexts, institutional and cultural contexts and the role of the informal sector etc. Interdisciplinary research on business ethics contributes significantly to understanding the differences between the rhetoric and reality of decent work, CSR and Sustainable HRM and the experiences and challenges encountered by workers, organisations, governments, trade unions, civil society organisations and other actors and stakeholders in relation to these issues. Research on business ethics highlights how transparency, accountability and corruption may hinder sustainable development, sustainable business environments and decent work. Business ethics also shapes our understanding of the connection between belief and "work" in modernity and how belief shapes our approach to the activity referred to as "work".

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has brought the ethical practices of organisations and governments into sharper focus highlighting the need for research on a range of issues around the sustainability of economies and businesses. This includes the resilience of organisational commitment to CSR and sustainability during a COVID-19 induced economic recession, the re-evaluation of what constitutes socially valuable jobs, essential jobs and who qualify as ‘key workers’, safe working conditions, decent work, social protection during unemployment, work-life balance and working from home, the challenges of virtual working, lower carbon-footprints during COVID-19 lockdowns and the future of work (what changes resulting from COVID-19 may be transient or permanent?) and a host of other ethical issues. 

Research Outputs

Ejiogu, C. and Ogamba, I. (2021). Executive Compensation: Transparency, Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility Perspectives. In Pepple, D. G. and Zhang. C. (eds.) Managerial and Financial Aspects of HRM (1st Edition). Bingley: Emerald

Ejiogu, A., Okechukwu, O., Ejiogu, C., (2020) Nigerian Budgetary Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and its Shrinking Fiscal Space: Financial Sustainability, Employment, Social Inequality and Business Implications. Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, 

Ejiogu C.J, Ejiogu A.R, and Asiyanbi A.P (2020) Sustainable Human Resource Management in the Context of Sustainable Tourism and Sustainable Development in Africa: Problems and Prospects. In: Baum T. and Ndiuini A. (eds) Sustainable Human Resource Management in Tourism: African Perspectives. Cham: Springer. DOI: 

Ejiogu, A., Ejiogu, C. and Ambituuni, A. (2020) Corruption Fights Back: Localizing Transparency and EITI in the Nigerian Penkelemes Governance: An International Journal of Policy, Administration and Institutions,

Ejiogu, A., Okechukwu, O., Ejiogu, C., Owusu, A. and Adeola, O. (2019) Determinants of Informal Entrepreneurship in Africa. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business (Accepted/In Press) https://www.dora.dmu.ac.uk/handle/2086/17749

Ambituuni, A., Ejiogu, C., Ejiogu, A. and Omar, M. (2019) Operational dilemmas in safety-critical industries: the tension between organizational reputational concerns and the effective communication of risk. Journal of Management & Organization, First Online, 1-18 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2019.27  

Ejiogu, A., Ejiogu, C. and Ambituuni, A. (2019). The dark side of transparency: Does the Nigeria extractive industries transparency initiative help or hinder accountability and corruption control?, British Accounting Review, 51(5), 1-17, DOI:  

Ejiogu, A., and Ejiogu, C. (2018). Translation in the “contact zone” between accounting and human resource management: The nebulous idea of humans as assets and resources, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 31(7), 1932-1956. DOI: 

Ejiogu, A., Ambituuni, A. and Ejiogu, C. (2018). Accounting for Accounting’s Role in the Neoliberalisation Processes of Social Housing in England: A Bourdieusian Perspective, Critical Perspectives on Accounting, DOI: 

Ejiogu, C.J., Ozoh, C.E. and Ejiogu, C.A. (2013). “Integrating Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility in the Context of a Global Financial Crisis: Enabling Sustainability through Executive Remuneration and Reward Strategy”. In Okram, B. (ed.) Corporate Goals and Responsibilities: Economic, Social and Human Rights. Dudweiler Landstr: Lambert Academic Publishing.

Ejiogu, C. (2013). “Business, Human Rights and Corporate Social Responsibility in a Global Financial Crisis: The Global Challenge of Embedding Human Rights in Organizations and Human Resource Management Practices”. In Okram, B. (ed.) Corporate Goals and Responsibilities: Economic, Social and Human Rights. Dudweiler Landstr: Lambert Academic Publishing.

Ejiogu, C., Adejumo, O.  and Szczygiel, A. (2013). Social Networks, Social Media and Dispersed Leadership: Critical Perspectives on Emergent Leadership in African Networks and Social Movements, Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa 15(4), 206-241. 

Project: Rethinking Routinized Service Sector Work

Theme members: Dr Peter Butler, Jonathan Payne and Dr Never Muskwe

Beyond the Mcjob thesis: Exploring the nature of routinized work

This is an exciting project which draws on data from the fast-food sector. The research utilises an in-depth qualitative approach to assess the implications of routinized work on a number of employment outcomes including job satisfaction, career mobility and dignity.

Sociologists tend to view changes in job quality as reflecting the outcomes of long-term structural features of the labour market e.g. cost cutting as a competitive strategy, job design that limits autonomy and a neo-liberal policy environment. However, vital questions concern whether high job quality is inherently restricted to certain contexts and occupations and if the acuteness of structural pressures precludes others. The manner in which structural pressures intersect with job quality is especially severe in certain sectors of the economy – significantly those where success depends on price leadership allied to uniformity in the provision of the product or service. Fast-food – the focus of this project – represents the prototypical service sector example, the corollary being the requirements for efficiency, calculability, predictability and control.

The ubiquity of the fast-food phenomenon has inevitably attracted academic scrutiny and references to neo-Fordist, regimented assembly-line techniques have become an enduring cliché.  Job quality is, however, a multi-dimensional phenomenon reflected in diverse understandings of what constitutes a ‘good’ job. Within the fast-food literature, the analytical gaze has for the most part however fallen on ‘crew’ members i.e. customer facing shop-floor personnel.  Surprisingly, while various authors have highlighted the presence of pervasive bureaucratic controls, ‘restaurant’ managers have not hitherto formed the principal focus of studies. The study builds upon the work Jonathan Payne (51吃瓜app) and Caroline Lloyd (Cardiff University) who explored the managerial function in another routinised context i.e. large café chains and independents in the UK.

This first tranche of this research  accordingly investigated front-line managerial work in ‘QSRco’ – a multi-national fast-food organisation with a long-standing presence in the UK. The research speaks to important debates vis-a-vis managerial job quality in front-line service sector work and whether ‘meaning’ and ‘dignity’ can be derived from routinised and stigmatised work. Hitherto forty interviews have been undertaken with restaurant managers running a variety of units, ranging from city centre locations to out of town ‘drive thrus’. The second phase of the work commenced in 2018 and seeks to obtain the perspective of crew members. The research team are currently exploring the impact of franchising on the experience of work.

Key findings include:

  • The relationship between job quality and routinised work is complex. Notwithstanding significant bureaucratic rigidities, fast-food managerial work is viewed as both interesting and indeed meaningful for some.
  • Fast food managerial work coheres positively with certain QWL attributes – not least adequate and fair compensation and opportunities for career mobility.
  • Fast-food appears to offer distinct career advantages when contrasted with routinised work in other parts of the hospitality sector. 

Research outputs 

Butler, P. and Muskwe, N. Employees’ experience of HR policy under plural form franchising:  A tale of two systems, Under review, Human Resource Management Journal

Butler P and Hammer A (2020) Pay progression in routinised service sector work: Navigating the internal labour market in a fast food MNC, Industrial Relations Journal, 51(4)351-357.

Butler, P, and Hamer, A. (2020) HR practice in a fast food MNC: Exploring the low discretion, high commitment phenomenon, International Journal of Human Resource Management. . Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2020.175123

Butler, P. and Hammer, A. (2019) ‘A minute’s a life time in fast food!’: Managerial job quality in the quick service restaurant sector, Work, Employment and Society, 33,1, 96-111 

Lloyd, C. and Payne, J. (2014) ‘It’s all hands-on even for management’: Managerial work in the UK cafe sector, Human Relations, 67, 4, 465-488.

Lloyd, C. and Payne, J. (2012) ‘Flat whites – who gets progression in the UK café sector?’, Industrial Relations Journal, 43, 1, 38-52.

Project: Co-designing pathways to decent work? A case study of two third sector projects working with the long-term unemployed and young people who are ‘NEET’ in one city in the Midlands

Theme Members: Jonathan Payne and Peter Butler

The Covid-19 crisis has prompted concerns that its economic effects could be long-lasting, and that the UK could be facing ‘Great Depression’ levels of unemployment. This would only add to the challenges currently facing the long-term unemployed, and young people who are ‘not in education, employment or training’ (NEET). Both groups have complex needs, and, with the looming prospect of mass unemployment, are in danger of going to back of the job queue and policy priorities.

Existing research questions the effectiveness of the DWP’s target-driven, payment-by- results approach in supporting these groups into work. Government-funded schemes for hard-to-reach NEETs in England have also been decimated by austerity. What works with those groups is said to be tailored coaching using ‘key workers’ who ‘co-design’ with participants a ‘personalised’ journey into work. The participation of employers is also critical but is often said to be challenging to scale up. Leicester has some interesting Third Sector provision in this area that deploys a ‘key worker’ model and which has forged links with local employers. These programmes are sorely under-researched, while their current dependence on European Social Funding has left a question mark over their continued viability post-Brexit.

This project seeks to explore the value and impact of these local initiatives. Alongside the precarity of current funding, two key issues emerge for research. The first is whether these programmes allow genuine ‘co-production’ towards sustainable work that clients want and choose, or whether there might be elements of compulsion aimed at steering clients into undesirable, low quality jobs. If the former is the case, this raises questions as to whether there might be lessons for the design of active labour market/employability programmes more generally. The second concerns the much-neglected area of ‘employer engagement’ in terms of how and why employers get involved with active labour market policies of this nature. The research project seeks, therefore, to address two fundamental research questions:

  1. Does the approach provide a model based on ‘co-production’ that supports a personalised journey into sustainable or ‘decent’ work?
  2. What role are local employers playing, how might this be developed, and what lessons can be learnt?