IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ilrrev/v77y2024i1p3-31.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Adversaries or Cross-Organization Co-workers? Exploring the Relationship between Gig Workers and Conventional Employees

Author

Listed:
  • Michael David Maffie

Abstract

This article explores how gig workers interact with more conventional employees. Drawing on original qualitative and quantitative data from Instacart shoppers and grocery store staff, this article shows how Instacart’s algorithmic management system pushes shoppers to mistreat in-store staff. Yet for shoppers who frequently interact with staff, the author finds they develop cooperative, cross-organization co-worker relationships . These relationships grant shoppers access to resources typically reserved for staff, allowing them to navigate the algorithmic constraints that Instacart places on them. Findings show that platform companies’ use of algorithmic management tools can spill over to negatively affect the working conditions of conventional workers; but also, that gig workers can improve their own conditions by building relationships with their conventional peers.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael David Maffie, 2024. "Adversaries or Cross-Organization Co-workers? Exploring the Relationship between Gig Workers and Conventional Employees," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 77(1), pages 3-31, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:77:y:2024:i:1:p:3-31
    DOI: 10.1177/00197939231194254
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00197939231194254
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/00197939231194254?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael David Maffie, 2020. "The Role of Digital Communities in Organizing Gig Workers," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(1), pages 123-149, January.
    2. Patrice Rosenthal, 2004. "Management Control as an Employee Resource: The Case of Front‐line Service Workers," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(4), pages 601-622, June.
    3. Cody Cook & Rebecca Diamond & Jonathan V Hall & John A List & Paul Oyer, 2021. "The Gender Earnings Gap in the Gig Economy: Evidence from over a Million Rideshare Drivers [Measuring the Gig Economy: Current Knowledge and Open Issues]," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 88(5), pages 2210-2238.
    4. Michael David Maffie, 2022. "The Perils of Laundering Control through Customers: A Study of Control and Resistance in the Ride-hail Industry," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 75(2), pages 348-372, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michael David Maffie, 2022. "The global ‘hot shop’: COVID‐19 as a union organising catalyst," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 207-219, May.
    2. Committee, Nobel Prize, 2023. "Scientific Background to the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2023," Nobel Prize in Economics documents 2023-2, Nobel Prize Committee.
    3. Julian Kolev & Yuly Fuentes-Medel & Fiona Murray, 2019. "Is Blinded Review Enough? How Gendered Outcomes Arise Even Under Anonymous Evaluation," NBER Working Papers 25759, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Chen, Xinwei & Wang, Tong & Thomas, Barrett W. & Ulmer, Marlin W., 2023. "Same-day delivery with fair customer service," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 308(2), pages 738-751.
    5. Sylvain Bureau & Jean-Baptiste Suquet, 2007. "Renouveler l’approche de la profession en contrôle organisationnel," Revue Finance Contrôle Stratégie, revues.org, vol. 10(4), pages 17-35, December.
    6. Peter Blair & Benjamin Posmanick, 2023. "Why Did Gender Wage Convergence in the United States Stall?," Working Papers 2023-001, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    7. Karin Garrety, 2008. "Organisational Control and the Self: Critiques and Normative Expectations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 82(1), pages 93-106, September.
    8. Yongwook Paik & Christos A. Makridis, 2023. "The social value of a ridesharing platform: a hedonic pricing approach," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 64(5), pages 2125-2150, May.
    9. Wood, Alex & Lehdonvirta, Vili, 2021. "Antagonism beyond employment: how the ‘subordinated agency’ of labour platforms generates conflict in the remote gig economy," SocArXiv y943w, Center for Open Science.
    10. Spencer Bastani & Thomas Giebe & Oliver Gürtler, 2023. "Overconfidence and Gender Equality in the Labor Market," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 220, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    11. Gerber, Christine, 2022. "Gender and precarity in platform work: Old inequalities in the new world of work," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 37(2), pages 206-230.
    12. Popan, Cosmin & Anaya-Boig, Esther, 2021. "The intersectional precarity of platform cycle delivery workers," SocArXiv tk6v8, Center for Open Science.
    13. Ausseil, Rosemonde & Ulmer, Marlin W. & Pazour, Jennifer A., 2024. "Online acceptance probability approximation in peer-to-peer transportation," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    14. John List, 2021. "2021 Summary Data of Artefactual Field Experiments Published on Fieldexperiments.com," Artefactual Field Experiments 00749, The Field Experiments Website.
    15. Bharat Chandar & Ali Hortacsu & John List & Ian Muir & Jeffrey Wooldridge, 2019. "Design and Analysis of Cluster-Randomized Field Experiments in Panel Data Settings," Natural Field Experiments 00681, The Field Experiments Website.
    16. Brad Greenwood & Idris Adjerid & Corey M. Angst & Nathan L. Meikle, 2022. "How Unbecoming of You: Online Experiments Uncovering Gender Biases in Perceptions of Ridesharing Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 175(3), pages 499-518, January.
    17. Contensou, François & Vranceanu, Radu, 2019. "Working time and wage rate differences : a contract theory approach," ESSEC Working Papers WP1913, ESSEC Research Center, ESSEC Business School, revised 06 Mar 2021.
    18. Strenio, Jacqueline & van der Meulen Rodgers, Yana, 2023. "Integrating Gender into a Labor Economics Class," IZA Discussion Papers 15886, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Michael David Maffie, 2022. "The Perils of Laundering Control through Customers: A Study of Control and Resistance in the Ride-hail Industry," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 75(2), pages 348-372, March.
    20. Kevin A. Bryan & Joshua S. Gans, 2019. "A theory of multihoming in rideshare competition," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 89-96, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:77:y:2024:i:1:p:3-31. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ilr.cornell.edu .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.