Picture 1 of 1
Picture 1 of 1
Gurus, Hired Guns, and Warm Bodies: Itinerant Experts in a Knowledge Economy
US $9.09
Condition:
Shipping:
Located in: Sparks, Nevada, United States
Delivery:
Estimated between Mon, Jun 3 and Fri, Jun 7 to 43230
Returns:
Payments:
Special financing available. See terms and apply now- for PayPal Credit, opens in a new window or tab
Earn up to 5x points when you use your eBay Mastercard®. Learn moreabout earning points with eBay Mastercard
Shop with confidence
Seller assumes all responsibility for this listing.
eBay item number:285609116569
Item specifics
- Condition
- Book Title
- Gurus, Hired Guns, and Warm Bodies: Itinerant Experts in a Knowle
- Publication Date
- 2004-08-15
- Pages
- 342
- ISBN
- 9780691119434
- Publication Year
- 2004
- Type
- Textbook
- Format
- Hardcover
- Language
- English
- Publication Name
- Gurus, Hired Guns, and Warm Bodies : Itinerant Experts in a Knowledge Economy
- Item Length
- 9.2in
- Publisher
- Princeton University Press
- Item Width
- 6in
- Item Weight
- 22 Oz
- Number of Pages
- 352 Pages
About this product
Product Information
Over the last several decades, employers have increasingly replaced permanent employees with temporary workers and independent contractors to cut labor costs and enhance flexibility. Although commentators have focused largely on low-wage temporary work, the use of skilled contractors has also grown exponentially, especially in high-technology areas. Yet almost nothing is known about contracting or about the people who do it. This book seeks to break the silence. Gurus, Hired Guns, and Warm Bodies tells the story of how the market for temporary professionals operates from the perspective of the contractors who do the work, the managers who employ them, the permanent employees who work beside them, and the staffing agencies who broker deals. Based on a year of field work in three staffing agencies, life histories with over seventy contractors and studies of workers in some of America's best known firms, the book dismantles the myths of temporary employment and offers instead a grounded description of how contracting works. Engagingly written, it goes beyond rhetoric to examine why contractors leave permanent employment, why managers hire them, and how staffing agencies operate. Barley and Kunda paint a richly layered portrait of contract professionals. Readers learn how contractors find jobs, how agents negotiate, and what it is like to shoulder the risks of managing one's own "employability." The authors illustrate how the reality of flexibility often differs substantially from its promise. Viewing the knowledge economy in terms of organizations and markets is not enough, Barley and Kunda conclude. Rather, occupational communities and networks of skilled experts are what grease the skids of the high-tech, "matrix economy" where firms become way stations in the flow of expertise.
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Princeton University Press
ISBN-10
0691119430
ISBN-13
9780691119434
eBay Product ID (ePID)
30220212
Product Key Features
Publication Name
Gurus, Hired Guns, and Warm Bodies : Itinerant Experts in a Knowledge Economy
Format
Hardcover
Language
English
Publication Year
2004
Type
Textbook
Number of Pages
352 Pages
Dimensions
Item Length
9.2in
Item Width
6in
Item Weight
22 Oz
Additional Product Features
Lc Classification Number
Hd8039.I372u63 2004
Reviews
"The authors document a serious study of a specific community: the high-technology IT world of Silicon Valley at the height of the 1990s boom years. While the book is not a guidance manual for contractors or consultants, the dilemmas, contradictions, and situations recounted by the different actors would resonate and provide useful guidance for consultants and hiring managers in the development sector."-- Frances Rubin, Development in Practice, In this masterful and insightful book, Stephen Barley and Gideon Kunda study the intricate and often counter-intuitive consequences associated with the changing nature of work. . . . Gurus, Hired Guns, and Warm Bodies makes an invaluable contribution to the study of contemporary organizations and the transformation of work. . . . [A] must read. ---Sarosh Kuruvilla, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, In this masterful and insightful book, Stephen Barley and Gideon Kunda study the intricate and often counter-intuitive consequences associated with the changing nature of work. . . . Gurus, Hired Guns, and Warm Bodies makes an invaluable contribution to the study of contemporary organizations and the transformation of work. . . . [A] must read., The authors document a serious study of a specific community: the high-technology IT world of Silicon Valley at the height of the 1990s boom years. While the book is not a guidance manual for contractors or consultants, the dilemmas, contradictions, and situations recounted by the different actors would resonate and provide useful guidance for consultants and hiring managers in the development sector. ---Frances Rubin, Development in Practice, This book fills an important gap by providing one of the first major research ethnographies of the high-tech sector, a major component of the knowledge economy. . . . It succeeds in providing the thick description that this field has needed for some time. ---Vincent Mosco, Labour/Le Travail, "In this masterful and insightful book, Stephen Barley and Gideon Kunda study the intricate and often counter-intuitive consequences associated with the changing nature of work. . . . Gurus, Hired Guns, and Warm Bodies makes an invaluable contribution to the study of contemporary organizations and the transformation of work. . . . [A] must read." --Sarosh Kuruvilla, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, "The authors document a serious study of a specific community: the high-technology IT world of Silicon Valley at the height of the 1990s boom years. While the book is not a guidance manual for contractors or consultants, the dilemmas, contradictions, and situations recounted by the different actors would resonate and provide useful guidance for consultants and hiring managers in the development sector." ---Frances Rubin, Development in Practice, "Few developments have been as heavily hyped and as poorly understood as the trend towards 'contingent employment' among the professional/technical/managerial classes. We know from statistical studies that many professionals, especially technical professionals, are hired as temporary, contract workers--but we have known very little about why they work this way or about the conditions of their labor. Barley and Kunda put flesh on the bones of these skeletal figures, exploring the diversity of motives and working conditions, as well as regularities in how they evaluate jobs, build careers, and navigate tricky relationships with employment agencies, high-tech firms, and professional peers. Gurus significantly expands our understanding of what is sometimes called 'the new economy,' exemplifying the value of organizational ethnography and, especially in its superb account of life in labor markets, contributing distinctively to economic sociology. Moreover, the authors' prose is so clear and graceful that Gurus should become the book of choice for teaching sociology and organizational behavior to budding engineers and natural scientists." --Paul DiMaggio, Princeton University, "I know of no other book that provides the insightfulness, the detail, and thoroughness of Gurus, Hired Guns, and Warm Bodies . It synthesizes a great many theoretical strands and is truly brilliant. It will be the definitive text to which scholars and policy makers will turn for better understanding of this complex topic." --Vicki Smith, Administrative Science Quarterly, "In this masterful and insightful book, Stephen Barley and Gideon Kunda study the intricate and often counter-intuitive consequences associated with the changing nature of work. . . . Gurus, Hired Guns, and Warm Bodies makes an invaluable contribution to the study of contemporary organizations and the transformation of work. . . . [A] must read."-- Sarosh Kuruvilla, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, "This book fills an important gap by providing one of the first major research ethnographies of the high-tech sector, a major component of the knowledge economy. . . . It succeeds in providing the thick description that this field has needed for some time." --Vincent Mosco, Labour/Le Travail, "This important book is the best account so far of the new and growing world of contract labor." --Peter Cappelli, University of Pennsylvania, "The authors document a serious study of a specific community: the high-technology IT world of Silicon Valley at the height of the 1990s boom years. While the book is not a guidance manual for contractors or consultants, the dilemmas, contradictions, and situations recounted by the different actors would resonate and provide useful guidance for consultants and hiring managers in the development sector." --Frances Rubin, Development in Practice, "In this masterful and insightful book, Stephen Barley and Gideon Kunda study the intricate and often counter-intuitive consequences associated with the changing nature of work. . . . Gurus, Hired Guns, and Warm Bodies makes an invaluable contribution to the study of contemporary organizations and the transformation of work. . . . [A] must read." ---Sarosh Kuruvilla, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Barley and Kunda provide a valuable study that is sure to appeal to those interested in the various manifestations of contingent work or the inner workings of labor markets. ---Jeremy Reynolds, American Journal of Sociology, "This book fills an important gap by providing one of the first major research ethnographies of the high-tech sector, a major component of the knowledge economy. . . . It succeeds in providing the thick description that this field has needed for some time."-- Vincent Mosco, Labour/Le Travail, "This book fills an important gap by providing one of the first major research ethnographies of the high-tech sector, a major component of the knowledge economy. . . . It succeeds in providing the thick description that this field has needed for some time." ---Vincent Mosco, Labour/Le Travail, "Barley and Kunda provide a valuable study that is sure to appeal to those interested in the various manifestations of contingent work or the inner workings of labor markets." --Jeremy Reynolds, American Journal of Sociology, "I know of no other book that provides the insightfulness, the detail, and thoroughness of Gurus, Hired Guns, and Warm Bodies . It synthesizes a great many theoretical strands and is truly brilliant. It will be the definitive text to which scholars and policy makers will turn for better understanding of this complex topic."-- Vicki Smith, Administrative Science Quarterly, "I know of no other book that provides the insightfulness, the detail, and thoroughness of Gurus, Hired Guns, and Warm Bodies . It synthesizes a great many theoretical strands and is truly brilliant. It will be the definitive text to which scholars and policy makers will turn for better understanding of this complex topic." ---Vicki Smith, Administrative Science Quarterly, "This is social science at its best: Barley and Kunda's ethnographies of itinerant technical contractors provide nuanced and compelling insights into the changing nature of work and employment today, and a revealing glimpse into the organization of the knowledge economy." --AnnaLee Saxenian, University of California, Berkeley, "Barley and Kunda provide a valuable study that is sure to appeal to those interested in the various manifestations of contingent work or the inner workings of labor markets."-- Jeremy Reynolds, American Journal of Sociology, I know of no other book that provides the insightfulness, the detail, and thoroughness ofGurus, Hired Guns, and Warm Bodies. It synthesizes a great many theoretical strands and is truly brilliant. It will be the definitive text to which scholars and policy makers will turn for better understanding of this complex topic., "If we are lucky, once a decade or so a classic ethnographic study comes along that captures the essence and the interesting nuances of an emerging, strategic occupation or work group. Barley and Kunda's Gurus, Hired Guns, and Warm Bodies is destined to be our classic for this decade. No one should be allowed to write about these itinerant professionals or propose new policies or labor market institutions to regulate or serve them unless they first read this book!" --Thomas A. Kochan, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, I know of no other book that provides the insightfulness, the detail, and thoroughness of Gurus, Hired Guns, and Warm Bodies . It synthesizes a great many theoretical strands and is truly brilliant. It will be the definitive text to which scholars and policy makers will turn for better understanding of this complex topic. ---Vicki Smith, Administrative Science Quarterly, "Barley and Kunda provide a valuable study that is sure to appeal to those interested in the various manifestations of contingent work or the inner workings of labor markets." ---Jeremy Reynolds, American Journal of Sociology
Table of Content
Preface ix Chapter 1: Unlikely Rebels 1 Itinerant Experts 1 The Unraveling of Permanent Employment 9 The Legal Context of Contingent Work 12 Estimating the Size of the Contingent Workforce 16 Making Sense of Contingent Work 18 The Study 26 Organization of the Book 30 Part I: Setting the Stage Chapter 2: Clients 37 Why Do Clients Hire Contractors? 38 How Do Clients Hire Contractors? 49 Conclusion 51 Chapter 3: Contractors 53 Why Do Contractors Become Contractors? 55 What Kinds of Contractors Are There? 64 The Roles Contractors Play for Clients 67 Conclusion 72 Chapter 4: Agencies 73 Sales Culture and Technical Culture 74 What Types of Staffing Agencies Are There? 84 Conclusion 91 Part II: Life in the Market Chapter 5: The Information Game: Finding Deals 98 What Contractors Do 99 What Clients Do 108 What Staffing Agencies Do 114 Conclusion 133 Chapter 6: Making the Deal 136 Hiring Manager Evaluations 138 Negotiating the Terms of Employment 144 Closing Deals 161 Conclusion 166 Part III: Life on the Job Chapter 7: Contractors as Commodities 177 Maintaining a Task Orientation 177 Delegating Management Responsibilities 180 Creating Outsiders 183 Conclusion 187 Chapter 8: Contractors as Experts 188 Integration: Creating Team Members 188 Dependence 193 Conclusion 198 Chapter 9: Navigating between Respect and Resentment 199 Tales of Respect 199 Tales of Resentment 204 Forming an Identity 214 Part IV: Living the Cycle Chapter 10: Temporal Capital 223 The Temporal Patterns of Contracting 225 The Rhetoric and Reality of Flexibility 241 Chapter 11: Building and Maintaining Human Capital 244 The Danger of Obsolescence 244 The Risks of Learning 248 Strategies for Remaining Current 251 Conclusion 263 Chapter 12: Building and Maintaining Social Capital 264 Reach 266 Reputation and Occupational Circles 269 Reciprocity and Referral Cliques 273 Networking: Building and Maintaining Networks 276 Chapter 13: Itinerant Professionals in a Knowledge Economy 285 Itinerant Experts: The Contracting Life 286 The Ambiguities of Self-Reliance 289 Itinerant Experts and the Social Order 292 The Occupational Dimension 302 Supporting Itinerant Professionalism 311 Epilogue 317 References 321 Appendix: Cast of Characters 333 Index 337
Copyright Date
2004
Target Audience
College Audience
Topic
Human Resources & Personnel Management, Public Affairs & Administration, Construction / Contracting, Information Management, General, Management Science, Data Processing, Labor, Information Technology
Lccn
2003-068993
Dewey Decimal
331.2
Dewey Edition
22
Illustrated
Yes
Genre
Computers, Technology & Engineering, Business & Economics, Political Science
Item description from the seller
Seller assumes all responsibility for this listing.
eBay item number:285609116569
Shipping and handling
Item location:
Sparks, Nevada, United States
Ships to:
Albania, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan Republic, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde Islands, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon Republic, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Croatia, Republic of the Congo, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Kitts-Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Turks and Caicos Islands, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vatican City State, Vietnam, Wallis and Futuna, Western Samoa, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Excludes:
APO/FPO, Afghanistan, Alaska/Hawaii, Algeria, Barbados, Belarus, Brazil, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Guadeloupe, Guinea-Bissau, Iraq, Liberia, Libya, Martinique, New Caledonia, Nigeria, Reunion, Russian Federation, US Protectorates, Ukraine, Venezuela
| Shipping and handling | To | Service | Delivery*See Delivery notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free shipping | United States | Standard Shipping | Estimated between Mon, Jun 3 and Fri, Jun 7 to 43230 |
| US $5.50 | United States | Expedited Shipping | Estimated between Mon, Jun 3 and Fri, Jun 7 to 43230 |
| Handling time |
|---|
| Will usually ship within 2 business days of receiving cleared payment. |
| Taxes |
|---|
| Taxes may be applicable at checkout. Learn moreLearn more about paying tax on eBay purchases. |
Return policy
| After receiving the item, contact seller within | Refund will be given as | Return shipping |
|---|---|---|
| 30 days | Money Back | Buyer pays for return shipping |
Refer to eBay Return policyopens in a new tab or window for more details. You are covered by the eBay Money Back Guaranteeopens in a new tab or window if you receive an item that is not as described in the listing.
Payment details
Payment methods
Seller feedback (460,488)
e***l (96)- Feedback left by buyer.
Past 6 months
Verified purchase
Super impressed with this seller! They had the best price by far for this book! Both the cost of the book and the shipping fee was far better than average! The book came exactly as described, it was well packaged and quite a bit earlier than expected! The seller was polite and replied quickly to my messages.
I’ll definitely make another purchase soon!
Thank you to the seller! Be safe and keep up the great work!
l***w (80)- Feedback left by buyer.
Past 6 months
Verified purchase
WONDERFUL book! Better than described, in just like new condition [not just good]. Packaged very carefully, shipped very securely. Great seller, would buy from again in a heartbeat! No communication occurred, but I imagine it would have been as good as the rest of their customer service. Very happy with purchase, thank you very much!
t***1 (88)- Feedback left by buyer.
Past month
Verified purchase
Excellent packaging, expedited shipping, great seller communication, and accurate photo representation. I'm very pleased to have received this graphic novel for a fair and competitive price. Brand new and sealed!! I would highly recommend and purchase from this reputable retailer again. Thank you 👍!
Product ratings and reviews
More to explore :
- Book of Knowledge Antiquarian & Collectible Books,
- Business & Economy Magazines,
- Business & Economy Magazines in English,
- Business & Economy Wired Magazines,
- Business & Economy Magazines in Japanese,
- Business & Economy Bimonthly Magazines,
- Business & Economy Forbes Magazines,
- Business & Economy Magazines in Chinese,
- Business & Economy Monthly Forbes Magazines,
- Business & Economy 1980-1999 Magazines