I am a member of the ERC-funded project ‘iLabour: The construction of Labour Markets, Institutions and Movements on the Internet‘. This project examines online freelance work and online labour platforms. Labor markets are undergoing a dramatic transformation whereby standard full-time employment is increasingly supplemented by temporary and remote working arrangements that are mediated by online platforms.
I investigate the technology firms that operate online labor marketplaces. Conventionally, labor markets are managed by policy makers and shaped by employment laws, collective bargaining, and local norms. But in the digital economy, platforms are making important decisions on matters ranging from minimum wages to matching people with jobs. I advance neo-institutional theory by examining the research question: ‘How – as new intermediaries – do platforms design and operate their markets for online work, thereby developing new labor market institutions?’ I also investigate firm adoption of platforms and how they are changing their organizational processes and practices internally to engage online freelancers as part of their contingent workforce.
I negotiated access and conducted a one-year ethnographic study inside the world’s largest online labor platform, and of its users. Next to using conventional ethnographic methods of participant observation, in-depth interviews, document analysis, I also developed novel methods for studying the platform’s online interactional spaces. Analysis of this extensive dataset is ongoing. I’m currently conducting data analysis of this extensive dataset and writing up the findings. My first achievement from this body of work ‘Platform sourcing: How Fortune 500 firms are adopting online freelancing platforms’, discusses the challenges that business firms face when adopting online labor platforms. The research report received international recognition from scholars, the media, and policy-makers.
Research Reports
Corporaal, G.F. and Lehdonvirta, V. (2017). Platform Sourcing: How Fortune 500 Firms are Adopting Online Freelancing Platforms. Oxford Internet Institute: Oxford
Peer Reviewed Conference Papers and Proceedings
Corporaal, G.F. and Lehdonvirta, V. (2018). “Motivations for platform sourcing: Why do firms adopt online labor markets for knowledge work?” Paper presented at Reshaping Work conference, Amsterdam, October 25-26, 2018.
Corporaal, G.F., and Lehdonvirta, V. (2019). “Platform Sourcing as a New Organizational Model for High-Skilled Knowledge Work: Insights from a Comparative Case Study”. Paper presented at the annual EGOS Colloquium, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Corporaal, G.F., Sessions, H., Jarvenpaa, S., Levina, N., Ashford, S.J., Barker Caza, B., Karanovic, J., Moehlmann, M., Berends, H., Engel, Y., Gregory, R.W., Henfridsson, O., Lehdonvirta, V., Nahrang, J., Reid, E.M., and Zalmanson, L. (2019). “Changing Models of Work in the Digital Platform Economy“. Academy of Management Proceedings, 2019 (1), 12309.
Media Articles and Appearances
Corporaal, G.F. (as interviewed by Claartje Vogel) (2019). “Bemiddelaars moeten zich zorgen maken over de platform economie” (Intermediaries should be worried about the Platform Economy). Published on 9 January 2019.
Corporaal, G.F. (as interviewed by Ruthanne Huising and Pedro Monteiro) 2019. Ethnography Atelier Podcast: “Studying Online and Offline Work”. Published on 20 June 2019.
TORCH 2019. “Launch of Futures Thinking Speaker Series”. Oxford Centre in the Humanities, University of Oxford.
Corporaal, G.F. (2017). 6 dimensions of value: Comparing platform versus agency-based sourcing OII iLabour BlogCorporaal, G.F. (2017) How the Fortune 500 experiment with platform adoption OII iLabour Blog
Corporaal, G.F. (2017). Organizing for successful platform adoption OII iLabour Blog
Corporaal, G.F. (2017). Organizing with on-demand freelancers in the platform economy: Part Two Open Democracy
Corporaal, G.F. (2017). Organizing with on-demand freelancers in the platform economy: Part One Open Democracy
Invited Presentations
Oct 2019 Zipconomy/ABN Amro Bank, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Oct. 2019 NESTA Working Better Event, London, UK
June 2019 KPMG Korea, Oxford, UK
“Platform sourcing as an occasion for re-organizing external knowledge work,” EMLyon Business School, April 2 2019, Lyon, France.
“Theorizing online labour platforms as a model for organizing knowledge work.” Royal Holloway University London, 14 November 2018, London, UK.
“The future of work: The role of online labour platforms,” BeyondHR Forum, 14-15 June 2018, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
“Online freelancing platforms and the future of work,” 2018 Responsible Business Forum: Economics of mutuality, Said Business School, 18 May 2018, Oxford, UK
“Studying online labour markets: Methodological opportunities and challenges,” Symposium on “Old Wine in New Bottles: Continuities, Disruptions, and The Management of Work in the Sharing/Gig Economy, 15 December 2017, Sussex, UK
“Digitisation of the labour market: The role of online platforms,” ESCO: Connecting People and Jobs Conference, 09 October 2017, Brussels, Belgium
Check my Research Gate profile for more information
Greetje "Gretta" Corporaal 