Showing papers on "Job security published in 1991"

Perceived Fulfillment of Organizational Employment versus Entrepreneurship: Work Values and Career Intentions of Business College Graduates

Abstract: Business college graduates and students are increasingly disenchanted with career prospects as organizational employees. Fierce competition, cost-cutting pressures, and leveraged buyouts have resulted in corporate restructurings that have undermined such traditional values as employee loyalty, security, and ownership of results (Jackson and Vitberg 1987). Consequently, more and more business students view the possibility of starting and operating their own business as a viable alternative to being employed by an established company (Duffy and Stevenson 1984). Recent survey support this view. A national survey by the Roper Organization revealed that 46 percent of college students consider a "business of one's own" an excellent way to get ahead (Karr 1988). Even more impressive were the results of a University of Pittsburgh survey of 1,000 M.B.A. students from top business schools across the United States. When asked what their long-term career goal was, 44 percent responded that they wanted to become an "independent entrepreneur." In contrast, only 34 percent wished to become a "high-ranking corporate executive" (Sandholtz 1990). This desire for entrepreneurial careers is reflected in the growing number of universities that have added courses and programs in entrepreneourship to their business curricula. Traditionally, most entrepreneurs began their careers by working for someone else. Over time, as organizational employment failed to satisfy their needs, they left to start their own businesses (Brockhaus and Horowitz 1986). Today, however, many students already appear to view established organizations as unwilling or unable to satisfy their needs. This perspective may reflect a greater awareness of actual organizational life and rewards as well as a recognition that organizations have changed over the past decade. This view, it should be noted, does not mean that these business school graduates will not enter the employ of established organizations. It does recognize, however, that such employment may be temporary, allowing the graduates to gain the experience and financial resources necessary to start their own business. Clutterbuck and Devine (1985) support this intention by noting the self-confidence that entrepreneurs acquire from learning the basics of good management from their employers. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Work Values Considerable research has focused on the work values of business college graduates. Results generally show that they desire work which provides a feeling of accomplishment, job security, and the opportunity to acquire knowledge and skills. However, they prefer to avoid work that could be characterized as routine or involving rules and procedures, and work that requires supervising others or taking risks (Bartol and Manhardt 1979; Brenner and Tomkiewicz 1979, 1982; Manhardt 1972). Although there is no clear evidence that business graduates' work values have changed, it is likely that they have modified their perceptions concerning the extent to which established organizations can meet their needs. The burgeoning interest in entrepreneurship among business students may reflect their increasing willingness to accept the uncertainties of business ownership, since many of the benefits once associated with being an employee--such as job security and prestige--no longer are perceived to exist. As such, the graduates' choice between entrepreneurship or employment in an organization could be determined by their perceptions of the outcomes associated with each alternative--and how much they value or desire these outcomes. Although a graduate might perceive entrepreneuship as more attractive than working for an organization, perceived barriers--such as lack of money or the onset of family responsibilities--could intervene, and cause the graduate to become an employee rather than an entrepreneur. In fact, Greenhaus, Sugalski, and Crispin (1978) found that a person's intention to pursue employment with a particular type of organization was not only a function of the organization's attractiveness but also of the accessibility or feasibility of the choice. …

The Impact of Changes in Job Security Regulations in India and Zimbabwe

Abstract: Employment laws in India and Zimbabwe require employers to obtain permission from the government to retrench or lay off workers. The effect of these laws on the demand for employees in 64 manufacturing industries is examined using time series data. Little evidence is found indicating slower adjustments in employment levels and hence retardation in any structural adjustment following the new laws. However, in both countries a substantial decline in the demand for employees (other things equal) followed the new legislation. In Zimbabwe it is difficult to be precise about a causal connection between the drop in the demand for labor (allowing for concurrent increased wages) and the new legislation because enactment occurred simultaneously with Independence; however, the current economic climate induced high levels of investment in capital but not investments in long-term commitments to employees. But in India further evidence supports a causal connection: larger establishments covered by the job security regulations tended to experience a decline in the demand for labor while smaller, uncovered enterprises in the same industries did not; moreover the decline in demand for employees across industries in India was larger where the private sector predominates, where larger establishments covered by the new laws are important, and where a smaller proportion of employees are union members. Thus in both countries the policy implemented to protect jobs may bave resulted infarfewerjobs. Upon achieving independence in 1980, the government of Zimbabwe passed a new Employment Act, requiring employers to obtain permission from the Ministry of Labor to fire or lay off workers. Comparable regulations were imposed in India by the Industrial Disputes (Amendment) Act of 1976, requiring that written permission be obtained, normally from the relevant state government, either to close a plant or to retrench workers. The immediate goal of these items of legislation was to protect the livelihood of workers and to maintain jobs. Any addition to economic security in the lives of workers is clearly a laudable goal in its own right. But the question addressed in this article is whether these particular job security regulations have had undesirable side effects, which may even have thwarted the original goals of the legislation. India and Zimbabwe are

Job Security, Health, and the Intrinsic and Extrinsic Characteristics of Work

Abstract: This study extends previous work that has shown that perceived threats to the security of employees' jobs can have deleterious effects on their health. The study examined (a) whether intrinsic work...

Rice Bowls and Job Security: The Urban Contract Labour System

Abstract: In China, the economic reforms of the past decade are commonly presented as the product of an on-going process to develop the institutional and conceptual framework for a socialist commodity economy. At the heart of the rural economic reforms are the contract responsibility systems, which are generally viewed as successful because of the stimulating effect of tying personal incomes directly to output and sales. Recent urban industrial management reforms are based on a comparable assumption that the key to raising labour productivity and improving enterprise efficiency lies in developing contractual relations between the enterprise and the government and between management and labour. The centre-piece of the urban industrial management reforms is also a set of contract responsibility systems which stipulate the rights and responsibilities of each side and tie the personal incomes of managers and employees to both enterprise and personal performance.

Job insecurity in stockbrokers: effects on satisfaction and health

Abstract: This investigation examined the consequences of several threats to job security in an organisation under siege. Data were collected from 73 stockbrokers in a financial institution about four months after Black Monday. Five threats to job security were considered: stock market volatility, merger threat, retrenchment and cutbacks, job loss threat, and job future ambiguity. In general, stockbrokers reporting greater threats to job security also reported less satisfaction and poorer emotional wellbeing.

Downsizing: Layoffs and Alternatives to Layoffs

Abstract: Managing workforce reductions in ways that do not also cause job security crises is an art that U.S. businesses are just beginning to learn.

Industrial Restructuring with Job Security: The Case of European Steel

Abstract: How can workers retain job security in an industry currently experiencing extensive restructuring and retrenchment? In the United States, massive layoffs in the 1980s in industries like steel have resulted in increased worker demands for job security provisions in collective agreements and legal protections against layoffs. In many Western European countries, where private-sector practices ensuring strong job security and laws regulating layoff practices were well established, the 1980s brought strong pressure from business to relax job security in order to facilitate rapid restructuring.Susan Houseman's book presents some of the first hard evidence on the economic effects of providing job security, evidence gathered during the restructuring of the European Community's steel industry in the 1970s and 1980s. The author reviews personnel practices by the Community's leading steel companies, basing her analysis on extensive interviews with employers, workers, and government officials in West Germany, France, Britain, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, and the Netherlands. Drawing on economic theory, she shows that the extent of workers' rights to job security will affect how an industry optimally adjusts to a decline in demand and to a situation of excess capacity.Using detailed plant data, she shows that job security for workers affected decisions concerning employment, production, investment, and plant closures in the industry, While job security for workers may slow the process of industrial restructuring and result in lower productivity, the author points out that it also generates important social benefits, including community stability and a more equitable distribution of the risks and costs of economic change. This book will draw the attention of policymakers in government and in international organizations such as the European Community, the OECD, and the ILO. It will also be of interest to scholars in labor economics, industrial relations, public policy, and business.

Skills and Security in Evolving Employment Systems: Observations from Case Studies.

Abstract: An emerging U.S. employment system is the Security, Employee Involvement, and Training (SET) system. The system is characterized by the following: (1) a high degree of employment security based upon flexible job assignment; (2) employee involvement in problem solving and continuous improvement; and (3) continuous training of all employees. Case studies of five firms that are attempting to establish or maintain SET indicate variation in the degree of successful transition to a SET system. A working SET system is in place at Together Manufacturing and Valley Life; Traditional Manufacturing has been unable to put together all the elements of SET; Hi-Tech's plants range from successful SET factories to traditional ones; and CommEx has been in retreat from SET. The study discovered the following: (1) the maintenance of strong employment security practices at Together and Hi-Tech; (2) repeated decreases in the work force and weakening of employment security provisions at CommEx; and (3) a one-time downsizing at Valley Life. Together's commitment to employment security has been successfully tested by a period of reduced product demand; Hi-Tech's has not. Hi-Tech has instituted a new basic skills test as a minimum standard for employees. Together and Valley Life have made learning a part of daily work. Companies that have successfully instituted SET systems have put all three parts of the SET triangle in place. Research suggests implications pertaining to initial education, further education and training, and restructuring of the work process within schools. (50 references) (YLB)

Industrial Restructuring with Job Security: The Case of European Steel

Abstract: How can workers retain job security in an industry currently experiencing extensive restructuring and retrenchment? In the United States, massive layoffs in the 1980s in industries like steel have resulted in increased worker demands for job security provisions in collective agreements and legal protections against layoffs. In many Western European countries, where private-sector practices ensuring strong job security and laws regulating layoff practices were well established, the 1980s brought strong pressure from business to relax job security in order to facilitate rapid restructuring.Susan Houseman's book presents some of the first hard evidence on the economic effects of providing job security, evidence gathered during the restructuring of the European Community's steel industry in the 1970s and 1980s. The author reviews personnel practices by the Community's leading steel companies, basing her analysis on extensive interviews with employers, workers, and government officials in West Germany, France, Britain, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, and the Netherlands. Drawing on economic theory, she shows that the extent of workers' rights to job security will affect how an industry optimally adjusts to a decline in demand and to a situation of excess capacity.Using detailed plant data, she shows that job security for workers affected decisions concerning employment, production, investment, and plant closures in the industry, While job security for workers may slow the process of industrial restructuring and result in lower productivity, the author points out that it also generates important social benefits, including community stability and a more equitable distribution of the risks and costs of economic change. This book will draw the attention of policymakers in government and in international organizations such as the European Community, the OECD, and the ILO. It will also be of interest to scholars in labor economics, industrial relations, public policy, and business.

Disarmament and employment

Abstract: Major cuts in defence expenditure necessarily reduce employment in manufacturing industries where, world‐wide, some 9 per cent of jobs are sustained by defence spending. Virtually all alternative patterns of final demand would switch the structure of employment towards the service sector and consumer goods. While the effects overall on employment would be positive, and should also benefit the developing countries, past shake‐outs in manufacturing in the OECD countries have involved social loss in terms of unemployment, involuntary retirement and reduced wages. Such costs will be minimised if job search and retraining are assisted and new investment is encouraged to substitute for weak geographical mobility. East and Central Europe have little experience of such active labour market policies although they need to be developed speedily. Trade Union action can be constructive in pressing for improved information flows and consultation at the plant level and for national legislation to provide a better framew...

Industrial Restructuring with Job Security: The Case of European Steel

Abstract: How can workers retain job security in an industry currently experiencing extensive restructuring and retrenchment? In the United States, massive layoffs in the 1980s in industries like steel have resulted in increased worker demands for job security provisions in collective agreements and legal protections against layoffs. In many Western European countries, where private-sector practices ensuring strong job security and laws regulating layoff practices were well established, the 1980s brought strong pressure from business to relax job security in order to facilitate rapid restructuring.Susan Houseman's book presents some of the first hard evidence on the economic effects of providing job security, evidence gathered during the restructuring of the European Community's steel industry in the 1970s and 1980s. The author reviews personnel practices by the Community's leading steel companies, basing her analysis on extensive interviews with employers, workers, and government officials in West Germany, France, Britain, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, and the Netherlands. Drawing on economic theory, she shows that the extent of workers' rights to job security will affect how an industry optimally adjusts to a decline in demand and to a situation of excess capacity.Using detailed plant data, she shows that job security for workers affected decisions concerning employment, production, investment, and plant closures in the industry, While job security for workers may slow the process of industrial restructuring and result in lower productivity, the author points out that it also generates important social benefits, including community stability and a more equitable distribution of the risks and costs of economic change. This book will draw the attention of policymakers in government and in international organizations such as the European Community, the OECD, and the ILO. It will also be of interest to scholars in labor economics, industrial relations, public policy, and business.

WORK IN THE 1990s: IMPROVING PRODUCTIVITY AND THE QUALITY OF WORKING LIFE

Abstract: The challenges of the increasing rate of change to a “know‐how” society are examined with particular reference to Finland. Research on people′s expectations of their work is reported for 1986 and 1989. Work continues to be important but where job security was of greatest importance in 1986, equal and just treatment ranked highest in 1989. Amongst professionals, who may be seen as heralds of the new society, the material and social aspects of work are now much less important: opportunities for personal growth and fulfilment are what is most desired.

Managerial prerogatives, employee expectations, and property rights in job security: Institutionalizing the “new equity”

Abstract: Changes in the structure and provisions of the employment relationship create substantial challenges for the management community. The employer-manager's traditional prerogatives to terminate at will are being eroded in response to changing socioeconomic values that recognize the emergence of an employee's reasonable expectations of job security. The United States lags far behind the international community in protecting these expectations. The authors survey the erosion of the employment-at-will doctrine, and review the concepts of corporate due process and property rights relating to employment. To ensure the institutionalization of this “new equity,” the authors call on the management community to take the initiative in crafting progressive legislation that strikes a sensible balance between managerial prerogatives and employee expectations of job security.

Perestroika in the USSR and China Motivational Lessons

Abstract: Recent leaders of the USSR and China saw the inherited Stalinist blueprint as defective for managing state enterprises. To remedy enterprise inefficiencies, various reforms were begun. Review of the Soviet and Chinese prereform economic designs indicates that the misuse of resources was prompted by unconditional state support of enterprises coupled with guaranteed employment and flawed incentive criteria. Perestroika plans in both countries were directly aimed at undoing these relationships. Leaders' expectations of soaring inflation and mounting unemployment, however, have put the restructuring plans on hold. It seems that Soviet and Chinese citizens want the gains of reform without the pains, but neither nation's economy is likely to fulfill that wish. Drawing on the Soviet and Chinese experience, some guidelines for U.S. firms' renewal efforts are suggested. Secure employment was not the culprit in the command economies. Indeed, job security offers U.S. companies substantial advantages. And in the Sovi...

Hourly Training Needs: The Bottom Line Reaches the Leading Edge

Abstract: The business and labor environment of the 1980s and early 1990s has surfaced issues which have made traditional approaches to labor relations less effective. A slowing economy, increased domestic and offshore competition and the changing demographics of organized labor are resulting in cooperative and creative approaches to restructuring organizations, redesigning jobs, compensating hourly employees and providing job security. The responses of unions and management to this environment (downsizing, restructuring, job security, working conditions, etc.) impact the design of jobs and the corresponding skill and knowledge requirements for hourly workers.

Sources of job satisfaction and organizational commitment: A study of Japanese industrial workers.

Abstract: Past research on Japanese industrial relations has focused on the "exceptionalism" of organizational practices (e.g., lifetime employment, a seniority-based wage system, and enterprise unionism) that lead to behavior rarely observed in the West. Most notably, a cultural explanation emphasizes the "unique" development of Japanese workplace organization. In contrast, this study focuses on structural conditions that shape varying attitudes among Japanese workers. For many years, scholars assumed that low levels of absenteeism, turnover and strike rates – all of which are characteristics of the Japanese labor force – were an indication of high levels of satisfaction and motivation. Recently, however, this portrait of the motivated, satisfied Japanese worker has come under attack. In particular, cross-national studies of workers' attitudes consistently report that both job satisfaction and the importance of work are lower for the Japanese than for their Western counterparts. Drawing on both internal labor market and "welfare corporatist" theories, the substantive sociological focus of this study is to systematically explore sources of job satisfaction and organizational commitment among Japanese industrial workers. The study uses a 1984 survey of 3,077 employees in twenty electronics plants in Japan gathered by the Japanese Federation of Electrical Machine Workers' Unions (Denkiroren). Guided by a multilevel causal model of work organization and work attitudes as developed by Lincoln and Kalleberg (1990), the study incorporates both attitudinal- and organizational-level data, which are grouped into five major classes of explanatory variables: work environment, industrial setting, worker orientations, labor force demography, and the character of unionism. The results indicate that corporate incentive mechanisms – particularly the intrinsic job quality factors of task rewards, participation in management decision-making, and welfare benefits – both increase one's commitment to the company and lead to improved job satisfaction. Moreover, the divided loyalty to union and company alike, which is characteristic of Japanese workers, is largely determined by the union's ability to promote worker participation in management decision-making, to maintain cooperative union-management relations, and to help implement welfare programs. Despite guarantees of lifetime employment in most Japanese companies, job security remains a fundamental concern of most workers. The importance of such incentives as corporate rewards and job security helps to explain the "exceptional" success of Japanese corporatism.

Internal and External Labour Markets in Austria

Abstract: A representative survey of Austrian firms and several case studies reveal that the Austrian labour market is severely segmented. Qualifications and wages differ markedly by firm size. Large firms have well developed internal labour markets, which facilitate the adjustment of the labour force to new requirements regarding skills and organizational forms; these firms are better able than small firms to form strong ties to their labour force by way of high wages, internal career opportunities, and job security. But accelerated structural changes now also expose large firms to serious problems and more and more workers formerly employed by these firms are losing their jobs and are being forced into the external labour market. These unemployed workers most of which are highly qualified and in the upper age bracket, have great difficulty in finding new jobs.

The human side of quality: service oriented employees.

Abstract: Motivating employees to care about the quality of the services they provide is an essential ingredient in quality improvement. In this article the author presents eight methods that employers can use to translate expectations into actions. Becoming aware of what today's employees want is the first step; money and job security are not as important as respect, challenging work that shows results, and managers who listen. Since customer relations mirror management's attitudes toward employees, caring about staff is basic in a quality service organization. Education and training of workers are also crucial, as are communication of expectations and providing prompt feedback. Employees also need reward and recognition. Hiring the right people is another necessity for quality service. Finally, managers must be leaders who can articulate values and the organization's vision in order to enlist employees in the cause of quality service.

Competitive Edge Through Flexible Work Organization: Evidence from the UK Electronics Industry

Abstract: This paper addresses the issue of flexibility in manufacturing from two perspectives: the view taken by the operations management and engineering literature and then notions of flexibility in labour management as seen irom an sociological paradigm. This dual theoretical basis is used to consider strategy and competitive edge in the U.K. electronics industry, where flexibility and response is frequently seen as a means to compete in world markets. The paper concludes that whereas flexibility does offer some opportunity for U.K. electronics companies to compete with “giants” in the industry [1], this approach does have consequences, often adverse, in terms of job security for employees. The reasons for this stem not only from the typical personnel policies adopted by companies, but also as a result of a retreat from component processing operations and a focus on downstream assembly activities. The latter in intended to increase flexibility and response and to slim down the organization as a whole, but with the obvious consequence of plant closures and reductions in employment numbers.