Study title

This research project focuses on care in business organisations. It examines how these organisations conceptualise 'care' and implement policies concerning both their employees' responsibilities outside work and the care the organisation provides for employees in the course of their work. We draw on the concept of caringscapes to provide a framework for the research. The theoretical basis uses the metaphor of a map to posit that people plot routes through a changing, multidimensional terrain that comprises their experience and anticipation of care and that these projects of care are gendered in content and experience. We seek to theorise and empirically examine the manner in which organisations try to realise particular aims and goals by actively selecting their paths through an organisational carescape that includes legislation, economic context, company finances and goals, and the changing needs of employers and employees. A survey of 100 firms of different sizes and in-depth interviews in 10 selected companies will provide information on: formal care policies, the implementation of policies and practices of care, experiences of care and care cultures in the sample firms. Outputs will include guidelines on creating a socially responsible workplace.