Industrial Relations Journal 

About: Industrial Relations Journal is an academic journal published by Wiley. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Industrial relations & Trade union. It has an ISSN identifier of 0019-8692. Over the lifetime, 1505 publications have been published receiving 24767 citations.

‘An assembly line in the head’: work and employee relations in the call centre

Abstract: To date, academic studies of the call centre ‘sector’ remain limited in scope. Here the authors attempt to remedy that omission by analysing the recent and spectacular growth of call centres in the UK, drawing on a wide variety of sources, including two extensive surveys of developments in Scotland during 1997.

The Japanisation of British industry

Abstract: This article seeks to clarify the meaning of ‘Japanisation’ in the British economic context, and distinguishes at least three variants: direct, mediated and permeated or full. It is argued that a more satisfactory analysis needs to take account of the interrelationships between economic structures, economic systems, organisational units and employment practices.

Equal opportunities: the short and long agenda

Abstract: Here the author considers the reasons for the current disillusionment of many concerned with ‘equal opportunities’ policies in employment and reviews the potential of an EO orientation for progressive change within organisations and draws on her current research on responses to EO, citing a company in the retail sector.

Partnership versus organising: alternative futures for British trade unionism

Abstract: Sets out the two main strategies that have been proposed as the means for renewing UK trade unionism - partnership with employers to gain a recognized place within the organization and opportunities to recruit and represent members; and organizing which aims to strengthen the union by recruiting and organizing to strengthen collective organization within a firm. Reviews these two strategies using the framework developed by Hyman, which focuses on three fundamental questions concerning the interests the union represents - who does it represent, what are the objectives and how does it achieve them. Based on this, examines the activities undertaken under each strategy, how these are selected and the constraints that they face. Points out that both of the two strategies have been embraced by unions and assesses if they can be combined into a single strategy for renewal. Concludes that they can and considers how this could be made to work in practice.

Vocational training and the labour market in liberal and coordinated economies

Abstract: In recent decades, the differences between the education and training systems in the liberal and coordinated market economies have increased. It is not possible to understand such different developments by focusing exclusively on the internal dynamics of vocational and general education systems. Vocational education and training (VET), and particularly apprenticeship systems rather than school-based VET, are deeply embedded in the different national production, labour market, industrial relations and status systems. In order to contribute to a better understanding of the dynamics of VET, we examine recent developments in general and vocational training and its links to the labour and product market in five contrasting countries, namely, Denmark, Canada, Germany, Korea and the USA. In particular, differences in industrial relations, welfare states, income distribution and product markets are the main reason for the persistent high level of diversity in vocational training systems. The difference can perhaps be summarized as follows: in the coordinated market economies, the modernisation of vocational training is seen as a contribution to innovation in the economy, while in liberal market economies, it is seen as a siding into which weaker pupils can conveniently be shunted.