Showing papers on "Workforce published in 1991"

The multicultural organization

Abstract: Executive Overview Organizations are becoming increasingly diverse in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, and nationality. This diversity brings substantial potential benefits such as better decision making, greater creativity and innovation, and more successful marketing to different types of customers. But, increased cultural differences within a workforce also bring potential costs in higher turnover, interpersonal conflict, and communication breakdowns. To capitalize on the benefits of diversity while minimizing the potential costs, leaders are being advised to oversee change processes toward creating “multicultural” organizations. What are the characteristics of such an organization, and how do they differ from those of the post? What mechanisms are available to facilitate such a change? This article addresses these questions. It also describes a model for understanding the required features of a multicultural organizations and reviews tools that pioneering companies have found useful in changing organ...

Grateful slaves and self-made women: fact and fantasy in women's work orientations

Abstract: Although job segregation concentrates women in the lowest status and lowest paid jobs in the workforce, women are disproportionately satisfied with their jobs. This paper assesses the strength of women's work commitment in Western industrial societies, and finds it to be markedly lower than men's work commitment. Work commitment is also found to be a powerful predictor of women's work decisions and job choices. The majority of women aim for a homemaker career in which paid work is of secondary or peripheral importance, with strong support from their husbands for this strategy. A minority of women are committed to work as a central life goal, achieving jobs at higher levels of status and earnings. The existence of these two discrete groups within the female workforce explains the paradox of women's high satisfaction with poor jobs, and helps explain the persistence of job segregation. We conclude that more refined and sociological indicators of workforce participation must be developed to replace the standard measures used by labour economists.

Managing Workforce 2000: Gaining the Diversity Advantage

Abstract: BEYOND "ONE SIZE FITS ALL" MANAGEMENT. The Challenge and Opportunity of the Changing Workforce. Portraits of Diversity: Today's New Workforce. Toward a New Management Mindset: An Introduction to Flex--Management. MATCHING PEOPLE AND JOBS. Be Informative and Creative When Describing Jobs and Recruiting Employees. Help People Develop Careers They Want. Change Jobs and Work Hours to Meet Employee Needs. Hire Older and Temporary Workers. MANAGING AND REWARDING PERFORMANCE. Train Managers and Employees to Value Diversity. Enable Persons with Disabilities to Meet Performance Challenges. Individualze--Don't Standardize--Performance Management. Align Rewards with Employees' Values. INFORMING AND INVOLVING PEOPLE. Share Information and Encourage Participation. Create New Ways to Share Responsibility. SUPPORTING LIFESTYLE AND LIFE NEEDS. Offer Flexible Employee Benefits and Services. Help Employees Take Care of Family Responsibilities. TAKING ACTION. How to Develop Skills for Managing Workforce 2000. How to Manage the Change to a Flex--Management Workplace. RESOURCES FOR GAINING THE DIVERSITYVANTAGE: WHERE TO GO FOR HELP.

Beyond demography: A psychographic profile of the workforce

Abstract: This article examines the life and work attitudes of a national sample of the US workforce surveyed in 1990. It presents a model of work- and nonwork-related factors impinging on attitudes and the impact of these factors on high levels of cynicism found in the workforce today. The survey results show a strong correspondence between people's general perceptions of society, leadership, and the motives of other people and more specific views of their own organization, managers, and co-workers. Analyses detail the spread of cynicism among demographic segments of the workforce, considering age, race, social class, gender, occupation, and organization type. Concluding sections highlight strategies that companies such as Ben & Jerry's ice cream, Caterpillar Tractor, and others have followed to counter cynicism in their workforce.

The implementation and adoption of new technology in organizations: The impact on work, people, and culture

Abstract: This article examines the impact of computer technology on the workforce and workplace. It summarizes research and examines in practice the implementation and adoption of new technology in companies. Two cases are presented: a metal fabrication factory and a professional publishing company. Results of a pre-implementation survey given to personnel in the factory highlight how a top-down change strategy and worker's sense of mistrust and inequity, led to problems with the introduction of computerized machinery and control systems. Surveys taken one and three years after the introduction of word processing and data-based management tools in the publishing company, by comparison, show how a more participatory change strategy coupled with extensive user training and support, contribute to success with technological change and alter perceptions of the company culture.

Intermediate Skills in the Workplace: Deployment, Standards and Supply in Britain, France and Germany:

Abstract: Previous international comparisons of workforce skills by the National Institute have focussed on the relative shortage of craft skills in Britain. The present study is concerned with the next high...

Turbulence in the American Workplace

Abstract: This book deals with critical issues resulting from the impact of corporate restructuring on workers US industry has undergone a shakeout resulting from increasing competitive pressures and the globalization of production As a result, some two million workers have been laid-off from their employers Individual chapters have been drafted by an interdisciplinary group of academics who explore seven key areas: demographic changes of younger and older workers, workforce displacement from lay-offs, human resources planning for downsizing and mergers, technological change, changes in the roles of unions, changes in managerial and professional work, and `contingent' and flexible employment The drafts of the chapters have been extensively edited and, in some cases, rewritten so that the book will read more like a series of chapters than a group of papers The work was commissioned by the National Planning Association who will be a party to the contract

Relationship of management style and anticipated turnover.

Abstract: The retention of critical care nurses is an important priority of nursing administration. Research in business and industry has shown that management style is related to turnover, but documentation of this relationship is lacking for nurses in hospitals. This research report describes how management style is directly related to anticipated turnover of critical care nursing staff.

New Voices in the Workplace: Research Directions in Multicultural Communication.

Abstract: Although the U.S. workforce is becoming increasingly multicultural, research and theory in business communication continues to be based on the assumption of cultural similarity. This paper develops...

Gender and working time: an analysis of employers' working-time policies

Abstract: Information from interviews with manufacturing, private service and public service establishments is used to consider how working-time requirements are determined and the relationship between these requirements and occupational segregation by gender. Both men and women are found to be involved in all types of working-time regime and unsocial hours working. Therefore, in principle, working-time requirements do not provide a barrier to occupational desegregation. However there are sectoral differences in the type of working-time regime adopted and firms adjust their organization of working hours to meet their needs taking into account the customary gender composition of their workforce. Further introduction of extended and flexible working hours is likely to intensify the sectorally gendered patterns of working time. Copyright 1991 by Oxford University Press.

Building a team on a medical floor

Abstract: The article describes a case in which dysfunctional teamwork was threatening patient care on medical units. Various team-building techniques were used by trained facilitators. Survey results showed that the interventions resulted in improved communication, morale, and working relationships.

Training and Competitiveness

Abstract: Drawing together the key business topics of training and global competitiveness, this book suggests ways, which if adopted, could prevent the UK from slipping behind its competitors with regard to its workforce's skills and qualifications. Topics covered include corporate strategy and the integration of training, innovation and industrial efficiency. The list of contributors ranges from industrialists, academics, trade unions and commentators from the UK, Germany and America. They outline skills for the year 2000.

Expanding the Role of Employers in Supported Employment.

Abstract: Since the Workforce 2000 report documenting labor trends and issues was released by the Hudson Institute in 1987, business and industry have been reevaluating how support is provided to employees. Employee assistance programs, renewed investment in training, and other accommodations for an increasingly diverse workforce present an unparalleled opportunity to bring supported employment technology, values, and systems to contemporary business. This paper is an initial attempt at reconceptualizing supported employment and the role of employers in providing support. Changing strategies and future research questions that may need to be addressed are discussed.

Adolescence and poverty : challenge for the 1990s

Abstract: This work identifies the urgent need facing the United States for more effective methods of making adolescence a period of opportunity for children in poverty as well as for those in the mainstream. It focuses on the interaction between adolescent growth and maturation, on the one hand, and the inadequate (or outright dysfunctional) socialization mechanisms of impoverished communities, on the other. "Adolescence and Poverty" authors describe how this interaction is contributing to social and economic failure for a growing sub-population of American teenagers. One chapter in the volume looks at US demographic data which show a decreasing number of teens overall but an increasing proportion living in poverty. The authors discuss the steep decline in the relative economic value of a high school diploma that characterized the US economy during the 1980s. They explore the implications of a growing segment of the potential workforce that is significantly under-educated and under-trained for the type of jobs that will increasingly be the norm. The role of early jobs and job experience in determining later work success is examined, and different patterns of job and job-related social supports in mainstream versus non-mainstream communities are explored.

Productivity, the Workforce, and Technology Education.

Abstract: While the United States was once the premier leader in industrial strength and influence, countries previously unable to compete with the United States in both technological and economic arenas have made drastic changes in the way they develop and produce goods. Through modernization of their factories and by using innovative organizational systems, these so called non-industrial countries have begun to compete with the industrial giants on their own turf. New competition from countries such as Japan, Korea, and Brazil is having a dramatic impact on the economic, political, and educational systems within the United States. Examples of the results from this new competition include rising trade deficits, an increasing budget deficit, slow productivity growth, stagnant real wages, and a declining share of world markets (Young, 1988). All of these trends constitute a threat to the American standard of living. Unless changes are made to increase the competitive ability of the United States on economic and technological grounds, the quality of life in this country is certain to fall. In response to the competitiveness problem, this country must strive to develop a highly skilled, adaptable workforce that develops and uses technology. This effort would result in a renewed competitive advantage through improved technologies and innovative, creative, and highly educated workers; something which may be the United States' biggest strength. This approach is not without its drawbacks. New technologies are likely to replace many workers which could result in higher unemployment. Advances in technology could also lead to a deskilling of the workforce which may result in a wider gap between the workers who develop new technologies and those who use them. To return the United States to its former competitive status, improvements must occur in the productivity of the workforce. Technology education has a unique role to play in improving the productivity of the future workforce (Technology Education Advisory Council, 1988). In addition to providing students with the opportunity to interact with technological systems and proc-

Non-English speaking background immigrant women in the workforce

Abstract: This report presents the findings of a study into the experiences of NESB migrant women in the workforce. The fieldwork, which involved interviewing over one hundred immigrant women living and working in Sydney, was carried out between October 1988 and February 1989. The study also involved an extensive review of Australian and international literature on immigrant women in the workforce and the analysis of recent census and labour force survey data. The study focussed particularly on the experiences of newly arrived migrant women and examined many aspects of women's employment experiences in Australia including the relationship between women's premigration histories, their participation in the workforce in Australia and their domestic and family responsibilities. Although economic and social conditions in Australia have changed considerably in the post-war period, the study found that the continuities in the lives of women immigrants arriving in Australia in the 1950s and 1960s and those arriving today were more marked than the differences. It would seem that their place in the economy has altered little, and that employment continues to play the key role in structuring women's lives despite the development of an increased role for the state through ethnic affairs policies. Little evidence was found to support the theory that immigrants' work force experiences reflect their premigration human capital endowments. Instead, we found that women from a variety of different backgrounds finished up, after emigrating to Australia, in similarly low status, unpleasant and unrewarding jobs jobs which for many represented substantial downward mobility. These women experienced the segmentation of the labour market as a constraining framework, directing them towards certain types of jobs and limiting their opportunities to move out of them. The report presents fresh evidence of immigrant women's employment-related problems, many of which have been documented previously. Unemployment emerges as the greatest difficulty encountered by newly arrived women in Australia today. In the last chapter, recommendations in the areas of vocational guidance and training, equal employment opportunity, work conditions, women's participation in trade unions and childcare and family support are made. A reflection on the research methodology used in this study, and alternatives to it, concludes the report. This working paper is available at Research Online: http://ro.uow.edu.au/cmsworkpapers/5

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.

Defence expenditure, industrial conversion and local employment

Abstract: As the risk of conflict between the major military alliances diminishes, the prospects for disarmament improve This book asks whether the defence industry can develop new products to maintain their workforce and looks at the socio-economic cost of diverting funds to civilian production

General practices and the new contract. I--Reactions and impact.

Abstract: Objective-To assess the effect of pressure from patients on patterns of general practitioners' outpatient referrals. Design-Survey of general practitioners' referrals to hospital outpatient departments during one week. Setting-One health district. Subjects-All (160) general practitioners in the health district. Main outcome measures-Specialty ofthe referral, the reason for it, and its status (NHS or private) and the general practitioner's assessment of the degree of pressure exerted by the patient for the referral (much, little, or none). Results-122 (76%) general practitioners completed the survey. Younger general practitioners (aged -45) and those qualifying in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland reported greater pressure from patients to refer (p<0-03, p<0-001 respectively). Pressure was also greater for patients referred privately (p

The Turbulent Environment of Public Personnel Administration: Responding to the Challenge of the Changing Workplace of the Twenty-First Century

Abstract: Numerous studies have described the changes expected to occur in the workplace of the twenty-first century. The nature of work, the demographics of the workers and the nature of workers' values are expected to be very different from what employers recognize today. As participating employers in the next century, local governments and local public personnel administrators will have to develop strategies for dealing with these changes. This paper seeks to discover the perceptions of a selected group of local government personnel administrators in Virginia concerning the nature of the future workplace and the strategies to deal with these changes. Increasing the dynamism of the work force; providing for the needs of working families with children; bringing women, minorities and immigrants into the work force; improving the education and skills of employees; adapting to new technology; and forging a new social con tract with workers are not the only items on the nation's agenda between now and the year 2000. But they certainly are among the most important. These items are human resources issues that won't go away by themselves. If nothing is done to focus national attention and action on these challenges, they are likely to remain unresolved at the beginning of the next century. Robert W. Goddard, "Work Force 2000," Personnel Journal, vol. 68, no. 2 February, 1989. Studies indicate that by the year 2000 substantial changes will take place in the American workplace. The workplace of the next century will be significantly different. Three categories of factors are expected to affect the workplace in the future: those affecting the workers; and changing values affecting workers. In order to prepare for these changes, local governments will have to become aware of, and respond to, these variables. This discussion identifies the factors which, according to the available literature, will affect the nature of work and workers, specifically in the local government workplace, by the beginning of the twenty-first century. To determine the extent to which local governments in Virginia have identified and are preparing for these changes, the authors distributed a survey to personnel directors and administrators in those localities with populations over 25,000. The complied results of the survey describe specific strategies that local governments in Virginia expect to use to meet the challenges presented by the changing workplace. Factors Affecting The Nature of Work in the Twenty-First Century The available literature identifies four major factors which are expected to affect the nature of work in the twenty-first century. According to Workforce 2000: Work and Workers for the 21st Century, employment in the U.S. is expected to increase from 122.4 million to 139.9 million by the year 2000, with an average annual gain between 0.9% and 1.8%, a modest growth rate when compared to the average annual gain of 2.9% during the 1970s.(1) Manufacturing jobs for these workers will decrease considerably, from a high of 30% in 1955 to less than 17% by the year 2000.(2) The major increase in jobs is expected to come in the service and information industries. In Megatrend 2000 John Naisbitt and Patricia Aburdene describe the new jobs for the most part as high-paying professional and managerial positions, an indication of the "information economy." Workforce 2000, on the other hand, prefers to classify the trend as a symptom of a service-oriented economy. In conjunction with the increase in service jobs, worker productivity is expected to increase due to greater reliance on automated systems. In fact, this increase is expected to double from a rate of 0.7% per year to 1.5% per year per worker.(3) The expected nature of the work in the new service-based economy will be highly professional and technical. In fact, the fastest growing jobs are expected to be those requiring the most skills and education. …

Strategic management of human knowledge, skills, and abilities : workforce decision-making in the postindustrial era

Abstract: A guide to strengthening workforce decision making, this book provides managers with the analytical tools, insights, and planning strategies designed to build a sophisticated, highly trained workforce. Eugene B. McGregor provides an analytical approach to the fundamental strategic and tactical decisions that managers must make - regarding organization design, compensation plans, production technologies and budgeting - in order to meet their organizations' strategic goals. The book examines the crucial link between organizational success and managing human knowledge, skills, and abilities. It shows how to gather and consolidate information about workforce needs and abilities, and apply it to strategic decision making about productivity goals and projected job requirements. McGregor demonstrates how to develop precise occupational classification systems that accurately describe employee duties , functions, and skills - and suggests how managers can use these systems to set goals, assess job requirements, and implement human resource strategies that meet organizational needs.

Women in management in canada: past, present and future prospects

Abstract: The past, present and future status of women in management, and women in management research, in Canada is examined. Women have entered the Canadian workforce in unprecedented numbers, including managerial and professional ranks. Increasing numbers of women have prepared themselves for career advancement through business education and additional years of work experience but, despite these developments, women continue to find it difficult to attain senior management ranks. Research initiatives as well as development activities designed to assist both managerial and professional women and their employing organisations are discussed. Despite some reasons for optimism, further gains will continue to be made only slowly.

Social alienation and employment status in young adults

Abstract: Cross-sectional and longitudinal observations are reported from a questionnaire survey of more than 3000 South Australian school leavers. Questionnaires were administered before the participants had left school and again four years later when they had all left. We were interested in whether there is evidence of a causal connection between unsatisfactory workforce experience and social alienation. On a range of measures related to alienation, we found that those engaged in unsatisfactory jobs and the unemployed responded very differently from those engaged in satisfactory jobs and those who were full-time tertiary students. However, the dissatisfied employed, but not the unemployed, also displayed greater alienation while they were still at school. We conclude that in young people increased social alienation is a consequence of unemployment, rather than a predisposition towards it, but that high social alienation at school leads to later job dissatisfaction.