1,721,210 research outputs found
The more things change, the more things stay as they are!
No full textThis chapter offers insights into the genesis of How to Keep Your Research Projext on Track emphasising that research projects rarely go smoothly. It provides an introduction to the second edition highlighting how contributors were asked to provide their own insider accounts in the form of chapters and vignettes, offering revealing insights and highlighting their own lessons. These are written as if relaying a story to a friend in a coffee shop or pub, telling aspects of research as they actually are. The chapter offers an overview of the book highlighting how it is divided into four sections relating to different stages of the research process: ‘Getting started’, ‘Getting data’, ‘Getting it together’ and ‘Getting it finished’. Brief summaries of the key foci of 20 chapters and 16 vignettes are provided
Developing a contemporary approach to conceptualizing employee actions
No full textGriffith Business School, Dept of Employment Relations and Human ResourcesNo Full Tex
Who has Control in Teams without Teamworking?
No full textA central aspect of labour process theory is the recognition that management must institute controls over the workforce to maximize levels of labour output. Yet, these controls are never complete and employees maintain some ability to actively determine the level of engagement in their work. This article examines the manner in which control is manifest within teams in two different organizations. The article demonstrates that within these two case study organizations, teams develop differently, primarily due to the processes in which the atypical team is engaged. The different processes result in the atypical team having a greater level of control over its members' primary processes and, in addition, greater control over what they do when not engaged in their primary task.No Full Tex
Equity in the twenty-first century
No full textIssues of equity and inequity have always been part of employment relations\ud
and are a fundamental part of the industrial landscape. For example,\ud
in most countries in the nineteenth century and a large part of the twentieth\ud
century women and members of ethnic groups (often a minority in\ud
the workforce) were barred from certain occupations, industries or work\ud
locations, and received less pay than the dominant male ethnic group for\ud
the same work. In recent decades attention has been focused on issues of\ud
equity between groups, predominantly women and different ethnic groups\ud
in the workforce. This has been embodied in industrial legislation, for\ud
example in equal pay for women and men, and frequently in specific equity\ud
legislation. In this way a whole new area of law and associated workplace\ud
practice has developed in many countries.\ud
Historically, employment relations and industrial relations research has\ud
not examined employment issues disaggregated by gender or ethnic group.\ud
Born out of concern with conflict and regulation at the workplace, studies\ud
tended to concentrate on white, male, unionized workers in manufacturing\ud
and heavy industry (Ackers, 2002, p. 4). The influential systems model\ud
crafted by Dunlop (1958) gave rise to\ud
The discipline’s preoccupation with the ‘problem of order’ [which] ensures the\ud
invisibility of women, not only because women have generally been less successful\ud
in mobilizing around their own needs and discontents, but more profoundly\ud
because this approach identifies the employment relationship as the ultimate\ud
source of power and conflict at work (Forrest, 1993, p. 410).\ud
While ‘the system approach does not deliberately exclude gender . . .\ud
by reproducing a very narrow research approach and understanding\ud
of issues of relevance for the research, gender is in general excluded or\ud
looked on as something of peripheral interest’ (Hansen, 2002, p. 198).\ud
However, long-lived\ud
patterns of gender segregation in occupations and\ud
industries, together with discriminatory access to work and social views\ud
about women and ethnic groups in the paid workforce, mean that the employment experience of women and ethnic groups is frequently quite\ud
different to that of men in the dominant ethnic group. Since the 1980s,\ud
research into women and employment has figured in the employment relations\ud
literature, but it is often relegated to a separate category in specific\ud
articles or book chapters, with women implicitly or explicitly seen as the\ud
atypical or exceptional worker (Hansen, 2002; Wajcman, 2000). The same\ud
conclusion can be reached for other groups with different labour force patterns\ud
and employment outcomes.\ud
This chapter proposes that awareness of equity issues is central to\ud
employment relations. Like industrial relations legislation and approaches,\ud
each country will have a unique set of equity policies and legislation,\ud
reflecting their history and culture. Yet while most books on employment\ud
and industrial relations deal with issues of equity in a separate chapter\ud
(most commonly on equity for women or more recently on ‘diversity’), the\ud
reality in the workplace is that all types of legislation and policies which\ud
impact on the wages and working conditions interact, and their impact\ud
cannot be disentangled one from another.\ud
When discussing equity in workplaces in the twenty-first\ud
century we are\ud
now faced with a plethora of different terms in English. Terms used include\ud
discrimination, equity, equal opportunity, affirmative action and diversity\ud
with all its variants (workplace diversity, managing diversity, and so on).\ud
There is a lack of agreed definitions, particularly when the terms are used\ud
outside of a legislative context. This ‘shifting linguistic terrain’ (Kennedy-Dubourdieu,\ud
2006b, p. 3) varies from country to country and changes\ud
over time even within the one country. There is frequently a division made\ud
between equity and its related concepts and the range of expressions using\ud
the term ‘diversity’ (Wilson and Iles, 1999; Thomas and Ely, 1996). These\ud
present dilemmas for practitioners and researchers due to the amount and\ud
range of ideas prevalent – and the breadth of issues that are covered when\ud
we say ‘equity and diversity in employment’. To add to these dilemmas,\ud
the literature on equity and diversity has become bifurcated: the literature\ud
on workplace diversity/management diversity appears largely in the business\ud
literature while that on equity in employment appears frequently in\ud
legal and industrial relations journals.\ud
Workplaces of the twenty-first\ud
century differ from those of the nineteenth\ud
and twentieth century not only in the way they deal with individual\ud
and group differences but also in the way they interpret what are fair and\ud
equitable outcomes for different individuals and groups. These variations\ud
are the result of a range of social conditions, legislation and workplace\ud
constraints that have influenced the development of employment equity\ud
and the management of diversity. Attempts to achieve employment equity\ud
have primarily been dealt with through legislative means, and in the last fifty years this legislation has included elements of anti-discrimination,\ud
affirmative action, and equal employment opportunity in virtually all\ud
OECD countries (Mor Barak, 2005, pp. 17–52). Established on human\ud
rights and social justice principles, this legislation is based on the premise\ud
that systemic discrimination has and/or continues to exist in the labour\ud
force and particular groups of citizens have less advantageous employment\ud
outcomes. It is based on group identity, and employment equity\ud
programmes in general apply across all workplaces and are mandatory.\ud
The more recent notions of diversity in the workplace are based on ideas\ud
coming principally from the USA in the 1980s which have spread widely in\ud
the Western world since the 1990s. Broadly speaking, diversity ideas focus\ud
on individual differences either on their own or in concert with the idea of\ud
group differences. The diversity literature is based on a business case: that\ud
is diversity is profitable in a variety of ways for business, and generally\ud
lacks a social justice or human rights justification (Burgess et al., 2009,\ud
pp. 81–2). Managing diversity is represented at the organizational level as\ud
a voluntary and local programme.\ud
This chapter discusses some major models and theories for equity and\ud
diversity. It begins by charting the history of ideas about equity in employment\ud
and then briefly discusses what is meant by equality and equity. The\ud
chapter then analyses the major debates about the ways in which equity\ud
can be achieved. The more recent ideas about diversity are then discussed,\ud
including the history of these ideas and the principles which guide this\ud
concept. The following section discusses both major frameworks of equity\ud
and diversity. The chapter then raises some ways in which insights from\ud
the equity and diversity literature can inform employment relations.\ud
Finally, the future of equity and diversity ideas is discussed
Scratching the Shiny Surface of New Workplaces: A Note on Methodology
No full textWhen organisations invest in new plants there is commonly a commitment to managerially constructed workplace cultures. This makes the investigating of employee resistance in new worksites more complicated. This article explores the processes of an ethnographic research project that aimed to uncover employee resistance in a greenfield worksite. Performing ethnography allowed the researcher to 'scratch below' the shiny surface of the new workplace to uncover interesting patterns of resistance and cooperation in this workplace.No Full Tex
The role of line managers in the implementation of digitalization
Full text linkMany organizations are in a process of digitalizing their businesses. This is not a one-time-exercise but can be perceived as a disruptive process by many organizational stakeholders. The objective of this chapter is to socially construct the implementation process of digitalization in organizations and distinguish the role of line managers in the process. Based on an explorative inductive qualitative research design in 36 MNEs, we distinguished between five phases in the implementation process of digitalization: resistance, experimentation, conviction, reorganization, and routinization. In each of these phases, line managers play a different role in each of these phases and thus are in a position to help or hinder the digitalization process. They do so as outside observer, playmate, ambassador, inspirator, and conductor. The chapter highlights how line managers help employees to socially construct the implementation process of digitalization by encouraging, supporting, training, translating, guiding and communicating the change process towards digitalization. In the implications we discuss the dynamic nature of the implementation process in which organizations do not follow a sequential route but choose their own speed and time frame to implement digitalization
Recruitment, training and turnover: another call centre paradox
No full textPurpose - There appear to be many paradoxes within the management of the growing call centre sector. The purpose of this paper is to consider one of these paradoxes, the extensive recruitment and training regimes in workplaces that are faced with very high levels of turnover. Design/methodology/approach - This research is of a single worksite, a call centre of a public utilities company. The research method was non-participant observation over a seven-month period coupled with ten interviews with key personnel. Findings - It was found that the organisation was able to offset the costs of training and recruitment through internal transfers within the larger organisation. Research limitations/implications - It is a single site study, hence, while of substantial depth the findings are not generalisable. More broad based research is required in the area. Practical implications - A useful source of information for practitioners in call centres, as well as researchers in the area of recruitment, training and call centres. Originality/value - This paper provides a valuable insight into an area of call centres that has not been adequately investigated; that of recruitment and training employees for emotional labour.No Full Tex
A story about being engaged in research : buzzing bees, small business and Australian unfair dismissal laws
Full text linkProtection for employees from unfair dismissal (UFD) has been around in Australia under various guises for 30 years or so (Chapman, 2006). Labour standards, and particularly ILO Convention 158 (Convention Concerning Termination of Employment at the Initiative of the Employer 1982), underpin the adoption of a particular form of federal statutory UFD regime which first appeared in the 1993 reforms to the Industrial Relations Act 1998 (Commonwealth). Its existence, however, has not been uncontroversial, and the meaning, operation, scope and remedies have attracted attention over time. In fact, the first reforms to the federal UFD regime were undertaken under the Keating Labor government three months after they were enacted (Chapman, ibid.). Further reforms were made by the incoming Howard Liberal-national coalition government through the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (Commonwealth) (WRA), and arguably these reforms continued down the ‘contraction’ path (ibid.)
Transition to practitioner: redesigning a third year course for undergraduate business students
No full textGriffith Business School, Dept of Employment Relations and Human ResourcesNo Full Tex
Using legal research methods in human resource management research
No full textThis chapter considers the contribution that legal research methods may make to better understand systems at work – particularly human resource systems and their impact on employees. Human resource management (HRM) strategies and choices are bounded and, in many instances, constrained by the regulatory framework for HRM (Barry, 2010). “Regulation” is a broad interdisciplinary phenomenon (see Morgan and Yeung, 2007, pp. 1–7) but in many domains, including HRM, law plays a prominent part in shaping business decisions and processes. For present purposes “law” may simply be defined as “those rules which will be recognised and enforced by the courts” (Chisholm and Nettheim, 2007, p. 11). In Australia there are two sources of law: legislation and common law. Legislation (also called “statutes”) comprises legal rules that are directly enacted by a legislature. In the Australian constitutional systems, the legislature is parliament and a legislative enactment is referred to as an “Act of Parliament”. Legislation may also be created by office holders or bodies to whom the parliament delegates law making power: for example, a minister may make “regulations”, which must be approved by the governor-general or governor. This latter form of legislation is usually called “subordinate legislation”
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