Research news

02.09.2025: New publication

Kump, B.; Ortlieb, R.; Delmestri, G.; Peeters, D.; Elmi, M.; Moschera, L.; Castriotta, M. & Fuchs, M. (2025). Living a sea change: The role of embodiment in enacting a real utopia. Organization Studies, online first, DOI: 10.1177/01708406251357855. (free access)

Real utopias are visions of desirable futures that are both aspirational and achievable. As a form of projective agency, they can inspire experimental enactment, in which utopian ideas are tested in real-life contexts. Although earlier research has touched on the practical and visceral experiences associated with such experimental enactment, it has surprisingly undertheorized the role of embodiment therein. Our shared experience of the Sailing Initiative, a collective endeavor to sail to a scientific conference on an island, provided a unique opportunity to explore the role of the body in bringing a real utopia to life. In the Sailing Initiative, we experimentally enacted our shared vision of environmental sustainability and slow academia, aiming to travel to the conference in a sustainable way while using the travel time for slow-paced academic work in an unconventional setting. We extensively documented our expectations and experiences through individual and collective reflections before and after the journey, as well as through photos and videos. Based on an abductive analysis of the rich autoethnographic data, we develop a theoretical model of the role of embodiment in enacting a real utopia that is sensitive to material realities. We argue that viewing agency through the lens of embodiment is significant for three reasons. First, an embodiment perspective highlights the transformative potential of experimental enactment in unconventional settings, helping individuals and collectives overcome embodied institutional norms and create new practices. Second, the body is not merely an instrument for executing envisioned practices or enduring discomforts; rather, bodily experiences continuously shape concrete actions in the process of enacting a desired future. Third, given the importance of bodily memories in crafting shared narratives of desired futures, a real utopia should be viewed not only as visionary thinking but as a projection shaped by both past and present bodily and visceral experiences.

 

02.04.2025: New publication

Poór, J.; Tóth, A.; Kálmán, B. G.; Kovács, E. I.; Szabó, K.; Kőmüves, Z. S.; Hirt, C.; Bešić, A.; Pató Gáborné Szűcs, B.; Szeiner, Z.; Kerekes, K.; Szabó-Szentgróti, G. & Rahimić, Z. (2025). A paradigm shift? Changes in HRM after the Covid-19 Pandemic in Six CEE Countries. Journal of East European Management Studies, 30(1): 39443. DOI: 10.31083/JEEMS39443 (registering DOI)

This study addresses changes in human resource management (HRM) practices of six Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries during the COVID-19 pandemic by highlighting similarities and differences across the countries. We indicated the growing significance of the human factor while also pointing out significant differences between organisations and contexts. COVID-19 intensified changes affecting individuals, organizations and society–especially in the field of HR which may signal a paradigm shift in HR operations. 

 

14.02.2025: New publication

Knappert, L.; Cnossen, B. & Ortlieb, R. (2025). Inequality regimes in coworking spaces: How new forms of organizing (re)produce inequalities. Work, Employment and Society, 39(1): 43-63

Coworking is a rapidly growing worldwide phenomenon. While the coworking movement emphasizes equality and emancipation, there is little known about the extent to which coworking spaces as new forms of organizing live up to this ideal. This study examines inequality in coworking spaces in the Netherlands, employing Acker's framework of inequality regimes. The findings highlight coworking-specific components of inequality regimes, in particular stereotyped assumptions regarding 'ideal members' that establish the bases of inequality, practices that produce inequality (e.g. through the commodification of community) and practices that perpetuate inequality (e.g. the denial of inequality). The study provides an update of Acker's framework in the context of coworking and speaks, more broadly, to the growing body of literature on (in)equality in emerging organizational contexts.

 

28.10.2024: New publication

Weiss, S. & Ortlieb, R. (2024). Professional–personal boundary work: Individuals torn between integration and segmentation. German Journal of Human Resource Management, online first, DOI: 10.1177/23970022241291503. (free access)

What drives individuals to work until late at night or during holidays, and how do they stop work or keep work commitment in its place? This qualitative study examines boundary work between the professional and the personal life domains. Drawing on interviews with 26 academics employed at a university, we identify various boundary work drivers and tactics. Norms prevailing in the professional field, career requirements and high workloads, as well as strong intrinsic passion for science drive individuals to work long hours and to blend the professional–personal boundary. At the same time, individuals try to establish boundaries to ensure productivity and one’s health, or meeting family and personal life needs. Furthermore, our research reveals three patterns of the relationship between integration and segmentation. Firstly, individuals utilize segmentation to restrict integration, employing sophisticated tactics such as self-deception or self-isolation to shield themselves from the negative repercussions of excessive integration. Secondly, segmentation tactics can not only restrict integration but also enable it, for instance through the creation of ‘free’ times and spaces. Thirdly, individuals sometimes also utilize integration to enable segmentation. Our findings expand boundary theory by identifying manifold boundary-work drivers and tactics and by revealing that integration and segmentation are not just two opposing poles of a continuum but they are mutually connected, restricting or enabling one another.

 

19.7.2024: New publication

Ortlieb, R.; Baumgartner, P.; Palinkas, M.; Eggenhofer-Rehart, P. & Ressi, E. (2024). Employment outcomes of refugee women and men: Multiple gender gaps and the importance of high-skill jobs. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, online first, DOI: 10.1080/1369183X.2024.2379945. (free access)

Refugee women face significant challenges when seeking employment in Western host countries. To advance gender-sensitive perspectives within migration and refugee research, this study examines differences in employment outcomes between refugee women and men. Specifically, this study provides a nuanced picture of six indicators of employment outcomes, including pay, fixed-term versus permanent employment contract, overqualification, career prospects, an at-home feeling in the workplace and the ability to talk to colleagues about personal problems. The study also shows that individuals' occupational status plays a role in gender disparities. Our findings, based on a recent survey of refugees working in Austria, reveal several gender gaps, with an especially significant gap regarding fixed-term employment contracts. Refugee women, who are more likely to be disadvantaged in employment outcomes, benefit disproportionately from working in high-skill jobs. The findings underscore the complex nature of gendered patterns in labor market integration of refugees and imply specific policies addressing gender inequality in this setting.

 

6.3.2024: New publication

Bešić, A.; Hirt, C. & Rahimić, Z. (2024). Contextualizing employee engagement in crisis: A protective caring approach to employee engagement in the banking sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Employee Relations: The International Journal, 46(9): 42-59. (free access)

Purpose - This study focuses on HR practices that foster employee engagement during Covid-19. Companies in transition economies are particularly vulnerable to crisis and downsizing and other recessionary practices are frequently used.

Design/methodology/approach - Drawing on the model of caring human resource management, we utilise interviews with human resource representatives of 10 banks in the transition economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina.we analyse the banks at two different times to demonstrate how and why companies adapt their HR practices.

Findings - Our findings show a changing mindset in the deployment of highly context-specific HR practices. Strengthening company culture through a sense of community and communication ensure stability and continuity in work. Rather than layoffs, flexible work has become standard.

Practical implications - By highlighting the interplay between HR practices and employee engagement, we contribute to the discussion on engagement in exceptional circumstances and challenging settings and demonstrate how caring responsibilities "migrate" into HR practices in the professional context of a transition economy.

Originality/value - We propose a context-specific "protective caring approach" to foster employee engagement during crises.

 

17.1.2024: New publication

Ressi, E.; Weiss, S. & Ortlieb, R. (2024). Whose interests matter? The role of participation in inclusive organizational behavior. Journal of Organizational Behavior, online first, DOI: 10.1002/job.2767. (free access)

In the context of working from home triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, we theorize on inclusive organizational behavior (IOB) as a participatory practice to use diverse interests as a resource for developing a long-term working mode. We adopt a mixed-methods design to examine qualitative data from four companies and quantitative data from a company survey. In the qualitative study, we identify four IOB approaches (blighting, silencing, balancing, and harmonizing) employed by various organizational actors (HR/managers, employees, and their representatives). These practices concern organizational culture, structures, and everyday interactions in dealing with diverse interests. In the quantitative study, we examine the relationship between heterogeneity of interests, participation, and organizational experiences with working from home. We integrate our findings in an IOB model and show that a higher degree of participation fosters positive experiences with working from home, as well as opportunities for learning. Addressing diverse interests through participatory practices may involve challenges and lengthy negotiations yet offers the potential to learn from diversity for future working modes. Our research contributes to the conceptualization and practical implementation of IOB by emphasizing the importance of participation in co-creating opportunities for learning from given and potentially emerging interests in a constantly changing world of work.