合約員工之工作身分對合約員工及其直屬主管的影響

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(1)Influences of Contractors’ Work Identity on Contractors and Their Supervisors. by Hsin-Yi Chen. A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF EDUCATION Major: International Workforce Education and Development. Advisor: Steven Chih-Chien Lai, Ph. D. National Taiwan Normal University Taipei, Taiwan January, 2009.

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(3) ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 在人力所就學的兩年是學生認為生活頗充實的一段時間，不僅結交各種文化背景的朋友，英文能力也不斷進步；更重要的是，除了專業知識之外，每位同學都具備國際觀與良好的人際溝通能力。今日論文能順利完成，學生在此要特別感謝：指導教授賴志樫老師，總是在繁忙所務中還需抽空耐心地督促學生的論文進度，且賴老師雖貴為所長，但相處上就像朋友般自在愉快；所上教授兼口試委員的張媁雯老師，幽默生動又豐富的上課內容讓學生輕鬆吸收專業知識，清晰的口條與溫柔的態度令學生印象深刻，私底下更是學生的良師益友；校外口試委員饒達欽教授，在百忙之中還能不辭辛勞前來指導學生做論文修正，學生真的十分感激。另外，所上辦公室的助理們更扮演研究所生活中相當重要的角色：Katie、 Sophie、Abby 與 Lynn，謝謝妳們不厭其煩地協助及耐心的提醒，少了妳們我會老是錯過學校重要的待辦事項！研究所同學及朋友們：閔憶、冠伃、藝薰、庭芳、俐均、雅婷、嘉章、文志、鵬翔及怡君，很高興能認識你們這一群無論課業上或私底下都能相互扶持分享喜憂的朋友；Eleanor、Zabrinna、Denroy、Melinda、SanSan 總是不吝嗇地將自己所知所學分享給我，你們都是我學習的對象。最後，我要感謝的是家人與朋友，在我疲於研究過程時不斷地鼓勵、提醒與陪伴；謝謝各位學長姐與 Claire 學妹在尋找訪談對象上的協助，以及陳榮隆學長的建議，使此論文最後終能順利完成，所有其他對此研究提供協助的人我都銘記在心！.

(4) ABSTRACT The main purpose of this study is to explore the influences the work identity of contractor brings about on contractors and their immediate supervisors. By means of qualitative methods, including interviews and observation, data were collected from three pairs of contractors and their supervisors. In detailed, contractors’ and supervisors’ perspectives toward the identity and problems they meet were discovered in this research. How supervisors supervise the blended workforce was also addressed. Additionally, other related issues were discussed, for example, regular workers’ attitudes toward contractors. The results showed that contractors dislike the identity of contractor; there is little difference between supervisors’ supervision over contractors and regular worker; and, there is a peaceful and harmonious relationship between contractors and supervisors.. Keywords: contractors, supervisors, interaction, blended workforce, nonstandard employment. I.

(5) TABLE OF CONTENTS. Abstract ....................................................................................................................I Table of Contents .....................................................................................................II List of Figures ..........................................................................................................IV List of Tables............................................................................................................V. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION.......................................................... 1 Background of the Study .................................................................................1 Purpose of the Study ......................................................................................4 Question of the Study.......................................................................................5 Delimitation of the Study.................................................................................6 Definition of Terms ..........................................................................................7. CHAPTER II. LITERATURE REVIEW.............................................. 9 Overview of Nonstandard Employment ..........................................................9 The Role of Nonstandard Workers in Client Organizations.................................15 Issues on Blended Workforce .............................................................................17. Relevant Research……………………………………………………………19. CHAPTER III. RESEACH DESIGN ................................................... 23 Rationale for Adopting Qualitative Research ..................................................23 Framework of the Study...................................................................................24 Participants……………………………………………………………………25 Procedure, Reliability and Validity ..................................................................27 Data Collection ........................................................................................... ....33 Data Analysis…………………………………………………………………36. CHAPTER IV. FINDING AND DISCUSSION ................................... 39 The Identity, Contractors, and Supervisors......................................................39 II.

(6) The Interaction between Contractors and Supervisors ....................................49 Other Related Issue and Phenomena................................................................54. CHAPTER V. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION............. 56 Conclusion .......................................................................................................56 Practical Implication ........................................................................................57 Suggestion for Future Research .......................................................................58 Reflection.........................................................................................................59. REFERENCES...................................................................................... 61 APPENDIX A: QUESTIONNAIRE BEFORE INTERVIEW AND INTERVIEW GUIDELINE ............................................................. 64 APPENDIX B: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS........................................ 68 APPENDIX C: OBSERVATION NOTE .............................................. 72. III.

(7) LIST OF FIGURES. Figure 3.1 Framework of the Study .............................................................................25 Figure 3.2 Research Procedure ....................................................................................29 Figure 3.3 The Process of Data Analysis .....................................................................38. IV.

(8) LIST OF TABLES. Table 3.1 Profile of Interviewees .................................................................................27 Table 3.2 An Example of Coding.................................................................................37 Table 3.3 An Example of Analyzing Framework…………………………………….37 Table 4.1 The Identity and Contractors........................................................................45 Table 4.2 The Identity and Supervisors .......................................................................46 Table 4.3 The interaction between contractors and supervisors ..................................53 Table 4.4 Other related issues on blended workforce…………………………… …..54. V.

(9) CHAPTER I. INTRODUTION. This study is initiated by the introduction of the nature of nonstandard employment arrangements and aims to explore the influences the identity of contractor brings about on contractors and their immediate supervisors. Respectively, the influences the identity of contractor causes on contractors in personal and work life are explored; and, this study also inquire if there is any influence on supervisors’ supervision because of the existence of subordinates’ identity of contractor. Besides, the influences on interaction of these two subjects or other issues facing them are expected to be discovered. What else is particularly worth mentioned is that the study provides an interesting up-to-down and down-to-up perspective exchange and comparison from contract subordinates and their immediate supervisors. To make this chapter more comprehensible, the content is organized in the following way and includes five sections: the background of this study, research questions and purposes, proposition, delimitation of the study, and definitions of key terms.. Background of the Study. The background and motives of this study are addressed as following content which can be divided into three main parts: Organizations’ pursuit of flexibility for business continuity, the presence of blended workforce, and issues on nonstandard employment with regard to human resource management. In the third part, the researcher also provides personal experience as a motive for this research.. 1.

(10) In Search of Flexibility for Business Continuity To survive from the competitive industrial environment, organizations have endeavored to figure out various strategies for their business continuity. One of the most important ways is to search for flexibility. As Connell and Burgess (2002) stated, flexibility has been hailed as the panacea for achieving greater organizational competitiveness, efficiency and effectiveness. Effective staffing strategy has been considered as an essential part of the efforts on pursuing organizational flexibility. In fact, traditional staffing strategy has been adjusted, organizations increasingly utilize non-standard workers to meet the needs for short-term or non-core tasks. In this way, time-consuming recruiting process and staffing cost are cut; the placement of organizational workforce also tends to be more flexible, that is, organizations’ labor force can be easily and quickly decreased and increased with changes in the level of demand for labor (Atkinson, 1984). Furthermore, organizations can concentrate their energy on core competency. According to a survey of Taiwan Council of Labor Affairs, Executive Yuan in 2006, at least more than ten hundred thousand people work as nonstandard employees. Enterprises of thirty-five percent in Taiwan have the preference for employing non-standard workers in clerical jobs. Thus it can be seen that the growing importance of non-standard workers has become indisputable and the era of non-standard workers is coming.. Blending of Workforce: Nonstandard and Regular workers Due to the increasing number of using non-standard workers in organizations, the blended workforce has become a major factor in today’s workplace (Donna, 1998). Based on the definition made by the William Olsten Center for Workforce Strategies (1998), blended workforce represent a structured, yet flexible, mix of permanent (regular) and temporary (non-standard) workers. Generally speaking, a blended workforce is considered working well in organizations since it is expected that a central workforce concentrate on core process, and non-standard workers help with non-core support activities. Despite the benefits and 2.

(11) flexibility that a blended workforce brings for an organization, the participation of non-standard workers in traditional employee relations has resulted in some new issues on human resource management. Here in this study, the roles and perspectives of supervisors, non-standard workers and their standard (regular) counterparts are discussed. The triangular relations among them are also explored.. Issues on nonstandard employment related to human resource management Management issues on standard employment relations have intrigued scholars and people in workplace for decades. However, the intrusion of non-standard workers in this traditional relation has increased the complexities with regard to supervising and management issues. As Olsen (2006) argued, the use of non-standard work arrangement is found to influence the client -organizations, often in unintended ways. On one hand, companies enjoy benefiting from non-standard workers in several ways, such like reducing cost and creating flexibility. On the other hand, the complexities in the employment relationship are found to produce dilemmas and challenges in managing non-standard workers (Ward et al., 2003). It was found that accompanying problems with non-standard workers, such like marginalized identity issues or perceived equity concerns which can influence job involvement and performance, are challenging human resource professionals. Additionally, contemporary organizations are advocating the concept of humanity-centrality. Therefore, perception and interaction among people in workplace and people’s work experience are valuable for inquiry. The researcher had a two-month working experience as a contract worker (non-standard worker) as an assistant for a project in a commercial bank in Taiwan. During those two months, the researcher found some interesting phenomenon of the blended work environment, for example, dispatching workers are found to be engaged in clerical tasks, contract workers gather and eat together in lunch time, and regular employees consider 3.

(12) contract workers as outsiders. The background and the researcher’s personal experience have motivated the exploration on the area of non-standard work, including non-standard workers’ and their supervisors’ perception toward each other. This study is expected to provide in-depth information and make contribution to either academic or practical field.. Purpose of the Study. The advantages of utilizing non-standard working arrangements were praised studies by studies. Potential problems and challenges were also submitted afterwards. However, there is a paucity of researches on non-standard work discussing in-depth about the contract workers’ and their stakeholders’ experiences and insights. Considering the increasing importance of non-standard workforce and the new issues and challenges it brings about in organizations, the researcher endeavors to explore the work experiences of contract workers and their supervisors with each other. The main purpose of this study is to explore the influences the identity of contractor brings about on contractors and their immediate supervisors. Respectively, the researcher wants to know what influences the identity of contractor causes on contractors in personal and work life; and, how the existence of subordinates’ identity of contractor might affect supervisors’ supervision. Besides, the inquiry of influences on the interaction of these two subjects is another focus of this study. Additionally, through their sharing on points of view, other related issues, phenomena, or realities are also expected to be discovered. Thus, four main purposes of this study are listed as following: 1. To discover what influences the identity of contractor brings about on the interaction between contractors and their immediate supervisors.. 4.

(13) 2. To explore influences the identity of contractor causes on supervisors in their supervision. 3. To explore influences the identity of contractor causes on contractors in individual and work life. 4. To discover other related issues facing contractors and their supervisors due to the existence of the identity of contractor in their work environment.. Question of the Study. Based on the background and the purposes of the study, a number of questions are developed and listed as bellow: Purpose One: To explore influences the identity of contractor causes on contractors in individual and work life. 1. What are the influences the identity of contractor causing on contractors in individual? 2. What are the influences the identity of contractor causing on contractors in work life? Purpose Two: To explore influences the identity of contractor causes on supervisors in their supervision. 1. How subordinates’ identity of contractor might influence supervisors’ supervision over contractors and regular workers? Purpose Three: To discover what influences the identity of contractor brings about on the interaction between contractors and their immediate supervisors. 1. Does the identity of contractor bring about influences on the interaction between contractors and their supervisors? 2. What are the influences the identity of contractor causing on the interaction between contractors and their supervisors? 5.

(14) Purpose Four: To discover other related issues facing contractors and their supervisors due to the existence of the identity of contractor in their work environment. 1. What are regular workers’ attitudes toward contractors from the points of view from contractors and their supervisors? 2. What are other related issues or phenomena facing contractors and their supervisors due to the existence of contractors in their work environment?. Delimitation of the Study. The delimitations of this study can be divided into three parts: The topic The topic representing the theme of this study stands for the exploration of how the factor, the identity of contractor, influences individual perspective, workplace phenomena and issues in nonstandard employment relationship through the mutual sharing of contractors’ and their immediate supervisors’ work experiences with each other in the client organizations. From the up-to-down and down-to-up ways of thinking, this study is expected to inquire the influences the identity of contractors might bring about on individuals, contractors and supervisors in this study, and on mutual interaction, including supervision and friendship. Thus, useful suggestions and contributions are expected to be submitted for academic and practical field.. The research subject Six members are selected to be the subjects for interviewing. Each two come from the same organization and department and serve as one contract worker and basic-level manager. In terms of interviewee selection, the researcher sets a criterion by which contractors are all 6.

(15) workers with professional knowledge and skills in information technology industry. Corporations also all belong to Taiwanese locally owned business. By respectively interviewing these two groups of subjects, contract workers and supervisors in the client organization, a sythetical analysis on influences and phenomena are carried out.. The research period First of all, the researcher discussed the interview questions with academic and practical experts in the field of human resource management. After the interview questions were revised and became reliable, the researcher submitted applications for the permission of conducting interviews to supervisors. As the permission was received, the researcher started implementing interviews. It takes about two month to search for appropriate subjects, waiting for responses and finally finish executing interviews of three pairs. And the duration of each interview is at least forty minutes and at most one hour depending on the interviewee’s feedback.. Definition of Terms. To avoid possible ambiguity, and simultaneously, to make the content of this study more comprehensible and consistent, several important terms are especially defined as following: Contractors In this study, contractors can be explained as either workers employed by employment intermediaries but supervised by client-organizations (Olsen, 2006) or employees who are paid by one company but carry out assignments for another (Bendapudi et al., 2003). According to Bendapudi et al, contractors belongs to one of the types of nonstandard employment so “nonstandard workers” is also used in this paper when the generality of description is needed. 7.

(16) Regular Employees Regular employees are those who have no pre-determined ending date to the employment relationship with their employers, but that does not necessarily mean that the employment relationship will never end. As what Nolen and Axel say (1996), employees who are designated as employees normally will be scheduled on an on-going basis. In this study, regular workers are called standard workers or permanent workers as well with a contrary meaning of non-standard workers.. Blended workforce In this study, the definition of blended workforce made by the William Olsten Center for Workforce Strategies (1998) is adopted and stands for a meaning of a structured, yet flexible, mix of permanent (regular) and temporary (non-standard) workers.. Interaction Interaction is a kind of action that occurs as two or more objects have an effect upon one another in which two-way effect is essential in the concept. In this study, the interaction between contractors and their supervisors maily indicates supervisors’ supervision over contract subordinates, contractors’ contrast performance, and mutual perceived friendship with each other.. Information Technology Industry According to the definition made by the Industrial Development Bureau Ministry of Economic Affairs, the scope of information technology industry includes industries of computer hardware, communications, semiconductor, optoelectronics, software or digital design, and internet service.. 8.

(17) CHAPTER II.. LITERATURE REVIEW. This study is developed and supported with a foundation of reviewed important literature. This chapter presents essential issues submitted by previous studies on non-standard workers and includes four main sections. The first section is the overview of nonstandard employment which discusses the nature of nonstandard work arrangements and the advantages and potential problems of it. The second part is the analysis of the role of non-standard workers in client-organizations. The third part discusses the phenomenon of blended workforce followed by the forth section which explains the problems facing supervisors with regard to blended workforce. At the end of this chapter, important findings of relevant researches are shown and discussed.. Overview of Nonstandard Employment. Contemporary organizations are striving toward the flexibility for competitiveness and effective staffing strategies are found to be able to achieve that goal. Through non-standard work arrangement, organizations can quickly meet staffing needs and shed them while unneeded. This section mainly expounds the nature of non-standard workers, why organizations utilize non-standard work arrangement and how they benefit from this kind of employment form. Accompanying issues and challenges of this trend are discussed as well.. Review of non-standard employment: introduction and development Normally, traditional employment has to do with a permanent, full-time or continuous relation between workers and employers. This employment relation may include an. 9.

(18) open-ended contract concerned with conditions such as overtime pay, paid vacation, working hour arrangement, seniority, severance pay, or pension etc. On the contrary, non-standard employment does not fit in with the pattern of traditional employment in a number of ways. Basically, non-standard works extensively embraces several specific working types which differ from the traditional one, such as telework, individual or group contractors, dispatching work, part-timer or temporary work etc. In the article of Bendapudi et al (2003), we can more explicitly understand the definition of nonstandard employment:. Nonstandard employment includes both “alternative” and “contingent” employment relationship… the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) divides alternative employment arrangements into independent contractors, on-call workers, temporary help agency workers, and workers provided by contract firms. BLS defines contingent employment broadly as all work that does not involve explicit or implicit contracts for long-term employment. (p.g.25). The creation of flexible labor markets has led to increases in non-standard working whereby non-permanent and part time forms of employment are encouraged and enabled (Connell & Burgess, 2002). Embracing the most important distinguishing features, like flexibility, adaptability and diversity, organizations are having more preference over nonstandard employment arrangement except for traditional labor hire activities. For example, the presence of staffing agencies which has given a big hand to organizations in embodying effective labor use strategies to achieve the pursuit of organizational competitiveness. According to Hall’s (2006) analysis of employer motivations for using non-standard workers, five sets of reasons are generated: flexibility; cost; recruitment and selections; access to skills; risk management and other administrative or management reasons. How organizations benefit from non-standard work and why they are motivated in using this kind of labor form are discussed based on Hall’s five-reason statement. 1. Flexibility:. 10.

(19) The leading benefit of using non-standard workers is flexibility which is helpful for organizations to staff up only when they need to. Occasionally, non-standard workers are used to cover short-term absence of regular employees or to meet special skill needs. Non-standard employment supplies workforce timely and in demand, and thus enable client-organizations’ dexterity in staffing strategies. Non-standard forms of employment, Johnson (2004) argued, have been seen as part of a wider process of employment restructuring, incorporating strategies which enable the full agility of the competitive organization. 2. Cost Employers’ use of agency labor is found to be driven by pressure relating to labor cost (Forde and Slater, 2006). As Hall states, client-organizations save on recruitment, selection, induction, training and development costs and benefit from the allegedly greater efficiency of agencies in sourcing and placing labor. For those organizations which are cost-oriented, using non-standard employment may give a big hand in achieving organizational goals. 3. Recruitment and selections Hiring non-standard workers is like buying prepared food. Less risk might be taken of spending too much time, making cooking mistakes, and eating terrible finished food at the end. A human resource professional cannot stand the stress of hiring the wrong person and the organization cannot afford to those consuming time and money and the futility. In fact, the presence of non-standard workers does decrease human resource professionals’ sense of insecurity of making wrong decisions. Organizations also enjoy taking advantages of non-standard work arrangement by shifting recruitment and training efforts to staffing agencies. In addition to the less time, money and transaction associated with the recruiting and training process, the using of non-standard workers also provide organizations a probationary period for a potential permanent employment. Like what Foote (2004) has argued, it is not 11.

(20) uncommon for firms to hire workers into temporary positions with an increased potential for longer-term employment. 4. Access to skills Presumably, staffing agencies are thought to possess a comparative advantage in sourcing and supplying specialized or in-demand-skilled workers for client- organizations. In fact, this has to do with economizing the use of time. For human resource professionals, divesting as much minute and complicated matters as they can, might be able to save their time and energy for relative important and core tasks. Via staffing agencies organizations can quickly have people on job while there is an instant need for a certain skill. 5. Risk management and other administrative or management reasons In traditional employment relation, organizations are always taking the risk of being accused with flawed labor treatment, such like unfair dismissal actions, unpaid benefits or misusage of occupational health and safety laws. According to what Connell and Burgess said, there is evidence that firms are using temps to avoid unfair dismissal claims if employees have to be laid off. Hiring workers through intermediaries could be considered a risk management strategy because staffing agencies have shouldered those risks for client organizations. Increasingly, organizations are advocating focusing on core competitiveness. Those who can economically use time and money on relative peripheral matters are found to survive easily within industries. Undoubtedly, the administrative convenience staffing agencies provide can be a part of effective approaches for organizations to focus on core tasks. In fact, those five sets of organizations’ motivations could be also interpreted as reasons why non-standard employment becomes a current trend. By meeting those needs of contemporary organizations and bringing additional benefits, non-standard working arrangement keeps its great popularity within industries. Another factor for this trend, however, is also noticeable, that is the nature of contemporary workers. 12.

(21) In the backdrop of rapid information explosion and transformation of industries, people nowadays embrace different attitudes toward their career and work conditions. The traditional hours of 9.00am-5.00pm, five days per week, from leaving school until retirement at 65 years old, is no longer the dominant pattern of employment (Johnson, 2004).Embracing distinguishing features like flexible working time and place, relative short-term working period, or less constraints form employer companies, non-standard work form has been the prior choice for particular groups like students, younger generations and knowledge workers. In addition to the presumable “freedom” conferred by non-standard works, opportunities and entries for permanent jobs are thought by some individuals as a reason why they actively choose this form of employment. People take agency jobs as “entry jobs” (Forde and Slater, 2006) because in the short working duration, non-standard workers are likely to be screened as potential permanent employees. Consequently, the utilization of non-standard employment is becoming an imperative path toward the goal of achieving organizational competitiveness, and simultaneously, a popular alternative access for contemporary job seekers. By meeting those needs of contemporary organizations and individuals, non-standard working arrangement and staffing intermediaries have become so widespread, growing steadily and were expected to continue to expand over the coming decades (Connell and Burgess, 2002). Non-standard workers on skilled, core jobs It is assumed to be advantageous for organizations that core functions be undertaken by regular workers, while peripheral activities may be performed by non-standard workers (Olsen, 2006). Years ago, companies hire non-standard workers mainly as fill-ins for positions like secretaries and receptionists, or for vacationing permanent employees but they are now, as Connell and Burgess addressed, frequently employed on an ongoing basis. As the high-skilled side of non-standard work increasingly has come into focus, it has been discovered that the tasks of non-standard workers are not always peripheral, said Olsen. In 13.

(22) fact, the nature of non-standard work and the temporary workforce has changed. Today’s non-standard workers increasingly fill positions in a variety of executive, managerial, professional and technical areas requiring extensive skills (Foote, 2004). The growing proportion of using non-standard workers in high-skilled job positions shows the development tendency of non-standard work arrangement. With the undoubted increasing importance of non-standard workers, the compatibility between non-standard employment and human resource practice should come into client organizations’ notice.. Concerns nonstandard employment brings about to human resource practice As agency working has grown over the 1990s, a number of often contradictory assertions have been made about the composition and nature of this form of employment (Forde and Slater, 2006). Though the rise of non-standard work arrangement has created convenience for human resource practice in recruitment, selection and administration, some problems with regard to human resource management are accompaniments. Two fast-growing trends are demanding that business leaders pay more attention to employee relations, Drucker (2002) says. Those two trend mentioned refer to the rise of temporary or contract workers and the growing number of business outsourcing. Actually, a relative small third party has participated in the traditional employee relations adding the degree of complexities in management. According to three sets of challenges the HRfocus (2006) has pointed out, possible problems facing the human resource practice are addressed. The first is issues on compensation. Generally, there has been a fact that non-standard workers tend to receive less benefits form client-organizations in comparison with regular employees. Arguments with regard to issues on compensations of non-standard workers can be seen studies by studies. Second, issues with regard to motivation of non-standard workers are also questioned non-standard workers are thought to be less devoted to the company and to the productivity. According to what Foote (2004) said, the limited motivation of temporary workers leads to 14.

(23) reduced productivity and predisposition toward early departure. Motivation has been a big challenge; however, it is not clear that they have an incentive to build commitment (Forde and Slater, 2006). The third is about the issues over management. Despite that some traditional human resource functions have shifted to staffing agencies, matters like how non-standard workers perform and integrated in client-organization are inevitably facing supervisors. The last but not least, nonstandard workers’ feelings about client organizations, such like sense of unsafety which was resulted probably from the lack of an explicit or even implicit promise of continued employment , lower pay and benefits, and the relatively unequal protection comparing with regular employees under the law (Bendapudi et al, 2003).. Attempting to utilize non-standard employment, organizations should not only take the positive influences of it into consideration, but also contemplate whether it fits neatly into the human capital management picture. Knowing the development tendency and current status of non-standard employment should be a continuous effort of human resource practitioners, like what the HRfocus (2006) addressed, companies are still working on HR strategies to make sure that information on contingents is up to date.. The Role of Nonstandard Workers in Client-organizations. Since non-standard work forms have emerged, issues over the role of non-standard workers in client-organizations have intrigued practitioners and scholars. In fact, many controversial issues with regard to non-standard employment are resulted from the complicated features, like non-regular status, of non-standard workers. By generalizing reviewed literature, the discussion of the role of non-standard workers are divided into three dimensions which are the nature of non-standard workers’ identity, core-peripheral arguments on job and employment status, and issues on their loyalty and commitment. 15.

(24) Complexities of identity Non-standard workers often embrace the triangular nature of the employment relationship. As what Forde and Slater (2006) stated, agency workers have a dual relationship with both the employment agency and with the client firm to which they are assigned. Generally, non-standard workers have trouble in clearly defining their responsibility or commitment for the client-organization they work for. The intermediary arrangement, said Burgess and Connell (2006), generates ambiguity regarding the employment relationship and consequently, it is not overly clear who bears the responsibility of an employer and where the commitment and loyalty of the agency worker lies. Besides, how nonstandard workers follow the organizational norms or supervisory instruction could probably be influenced by their non-regular identity. In fact, the nature of complexities of non-standard workers’ identity has resulted in many other controversial issues and could be regarded as the most regulatory problem around this area.. Core-peripheral division Though the nature of non-standard work is changing and tends to be higher skilled and core-oriented, clerical tasks remain a large proportion. In some cases, Burgess and Connell (2006) addressed, boundaries between core and periphery were redrawn, usually shrinking the former and enlarge the latter. As an employee hired from an “outside” agency and filling in the relative peripheral jobs, it is assumed that non-standard workers might considered themselves as secondary and excluded in comparison with other regular workers. Frequently, non-standard workers embrace relative low job satisfaction due to the sense of being expendable and marginalized in the client-organizations they work for. They can be anxious about the arbitrary dismissal (Forde and Slater, 2006) from the client firm and most of the time they are marginalized from internal labor market and social decision making procedure. 16.

(25) Loyalty and commitment In fact, three issues over non-standard workers discussed here presumably connected with one another. Complexities of identity and the relative peripheral employment status are likely to result in lower loyalty and commitment than other regular employees. On average, temporary workers remain detached from an ongoing relationship with the organization where they work. (Burgess and Connell, 2006) Due to their contract relations with an outside agency, they are thought to be loosely connected to the organization they work for. Non-standard workers’ commitment becomes questionable, as they are not fully aligned with the organization. (Johnson, 2004) Clearly, commitment is part of a relational contract that excludes temporary workers (Connell and Burgess, 2002). Lower Levels of affective commitment is like to lead to poorer work outcomes (Forde and Slater, 2006). That is the reason why non-standard workers are also thought to be devoted lower job involvement. Issues on loyalty and commitment can be a lasting challenge facing those firms using non-standard work arrangement.. Issues on Blended Workforce. A blended workforce, defined by Blake et al. (2003), represents one with standard and non-standard workers in the same jobs. The emergence of this blended workforce is the result of choice and necessity, out-sourcing and privatization policy, and ad hoc acquisition decision-making (Bednar and Quigley, 2007). With the growth of non-standard work arrangement, a big proportion of companies include diverse forms of workers in their staffing, resulting challenges facing management and employee relationship. Burgess and Connell (2006) have addressed the problem of diverse workforce. Differentiation can generate flexibility, they said, but can also compromise quality and commitment, whereas integration may reduce flexibility but also reduce the risk associated with differentiation. Thus, it is 17.

(26) likely that to strike a balance between the usage of diverse workforce for achieving flexibility and the effort on striving for integration for high performance and involvement, is a big challenge for supervisors nowadays.. How using nonstandard workers affects regular employees In general, there is still a limited amount of studies talking about the reciprocal influences between non-standard workers and regular employees. In the research of Blake et al. (2003), however, it was found that the existence of non-standard workers does affect some behaviors and attitudes of regular workers. Firstly, they said that the blended workforce could decrease standard workers’ loyalty and increase their motivation in leaving their organizations while the proportion of non-standard workers tends to be large. Additionally, more amounts of non-standard workers in a working unit are also assumed to decrease work-related helping behaviors. Occasionally, non-standard workers can be screened as a potential permanent worker plus the current tendency of using non-standard workers in core task, regular workers may feel threatened. Like what Olsen (2006) has said, periphery workers getting too close to the core make the core-workers feel threatened. Yet, despite those unfavorable outcomes and influences nonstandard workers have caused, some studies show that regular workers also indicate benefits they bring about. For example, nonstandard workers ease regular ones’ work pressure and serve as a buffer. No matter what, to work cooperatively and achieve high performance, both nonstandard workers and regular employees have to accept the diversity of each other.. Supervisors in the blended workforce The presence of blended workforce has resulted in managerial challenges and dilemmas facing supervisors. The need for “chameleonic” managers has never been more evident 18.

(27) (Johnson, 2004). With the intrusion of non-standard workers into traditional managing relations, original efforts on management supervisors are engaged in are multiplied, for example, the first, motivation issues. In fact, it is important to provide contingent workers with an environment that makes them want to do their best work for the client-organization. Being excluded from training and development, benefits and compensations, and sometimes decision making, how to motivate non-standard workers is a big challenge for supervisors. Additionally, matters with regard to the relations have also intrigued human resource practitioners. The accelerated growth of diversity in the workforce over the past 20 years has spawned new development in managing employee relations, making it one of the biggest challenges facing managers (Roper, 2005). Supervisors have to carefully deal with the relations between non-standard workers and regular employees. As Forde and Slater (2006) warned, factors like issues of non-standard workers’ legal status and responsibility, the degree of precariousness faced and the nature of interaction with members of the client firm are likely to seriously affect the experience of work, and hence attitudes and performance. Working with diverse groups of people requires s tremendous amount of interaction. If these interactions are positive, they can help create the right workplace climate, attitudes, beliefs and behaviors (Roper, 2005). To efficiently using non-standard work arrangement, supervisors still have a lot to pay effort on. As roles begin to evolve and change in organizations, said Johnson (2004), now need a more facilitating coordinating role making better of integrated management and communication systems and ensuring full integration of the atypical workers.. Relevant Research. Based on those reviewed literature, a clear picture of the rise and development of non-standard employment, the role of non-standard workers, and issues on the blended 19.

(28) workforce is shown and provides a grounded knowledge of this study. From several important related quantitative researches results and statements on the area of non-standard employment, intrinsic and further inquiry about relations and respective experiences of non-standard workers, regular employees and supervisors are expected to be held through this study. According to previous quantitative researches, several important results and findings submitted are discussed here in two dimensions:. Attitudes of nonstandard workers Forde and Slater (2006) drawn on the results of Working in Britain Survey (2000) which provides a national sample of 2,466 employed people to examine the attitudes of Britain agency workers in 2000. Several important aspects are submitted after the analysis of the survey. Job Satisfaction 1. Agency workers are significantly less likely to be satisfied with their jobs in comparison with other workers. 2. Agency workers are less likely to report satisfaction with their promotion prospects and job security. 3. Agency workers are less satisfied with pay. 4. Agency workers are less satisfied than other workers in their relations with management. Commitment 1. Agency workers are expected to report lower commitment. 2. Agency workers report little loyalty or pride in the organizations they are working for. 3. Agency workers are less like to report a strong desire to remain with the current 20.

(29) organization. 4. Agency workers are not significantly different from other workers in terms of reporting shared values with the organization. Precariousness 1. Agency workers report higher levels of anxiety over the threat of arbitrary dismissal, discrimination and victimization.. Supervisors and regular workers in the blended workforce In 2003, Blake et al. have conducted a quantitative research examining how a blended workforce affect exit, “voice,” and loyalty among standard workers. Additionally, Broschak and Blake (2006) implemented another research on consequences of mixing standard work and non-standard deals. The results show a number of significant findings which can be seen in two dimensions. Nonstandard workers and regular employees 1. The workforce blending worsens relations between managers and employees. 2. The workforce blending decreased standard workers’ loyalty 3. The workforce blending increased standard workers’ interest in both in leaving organizations and in exercising voice through unionization.. Nonstandard workers and supervisors 1. Higher proportions of non-standard workers were associated with less favorable attitudes toward supervisors and peers. 2. Higher proportions of non-standard workers were associated with increased turnover intentions. 3. Higher proportions of non-standard workers were associated with decreased work-related helping behaviors. 21.

(30) From the former literature review and those studies related to quantitative research approaches, some important evidence on the attitudes of non-standard workers and their influences is contributed. Initiated into the phenomenon alongside non-standard employment through previous researches and relevant researches, this study aims to inquire deeply how the identity influences the respective perception and mutual interaction of contract workers and their supervisors. Additionally, it is expected that more issues, phenomena, and realities on nonstandard employment can be discovered through in-depth interviews of their experiences of working together.. .. 22.

(31) CHAPTER III. RESEARCH DESIGN. Further, the research design is introduced in the following sections: reason why adopting qualitative research methods, the framework of this study, the criteria of sampling and background information of subjects, the last but not least, the ways and processes how data is collected and analyzed. With thick and detailed description on the whole research design, this qualitative research is expected to be distinct and valid.. Rationale for Adopting Qualitative Research. This study is synergistic with the theme “The influences of contractors’ work identity on contractors themselves and their supervisors, including individual, interaction, and workplace phenomena”. Since the topic is related to individual inner parts and is relatively sensitive, the study was conducted with qualitative research methods for unexplored field and social phenomenon. Qualitative research methods, said Stern (1980), can be used to explore substantive areas about which little is known or about which much is known to gain novel understandings; also, they are used in research that is designed to provide an in-depth description of a specific program, practice or setting (Mertens, 1998). Based on scholars’ statements and the assessment of the characters of this study, the reasons of choosing qualitative research method as the research method can be listed as following three points: 1. Since the purpose is to explore individuals’ perspective and interaction, they are expected to say about what they see as important and help the researcher make a comparison of. their. feedback. and. analyze. further. 23. connotations.. Therefore,. it. belongs. to.

(32) phenomenological research and might not appropriate to use quantitative methods to collect the information because it could be so structured that the informants could not choose what to say or how much. 2. The subjects of this study were set to pair a contractor and his or her immediate supervisor to make a synergistic analysis therefore qualitative design was thought to be more feasible. 3. Because prior quantitative researches lack information from contractors’ and their stakeholders’ personal confessions; also, little prior qualitative studies provides two-way viewpoints or relevant aspect, especially from supervisors’ up-to-down way to contracted subordinates. Thus, this study used qualitative method to add deeper viewpoints for assisting prior studies.. Framework of the Study. The framework of this study was constructed based on research purposes and questions. Research data was obtained from three paired contractors and supervisors from three companies all belonging to information technology industry. Information was collected from interviews to identify the perspectives from two different standpoints and positions of contractors and their immediate supervisors. Based on purposes of this study, concepts were constructed as a research framework and illustrated in Figure 3.1 which makes it easier to comprehend the research theme, how the identity of contractor influences individuals and interaction of parties, and raises other issues.. 24.

(33) Supervisors P2 Work identity of contractor. P1. P3. Contractors. P4. Other issues and phenomena. Arrows of influence. Figure 3.1. Framework of This Study. Participants. According to literature review, a large portion of companies in information technology industry in Taiwan use nonstandard work arrangements, like contractors. Different from other industries, there are relatively more contractors working as workers with professional knowledge or skills in technology industry, such like engineers. After the discussion with an 25.

(34) assistant manager of human resource department, who has also studied contractors deeply, the research subjects were decided to exclude general clerical contract workers. Therefore the researcher aimed to search for contractors with relatively professional knowledge skills in technology industry. Three pairs were successfully interviewed and each pair of them was respectively form companies in technology industry. By collecting the information of work experiences from contractors and supervisors with two-way contrast along with perspectives and problems they have encountered, suggestions were expected to be provided to contractors and supervisors, especially those who work in technology industry and possess relatively professional knowledge or skills. The following is the criteria set for the target interviewees: 1. Contract workers with professional knowledge or skills in technology industry and have worked for the client organization for at least 6 month. 2. Contract Workers’ immediate supervisors Consequently, there were totally three pairs of interviewees whose backgrounds are shown as Table3.1. Three companies were all with certain size and well known in Taiwan that interviewees from them can be representative within technology industry in Taiwan. The first pair (Pair 1) comes from a company in which the major business is secure software research and development. The contractor of Pair 1, named C1 in short, and the supervisor (S1) belong to information service department and respectively serves as a computer engineer and the lab administrator supervising five subordinates. The second pair (Pair 2) is a system integration technology company in which the contractor (C2) is a programmer and the supervisor (S2) is a four-people team leader of research and development department. The third pair (Pair 3) works in an electronic hardware and equipment organization in Hsin-Chu science-based Industrial Park. The contractor (C3) is a research and development engineer responsible for new product development, upgrade, or modification. His supervisor (S3) is a supervisor engineer to whom there are five engineers reporting. Table3.1. also shows the interviewee basic demographic information from which it can 26.

(35) be clearly seen that, in addition to all in technology industry, three contractors are of almost the same age, and all interviewees are male. Additionally, three supervisors belong to the basic-level manager, such like team leaders and supervisors. Thus, it tends to have little differences within interviewees by which potential factors are avoid and the participants can be representative and be helpful for the reinforcement of the value of this study.. Table 3.1. Profile of interviewees Interviewee. Pair 1 S1. Department. Gender /Birth Year. Work Duration In This Dept.. Secure software development (Taiwan locally owned business) Information. M. 18 months. Lab Administrator. 16 months. (Senior Testing Engineer) Computer Engineer. Service(IS) C1 Pair 2 S2 C2 Pair 3 S3 C3. Job / Position title. M(1982). System integration technology (Taiwan locally owned business) Research and Development(RD). M. 15 months. M(1982). 11 months. Team Leader (Senior Programmer) Programmer. Electronic hardware and equipment (Taiwan locally owned business) Research and Development(RD). M. 22 months. Supervisor Engineer. M(1981). 15 months. RD Engineer. *Gender (M/F): M=male, F=female. Procedure, Reliability and Validity. In addition to the former sections which elaborated the conceptualization of this study and the introduction of research subjects, the overall data collecting and analyzing strategy was discussed in more detail below through which the researcher gathered qualitative data and used them as foundation for analysis. After all interviews were conducted, the recorded files were keyed in the computer as 27.

(36) written documents and are translated into English by the researcher. As something was found to be worthwhile for deeper analysis, the researcher used e-mail or MSN to re-contact and inquire interviewees for further information. After all the data were thought to be complete, the data were analyzed by giving codes to the manuscripts drawn from interviews. Finally, the procedure of this research, illustrated in Figure3.2, ended up with discussing conceptual findings and recommendations. The procedure of this research can be divided into eight parts and begins with the aim or research theme followed by reviewing relevant literature for deeper understanding of the topic. And then, based on the literature, the research purposes, and questions, research subjects for interview were selected by the criteria. The next step was to draft interview questions which were adjusted and really build up in the following step through meetings with experts in academic and practical human resource fields. The sixth was to conduct interviews followed by the seventh, eighth, ninth, and the tenth; to analyze data, to generate research findings, to summit conclusion and recommendations, and to complete the research.. 28.

(37) Confirm research theme. Seek and review literature. Select and decide research subjects. Design and draft interview questions. Adjust and build up interview questions through expert meetings. Conduct interview. Analyze the data. Generate research findings. Submit conclusion and recommendations. Complete the research. Figure3.2. Research Procedure. 29.

(38) To analyze the quality of this qualitative research, the following statements are particularly submmitted as extra supportive points to thicken the description on the research design in addition to former elaborations on participants selecting and the overall procedure.. Pre-interview Before the actual interviews were carried out, an experimental interview was conducted. The interviewees are from human resource department of a well known technology corporation in Taiwan. The interviewed contractor serves as a training and development specialist in the department and the supervisor is a director. From this pre-interview, the researcher learned about potential factors that might influence a supervisor’s perspective toward the contractor in addition to his contracted identity, such like job functions. That implied the researcher to carefully select actual target subjects and avoid too many differences among interviewees. Besides, the information the contractor provided gave the researcher a rough picture of what future actual contractors may respond. Thus, performing a pre-interview test provided the researcher with experiential logistics from actual procedural implementation and also facilitated a more systematic approach to actual data collection and analysis.. Persistent Expert Consultation Meanwhile, the process of building up an actual interview questions involved discussions with several experts on human resource field. The interview questions were firstly viewed by an assistant manager of human resource department in a famous bank in Taiwan. This expert has also studied on nonstandard employment, especially contract programmers. He suggested that the theme of this study is feasible and interesting, especially the part of supervisors’ up-to-down perspective toward contractors. In Taiwan, there are little prior researches related to this part, he said. Another statement he made is that subjects 30.

(39) should be carefully selected and aimed at either all general clerical workers, like customer service workers, or contractors with relatively professional knowledge and skills. Technology industry is really worthwhile to be the field for exploring particularly in Taiwan, he added. Those suggestions from the practitioner were adopted afterward because they were thought to be helpful for the increase in value of this study for practical field. Besides, the research questions were also examined by two academic experts to make sure that those questions are most likely to satisfy and correspond to research purposes and questions. What is the most important is that one of the experts kept monitoring the overall process from the very beginning of this research, including the contact processes in gaining permissions of interviews. Additionally, at the beginning of this study, the theme was to analyze the triangular relations of contractors, regular workers, and supervisor, plus issues on blended workforce. However, after a committees meeting, the focus of the study was suggested to adjust a little. One of the committee suggested, for example, the researcher can aim to explore how a supervisor provides support to a contractor for him or her to quickly and efficiently work on track; and, the part of the relation between contractors and regular workers can be omitted or mentioned casually and selectively because blended workforce has existed in most organizations for years. Therefore, the researcher was consequently inspired to study mutual work experiences of contractors and supervisors, including their two-way perspectives. As what Guba and Lincoln (1989) said, dependability can be identified as the qualitative parallels to reliability. In qualitative researches, the reliability test can be conducted to prove the quality and appropriateness of the inquiry process. Therefore, this study tends to fulfill the requirement of dependability and presents certain level of quality.. Two-times Coding and Expert Review According to Mertens’ (1998) saying, the conformability audit can be conducted in conjunction with the dependability audit. Thus, the former two ways, pre-interview test and 31.

(40) expert meetings, involve in the research process and explicitly show the logic that the researcher used to interpret the data can attest the conformability audit in a way. To be more convincing, coding was conducted twice during the analyzing process. The first time coding was conducted right after manuscripts completed. Couples days latter, the researcher implemented coding again and made a contrast with the results from the first time to examine the consistency and avoid the researcher’s possible subjective judgments in the first-time coding. What’ more, not only the data synthesizing process was all the time monitored by experts, the data source, interview transcripts were also reviewed by an expert to confirm that the conclusions can be supportive. Therefore, this study reaches conformability audit which is identified by Guba and Lincoln (1989) as objectivity.. Process Document and Multiple Methods The quality of this study can be also attested by two of the strategies for enhancing credibility which, in qualitative research, asks if there is a correspondence between the way the respondents actually perceive social constructs and the way the researcher portrays their viewpoints (Mertens, 1998). Firstly, the researcher documented the process of change and monitored the developing construction from the beginning of the study which can be understood through this chapter, for example, the researcher’s changing and adjusting process on the research aims under experts’ suggestions. In this way, progressive subjective which is one of the strategies for credibility is used. The other strategy is triangulation by which the researcher checked information from three methods, including interview, observation, and document review for the consistency of data. Through the use of these two strategies, credibility audit is attested with certain level.. 32.

(41) Data Collection. The method of data collection was based on a semi-structured interview instrument developed through documents review. Before the interview, a brief questionnaire was sent to interviewee contractors for the convenience of collecting basic background information, such like age, job title, work duration, etc.. Questionnaire before Interview Based on the concern that there might be potential factors influencing the informants’ feedback to interview, there were totally six questions constructed in this questionnaire to inquire contractors’ basic background, including age, educational background, work duration before the current job, work duration of present work, job tile, and welfare provided by the client organization. Assembling the collected information form this pre-interview questionnaire, results are listed as following: 1. Age: C1 and C2 were both born in 1982, and C3 was born in 1981. 2. Educational background: C1 graduated from a college; C2 and C3 have master’s degree. 3. Work duration before the current job: All of them had no work experiences previously. 4. Work duration of present work: C1 has worked for this client organization for 16 months; C2, 11months, and C3, 15 months. 5. Job title: C1 is a computer engineer, C2 is a programmer, and C3 is a research and development engineer. 6. Welfare provided by the client organization: C1 and C3 have holiday bonus for the three important Chinese holidays, but C2 reports none.. 33.

(42) Interviews Interview method was preferred in this study to achieve the purpose of exploring mutual work experiences of contractors and their immediate supervisors. The researcher used individual interview format to inquire each participant’s perspective and feelings through their sharing of work experiences with each other. Interviews were conducted by one to one and face to face during dinner time and took averagely forty minutes to one hour in each conversation. Face to face and one by one interviews are appropriate for exploring individual insights of the small research population. After each face to face interview, the researcher used e-mail and MSN to have a further understanding on something found ambiguous or worthwhile. Significantly, all the interview questions were reviewed by experts beforehand, and by which the draft interview questions were, first, adjusted to be more simplified and accurate; second, following the suggestions from the human resource expert of the famous bank, this research is more likely to make contributions to the practical field; third, questions were classified by one of the experts to make sure that questions are corresponding to research purposes and to help guide the subsequent data analysis process. To be more comprehensible, examples are listed as following: Questions for contractors 1. “What advantages and challenges do you think the identity of contractor brings about in your personal and work life?” is classified as perspective. 2. “Please describe your supervisor’s management style over you.” is classified as interaction.. Questions for supervisors 1. “What do you think about the role of contractor in the client organization?” is classified as perspective. 34.

(43) 2. “Is there any difference in your supervising over regular workers and contractors? Please describe it.” is classified as interaction. Additionally, all the questions were used with semi-structured method to make this research more likely to focus on the aimed issues and allow for flexibility at the same time. The actual manipulation was that with each broad inquiry accompanied several detailed questions or questions brought up depending on the situation of interviewing process. Taking one interview question of contractors as an example as following. Example: Do you think there is any difference in your supervisor’s interaction with contractors and regular workers? Please describe it. 1.. What are the situations respectively in workplace and in private?. 2.. In what ways does your supervisor usually convey information to you? Do you think the information lucid and sufficient?. 3. What are the influences the identity of contractor causing on your communication with the supervisor, such like convenience or difficulties? 4. What do you think about your relationship with your supervisor? Is it harmonious or not?. Observation In the meantime of interviewing, the researcher observed the way interviewees talk to inwardly gauge their personalities which is considered as an important factor in this research because it affects individual way of thinking and interpersonal behaviors. Based on the observation, the researcher had rough pictures on each interviewee’s personality. C1 (the contractor of Pair 1) was so energetic and outgoing that the researcher did not have to pay much effort to work the conversation up. But he was easily go distraction and digression during the interview. C2 was relatively shy and restricted. In the appointment with him, the researcher was late for twenty minutes and finds the interviewee waiting in the front door of 35.

(44) the meeting place, did not make any call to inform his arrival to me. C3 is a friend of the researcher that made him feel easy to talk about what he thinks of. He is a hard working and smart person who always know what to do in his life. As to supervisors, they were thought to talk in an official way and answer the questions similarly like they have been set before. What is particularly worth mentioned is that S2 tended to answer the question by question which was not much like a conversation. S1 answered questions one by one as well but with more sufficient feedback and make responses in a more active way. Generally speaking, they were somehow reserved and serious. S3 was relatively talkative though officially also. The researcher felt free and easy to talk to him. When the researcher addressed some opinions, S3 provided feedback actively. He was a good listener and was apt at communication.. Subsequently, after all interviews finished, recorded files were transformed into word documents and transcribed into English by the researcher; also, notes on observation were gathered. The following step was to conduct analysis on those data.. Data Analysis. The process of data analysis was arranged from general to specific, and was initiated with the gathering and understanding of the background information of interviewed contractors, including age, educational background, work duration before the current job, work duration of present work, job tile, and welfare provided by the client organization. As to the main analysis for the interview results, there were three stages involving in the process. The first is coding, which enabled the reduction of data and helped uncover and extract meaningful information of the phenomena. Key information from the manuscript was labeled or coded in a relatively short sentence or terms. Table 3.2 is an example of coding.. 36.

(45) Table 3.2. An example of coding Manuscript. Code. J: What advantages or difficulties do you think to be a contractor? C2: …I think it would be less steady to work as a contractor. Sometimes I’m afraid that I might lose my job suddenly…There are no any other benefits that I can receive from the client organization unlike regular workers. What’s more, my parents always nag on my job as a contractor and urge me to look for a permanent work….. Unstable Less sense of job security Little benefits Comparing mentality Expectations from the family. *J: the researcher The second stage was categorizing which was to cluster and form concepts. By merging data which share similar meanings or scope into categories, the researcher can make a cross-team comparison, and further form a rough concept. The third stage of data analysis was identifying themes by which the researcher made connections within categories identified according to interviewees’ responses and the researcher's interpretation. The connections within categories can result in theme. To be more comprehensible, the example of analyzing framework is shown in Table 3.3. Table 3.3. An example of analyzing framework Theme. Category. Interaction. Supervision. Code Rewards and Punishments Empowerment Instructing Supportive behaviors Work attitudes. Performance. Job performance Reporting Extra efforts Off-job activities. Friendship 37.

(46) The next step was to construct concepts and generalize findings through the relationships between codes and themes. Figure 3.3 illustrates the whole process of data analysis. Manuscripts. Coding. Categorizing. Identifying themes. Concept construction. Findings Figure 3.3. The Process of Data Analysis. 38.

(47) CHAPTER IV. FINDING AND DISCUSSION. Based on the data collected and analyzed, there are three main topics being induced: the first section, the identity, contractors, and supervisors, includes the influences of the identity of contractor brings about on individual perspectives and perceived problems in personal and work life; the second section focus on effects on the interaction between contractors and supervisors in which there are two main parts, supervision and friendship; and the third section is the discussion on other related issues, phenomena, or realities being discovered.. The Identity, Contractors, and Supervisors. To discuss the influences the identity of contractor causes respectively on contractors and supervisors, especially perspectives on their own initiative or problems they meet because of the existence of the identity of contractor, this section can be divided into two parts which are the identity of contractor with separately contractors and supervisors.. The Identity and Contractors From the results of data analysis, what influences the identity of contractor brings about on contractors can be discussed in two dimensions in which one focus on individual perspectives or personal life and the other is about the effects on contractors’ experiences in present workplace. To begin with contractors’ general viewpoints toward the identity of contractor and influences in personal, three interviewed contractors report similar reasons why working as contractors and their will. C3 makes a particular clear statement about that:. 39.

(48) …I think the reason why I work as a contractor can involve several points. First, of course, the job content must be of my preference. If I don’t like the job content, I don’t think I would easily accept the identity as a contractor. Second, time is also one of my concerns because there were no other suitable jobs when I had an urge to work. Further, to speak frankly to be a contractor can help a person who never worked to accumulate experiences. Otherwise, I think, generally speaking, people won’t like to work as a contractor all the time in the corporation.. Corresponding to what C3 said, C1 and C2 also mentioned similar reason, like “…That was my first time looking for jobs, I was so afraid that I couldn’t find any…” said C1. Reluctantly, C2 addresses “…At that time, I’ve sent a lot of resume but only two corporations accepted. Comparing to the other corporation, I would rather work in this one so I became a contractor…” It can be clearly seen that three interviewees work as contractors with not really active will. Thus to induce, people work as contractors due to reasons like no previous work experiences or fear of being out of job rather than having preference on contract work originally. In the interviews, several questions on difficulties or concerns with regard to personal attitudes and life are inquired. Based on the data, interviewees mostly do not feel too much obstacles or challenges in personal life to be a contractor. In addition to the most common problem, the sense of unsteady, which is referred from the dialogue with C1, “…we contract once for three months.”, in this inquiry what mentioned frequently by all interviewees is expectations from family and friends. For example, “…what’s more, my parents always nag on my job as a contractor and urge me to look for a permanent work.” says C2, which is also indicated by C1 and C3,. “Yes, sometimes my friends would query why I want to work as a contractor which is so unstable and blah blah…I’ve already feel tired to explain the reasons. Anyway, just go with it!” “…parents would definitely hope me to work steady; you know the way the older generation might think. They, of course, don’t like the identity of contractor.”. 40.