IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-04325533.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

'Feeling in Control' : Optimal Busyness and the Temporality of Organizational Controls

Author

Listed:
  • Ioana Lupu
  • Joonas Rokka

    (EM - EMLyon Business School)

Abstract

This study extends prior research seeking to understand the reproduction and persistence of excessive busyness in professional settings by addressing the relationship between organizational controls and temporal experiences. Drawing on 146 interviews and more than 300 weekly diaries in two professional service firms, we develop a framework centered on the emerging concept of optimal busyness, an attractive, short-lived temporal experience which people try to reproduce/prolong because it makes them feel energized and productive as well as in control of their time. Our findings show that individuals continuously navigate between different temporal experiences separated by a fine line: quiet time, optimal busyness, and excessive busyness, and that optimal busyness that they strive for is a fragile and fleeting state difficult to achieve and maintain. We show that these temporal experiences are the effect of the temporality of controls—that is, the ability of controls to shape professionals' temporal experience through structuring, rarefying, and synchronizing temporality. Moreover, we find that professionals who regularly face high temporal pressures seek to cope with these by attempting to construct/prolong optimal busyness through manipulating the pace, focus, and length of their temporal experiences, a process we call control of temporality. Our study contributes to a better understanding of the (re)production of busyness, which can explain why professionals in their attempts to feel in control of their work time routinely result in them overworking.

Suggested Citation

  • Ioana Lupu & Joonas Rokka, 2022. "'Feeling in Control' : Optimal Busyness and the Temporality of Organizational Controls," Post-Print hal-04325533, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04325533
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-04325533
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hal.science/hal-04325533/document
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anderson-Gough, Fiona & Grey, Christopher & Robson, Keith, 2005. ""Helping them to forget..": the organizational embedding of gender relations in public audit firms," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 469-490, July.
    2. Ariane Ollier-Malaterre & Nancy P. Rothbard & Justin Berg, 2013. "When worlds collide in cyberspace: How boundary work in online social networks impacts professional relationships," Post-Print hal-00785979, HAL.
    3. Michel Anteby, 2008. "Identity Incentives as an Engaging Form of Control: Revisiting Leniencies in an Aeronautic Plant," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(2), pages 202-220, April.
    4. Gershuny, Jonathan, 2005. "Busyness as the badge of honour for the new superordinate working class," ISER Working Paper Series 2005-09, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    5. repec:eme:aaaj00:aaaj-02-2015-1984 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Katharina C Husemann & Giana M Eckhardt & Eileen Fischer & Julie L Ozanne, 2019. "Consumer Deceleration," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 45(6), pages 1142-1163.
    7. Erin Reid, 2015. "Embracing, Passing, Revealing, and the Ideal Worker Image: How People Navigate Expected and Experienced Professional Identities," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(4), pages 997-1017, August.
    8. Anderson-Gough, Fiona & Grey, Christopher & Robson, Keith, 2001. "Tests of time: organizational time-reckoning and the making of accountants in two multi-national accounting firms," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 99-122, March.
    9. Ioana Lupu & Laura Empson, 2015. "Illusio and overwork: playing the game in the accounting field," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 28(8), pages 1310-1340, October.
    10. William G. Ouchi, 1979. "A Conceptual Framework for the Design of Organizational Control Mechanisms," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(9), pages 833-848, September.
    11. Kathleen M. Eisenhardt, 1985. "Control: Organizational and Economic Approaches," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(2), pages 134-149, February.
    12. Ioana Lupu & Laura Empson, 2015. "Illusio and overwork: playing the game in the accounting field," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 28(8), pages 1310-1340, October.
    13. Niklas Woermann & Joonas Rokka, 2015. "Timeflow: How Consumption Practices Shape Consumers' Temporal Experiences," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 41(6), pages 1486-1508.
    14. Melissa Mazmanian & Wanda J. Orlikowski & JoAnne Yates, 2013. "The Autonomy Paradox: The Implications of Mobile Email Devices for Knowledge Professionals," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(5), pages 1337-1357, October.
    15. Jansen, Karen J. & Kristof-Brown, Amy L., 2005. "Marching to the beat of a different drummer: Examining the impact of pacing congruence," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 93-105, July.
    16. Mats Alvesson & Hugh Willmott, 2002. "Identity Regulation as Organizational Control: Producing the Appropriate Individual," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(5), pages 619-644, July.
    17. Maxine Robertson & Jacky Swan, 2003. "‘Control – What Control?’ Culture and Ambiguity Within a Knowledge Intensive Firm," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(4), pages 831-858, June.
    18. Shipp, Abbie J. & Edwards, Jeffrey R. & Lambert, Lisa Schurer, 2009. "Conceptualization and measurement of temporal focus: The subjective experience of the past, present, and future," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 110(1), pages 1-22, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Amélie Blot Lefevre Matte, 2023. "39th EGOS Colloquium - Organizing for the good life between legacy and imagination," Post-Print hal-04505113, HAL.

    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. Lambert Jerman & Alaric Bourgoin, 2016. "L'identité négative de l'auditeur," Post-Print hal-01902594, HAL.
    2. Detzen, Dominic & Evans, Lisa & Hoffmann, Sebastian, 2023. "Identities in transition: Audit recruits and the German reunification," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    3. Carlos Martin-Rios, 2016. "Innovative management control systems in knowledge work: a middle manager perspective," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 181-204, May.
    4. Bitbol-Saba, Nathalie & Dambrin, Claire, 2019. "“It’s not often we get a visit from a beautiful woman!” The body in client-auditor interactions and the masculinity of accountancy," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    5. Yves Gendron & Laura F. Spira, 2009. "What Went Wrong? The Downfall of Arthur Andersen and the Construction of Controllability Boundaries Surrounding Financial Auditing," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(4), pages 987-1027, December.
    6. Claire Garnier, 2017. "Comment devient-on associé d'audit ? Le fonctionnement des réseaux informels de promotion dans les cabinets Big 4 en France," Post-Print hal-01907518, HAL.
    7. Beau, Pauline & Jerman, Lambert, 2022. "Bonding forged in “auditing hell”: The emotional qualities of Big Four auditors," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    8. Claire Garnier, 2018. "L'associé est-il un auditeur comme les autres ? La construction de l'identité de l'associé dans les cabinets Big 4 en France," Post-Print hal-01907933, HAL.
    9. Lambert Jerman & Pauline Beau & Claire Garnier, 2016. "Le « dividual professional »," Post-Print hal-01902409, HAL.
    10. Durocher, Sylvain & Bujaki, Merridee & Brouard, François, 2016. "Attracting Millennials: Legitimacy management and bottom-up socialization processes within accounting firms," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 1-24.
    11. Ioana Lupu, 2021. "An autoethnography of pregnancy and birth during Covid times: Transcending the illusio of overwork in academia?," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 1898-1911, September.
    12. Vanessa Conzon & Ruthanne Huising, 2024. "Devoted but Disconnected : Managing Role Conflict Through Interactional Control," Post-Print hal-04553331, HAL.
    13. Melissa Mazmanian & Christine M. Beckman, 2018. "“Making” Your Numbers: Engendering Organizational Control Through a Ritual of Quantification," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(3), pages 357-379, June.
    14. Hamilton, Susan E., 2013. "Exploring professional identity: The perceptions of chartered accountant students," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 37-49.
    15. Alison T. Wynn & Aliya Hamid Rao, 2020. "Failures of Flexibility: How Perceived Control Motivates the Individualization of Work–Life Conflict," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 73(1), pages 61-90, January.
    16. Costas, Jana & Blagoev, Blagoy & Kärreman, Dan, 2016. "The arena of the professional body: Sport, autonomy and ambition in professional service firms," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 10-19.
    17. Gendron, Yves & Spira, Laura F., 2010. "Identity narratives under threat: A study of former members of Arthur Andersen," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 275-300, April.
    18. Raelin, Joseph A., 2011. "The End of Managerial Control?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 36(2), pages 135-160.
    19. Guénin-Paracini, Henri & Malsch, Bertrand & Paillé, Anne Marché, 2014. "Fear and risk in the audit process," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 264-288.
    20. Mei, Maggie Qiuzhu & Wang, Le & Yan, Jie, 2023. "Maintaining product quality consistency when offshoring to emerging markets: The role of subsidiary control," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(1).

    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:hal:journl:hal-04325533. 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: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    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.