This title was first published in 2001. Management of the employment relationship changed markedly in the last two decades of the 21st century, and a major part of this has been the extension of employee involvement and participation in the workplace. Modern management theorists and researchers have commonly emphasized the importance of two-way communication and co-operation between management and labour in determining the success of human resource management (HRM) strategy and in maximizing workplace efficiency. Some researchers argue employee participation and empowerment are progressive management practices which have universal benefits to performance enhancement, as opposed to most other HRM practices whose success is contingent upon the organizational context. This title explores these themes through an international collection of case studies, which are the outcome of a comparative project of the Workers' Participation Study Group of the International Industrial Relations Association (IIRA).
Drawing on practical experiences from around the world, this title shows companies how to design and implement a human resource strategy within the context of an overall business strategy for globalization.
This thoroughly revised second edition presents up-to-date analysis from various academic streams and disciplines that illuminate our understanding of employee voice from a range of different perspectives. Exploring the previously under-represented paradigm of the organizational behaviour approach, new chapters take account of a broader conceptualization of employee voice. Written by expert contributors, this Handbook explores the meaning and impact of employee voice for various stakeholders and considers the ways in which these actors engage with voice processes such as collective bargaining, individual processes, mutual gains, task-based voice and grievance procedures
Employee participation encompasses the range of mechanisms used to involve the workforce in decisions at all levels of the organization - whether direct or indirect - conducted with employees or through their representatives. In its various guises, the topic of employee participation has been a recurring theme in industrial relations and human resource management. One of the problems in trying to develop any analysis of participation is that there is potentially limited overlap between these different disciplinary traditions, and scholars from diverse traditions may know relatively little of the research that has been done elsewhere. Accordingly in this book, a number of the more significant disciplinary areas are analysed in greater depth in order to ensure that readers gain a better appreciation of what participation means from these quite different contextual perspectives. Not only is there a range of different traditions contributing to the research and literature on the subject, there is also an extremely diverse sets of practices that congregate under the banner of participation. The handbook discusses various arguments and schools of thought about employee participation, analyzes the range of forms that participation can take in practice, and examines the way in which it meets objectives that are set for it, either by employers, trade unions, individual workers, or, indeed, the state. In doing so, the Handbook brings together leading scholars from around the world who present and discuss fundamental theories and approaches to participation in organization as well as their connection to broader political forces. These selections address the changing contexts of employee participation, different cultural/ institutional models, old/'new' economy models, shifting social and political patterns, and the correspondence between industrial and political democracy and participation.
In the last decade, nonunion employee representation (NER) has become a much discussed topic in the fields of human resource management, employment relations, and employment/labor law. This book examines the purpose, structure, and performance of various types of employee representation bodies created by companies in non-union settings to promote collective forums for voice and involvement at the workplace. This unique volume presents the first longitudinal evidence on the performance, success, and failure of NER plans over an extended time period. Consisting of twelve detailed, in-depth case studies of actual NER plans in operation across four countries, this volume provides unparalleled evidence on such matters as: the motives behind the initial establishment of NER, different organizational forms of NER in industry, key success and failure factors over the long-term, pro and con evaluations for employers and employees, and more. Voice and Involvement at Work captures an unequalled international and comparative perspective through a wide cross-section of different NER forms.
Since the 'golden age' of industrial employment peaked around 1970, the weakening of organised labour has continued in Europe and elsewhere. This text studies the conditions and development of trade union behavior and organisation in the 21st century, aswell as addressing the successes and failures of the European Employment Strategy.
The papers in this e-book examine the development of non-union employee relations practices and outcomes from an international perspective focusing on firms attempting to provide workers with a voice. The papers draw primarily on in-depth case studies as a means to assess the impact of voice arrangements on employee relations processes and outcomes.
Presents research in Employee-Driven Innovation, an emergent field of study that meets the demand for exploiting new innovative potentials in organizations. There is a growing interest in creating new knowledge in innovation, emphasizing human resources and social processes. The authors intend to take the global lead in research on these areas.
Globalization has led to growing labour fragmentation and widening of gaps in social protection. Although the enterprise is increasingly expected to be socially responsible, in actuality extreme worker inequalities and social dumping have become ubiquitous worldwide. This volume – the first to focus attention on the ‘theory of the firm’ as it reveals itself in today’s world from a multidisciplinary perspective – underscores the necessity to rebuild a new scientifically controlled paradigm that acknowledges and regulates the dimension of power in the functioning of the organization. In their contributed essays, nineteen renowned scholars in labour law and industrial relations rethink the firm, its conception, its value, and its regulation, analysing such aspects as the following: – labour-management relations issues that arise when companies go global but workers remain local; – the firm as a social construction; – the continuing necessity for collective bargaining; – concealment of the employment relationship under the guise of self-employment; – concealment of the real employer behind figureheads and shell companies; – social welfare effects of outsourcing; – the company’s interaction with the network of suppliers and with local education processes; – determining who actually carries responsibility towards workers; – overcoming companies’ drive to enter the global market in response to national regulation; – realizing the notion of ‘duty of care’; – mechanisms of participation of workers in the management of the enterprise; and – the persistent limitations that women face in the workplace, even when worker participation is advocated. With attention to innovative developments in Germany, Italy, Japan, and other countries, analyses include case studies of specific companies as well as case law, in particular the European Court of Justice’s jurisprudence in matters of collective dismissals, seconded workers, and public contracts. In their head-on tackling of the fragmentation and blurring of social responsibility in enterprise organization, these important essays propose a view of the enterprise as a factor in a new ‘constitutionalisation’ of labour that shifts employment protection from single legal entities to the network’s economic activity, thus realigning the legal boundaries of the enterprise with its economic reality. As a compelling investigation of how a satisfactory implementation of labour standards in the fragmented enterprise can be guaranteed, this book will be studied by entrepreneurs, managers, consultants, corporate lawyers, judges, human rights experts, and trade unionists, and will be welcomed by academics and researchers in industrial relations and labour law.
This book explores how power operates in workplace settings at local, national and transnational levels. It argues that how people are valued in and out of work is a political dynamic, which reflects and shapes how societies treat their citizens. Offering vital resources for activists and students on labour rights, employment issues and trade unions, this book argues that the influence workers can exert is changing dramatically and future challenges for change can be positive and progressive.
