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The John Atkinson Model Of The Flexible Firm

Decent Essays

What is WF?
According to Aequus Partners (2010), WF is the alterations of the when (time), where (location) and how (manner) in an employee carry out tasks for the benefits of individual and organization. Thus flexibility should be mutually beneficial to both the employer and employee and result in superior outcomes. In this way, flexibility can be formal and informal.

John Atkinson model of the flexible firm
In the 1980’s, after debates were dedicated to flexibility, Atkinson (1984) proposed the model of the flexible firm. This model highlighted the functions of the concept of flexibility. The model is illustrated in figure .

According to Atkinson’s model, the most distinctive feature was the suggestion of the division of workforce …show more content…

They can be categorized into different groups namely self-employed, agency temporaries, sub-contracting, and increased outsourcing. For instance, staffs as home workers in areas of computing or networking, can accomplish their tasks through long distances. By means of these external workers, businesses are able to muddle through foreseeable alterations; ensuing financially flexibility instead of numerically flexible.

The above conditions reflect the subtlety of the topic and as such defining WF can be complex. For that reason, four main types of flexibility, suggested by Atkinson (1984) are examined underneath.
What are the types of WF?
Formal Flexibility denotes the policies of HR along with any official policies that contribute to discretion of supervisors to provide flexibility. Alternatively informal flexibility refers to the unofficial and unwritten policies that are available to some employees, even on a discretionary basis.

Atkinson (1984) described flexibility into four main types namely: Functional, Numerical, Temporal and Financial

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