Showing papers on "Industrial relations published in 1989"

Psychological and implied contracts in organizations.

Abstract: Two forms of unwritten contracts derive from relations between organizations and their members. Psychological contracts are individual beliefs in a reciprocal obligation between the individual and the organization. Implied contracts are mutual obligations characterizing interactions existing at the level of the relationship (e.g., dyadic, interunit). Employee/employer relations and changing conditions of employment give rise to issues not addressed in conventional transaction-oriented models of motivation and individual responses. The development, maintenance, and violation of psychological and implied contracts are described along with their organizational implications.

Industrial relations in South Africa

Abstract: The labour relationship - a conceptual analysis industrial relations systems comparative industrial relations systems the South African industrial relations system in societal and historical context the legislative framework governing the employment relationship trade unions and employer organizations - theoretical basis South African trade unions and employers' organizations - the tripartite collective bargaining collective bargaining in South Africa labour relationships at the workplace basic principles of labour economics negotiation dispute settlement industrial democracy and workers' participation organizational change and organizational development industrial relations future.

Strategic Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations

Abstract: It has recently been suggested that the potentially dynamic and proactive role of employers in industrial relations be recognized (Kochan, McKersie, & Cappelli, 1984). Because incorporating the notion of strategic human resource management appears consistent with that suggestion, it is done here integrating frameworks of competitive strategy and human resource management practices using the rationale of needed employee role behaviors and cost and market conditions. This is then merged with business life-cycles stages creating a contingency framework for understanding the impact of strategic human resource management on industrial relations. This is done also using the rationale of cost and market conditions and needed employee role behaviors. The integrated competitive strategy-human resource management model is extended by inclusion of strategic targets and industry chain. The implications for industrial relations are laced throughout the discussion along with three sets of propositions. Implications for...

The Impact of Industrial Relations Legislation on British Union Density

Abstract: The unionized share of the work force changed markedly in the United Kingdom between the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1970s density rose steadily, making the United Kingdom the most heavily organized large OECD country. In the 1980s, by contrast, density fell by 1.4 percentage points per annum -- a faster drop than in the rapidly de-unionizing U.S. or in Japan. What explains this turnaround - the severe recession of the 1980s? Shifts in the composition of employment from unionized manufacturing to services? The Thatcher government's industrial relations legislation? In this paper we investigate these questions with a quantitative analysis of 1945-1986 changes in British union density. In contrast to studies that concentrate on cyclical determinants of unionism (Bain and Elshiekh, Carruth and Disney, Booth (1983)) we focus on industrial relations legislation. We develop an index of the favorableness of labor laws to unionism and relate it to changes in density in time series regressions that control for inflation, unemployment, and the manufacturing share of employment, among other variables. As a further test, we develop an analogous labor law index for Ireland, whose industrial relations system is similar to the U.K.'s and which experienced a similar severe 1980s recession but which did not pass new laws to weaken unions, and contrast changes in density between the countries with differences in industrial relations law. Our major finding is that the Thatcher government's labor laws caused much of the 1980s fall in British union density. We present the evidence for this claim in three stages. Section 1 lays out the facts of changing union density in the U.K. and Ireland and examines structural explanations of the U.K. changes. Section 2 discusses the 1980s U.K. labor laws and develops an index of their likely impact on unionism. Section 3 presents our econometric analysis of the U.K. time series data.

Managers Handling Disputes: Third-Party Roles and Perceptions of Fairness

Abstract: This study investigated how managers resolve disputes in organizations, comparing a typology of managerial third-party dispute-resolution behavior drawn from prior research to the behavior of manag...

Industrial relations in Japan : the peripheral workforce

Abstract: Introduction 1. Perspectives of Industrial Relations in Japan: In Search of the Peripheral Workforce 2. Japan's Peripheral Workers: A Profile of the Small and Medium Sector 3. Japan's Peripheral Workers: A Profile of Non-Regular Labour 4. Japan's Sub-Contract Workers and Contract Labour 5. Case Studies 6. Japan's Peripheral Workers 7. Communication and Conflict

The political economy of industrial relations : theory and practice in a cold climate

Abstract: Preface - Acknowledgements - PART 1 MAKING SENSE OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS - Why Industrial Relations? - Trade Unions, Control and Resistance - Pluralism, Procedural Consensus and Collective Bargaining - Pressure, Protest and Struggle - Theory in Industrial Relations - PART 2 PROBLEMS OF CONTEMPORARY TRADE UNIONISM - The Politics of Workplace Trade Unionism - The Sickness of British Trade Unionism - Dualism and Division in Labour Strategies - Trade Unions, the Workplace and the State - Class Struggle and the Trade Union Movement - Index

Flashpoints: Studies in Public Disorder

Abstract: A topical study showing how and why seemingly trivial incidents act as flashpoints for widespread disturbances by investigating the underlying causes. This book should be of interest to students and lecturers in communication, politics, industrial relations, criminology, and urban studies.

New technology and industrial relations

Abstract: Part 1 Theoretical and methodological issues: industrial relations and technical change - the case for an extended perspective, Wolfgang Streeck and Arndt Sorge flexible specialization - miracle or myth?, Richard Hyman comparative research and new technology, Beat Hotz-Hart new technology and social networks at the local and regional level, Reinhard Lund and Jorgen Rasmussen. Part 2 Innovation initiatives: management strategy - towards new forms of regulation?, Serafino Negrelli between Fordism and flexibility?, Stephen Wood new technology in Scotbank, John MacInnes. Part 3 Skills, deskilling and labour market power: labour and monopoly capital, Peter Armstron skills, options and unions, Jon Gulowsen new technology and training, Helen Rainbird. Part 4 Trade union strategies: new technological paradigms, long waves and trade unions, Otto Jacobi technological change and unions, Greg Bamber policy debates over work reorganization in North American unions, Harry Katz the Australian metalworkers' union and industrial change, Stephen Frenkel. Part 5 Technological innovation and workplace relations: information, consultation and the control of new technologies, Robert Price consensual adaptation to new technology - observations on the Finnish case, Pertti Koistinen and Kari Lilja industrial relations and workers' representation at workplace level in France, Sabine Erbes-Seguin bargaining over new technology - a comparison of France and Germany, Michele Tallard.

The Labor Market for Engineers in the U.S. Semiconductor Industry

Abstract: This paper examines the organization and geography of the labor market for engineers in the U.S. semiconductor industry. The analysis is based upon work history data collected through a questionnaire survey of semiconductor production engineers. Locational agglomeration of semiconductor production in Silicon Valley is accompanied by an intensive localized dynamic of labor mobility in which engineers move between firms in a series of short term employment contracts. Fluid employment relations and high levels of inter-firm worker mobility are shown to be an important dimension of the flexible manufacturing forms emerging in Silicon Valley.

Productivity Coalitions and the Future of European Corporatism

Abstract: This paper argues that new technology, the recession, and changing condition in the world market have transformed the ogranization of work and the system of industrial relations in many European countries. Many show a tendency toward decentralized collective bargaining at he firm level. the growing strength of workers' representative at the firm level has weakend the highly centralized bargaining systems (corporatism) which have contributed much to the stability of industrial relations. Case studies, one of west German works councils and one of Italian labormanagement committees, support the argument.

Industrial relations climate: Testing a construct

Abstract: Using the concept of organizational climate, this paper reports a study conducted to validate a measure of industrial relations climate. Industrial relations climate is defined as a subset of organizational climate that pertains to the norms and attitudes reflecting union-management relationships in an organization. Data were collected by means of extensive interviews with management and union representatives, and by distributing a questionnaire to 729 employees in two organizations in Canada. The results showed the validity and the reliability of five scales measuring industrial relations climate. Four of the climate scales also demonstrated strong within-organization and within-group agreement (based on union/non-union membership, bargaining unit and departmental affiliation). The potential theoretical and practical use of this construct for future research is discussed.

What is Employee Relations

Abstract: Employee relations is an important feature of modern life, yet there is no generally agreed definition of what it is. The purpose of this chapter is to show why that is the case. But it should also enable you to explain the definition of employee relations that we will be using, if only by implication, throughout the book.

Walking on water? performance and industrial relations under Thatcher

Abstract: The claim that Britain's economy has been transformed by an economic miracle in the 1980s is critically evaluated, as is the entrenched view that unions have damaged productivity and competitiveness. Reviewing the empirical evidence, this article argues that after 10 years of Conservative government supply side economic performance remains weak.

Microeconomic Issues of Labor Markets in Developing Countries: Analysis and Policy Implications

Abstract: This paper deals with labor market structures in developing countries and the impact of government policies on rural and urban labor markets. The central concern in analyses of employment is absorption of labor. Governments try to influence the demand for labor so that more members of the labor force are absorbed into productive employment. Employment outcomes are often the by-products of government policies that affect economic growth as a whole. This paper concentrates on factors that influence the structure and functioning of labor markets. In Chapter 1, a schematic picture of labor markets is presented. Chapters 2 and 3 analyze the salient features of the workings of rural and urban labor markets and discuss some important government policies that affect the functioning of these markets. The paper concludes that Government intervention in both rural and urban labor markets has often been less than successful, sometimes because their policies were based on incorrect assumptions. At other times, these policies have achieved less because the government also adopted other policies that tended to contradict the goal of providing jobs.

Australian industrial relations in the 1980s

Abstract: Australian Industrial Relations in the Eighties provides a critical and analytical commentary on the major macro-level developments of the 1980s It examines the centralized wage determination system known as wage indexation at the beginning of the decade, its demise in 1981, the operation of decentralized wage determination in 1981 and 1982, and the Fraser government's wages freeze introduced in late 1982 The book then examines the corporatist or consensus policies associated with the election of the Hawke government in March 1983 Information is presented on the Accord negotiated between the ALP and ACTU, the April 1983 National Economic Summit Conference and the subsequent reintroduction of wage indexation When the July 1985 Taxation Summit failed to reach agreement on taxation reform, the economy experienced major balance of payments problems Fears associated with Australia becoming a 'banana republic' led to the negotiation of the Accord Mark II, the demise of the second wage indexation experiment and the eventual introduction of a two-tiered system in March 1987 The meaning of reform is examined, and a detailed account of the 1985 Hancock Report is presented The 'New Right' have advocated a policy of management militancy and an associated need to take on, if not destroy, unions and industrial tribunals Their ideas concerning 'The Club', common law actions, the role of industrial tribunals and markets are presented and examined Details of the ill-fated 1987 Industrial Relations Bill are presented, as well as the Trade Development Council/ACTU document Australia Reconstructed with its Swedish-style corporatist blueprint for Australia, and proposals concerning industrial relations changes to the Australian Constitution recommended by a Constitutional Commission

Adapting to Technology and Competition: A New Industrial Relations System for the 21st Century

Abstract: Increasing international competition and rapid technological change are demanding a new organizational form that is lean, flexible, and functions as a network. Twenty-first century firms will not only need to possess the flexibility and efficiency to compete in the global economy, but they will need to assure a secure, mobile, and well-trained work force that can respond to these organizational challenges. Management, workers, and unions will need to adapt and develop new mechanisms for dealing with these new structures. This article traces the emergence of the "dynamic network" organization and suggests the shape of the new industrial relations system that network organizations will require.

A Time Series Analysis of Labour Absence in Australia

Abstract: The authors find evidence from Australian time-series data supporting two hypotheses about the determination of labor absence. First, labor absence modeled in a utility-maximizing framework that stresses the opportunity cost of labor absence receives considerable support from the data. Variables that change the slope and/or shift the budget constraint facing workers affect labor absence. Secondly, the authors find tentative evidence that coercive or difficult work environments, which apparently affect job satisfaction, adversely affect labor absence. In particular, it appears that labor absence is a leading indicator of a deteriorating industrial relations environment characterized by increased industrial disputation. Copyright 1989 by MIT Press.

Roads and roadblocks to dual commitment: Similar and dissimilar antecedents of union and company commitment

Abstract: Dual commitment received wide attention during the 1950s and, after a waning of interest during the 1960s and 1970s, interest has grown anew. In this study of dual commitment we used a model of investment and returns, applied referent theory to it, and grounded the investigation in an industrial relations context at an airline carrier in order to examine both company and union commitment. We found that wages were a positive income elastic good with respect to company commitment, but they were a negative good with respect to union commitment. Information obtained from the firm or the union also resulted in divergencies in the commitments. External labor market variables were unrelated to union commitment, but they were related to company commitment. Finally, job influence and perceptions concerning a labor-management program were positive predictors of the two commitments; as such, they have implications for the way firms and unions may want to build dual commitment.

The emergence, roles and consequences of an accounting—industrial relations interaction

Abstract: This paper reports the findings of one particular company's experiences with a managerial strategy to interweave the concepts and techniques of accounting with the structures and processes of industrial relations. In particular, the paper argues that the emergence, roles and consequences of accounting systems can be best understood in the context of the local social situations in which they operate.

Government and the Chemical Industry: A Comparative Study of Britain and West Germany

Abstract: Though the international chemical industry will surely be one of the 21st century's most important, there have been few academic studies of government-chemical industry relations. This study draws on interviews with key individuals in firms, organizations and government bodies to compare the industry's relationship with government in Britain and West Germany. The authors also focus on wider issues of European Community decisions, the impact of national governments, and the industry's pattern of industrial relations to provide new insights into a key growth industry and the effects of internationalization on government-industry cooperation.

from free labor to family allowances: labor and African society in colonial discourse

Abstract: From the early 19th century, the European debate over the slave trade and slavery pioneered a new international discourse in which the concept of free labor defined a universalistic standard for the conduct of Europeans in colonies and non-European societies. Implementing free labor, however, entailed a confrontation with the particular work culture and values of local communities, from ex-slaves to independent peasants. This article examines the connection between imperial powers' critiques of each others' conduct—and the role of international fora in defining imperial morality—and their encounter with African social structures. Colonial states were inextricably drawn into confronting Africans as social beings: first in trying to induce them to become disciplined wage workers, then to contain the conflicts unleashed in places of work and urban residence. By the 1940s, this meant exporting to Africa European approaches to containing class conflict. Colonial cities became less the realm of the colonial expert and more that of the “industrial relations” specialist, who argued against migratory labor and in favor of taking Africans out of their cultural milieu and reproducing their families under the eyes of European welfare experts, even if this implied paying family wages or family allowances that exceeded the free market price of labor. Only with decolonization did France and Britain take themselves out of the social and political intimacy of the workers' milieu and participate in a new—or rather old—international discourse on the moral and social virtue of the free market.[labor, migration, reproduction, slavery, welfare, decolonization]

Unionization and Shareholder Interests

Abstract: Drawing on agency theory, this study examines union-nonunion differences in the allocation of both firm profits and business risk to employees and shareholders. Using a sample of more than 1,000 large private sector firms, the authors find that over the period 1970–81 shareholders in unionized firms assumed less of the firm's business risk than shareholders in nonunion firms. This finding is interpreted as evidence that managers of unionized firms attempted to minimize agency costs by capitalizing on the incentive effects of risksharing. In addition, risk-adjusted returns to shareholders were lower in unionized firms than in nonunion firms. The authors view the relatively poor performance of union firms as a primary motivating factor behind the restructuring of the American industrial relations system during the period studied.

Women in Banking: Continuity and Change Since the Second World War:

Abstract: Employment relations in the major clearing banks have been the subject of sociological attention since the 1950s, when they presented the apparent epitome of the bureaucratic career. However, the b...

Stress among construction site managers — A preliminary study

Abstract: This article presents the results of a pilot study investigating stress among site managers in a large UK construction organization. It involved in-depth interviews and standardized psychosocial questionnaires. A total of 36 male middle and senior construction site managers took part in the study. The major sources of stress isolated by the managers were related to; communication problems; work overload; conflict; and the limited time spent with family. The results revealed that job satisfaction levels were not as high as comparable managerial groups, and most dissatisfaction was related to employee relations issues. Mental well-being was lower than for other population groups. Furthermore, low levels of social support from a spouse or partner were significantly associated with high anxiety, depression and reduced level of mental well-being. Comparisons with white-collar managers are made and the article also proposes recommendations based on the findings of this study.

Where we are Now: Musings of an Evolutionist:

Abstract: Editorial Note: Ever since it was first published in 1973 Ronald Dore's British Factory: Japanese Factory has been a key source for understanding patterns of industrial organisation and industrial relations in Japan. On the occasion of a new edition of the book, to be published in the United States shortly, Dore has prepared a new preface and Work, Employment and Society is very glad to have the opportunity to publish this paper which is based on it. In it Dore reconsiders the judgements he made sixteen years ago in the light of events since 1973 and of the more recent commentaries on Japanese industry. In particular he discusses whether the trends he discerned then — in Japan, and in Britain, the USA and Western Europe — have in fact occurred as he predicted. His conclusions — that there is a lot of evidence for the importance of 'organisation-oriented' patterns of employment in Europe and the USA, and that despite the economic shocks of the 1970s the overall picture in Japan is of institutional stability — will be of considerable interest and widely discussed.

Why Industrial Relations

Abstract: I have chosen to begin with a dangerous question. ‘Why indeed?’ is the predictable response. Teaching and research in industrial relations are widely viewed with disfavour or suspicion. For some of our learned colleagues the subject is not properly academic: an amorphous and eclectic mishmash, without adequate disciplinary foundation. To many practitioners we are too academic; often we are also accused of bias, managers seeing us as pro-union, trade unionists as pro-management. Those who endorse the philosophies of the current government tend to despise industrial relations, as an expression of the system of sectional interest representation and compromise which they denounce as a major cause of Britain’s economic problems. Even among industrial relations academics themselves one can detect considerable doubt and uncertainty as to the nature and status of our subject in a changing world of work.1