Showing papers on "Industrial relations published in 2019"

When employee performance management affects individual innovation in public organizations: the role of consistency and LMX

Abstract: Public sector challenges translate in more complex job demands that require individual innovation. In order to deal with these demands, many public organizations have implemented employee performance management. In a multilevel study, we examine when employee performance management affects individual innovation. We contribute by focusing on consistent employee performance management and Leader–Member Exchange (LMX). Based on goal-setting theory, we first argue that employee performance management fosters individual innovation when it entails consistent subpractices. Subsequently, LMX is theorized to function as a moderator in this linkage. We use multilevel data from 68 elderly homes and 1095 caregivers in Flanders to test our hypotheses. The study reveals that individual innovation is related to consistent employee performance management, and that LMX functions as a moderator in this relationship. Our findings contribute to scholars’ understanding of effects from employee performance management i...

Labor in the Boardroom

Abstract: We estimate the effects of a mandate allocating a third of corporate board seats to workers (shared governance). We study a reform in Germany that abruptly abolished this mandate for certain firms incorporated after August 1994 but locked it in for the older cohorts. In sharp contrast to the canonical hold-up hypothesis - that increasing labor's power reduces owners' capital investment - we find that granting formal control rights to workers raises capital formation. The capital stock, the capital-labor ratio, and the capital share all increase. Shared governance does not raise wage premia or rent sharing. It lowers outsourcing, while moderately shifting employment to skilled labor. Shared governance has no clear effect on profitability, leverage, or costs of debt. Overall, the evidence is consistent with richer models of industrial relations whereby shared governance raises capital by permitting workers to bargain over investment or by institutionalizing communication and repeated interactions between labor and capital.

Democracy in trade unions, democracy through trade unions?:

Abstract: Since the Webbs published Industrial Democracy at the end of the nineteenth century, the principle that workers have a legitimate voice in decision-making in the world of work – in some versions through trade unions, in others at least formally through separate representative structures – has become widely accepted in most west European countries. There is now a vast literature on the strengths and weaknesses of such mechanisms, and we review briefly some of the key interpretations of the rise (and fall) of policies and structures for workplace and board-level representation. We also discuss the mainly failed attempts to establish broader processes of economic democracy, which the eclipse of nationally specific mechanisms of class compromise makes again a salient demand. Economic globalization also highlights the need for transnational mechanisms to achieve worker voice (or more radically, control) in the dynamics of capital-labour relations. We therefore examine the role of trade unions in coordinating pressure for a countervailing force at European and global levels, and in the construction of (emergent?) supranational industrial relations. However, many would argue that unions cannot win legitimacy as democratizing force unless manifestly democratic internally. We therefore revisit debates on and dilemmas of democracy within trade unions, and examine recent initiatives to enhance democratization.

Emerging human resource management practices in Industry 4.0

Abstract: The study aims to offer a fresh perspective on best management practices to encourage innovation and learning in the firm to keep abreast with and adopt industry 4.0 advancements. The human resource (HR) department must take proactive steps to adopt these technologies and update itself in terms of necessary skill. The study highlights the importance of human resource management practices in industry 4.0.,The paper discusses the transforming role of HR 4.0 in a disrupting economy with the help of the conceptual framework. This paper illustrates how the new role of HR boosts engagement by designing the best personalized benefits, trusting teams, collaborating and providing personal development, which make a great case for a successful retention strategy.,This paper reveals how organizations can ensure their success and survival in this age of technological disruptions through their people. Top management must be ready for a new transformed role of the HR through innovative HR practices.,This paper provides plenty of information to interest practicing managers, researchers and students in HR management, organizational behavior and industrial relations.

How and when matter: Exploring the interaction effects of high‐performance work systems, employee participation, and human capital on organizational innovation

Abstract: Existing research on the relationship between high‐performance work systems (HPWS) and organizational innovation has paid insufficient attention to the boundary effects of employee participation and human capital. Bridging the human resource management (HRM) and employment relations literature, this study contributes to the contingency view of HRM and China‐specific research by investigating how human capital and employee participation, direct voice mechanism, and corporate governance participation jointly moderate the relationship between HPWS and organizational innovation. We test our three‐way interaction model using a sample of 108 firms and 1,250 employees in China. The results suggest that HPWS are positively associated with organizational innovation when employees with relatively less human capital are coupled with more direct voice mechanism or less corporate governance participation. In contrast, HPWS are negatively related to organizational innovation when employees possessing greater human capital are coupled with more direct voice mechanism. The theoretical and managerial implications and future research directions are discussed.

Negotiating the digital transformation of work : non-standard workers’ voice, collective rights and mobilisation practices in the platform economy

Abstract: This paper attempts to grapple with the collective dimension of the phenomenon of the digital transformation of work. In particular, it explores the relevant legal framework, as well as practical obstacles and concrete responses to the process of “platformisation” of labour. It questions why and for what collective bargaining may be a viable tool to “negotiate” the direction(s) of this paradigm shift. In particular, it focuses on institutional approaches that pursue inclusive and engaging strategies aimed at organising across labour market segments. It also discusses the extent to which trade unions are interested in the fate of non-standard workers, what strategies they follow and what tools they employ. At the same time, it maps other actions and initiatives carried out by self-organised groups. It focuses on the actors and factors which either hinder or facilitate the development of solidarity. The topic of mobilisation has been a central interest of academics in the fields of industrial relations, labour sociology and social movement studies. By adopting an empirical approach and a cross-disciplinary analytical lens, this work places itself at the crossroads of these disciplines. The paper is organised as follows. After providing an outline of the main implications of the spread of new technologies and its impacts on employment relationships, part 2 explores the legal framework regulating collective rights, by considering a number of supranational systems of regulation and discussing the potential impediments arising from a narrow interpretation of antitrust immunities and restrictions. However, practical, in addition to legal, obstacles hamper or make less attractive the exercise of fundamental freedoms for non-standard workers. Accordingly, after describing current difficulties, principal actors, key actions and success factors in a selection of European countries, part 3 assesses recent initiatives and achievements. Finally, part 4 sets out the paper’s key conclusions by estimating future developments and offering policy pointers.

Predatory purchasing practices in global apparel supply chains and the employment relations squeeze in the Indian garment export industry

Abstract: Zusammenfassung Während die Literatur Verstöße gegen Arbeitnehmerrechte in globalen Bekleidungslieferketten schon seit langem anerkennt, wird den jüngsten Verschlechterungen menschenwürdiger Arbeitsbedingungen und ihren genauen Ursachen weniger Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt. Die Studie verknüpft Verschlechterung der Arbeitsbedingungen mit rücksichtslosen Einkaufspraktiken, die aus den wachsenden Machtasymmetrien hervorgehen. Durch diese Praktiken und den Anstieg von Produktionsanforderungen wird Druck auf Lohnzahlungen und -höhe ausgeübt und informelle Beschäftigungsverhältnisse werden gefördert. Zudem kommt es durch erhöhte Anforderung und höherem Druck zu verbalen und physischen Übergriffen. Diese Praktiken können durch Preismechanismen, die die Kosten menschenwürdiger Arbeit abdecken, angemessene staatliche Regulierung und Arbeitnehmerbeteiligung adressiert werden.

Platform Labour and Structured Antagonism: Understanding the Origins of Protest in the Gig Economy

Abstract: This article investigates why gig economy workers who see themselves as self-employed freelancers also engage in collective action traditionally associated with regular employment. Using ethnographic evidence from remote gig economy workers in North America, the United Kingdom and the Philippines, we argue that labour platforms reduce the risk of false self-employment in terms of the worker-client relationship. However, in doing so, they create new forms of worker dependency on the platforms themselves. We term this relationship ‘platform labour’, and demonstrate that it entails a ‘structured antagonism’ which manifests as perceived conflicts over platform fees, pay rates, and lack of worker voice. This creates desires for representation, greater voice and even unionisation towards the platform, while retaining entrepreneurial attitudes towards clients. By refocusing industrial relations on structured antagonism instead of the employment relationship we can understand conflict, protest and organising in new and diverse forms of work.

The transition to the knowledge economy, labor market institutions, and income inequality in advanced democracies

Abstract: The transition from Fordism to the knowledge economy in the world's advanced democracies was underpinned by the revolution in information and communications technology (ICT). The introduction and rapid diffusion of ICT pushed up wages for college-educated workers with complementary skills and allowed top managers and CEOs to reap greater rewards for their own talents. Despite these common pressures, income inequality did not rise to the same extent everywhere; income in the Anglo-Saxon countries remains particularly unequally distributed. To shed new light on this puzzle, the authors carry out a panel data analysis of eighteen OECD countries between 1970 and 2007. Their analysis stands apart from the existing empirical literature by taking a comparative perspective. The article examines the extent to which the relationship between the knowledge economy and income inequality is influenced by national labor market institutions. The authors find that the expansion of knowledge employment is positively associated with both the 90/10 wage ratio and the income share of the top 1 percent, but that these effects are mitigated by the presence of strong labor market institutions, such as coordinated wage bargaining, strict employment protection legislation, high union density, and high collective bargaining coverage. The authors provide robust evidence against the argument that industrial relations systems are no longer important safeguards of wage solidarity in the knowledge economy.

Unpacking the Category of Migrant Workers in Trade Union Research: A Multi-Level Approach to Migrant Intersectionalities:

Abstract: This article reflects on the theoretical and empirical challenges that arise when researching trade union strategies towards migrant workers. By bringing together the debates on migration and inter...

Migrant labour and low-quality work: A persistent relationship:

Abstract: The marginalisation of migrants at work, especially those in industries and occupations characterised by low wages and low-skilled jobs, is a critical issue for scholarship, policy and practice. Wh...

Human resource management and industrial relations in multinational corporations in and from China: challenges and new insights

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to provide an overview on the state of research in the field in human resource management (HRM) issues in multinational corporations (MNCs) in and from China. We integrate previous studies from multiple disciplines to articulate the contextual importance of research on this topic, and suggest overarching themes to expand the field of research. HRM research in the intercultural, interinstitutional context of MNCs in and from China has the potential to provide contextualized insights for longstanding debates in the field such as HRM standardization versus localization and convergence versus divergence and contextual factors behind these patterns. To this end, we call for future research to center on the changing cultural, institutional, technological, and globalization context in understanding HRM and industrial relations issues in these MNCs. Practically, knowledge in this area can help global managers and top management teams in multinational organizations navigate various context complexity, foster more productive coordination and cooperation across borders, and gain legitimacy and MNCs in and from China additional competitive edge in the global marketplace.

Independent Workers: Growth Trends, Categories, and Employee Relations Implications in the Emerging Gig Economy

Abstract: The major objectives of this paper are threefold. First, the paper captures and explains the recent growth trends of independent workers, working as freelancers for corporations, and offering on-demand services for various types of clients mediated by App-enabled platform companies. Second, the paper discusses different terminologies used to describe independent workers and highlights the emergence of a new category of independent on-demand workers, the employment status of whom is a subject of current empirical and academic debate. Finally, the paper discusses the emergence of an increasing number of collective actions recently taken by on-demand workers against platform companies over worsened level of wages, undesirable terms and conditions of work, and inadequate workers’ protection, and examines their implications for the discipline of employee relations.

Employee voice and silence in multinational corporations in the mobile telecommunications industry in Nigeria

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to explore employee voice and silence in the mobile telecommunication industry in Nigeria.,An exploratory qualitative case study methodology was employed in this study. Participant selection was done through a purposeful intensity sampling technique, which resulted in 30 employees from two different multinational organizations and an indigenous organization taking part in in-depth interviews.,Findings show the presence of fear of victimization in the Nigerian workplace embellished by the Sub-Saharan culture and the state of the labor market, which resulted in employee silence. The study revealed that the implementation of culturally adapted employee voice mechanisms within organizations in the mobile telecommunication industry in Nigeria promotes employee voice and organizational performance, whereas a lack thereof results in organizational failure.,A limitation is that the purposive sample of employees from three organizations in the mobile telecommunications industry only permits theoretical and analytic generalization.,A focus on the co-creation of a high-performance work environment and the development of a powerful employee value proposition would foster employee voice.,It will enable multinationals operating in Nigeria understand better how to operate employee voice in order to obtain optimal performance from workers in Sub-Sahara Africa.,This paper contributes to the literature on employee/industrial relations by showing that a high-power-distance national culture and a high unemployment rate affect employee voice and silence, which brings to the fore the importance of adequate employee voice mechanisms through which employees express their voice in order to arrive at beneficial individual and organizational outcomes.

The prospect of decent work, decent industrial relations and decent social relations in China: towards a multi-level and multi-disciplinary approach

Abstract: Decent Work is a key initiative launched by the International Labour Organization in 1999. The initiative is to promote decent and productive employment with decent conditions of freedom, equality,...

A multilevel examination of skills‐oriented human resource management and perceived skill utilization during recession: Implications for the well‐being of all workers

Abstract: This article examines whether organizations can enhance employee well-being by adopting human resource management (HRM) practices strategically targeted to improve skill development and deployment in a recessionary context. Employee skill utilization is proposed as the mediating mechanism between HRM practice and well-being. The role of workplace skill composition is also examined as a boundary condition within which HRM differentially impacts employee outcomes. Using a nationally representative survey of UK workplaces (Workplace Employment Relations Survey 2011) and matched management and employee data, the analysis focused on organizations that had implemented some recessionary action following the 2008–2009 global financial and economic crisis. The findings show that human capital enhancing HRM and enriched job design positively influenced both job satisfaction and work-related affective well-being through increased employee skill utilization. Organizations with predominantly high-skilled workforces were more likely to adopt these skills-oriented HRM practices. Nevertheless, the effects of HRM on employee outcomes via skill utilization applied across organizations, regardless of workforce skill composition. The findings demonstrate employee skill utilization as a driver of HRM outcomes and the sustainability of “best practice” HRM arguments across all skill levels, even in the face of recession.

Adjusting to capitalism : Chinese workers and the state

Abstract: This text examines the most economically critical and politically sensitive issues of China's reform process - labour market development, changing industrial relations, and labour-state and labour-capital conflict. It suggests that a system is emerging in China which is a form of capitalism.

Organizational justice, conflict management and employee relations: The mediating role of climate of trust

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of organizational justice and conflict management on employee relations (ER) through the mediating role of climate of trust.,This study was conducted with a sample of 331 employees working in a power transmission unit of Odisha. Data were collected by administering a structured questionnaire and analyzed using structural equation modeling (AMOS 20).,The results reveal that climate of trust plays the role of a partial mediator between organizational justice and ER and conflict management and ER. Also, it was found that organizational justice, conflict management and climate of trust are the positive and significant predictors of ER.,The study was confined to a single state-owned power transmission unit of an Indian state, which restricts its generalizability. The research would benefit from exploration in alternative units.,This scholarly work may encourage managers and decision makers to develop trust building climate by focusing on organizational justice and conflict management to flourish an environment of harmonious ER, furthermore to formulate effective strategies for cultivating facilitative work environment to enhance positive attitude among the employees to challenge future goals.,The research is exclusive in determining the influence of organizational justice and conflict management on ER through the mediator of climate of trust in the new perspective of the power sector that provides empirical evidence to the extant literature.

Non‐job work/unpaid caring: Gendered industrial relations in long‐term care

Abstract: This article explores the operation of gender and industrial relations in long‐term care work or nursing home work, ‘from within’ the experience of the predominantly female workforce in seven unionized facilities in Canada. Drawing on qualitative case study data in non‐profit facilities, the article argues that the main industrial relations challenges facing long‐term care workers are that their workplace priorities do not fit within existing, gendered, industrial relations processes and institutions. This article starts from the experience of women and threads this experience through other layers of social organization such as: global and local policy directions including austerity, New Public Management, and social and healthcare funding; industrial relations mechanisms and policy; and workers’ formal [union] and informal efforts to represent their interests in the workplace. The strongest themes in the reported experience of the women include: manufacturing conditions for unpaid work; increasing management and state dependence on unpaid care work; fostering loose boundaries; and limiting respect and autonomy as aspects of care work. The article extends the feminist political economy by analysing the links between the policies noted above and frontline care work. Building on gendered organizational theory the article also introduces the concept of non‐job work and suggests a fourth industrial relations institution, namely the needs and gendered expectations of residents, families and workers themselves, operating within the liminal spaces in care work.

SETA and Security Behavior: Mediating Role of Employee Relations, Monitoring, and Accountability

Abstract: This article contends that information security education, training and awareness programs can improve employee security behavior. Empirical studies have analyzed the direct effects of employee security training on security behavior without taking into account the mediating role of employee relations, monitoring, and accountability. Based on employee relations and accountability theories, this study proposes and tests a causal model that estimates the direct effect of employee security training on security behavior as well as its indirect effects as mediated by employee relations, monitoring, and accountability. The empirical analysis relies on a survey data from a cross section of employees from five major industry sectors and a structural equation modeling approach via SmartPLS 3.0. The results show that employee security training has indirect and significant effects on security behavior through its influence on employee relations, monitoring, and accountability. However, the result does not indicate direct and significant effect of security training on employee security behavior.

Towards a new web of rules: An international review of institutional experimentation to strengthen employment protections

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to review “institutional experimentation” for protecting workers in response to the contraction of the standard employment relationship and the corresponding rise of “non-standard” forms of paid work.,The paper draws on the existing research and knowledge base of the authors as well as a thorough review of the extant literature relating to: non-standard employment contracts; sources of labour supply engaging in non-standard work; exogenous pressures on the employment relationship; intermediaries that separate the management from the control of labour; and entities that subvert the employment relationship.,Post-war industrial relations scholars characterised the traditional regulatory model of collective bargaining and the standard employment contract as a “web of rules”. As work relations have become more market mediated, new institutional arrangements have developed to govern these relations and regulate the terms of engagement. The paper argues that these are indicative of an emergent “patchwork of rules” which are instructive for scholars, policymakers, workers’ representatives and employers seeking solutions to the contraction of the traditional regulatory model.,While the review of the institutional experimentation is potentially instructive for developing solutions to gaps in labour regulation, a drawback of this approach is that there are limits to the realisation of policy transfer. Some of the initiatives discussed in the paper may be more effective than others for protecting workers on non-standard contracts, but further research is necessary to test their effectiveness including in different contexts.,The findings indicate that a task ahead for the representatives of government, labour and business is to determine how to adapt the emergent patchwork of rules to protect workers from the new vulnerabilities created by, for example, employer extraction and exploitation of their individual bio data, social media data and, not far off, their personal genome sequence.,The paper addresses calls to examine the “institutional intersections” that have informed the changing ways that work is conducted and regulated. These intersections transcend international, national, sectoral and local units of analysis, as well as supply chains, fissured organisational dynamics, intermediaries and online platforms. The analysis also encompasses the broad range of stakeholders including businesses, labour and community groups, nongovernmental organisations and online communities that have influenced changing institutional approaches to employment protection.

Gig work and the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Conceptual and Regulatory Challenges

Abstract: In terms of work and workplaces there are a number of distinguishing features of the predictions associated with the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). The first is the change in the composition and skillsets of the workforce. There will not only be labor displacement, but there will also be a shift towards new and different jobs and toward new skillsets. The challenge for governments will be dealing with labor displacement and labor reskilling. The second change is the very nature of work and workplaces. There will be more work located away from designated workplaces and more work that involves interaction with information and communication technologies. The third change will be regulatory, as work will become invisible and geographically dispersed through online and subcontracting arrangements. For governments there will be challenges regulating employment, identifying employers, collecting taxes, and supporting social protections, such as through pensions. To illustrate the changes and challenges associated with 4IR, this article addresses gig work. This material is new to the extent that the terminology and its analysis have only emerged within the past five years. It captures many of the issues and challenges associated with 4IR, which we will highlight through an analysis of gig work. The article draws on evidence from the UK and Australia to consider implications for the 4IR.

Management gender composition and the gender pay gap: Evidence from British panel data

Abstract: Women continue to earn less than their male counterparts globally. Scholars and feminist activists have suggested a partial explanation for this gender gap in earnings could be women's limited access to power structures at the workplace. Using the linked employer–employee data of the Workplace Employment Relations Study 2004–2011, this article asks what happens to the gender gap in earnings among non‐managerial employees when the share of women in management at the workplace increases. The findings, based on workplace‐fixed time‐fixed effects regression models, suggest that workplace‐level increases in the share of women in management are associated with decreases of the non‐managerial gender gap in earnings. This effect appears to be largely unrelated to changes in equality and diversity policies, family‐friendly arrangements and support for carers at the workplace.

The decline of Employers' Associations in the UK, 1976 to 2014

Abstract: This article examines the collective, member-based employers’ associations in the UK that regulate the employment relationship by participating in collective bargaining. The main empirical contribution is to provide, for the first time, a longitudinal dataset of employers’ associations in the UK. We use archival data from the UK Government’s Certification Office to build a new dataset, identifying a decline of 81% in the number of employers’ associations between 1976 and 2013–2014. We also find that political agency and reducing levels of collective bargaining undermined employers’ associations by reducing employers’ incentives to associate, although changes within the UK’s system of employment relations enabled other types of collective employer organisation to survive.

The State and Organised Labour in Botswana: Liberal Democracy in Emergent Capitalism

Abstract: First published in 1997, this volume departs from conventional analyses of Botswana’s political economy and focuses on the second phase of Botswana’s capitalist development from 1966-1990, arguing that even in a formally liberal democratic country, the imperatives of economic growth and development in a capitalist context give rise to the state’s close supervision and control of organised labour. Taking inspiration from Marx’s theories of history, Monageng Mogalakwe examines the capitalist form of the Botswana state and its relationships with the trade unions, labour law, industrial relations, class struggle and organised labour in a period characterised by direct state intervention in the economy and in industrial relations.

Neoliberalism, capitalist growth models, and the state: An agenda for industrial relations theory:

Abstract: The liberalization of industrial relations has become a generalized phenomenon in advanced capitalist societies. This raises at least three issues that are the subject of this review. First, what i...

Employer organisations transformed

Abstract: Employer organisations and the literature examining them have transformed since their inception in the 19th century. We systematically review this literature and the evolving role of employer organisations by focusing on the most cited publications of this body of academic work. This article provides a synopsis of our current understanding of employer organisations, identifies gaps in our knowledge, and develops the following argument. Employer organisations adapted to changing socio‐economic contexts by evolving within and across three roles—as industrial relations actor, political actor, and service provider. Historically, employer organisations were predominantly understood as an industrial relations actor with collective bargaining as their defining activity. However, employer organisations also influenced the political process through lobbying and participating in corporatist arrangements, although more recently their provision of member services has grown in scope and importance.