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Journal of Applied Organizational Systems and Behavior

2026 Volume 6 Issue 1

Human Dignity, Recognition, and Autonomy in Contemporary Work Systems


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  1. Department of Human Dignity and Recognition, Faculty of Business, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
  2. Department of Autonomy and Work Systems, Faculty of Management, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
  3. Department of Organizational Ethics, Faculty of Psychology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
  4. Department of Work Design, Faculty of Psychology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Abstract

Contemporary work systems increasingly combine digital monitoring, algorithmic coordination, flexible employment, intensified performance demands, and decentralized responsibility. These arrangements can create efficiencies and discretion while also reshaping whether workers are treated as persons with worth, agency, social standing, and legitimate claims over the conditions of their work. This integrative review examines human dignity through four connected domains: meaning and worthwhile contribution, autonomy and non-domination, recognition and respect, and organizational responsibility. The review combines heterogeneous empirical, qualitative, longitudinal, theoretical, methodological, and governance evidence without treating unlike designs as directly commensurable. The synthesis suggests that dignity is not reducible to job satisfaction, meaningfulness, formal autonomy, or recognition programmes. Rather, dignifying work depends on how work systems organize contribution, discretion, authority, social valuation, and responsibility. The literature also contains tensions: autonomy may coexist with algorithmic control; self-management may redistribute responsibility without eliminating hierarchy; recognition may become instrumental; and ostensibly beneficial practices may impose new burdens. The review therefore proposes a dignity-centered work-system framework that treats these domains as analytically distinct but interacting conditions. The framework is an original integrative synthesis, not a validated causal model. Its relationships remain conditional on employment security, inequality, occupational status, technology, organizational position, and institutional context. Future research should test temporal, multilevel, and intervention pathways while preserving distinctions between employee experience, organizational practice, and structural conditions.


How to cite this article
Vancouver
Nkosi T, Molefe L, Dlamini S, Mokoena A, Ndlovu K. Human Dignity, Recognition, and Autonomy in Contemporary Work Systems. J Appl Organ Syst Behav. 2026;6(1):133-42. https://doi.org/10.51847/WqZRueqALe
APA
Nkosi, T., Molefe, L., Dlamini, S., Mokoena, A., & Ndlovu, K. (2026). Human Dignity, Recognition, and Autonomy in Contemporary Work Systems. Journal of Applied Organizational Systems and Behavior, 6(1), 133-142. https://doi.org/10.51847/WqZRueqALe
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