Academic Caucus presentation at AOM 2023 Boston USA, led by Prof Prouska and Dr Kapsali

1. Platform
Workers’
Voice
Management
Practices
Dr Maria Kapsali
University of West of
England Bristol, UK
Prof Rea Prouska
London South Bank
University, UK

2. Agenda
Introduction
Conceptualize the digital employment relationship
Problematize the meaning of voice for platform workers
Role of HR in creating voice avenues for these workers
Future research
Summary & Close

3. Innovation &
Creative Projects
Meet Maria https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=5cHzoTwAAAAJ&hl=en&authuser=1
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariakapsali/
1. European telecare and telemedicine IST & epidemiology EARSS projects 2002-2009
2. Designing-Out Medical Error (DOME) from healthcare ward operations 2009-2011
3. Simulation Modelling in Healthcare Planning project on the Alcohol Improvement
Programme of DoH 2009-2011
4. Umea European Capital of Culture 2014 Sweden – 2011-2013
5. STRADOS 2014-2015
6. Hull City of Culture 2017 UK
7. RISE Horizon 2020 agility and ambidexterity in construction projects 2019-2021
8. Crowdfunding ICO projects 2019 – finishing
9. Strategic Roadmap for SME Leaders; decision making for digitalization – September
2023

4. Employee / Worker
Voice Projects
Meet Rea
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/rea-prouska-b5010b5
1. Macro-context & voice/silence
2. Employee participation & representation
3. Determinants of voice in SMEs in international contexts
4. How employees/workers learn to voice in SMEs
5. Voice and wellbeing
6. Employee/worker voice at the intersection with gender, ethnicity, sexuality, and
disability
7. Workers’ voice and sustainability objectives
8. Voice in non-traditional employment relations
9. Voice in project-based organizations
10. Impact of technology-mediated work and employment on workers’ voice
https://scholar.google.com.tw/citations?user=GfKyhGcAAAAJ&hl=en

5. Platform voice: A 3-party model to initiate research
New project – from 2024
Case study: Fiverr
Method: Big narrative data
analysis (Cluster/Thematic
analysis, QCA and Sentiment
Analysis) from the platform
narratives of e-Lancers
Examine the voice form,
agenda and influence through
the crowdsourcing platform
First take from the workers’
perspective but will expand to
the perspectives of the
employer and the role of the
algorithm as a third-party agent
Plan 2024  finish pilot for
ESRC/UKRI plan + articles with
initial results

6. Multiple takes – an umbrella project
Maria: project voice model in
crowdsourcing platforms
Rea and Kabiru: workers’
experience of platform voice
Valerio and Kasra: exploring
data analytics in narratives

7. Initial Drafts
• We can manage ourselves: How peer-to-peer voice in online communities
complement algorithmic HRM in platform work
• Platform voice: A three-party model for initiating research
• Advancing ‘big qual’ methodologies for online data collection and analysis
in human resource management research: Text mining and natural
language processing

8. The Voice Research Group
voiceresearch.co.uk

9. Conceptualize the digital employment relationship
• There is a lack of conceptualization of a digital employment
relationship that now involves a triad between worker-platform-
client rather than the traditional ‘employee-employer’ relationship.
How can this relationship be conceptualized in comparison to
traditional employment relationships?
• What are the new concepts that may relate to this new digital
employment relationship?

10. • What has been found about platform workers’ voice recently? What
research questions are currently explored?
• Whose voice is heard and whose voice is not in these digital
spaces? What forms/channels/mechanisms does platform workers’
voice take? Can platform workers exercise influence over platform
issues/decisions through voice?
• What is the role of client feedback and of the platform algorithm in
the formation of platform workers’ voice – where is it contested, what
agendas are there and what conflicts are there?
Problematize the meaning of voice for platform
workers

11. Role of HR in creating voice avenues for these
workers
• Where does HR sit within the platform organization and what
role can HR play to support platform workers through voice?

12. Future research
• In what area(s) within this topic are you interested in getting
involved in future?
• What research methods would fit this topic?
• Who can benefit from future studies (beneficiaries)?

13. Summary & Close
Dr Maria Kapsali – Senior Lecturer in Project Management
Email: Maria.Kapsali@uwe.ac.uk
LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/mariakapsali
Prof Rea Prouska – Professor of Human Resource Management
Email: prouskar@lsbu.ac.uk
LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/rea-prouska-b5010b5
The Voice Research Group
Web: www.voiceresearch.co.uk
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