The new edition of this successful textbook adopts a unique approach, providing a critical examination of work from the employee's perspective. The book explores the effects of being managed and how employees themselves interact with and respond to the strategies, tactics, decisions and actions of managers. Packed full of features such as key concepts, real world examples and exercises, the book introduces students to multi-disciplinary material from across the social sciences and encourages them to think more deeply about the variety of issues involved. Written by a team of respected experts on the subject, the text's concise and engaging style will appeal to students at all levels and help them to develop a critical perspective on the subject. The Realities of Work is an essential text for undergraduate and postgraduate students of management, HRM, organization studies, employment studies and work sociology. New to this Edition: - Thoroughly updated to reflect broad social and economic changes - Explores recent research findings that focus on how work issues and demands affect employees - Completely rewritten to improve accessibility - Fully revised case studies and exercises - Comprehensively updated to cover research since the last edition over 100 new sources cited - Extensively revised to make it even more accessible for contemporary readers