Showing papers on "Workforce published in 1990"

Culture, Control and Commitment: A Study of Work Organization and Work Attitudes in the United States and Japan

Abstract: Based on a large comparative survey of Japanese and American employees, this book seeks to explain the greater motivation and commitment of the Japanese workforce. Is this attributable to the management and organization of Japanese factories, or to deep-seated Japanese cultural values?

Workforce America!: Managing Employee Diversity as a Vital Resource

Abstract: This best seller shows how to recognize and rectify problems that can inhibit the full participation of a diverse workforce and create an environment that capitalizes on the creativity and richness that increased diversity offers.

Beneath the miracle : labor subordination in the new Asian industrialism

Abstract: This important study examines the dynamics of the remarkable economic transformation of South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, which has been based in large measure on the production of manufactured goods for export. The competitive edge of these countries has in turn been rooted in the mobilization of a low-cost, disciplined, and productive workforce. This study seeks therefore to explain how East Asian governments and employers have attempted to manage this workforce. It also explores the extent to which workers are able to challenge management decisions and insert working-class agendas into public policy. "Beneath the Miracle" moves beyond current explanations for the weakness of East Asian labor movements which emphasize Confucianist culture, material welfare gains, and political repression. It shows that the organizational capacity of workers has been more fundamentally undercut first by the nature of emergent East Asian employment systems, and second by the sequencing of developmental change, with political controls preceding rapid industrialization and preempting political and union organization of the growing industrial workforce. Deyo undertakes an incisive cross-national comparison of employment systems and explores anomalous situations, such as that in Hong Kong, where labor is politically weak even under minimal state controls, and that in South Korea, where labor is in a stronger position despite far stricter regulation. "Beneath the Miracle" offers a fresh and compelling comparative analysis of Asian labor movements which could lead to a reassessment of many other developmental issues in East Asia. In his probing examination, Deyo provides an important and exciting contribution to the literature in this field.

Invisible men and women: A status report on race as a variable in organization behavior research†

Abstract: Twenty-five years after passage of the Civil Rights Act, the full integration of racial minorities in the Unites States workforce has still not been achieved. Recent demographic trends indicating that the workforce will be increasingly composed of racial minorities make this a critical issue for academics and practitioners alike. This paper reports on a review of journal research addressing issues of race in organizations. Articles published in twenty major outlets for organization behavior research between 1964 and 1989 were reviewed. Data on the quantity, types and topics of published work are presented. Results indicate that the amount of total published research is small relative to the importance of the topic, that the recent trend is for less rather than more research, that the designs and research questions have been very narrow, and that the topics covered are not representative of the domain of organization behavior. Based upon the findings, some suggestions for future research are offered.

The competing demands of employment and informal caregiving to disabled elders.

Abstract: The competing demands of work and elder care are the subject of this study. The employment decisions of the informal caregivers of a nationally representative sample of disabled elders were examined using a nested multinomial logit model. Findings from the work accommodation model demonstrated that primary caregivers and those caring for elders with greater care needs are more likely to take unpaid leave, reduce work hours, or rearrange their work schedules to assume elder care responsibilities. Being female, white, and in fair-to-poor health also increased the likelihood of work accommodation. The model predicting employment of a caregiver revealed that the prospect of having to accommodate work to the demands of caregiving keeps some people from work entirely. However, not all caregivers would choose to work in the absence of caregiving responsibilities. After controlling for the probability of work accommodation, need for care, and availability of others to care, it is more likely that younger, white and more highly educated caregivers will be employed. The self-selection of working caregivers observed in this study should be considered when forecasting changes in caregiving costs associated with changes in the labor force participation of caregivers as a result of deliberate policies or social and demographic trends.

Core and Periphery in Employers' Workforce Strategies: Evidence from the 1987 E.L.U.S. Survey:

Abstract: Current debates about changing patterns of work tend to be structured around Atkinson's model of the flexible firm, which is similar to Loveridge's model of firm-specific labour markets. Two spring 1987 national surveys, of workers and of employers, are analysed to show that the balance between core and periphery in the workforce is indeed changing, but that this labour force restructuring is due primarily to traditional and opportunistic approaches to the use of peripheral workers among employers. Employers with a conscious core- periphery manpower strategy constitute a small minority and they do not employ disproportionate numbers of peripheral workers. They are distinguished by a more thoroughgoing reorganisation of work, with greater use of subcontractors, the self-employed and agency workers. The long-term implications are considered.

Self employment among graduates

Abstract: An econometric model of the self employment decision is estimated for a large sample of UK graduates. Although the earnings distributions suggest that there are incentives to be self employed, the difference in the predicted earnings that an individual receives in the self employed and employed sectors is not a significant influence on the choice of sector and the decision depends on personal and social factors. Policies based on changing the pecuniary returns may not encourage the growth of self employment among graduates. The econometric results also suggest that the self employed are a non-random subset of the graduate workforce., revision accepted August 1989

Shiftwork effects on social and family life.

Abstract: Advantages and disadvantages of different work schedules--fixed days, fixed afternoons, fixed nights, and rotating shifts--are reviewed in terms of social satisfaction and adjustment for the worker and his or her family. The chapter also calls for new studies assessing the impact of changes in the complexion of the workforce and composition of the American family on shiftworker satisfaction.

Recruitment and retention of rural physicians: Issues for the 1990s

Abstract: This paper briefly describes a number of structural and economic changes in the profession of medicine and in the rural medical care delivery system that have occurred since about 1970. Changes in the national physician supply; in the training, work, and practice characteristics of physicians; in the demographic characteristics of physicians; in the medical resources available in rural communities; and in federal and state support for the provision of medical services are noted. Four conceptual models that underlie physician recruitment and retention programs for small towns and rural communities are described. These include affinity models, which attempt to recruit rural persons into training or foster interest in rural practice among trainees; economic incentive models, which address reimbursement or payment mechanisms to increase economic rewards for rural practice; practice characteristics models, which address technical, collegial, referral, and other structural barriers to rural practice; and indenture models, which recruit temporary providers in exchange for scholarship support, loan forgiveness, or licensure. Examples of applications of each model are provided and the effects of changes in the medical care system on the effectiveness of each model are assessed. Finally, it is argued that elements of an optimal model for the recruitment of physicians to rural practice include the promotion of medical careers among rural high school students, the provision of financial and cultural support for their training, the development of technical and collegial support systems, and the limited use of indenture mechanisms to meet the needs of the most impoverished or isolated rural settings.

Women, employment and the family in the international division of labour

Abstract: In the present stage of international capitalist development, women are increasingly being drawn into paid employment by multinational and state investment in the Third World. This volume investigates the interrelations between women's participation in the urban wage economy and their productive and reproductive roles in the household and family. It brings together a selection of important recent research on all major regions of the developing world by leading scholars in this emerging field. It argues that the household itself is an important determinant of the character and timing of women's labour force participation, and it assesses the extent to which family patterns can be expected to change as women increasingly work outside the home. Sharon Stichter is Professor of Sociology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Jane L. Parpart is Associate Professor of History, Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S. They are also the editors of "Patriarchy and Class: African Women in the Home and the Workforce".

Managing Workforce 2000

Abstract: Valuing Diversity is a high quality film/video series that delivers what its promotional literature promises: it addresses issues of deep concern to today’s employers, employees and students of human behavior. It treats stereotypes and assumptions. cultural differences, unwritten rules and double standards, the &dquo;glass ceiling,&dquo; the &dquo;white male club,&dquo; &dquo;clustering,&dquo; mentors, networks, coaching, communication styles and accents, and the stresses of being bicultural. The tapes combine didactic narration, corporate interviews and staged role plays to demonstrate how managers evaluate, develop and motivate diverse employees, how employees can succeed in a multicultural organization, and how misunderstandings result from different styles of communication. Separately, the tapes can be used to teach such organizational behavior topics as interpersonal and intergroup convict, organizational socialization, communication, and attribution in cross-cultural situations. Together the tapes can be used as a basis for a long unit on managing diversity suitable for a course such as organizational development. The production quality of the three 30-minute tapes (or films) is superior. The tapes are well-paced for today’s students, in that they are fast enough to focus their attention yet moderate enough to illustrate main points clearly. Because of the pace of the tapes, notetaking should probably be discouraged during them. Summaries of the main points are provided at the end of each tape. These can be developed as a handout both to allow students to focus on the tape while it is being shown and to reinforce discussion and learning afterwards. The tapes also have a distinctly contemporary feelf with office scenes similar to those that most of our students will ex-

Preparing Managers for Industry: The Role of Hospitality Management Education

Abstract: Management education, training and development is a key issue for the British economy which has, by international standards, an undereducated, underqualified and undertrained workforce. However, the varied nature of managerial work reduces the value of prescriptive approaches to management education. The Hotel, Catering and Institutional Management Association (HCIMA) recently redesigned its professional qualifications to try to meet the complex needs of the hospitality industry more closely. In general its proposals have been well received but it is clear that as elsewhere, hospitality managers need to take a more positive stance towards personal development and education if they are to cope with the 1990s as effectively as their European counterparts seem ready to do.

American Women And World War II

Abstract: This social history focuses on the role American women played in the workforce during World War II. It describes the huge mobilization of labour necessary to supply US armed forces with machinery and weapons, and the evolution of women's roles in industry as a result of this.

More Information, Better Jobs?: Occupational Stratification and Labor‐Market Segmentation in the United States’ information

Abstract: This article examines the mix of good and bad jobs in the restructuring of United States’ labor markets for information work between 1900 and 1980. Is the information sector still growing relative to other occupational sectors? What is the relative proportion of good to bad jobs in the information sector today? Is the mix of good bad jobs within the information sector changing over time? To answer these questions, we examine changes in the relative size of the information sector's labor markets and changes in five occupational strata within it—professional, semiprofessional, supervisory and upper‐level sales personnel, clerks, and blue‐collar workers. The information occupations mushroomed in size from 17% of the United States workforce in 1900 to over 50% in 1980. Information sector jobs vary widely in quality. Few information sector jobs are fully professional, and clerical jobs form the largest single occupational stratum. When we examined the growth of the various strata between 1900 and 1980...

Leadership for Literacy: The Agenda for the 1990s

Abstract: Examines the crisis of adult illiteracy, addressing key questions about why adults are not learning to read and write and what can be done to foster a more literate citizenry and workforce.

The Japanese Labor Market in a Comparative Perspective with the United States

Abstract: This study offers a comparative analysis of a number of Japanese labor market features in relation to the U.S. The author examines employer-employee attachment, workforce adjustment, and industrial relations including "unique" Japanese institutions such as joint consultation and consensus-based decision making.

Unequal Pay: a Comparative Study of Australia, Canada, Sweden and the U.K

Abstract: In most OECD countries in the 1980s the earnings of women in the paid workforce remain significantly below those of men. While a range of factors are commonly utilized to explain this earnings gap, a review of available statistics highlights marked cross-national variations which suggest limits to the explanatory value of many orthodox approaches. This paper argues that cross national differences in the relative earnings of women can be understood more fully when institutional factors such as the organization of labour and wage fixing arrangements are taken into account.

Issues in the Evaluation of Management Training

Abstract: The relationship between training and job performance can be tested. Human resources management is facing a challenging period, with tight budgets in the federal government and in many states increasing pressure to improve productivity. At the same time, the changing demographic nature of the workforce (Hudson Institute, 1988) and the rapid introduction of new technology into the workplace suggest a need for increased training opportunities, both to give entry-level staff the necessary work skills and to retrain experienced employees in new skills. In times of budget stringency, however, training is often seen as expendable and thus is the first area cut. Given the often precarious position of training in government agencies, one would expect trainers to put a high priority on evaluation, in order to document improved individual performance or organizational productivity. In fact, the state of the art in training evaluation remains quite primitive, for the most part. Training evaluation is generally seen as having four possible levels: evaluation of trainees' reactions, of learning, of individual behavior, and of organizational results (Kirkpatrick, 1976). While evaluation of the link between training and behavior or

Continuing education and training

Abstract: This article, which is concerned mainly with the graduate workforce, is based on a presentation to the British-North American Committee (BNAC) Working Group on ‘Living and Working Issues’, of which the author is Chairman. The Working Group's intention is to produce a report of interest to BNAC members and a wider audience of employers and unions, offering recommendations for action and best practice. The article is written to stimulate discussion on issues such as:• How should local needs for continuing education and training be determined, and strategies be defined at the graduate, nongraduate, professional, vocational and general education levels?• What modes of provision are available, at what locations, e.g.at the workplace, at home, on campus, and at what relative cost?• How should optimum levels of expenditure on continuing education and training be determined (are there analogies with RD i.e.should costs be shared between them?• How can the success of continuing education and training programmes be evaluated (are there analogies with R&D)?

Career interruptions and hours practiced comparison between young men and women physicians

Abstract: This study compares current level of workforce participation and number, type and length of career interruptions since entering medical school reported by young men and women physicians. By 10 years from medical school entry, one third of the women studied had taken a maternity/child care leave and 24% had taken time away from their careers for other reasons while only 11% of men had interrupted their careers. The average time taken and reasons given for non-maternity-related career interruption were similar for men and women. Both men and women in the types of medical careers that historically have attracted more women work shorter hours than those in medical career types where women are under-represented. Across career types, women worked shorter hours per week than men and the presence of children further reduced hours of work for women only. Although the women studied are more active professionally than previous generations during their childbearing/rearing years, a considerable gap in the participation level remains.

Labour market deprivation, welfare and collectivism

Abstract: Changes in labour market conditions over the last ten years have led to renewed speculation about the future of collectivist attitudes. In Britain, the most striking change has been the sharp rise in the level of unemployment which doubled between 1979 and 1981. However, many commentators have also suggested that profound changes are occurring in the character of employment, in particular through the rise of more precarious types of work. On one estimate, fully a third of British employees could now be considered part of the ‘flexible’ workforce (Hakim 1987). Overall, there has been an increase in the level of insecurity and a marked accentuation of financial inequality.

Foreign medical graduates. The experience of the Australian Medical Examining Council and the Australian Medical Council, 1978-1989: implications for medical immigration and the medical workforce.

Abstract: From July 1978 to March 1989, 1703 foreign medical graduates who entered Australia as immigrants took the examinations of the Australian Medical Examining Council (AMEC) and its successor since 1986, the Australian Medical Council (AMC). Of these, 821 (48.2%) passed the multiple choice question examinations and, of these, 627 (76.3%) passed the clinical examinations. The overall pass rate was 36.8%. The majority of those who passed required more than one attempt to do so. Graduates of medical schools from South Africa, Canada and the United States were, in general, more successful than those from other countries by a large margin. Most candidates were graduates of medical schools in third-world countries and Eastern Europe, and although substantial numbers ultimately passed, few of them had reached the same level of competence as graduates from South Africa and North America. There are many probable reasons for their generally poor performance, the most likely being the quality of their medical education in preclinical and clinical sciences and their lack of substantial postgraduate experience. A second factor for some is their inadequate command of English. A third factor is age. Of 547 candidates who presented for the first time in 1988 and 1989, 258 (47%) were 35 or more years old. Since 1984 medical immigration has trebled and is still rising. At the present rate of growth, foreign graduates sitting the AMC examinations for the first time in 1994 will number approximately 482, which (assuming all pass) will be equivalent to 40% of doctors expected to graduate from the 10 Australian medical schools in that year. In spite of a more than adequate supply of locally qualified doctors, Australia, through easy immigration, has become a target country for foreign medical graduates. The high failure rate in the AMC examinations has led to immigrant-activated political pressure for bridging courses and other concessions. If, as a result, the majority of the immigrants were to pass the AMC examinations and so enter general practice, medical immigration will increase at an even faster rate than it has since 1984, with significant changes in the medical workforce. Some reforms which might avert this are suggested.

Developing More Minority Mathematicians and Scientists: A New Approach.

Abstract: The relatively small number of minorities pursuing careers in science, mathematics, engineering, and other high-tech fields has been well documented over many years. Educational practitioners are greatly concerned about this continued underrepresentation. It is also of deep concern to A Better Chance, Inc. (ABC), a 27-year-old national nonprofit talent search and referral organization that identifies talented minority children from predominantly inner-city families for placement in some of the country's most selective independent preparatory schools and a few select public secondary schools. At ABC we view competence in mathematics and science as a sure route to career opportunities in such fields as aerospace technology, architecture, chemistry, computer science, engineering, environmental sciences, and physics. We recognize that such increased opportunities for minorities will help America remain competitive in an increasingly internationally oriented society where technological skill is the major currency. According to the 1980 U.S. Census, by the year 2000 one of every three Americans will be a member of a minority group. Between 1989 and 2020 the combined population growth rate for Blacks and Hispanics is estimated at 50 percent while that of all other ethnic groups is expected to decline by 23 percent. These changes will rapidly increase the number of minorities in the workforce. Clearly, if the overwhelming majority of minority workers is technologically incompetent, America's position as a technological leader is in jeopardy. In the face of this impending reality, new and innovative methods of identifying, recruiting, and educating all minority youth in mathematics and science must be sought and supported. The work of A Better Chance has long been based on the hypothesis that a pool of broadly talented minority students exists whose abilities are best identified by criteria additional to the quantitative measures traditionally employed for student assessment, mainly standardized testing. To confirm this hypothesis ABC conducted two studies which revealed the following: (1) The success of ABC students in ABC schools is not necessarily predicted by standardized test scores.

Fordism Transformed? Employee Involvement and Workplace Industrial Relations at Ford:

Abstract: Employee involvement circles have become fashionable in Australia in recent years, with Ford playing a leading role. Ford is the market leader and has set a higher priority on improving quality and reducing interruptions than on labour intensification, and it has a militant and united workforce in its major plant. As a result its employee involvement programme has been conducted in the context of a generally conciliatory approach to shop-floor industrial relations, and in a spirit of quid pro quo with the workforce. It has not weakened the shop stewards, transformed Fordism or put an end to class conflict, but it has produced moderate advantages for both sides.

Boy Labour in Late Victorian and Edwardian England and the Remaking of the Working Class

Abstract: The question of skill among the English labour force in the years 1870-1914 has received a good deal of attention during the past decade. It is central to a vigorous and continuing debate about the extent of structural change in the working class, which in turn has important ramifications for the interpretation of the rise of "New Unionism" and class politics. The older view that these years witnessed the creation of a more homogeneous and less stratified working class has been challenged by scholars who posit instead a continuation of the fragmented, hierarchical and occupationAally distinct nature of the Victorian workforce into the prewar period.1 This paper will examine the youth labour force in these years and will attempt to link changes occurring within this group to the wider debate about structural change in the workforce. It will be argued that there was indeed a gradual but widespread extension of skill among the working class, and a relative decline in the position of the artisan elites of the earlier period. This process largely took place through changes in both apprenticeship and boy labour, which had as their overall effect a greater access to skill among unindentured boy labourers and a gradual devaluation of the technical expertise acquired through apprenticeship. These trends in part explain the emergence of a large body of semi-skilled workers, a group which grew out of the growing predominance of new types of boy labour, and around which a less stratified working class could crystallize. The working-class adolescent of late Victorian and Edwardian England was, for at least one third of his time, an actual worker, employed in a multitude of functions among the nations' industries and services. With one exception, however, the phenomenon of boy work has not been the subject of any sustained historical analysis in recent years.2 This is a surprising gap, since a perusal of the literature on social issues during the period would show that it was a major topic of debate. Trade unionists cited the growing use of boys for non-vocational labour as a major source of journeyman unemployment, while middle class observers of the youth scene bemoaned the disappearance of apprenticeship, the progressive loss of control over the youth's life that this involved, and the dangerous amounts of money to be found in the boy labourer's pocket. It was generally feared that industrial developments were tending to create a mass of unskilled or low skilled adult workers with little craft pride or industrial discipline from a growing army of boy labourers unbound by any system of trade teaching and unmotivated by any incentive to develop job skills. These fears disguise the true nature of the processes at work, but they do reveal an awareness among contemporary observers of the dynamic element involved in teenage labour, and the effects that changes in the

General practitioner databases in Australia.

Abstract: OBJECTIVE General practitioner-based research has been hampered by the poorly defined database and the cost of continuous updating of lists of practitioners Little is known about the general practitioner workforce Fresh awareness by health planners of the serious maldistribution of general practitioners has heightened the need for workforce planning Integral to this is the availability of an accurate listing of general practitioners DATA SOURCES A CD-ROM Medline review of all surveys involving general practitioners which were conducted in Australia in the period 1983-1990 was performed All general practitioner listings still existing at the end of the decade were identified STUDY SELECTION Nine listings considered for use as general practitioner databases DATA EXTRACTION Each listing was assessed in six ways--quality of information provided, availability for research purposes, cost, potential to provide the correct postal address, ability to identify general practitioners in active practice and comparative advantage over other lists DATA SYNTHESIS Each listing has limitations and advantages, with individual peculiarities and variable information relating to identifying characteristics of general practitioners None was specifically created for research or workforce planning purposes The Medical Provider File (formerly called the Central Register of Medical Practitioners) was the most used list CONCLUSIONS We propose a framework for the ideal database and avenues for its development

How Will the Japanese Compete in Retail Services

Abstract: California, where many Japanese firms operate in the retail service sector, provides a laboratory to examine the extent to which the high levels of personal service that are routinely achieved in Japan have been exported to the United States. The eight Japanese firms examined in this study have not implemented the Japanese approach to service in the U.S. because they believe that the nature of the workforce and environment make its implementation infeasible and because they do not believe it to be cost effective. Rather, the Japanese compete very much like U. S. firms with respect to personal service.

Managing absence in an NHS hospital

Abstract: Absence studies often pay little attention to institutional settings. This study of a large hospital looks at factors affecting absence, and worker attitudes to time off. It reveals a highly committed workforce, but one with low morale, deeply distrustful of a management initiating rapid changes.