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Speaker
Series 2005-2006
Normalizing Dirty Work: Managerial
Tactics for Countering Occupational
Taint
Blake E. Ashforth
W. P. Carey School of
Business Arizona State University
Friday, March 31, 2006, 10:30 AM
- 12:00 NOON
Room 1528
Abstract: Dirty
work refers to occupations that are
viewed by society as physically,
socially, or morally tainted. Using
exploratory, semi-structured
interviews with managers from 18
dirty work occupations, we
investigated the challenges of being
a manager in tainted work and how
managers normalize taint, that is,
actively counter or render it less
salient. Managers reported
experiencing role complexity and
stigma awareness. Four types of
practices for countering taint were
revealed: occupational ideologies,
social buffers, confronting clients
and the public, and defensive
tactics. We discuss links between
these practices.
Blake Ashforth is the Jerry and
Mary Ann Chapman Professor of
Business in the W.P. Carey School of
Business, Arizona State University,
and a Fellow of the Academy of
Management. He received his PhD in
organizational behavior from the
University of Toronto. Blake has
published over 70 journal articles
and book chapters on identity and
identification in organizational
settings, socialization and newcomer
work adjustment, the dysfunctions of
organizational structures and
processes, and the links among
individual-, group-, and
organization-level phenomena. He is
also the author of Role Transitions
in Organizational Life: An
Identity-Based Perspective, Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates (2001).
Curriculum Vita
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