The Organization of Working Time in the Knowledge Economy: An Insight into the Working Time Patterns of Consultants in the UK and the USA
| Date | 01 June 2011 |
| Author | Rory Donnelly |
| Published date | 01 June 2011 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8543.2010.00826.x |
The Organization of Working Time in the
Knowledge Economy: An Insight into the
Working Time Patterns of Consultants in
the UK and the USAbjir_82693..114
Rory Donnelly
Abstract
The development of the knowledge economy is creating new and diverse working
time patterns. This study uses survey and qualitative interview data from
consultants operating as organizational employees, as well as those acting as
freelance contractors to explore the organization of working time among knowl-
edge workers in the UK and the USA. The findings reveal how these forms of
employment and national context shape and produce complex nuances in the
working patterns and experiences of these important highly skilled workers.
1. Introduction
The increasing diversity of working patterns in the knowledge economy and
changes observed in the organization and administration of working time
have been attracting mounting interest from academics, policy makers, man-
agers, workers and trade unions alike. Many of these changes are exemplified
among knowledge workers in occupations such as consultancy (Baldry et al.
2007). In contrast to low-skill workers who must largely fall in line with shifts
in the demands made by employers over the contours and duration of
working time, or rely on collective bargaining or regulatory support to
moderate these demands (Martinez-Granado 2005), it is claimed that these
workers are able to use their empowered status to exercise discretion over
their working patterns, thereby enabling them to adjust their hours and
location of work to suit their own individual preferences (Brinkley et al.
2009).
Analyses of these changes and arrangements have typically been con-
ducted in a single national context, concentrating on specific sub-groups of
Rory Donnelly is at the Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham.
British Journal of Industrial Relations doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8543.2010.00826.x
49:S1 June 2011 0007–1080 pp. s93–s114
© Blackwell Publishing Ltd/London School of Economics 2010. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd,
9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA.
these workers, principally those acting as independent contractors (Barley
and Kunda 2004; Evans et al. 2004; Kunda et al. 2002; Pink 2001). This focus
has perhaps skewed our understanding of these changes, particularly as the
working patterns of those operating under traditional employment arrange-
ments have not been integrated into these analyses to provide direct empirical
comparison. Where international analyses of working time are performed,
these are typically at a macro-level, which potentially masks variations in the
working patterns of knowledge workers in different national settings.
This article seeks to address some of these gaps and enrich our understand-
ing of the way different working patterns are formed in the knowledge
economy. In order to achieve this, the article examines the organization of
working time among not only consultants who are directly employed by a
consultancy firm, but also those acting as independent freelance consultants
and how these patterns are shaped by differences in these employment and
contractual arrangements, as well as national context. Specifically, the article
investigates how working time patterns associated with the occupation of
consultancy in Britain and America are shaped by: (i) organizational employ-
ment and context; (ii) freelance contracting; and (iii) national norms and
regulations.
The expectation may be that the impact of these factors on consultants’
working time is bounded and distinct, according to whether they operate as
either employees or contractors and the national context in which they are
embedded. However, the findings from this small-scale exploratory study
reveal that the organization of working time and flexibility among consult-
ants in the UK and the USA is influenced by a complex balance of factors,
which shape the working patterns and experiences of these agents of change.
2. Literature review
Over recent years, the literature on the organization and administration of
working time has expanded, with increasing research into flexible working
arrangements, trends observed among knowledge workers and national
variations in working time (Altonji and Usui 2007; Donnelly 2008; Evans
et al. 2004; Lee et al. 2007; Messenger 2007; Messersmith 2007; Peper 2005;
Van Jaarsveld et al. 2009). This section begins by providing an overview of
the literature on the working patterns of consultants, who arguably represent
archetypal knowledge workers (Alvesson 2004; Fincham 2006). This analysis
leads to an examination of how working patterns among consultants in the
UK and the USA are shaped by the characteristics of the occupation and
their status as organizational employees. How these patterns are modified by
freelance employment is then explored, followed by an evaluation of the
scope for national norms and regulations to impact on the working arrange-
ments of consultants operating under each of these types of employment
arrangements. In this article, the term norm is used to refer to patterns that
are relatively characteristic of the occupation and form of employment or
s94 British Journal of Industrial Relations
© Blackwell Publishing Ltd/London School of Economics 2010.
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