Dear AIB Members, 

We are delighted to announce the Call for Chapters for an Edited Book on- "Sustainability in the GiG Economy: Perspectives, Challenges and Opportunities in Industry 4.0".  Please see the details below : 

CALL FOR BOOK CHAPTERS (Springer Nature)

Sustainability in the GiG Economy: Perspectives, Challenges and Opportunities in Industry 4.0

The entire global market is in transition into a new way of working, and all business activities that require physical interaction have suffered, the pandemic has presented opportunities for the contactless world of digital business. Many workplaces have been transferred to remote working system amid the outbreak and the critical challenge remain to make this form of working productive, efficient, and sustainable. Furthermore, the academic discourse surrounding the gig economy offers inconsistent conceptualisations of the phenomenon depending on the discipline and focus of research. Some suggest that this leads to semantic confusion surrounding the gig economy, which permeates academic and popular discourses (Richardson, 2015). For actors interested in the sharing economy because of its purported sustainability potential, the lack of a consistent definition as to which types of practices and organisations belong under the umbrella of the gig economy may lead to undesirable outcomes for different players (habibi et al., 2017). Furthermore, the phenomenon may be co-opted or exploited in ways that the purported sustainability potential is not realised (Barta and Neff, 2016), with some authors claiming the gig economy is simply a faster and popular form of the market economy (Ukolov et al., 2016).  This book provides an overview of the Gig Economy from a different perspective such as Business and Economics; Impact on Global Economy; Ethics, Governance and Legal Issues; Diffusion of IT in Workplace; Sustainability and Future of Workforce & Workplaces during and after the pandemic. This edited volume also highlights the several challenges and opportunities in managing the diverse workforce during this difficult time which has no precedence.

OBJECTIVE:

The book will feature empirical and theoretical discussions including featured cases and address issues associated explicitly with Gig Economy with Different Perspectives such as Freelancing culture; Contract labour; changing workspace culture, managing work in crisis etc. 
The contributions in this book will help create an understanding of new workplace culture, and how businesses and other interested stakeholders can take advantage of its success stories in the new normal.

Submission Guidelines

NATURE OF SUBMISSIONS:

We welcome original research using a variety of methodologies, and at any level of analysis, such as:

• High-quality qualitative (e.g., interview, observation) or quantitative (e.g., experimental, survey) research of all kinds, analytical techniques including thematic analysis, content, and structural equation modelling

• Archival and observational research using data drawn from the Internet

• Mixed methods research (e.g., surveys complemented with case studies)

• Teaching Case Studies; Comprehensive theory development papers

CHAPTER FORMATTING INSTRUCTIONS:

Authors have been provided with formatting instructions and Word Document Template aid in the formatting process.

• Key Style Points for Book Chapter Formatting:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Npl9_PJa5dWBwFZV2V4x6Q_g7awCRRDE/view
• Manuscript Template for Book Chapter (Empirical Research and Literature Review): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Za7_HINzZIB8rlNug4-MIb32RXB89DVs/view
• Manuscript Template for Teaching Case Study Book Chapter (Use this for teaching case studies): https://drive.google.com/file/d/10UwbVo3Ju-DiMtfO-UxgP4PAiGK_JBao/view
• Springer Basic Author Referencing: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1M7XS8u_vsWQUp95NUatIA4_95T5psgpd/view

REQUIRED:

• Manuscript has been ‘spell-checked’ and ‘grammar checked’

• All references mentioned in the Reference List are cited in the text, and vice versa

• Authors Profiles after the List of References (100-150 Words for each author)

• A competing interest’s statement is provided, even if the authors have no competing interests to declare

• Number of Words: 5,000 to 6,000 words Inclusive of all Text, References and Appendices.

SUBMISSION OF MANUSCRIPT SHOULD INCLUDE:

• Chapter Title, Subtitle (if needed), Authors, Affiliation, keywords

• All figures (include relevant captions)

• All tables (including titles, description, footnotes)

• Ensure all figure and table citations in the text match the files provided

• Indicate clearly if colour should be used for any figures in print

• Graphical Abstracts / Highlights files (where applicable)

• Supplemental files (where applicable)

• Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Internet)

IMPORTANT DATES

• Full chapter submission to Editors: February 10^th, 2021

• Editors Review Notification: March 15^th, 2021

• Revised Chapter Submission: April 10^th, 2021

• Submission of Final Book to Publisher: April 30, 2021

*No Publication Charges*

List of Topics

THEMATIC AREAS OF INTEREST:

Part I: Background to the Gig Economy

Exploring the evolution of the Gig Economy- Perspectives, growing trends, impact on Global Economy; Global and Emerging Markets
Exploration into environmental (e.g. policy/legal, culture, financial, and technological infrastructure) enablers and inhibitors of GiG culture and their value creation
Identifying the Critical Success factors to Manage Gig Economy and Workforce
Entrepreneurial Challenges in Gig Market
Exploring the contributions or potential contribution of Gig Economy to development in different sectors of the economy- health, agriculture, manufacturing, and governance etc.

Part II: Sustainability of Gig Era and Industry 4.0

Sustaining Gig Economy in Industry 4.0-Emerging Challenges and Opportunities
Successful or partially successful examples of the contributions of Gig Economy and Industry Practices in the achievement of sustainable development goals
Successful or partially successful examples of collaboration between government, private sector, and non-governmental institutions in responding to development challenges
An exploration into how new and emerging digital technologies/services/information platforms (e.g. social commerce, social media journalism, fake news networks, blockchain, smart devices, cloud computing, Internet of Things, virtual/augmented reality, big data, automation) challenge modern workplaces in the age of Gig Economy
Exploring the interrelationships between regulatory frameworks that work in Gig Economy
Business Ethics in sustaining the Gig Economy during the 4th Industrial Revolution

Part III: Future Challenges of Sustaining a Gig Economy

Exploring the Dark side of Gig Economy, Markets and Jobs
Future of Job Markets, Workspaces, Work Culture, Gig Workforce
Sustaining Business continuity and productivity in Crisis: Future Implications of COVID-19

Contact

ALL INQUIRIES SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO THE ATTENTION OF EDITORS:

Dr. Ashish Gupta, Assistant Professor, Department of Marketing, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), New Delhi, India, Email: [log in to unmask] / [log in to unmask]
Dr. Tavishi Tewary, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, Jaipuria Institute of Management, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India, Email: [log in to unmask]
Dr. Badri Narayanan Gopalakrishnan,  Professor, University of Washington, Seattle, USA, Email: [log in to unmask]