Digitalization in Retail Work: Coping With Stress Through Job Crafting

Susanne Blazejewski and Eva-Maria Walker

management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, 2018, vol. 29, issue 1, 79-100

Abstract: As our working life becomes more digitalized, the issue of providing humane working conditions is raised. However, current research on digitalization and coping with stress conceptualises the players as individuals passively coping with stress. Contrary to that, recent technology research studies argue that technological systems do not come with an objectively ingrained function. In line with constructivist labour and stress research (Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001; Moldaschl, 2005, 2010), we primarily seek to contribute to the discussion through a better understanding of actors’ job crafting (appropriation) practices in situations where digitalization processes threaten to reduce perceived autonomy. In particular, we suggest that the job crafting typologies developed in the literature (Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001; Tims, Bakker, & Derks, 2012, 2015) do not sufficiently account for the practices employed by actors when appropriating their digitalized work environment. We use the case of a digital merchandise management system (‘“Shelvesfit”’) recently introduced in a retail trade group to demonstrate that the employees actively attempt to reduce their digital work stress. They do so primarily by attributing a function to this technological system that does not conflict with their professional self-perception as sales employees.

Date: 2018
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nomos-elibrary.de/10.5771/0935-9915-2018-1-79 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nms:mamere:10.5771/0935-9915-2018-1-79

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, Waldseestraße 3-5, 76530 Baden-Baden, Germany
https://www.nomos-sh ... w.aspx?product=29288

DOI: 10.5771/0935-9915-2018-1-79

Access Statistics for this article

management revue - Socio-Economic Studies is currently edited by Simon Fietze, Wenzel Matiaske, Ina Aust, Matthias Baum, Susanne Gretzinger, Sylvia Rohlfer and Florian Schramm

More articles in management revue - Socio-Economic Studies from Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG ().