bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
What Drives Financial Innovation in the Insurance Industry?
Authors: LASTER DAVID , RATURI MAYANK
Published: February 2008

This article describes the forces that drive financial innovation in the insurance industry, as it relates to the convergence between insurance and capital markets. The authors base their analysis on general principles of supply and demand underlying financial intermediation and innovation, e.g., regulation and taxation. They also provide practical examples from both the capital and insurance markets. Finally, the article addresses the costs and benefits of capital markets‐based insurance solutions and inherent challenges to future innovation.
Market Value of Insurance Contracts with Profit Sharing
Authors: BOUWKNEGT PIETER , PELSSER ANTOON
Published: February 2008

The valuation of insurance contracts using a market value (i.e., fair value) approach has recently attracted considerable interest. The authors illustrate how to determine the market value of a with‐profits insurance policy, e.g., a variable annuity or other insurance policy with a profit‐sharing provision. The method is based on finding comparables, i.e., a set of financial instruments that closely replicate the cash flows of the policy.
An Introduction to Credit Derivatives
Authors: DUFEY GUNTER , REHM FLORIAN
Published: February 2008

The authors provide the reader with a simple introduction to credit derivatives. The article includes a broad overview of the market, estimates of the global market size, and a description of the most widely used products.
Dimension Reduction in the Computation of Value‐at‐Risk
Authors: ALBANESE CLAUDIO , JACKSON KEN , WIBERG PETTER
Published: February 2008

Regulators require banks to employ value‐at‐risk (VaR) to estimate the exposure of their trading portfolios to market risk, in order to establish capital requirements. However, portfolio‐level VaR analysis is a high‐dimensional problem and hence computationally intensive. This article presents two new portfolio‐based approaches to reducing the dimensionality of the VaR analysis.
Insuring California Earthquakes and the Role for Catastrophe Bonds
Authors: PENALVA ZUASTI JOSE S.
Published: February 2008

This article examines the economic impact of a major California earthquake, by focusing on the catastrophic damage to residential real estate. It asserts that the damage, although substantial, would be small relative to the U.S. GNP. The author also asserts that the risk can be optimally allocated through reasonably priced insurance contracts and well‐functioning insurance derivative markets.
Have Financial Markets Learned from Past Crises? (Part II)
Authors: TILMAN LEO M. , RAJADHYAKSHA AJAY
Published: February 2008

This second installment of commentary regarding recent financial crises discusses market dislocations over the past year (the first installment focused on market conditions surrounding September 11, 2001). The authors describe the events, and the fundamental and technical forces, that contribute to the current conditions of illiquidity and increased equity, credit, interest rate, and spread volatility. They suggest that in the current environment, more prudent leverage of market participants has mitigated the contagion effects observed in 1998.
Industrial Structure and Labour Turnover
Authors: Holden K. , Peel D.A.
Published: February 2008

This study is concerned with the relationship between industrial structure and labour turnover. In particular, the question considered is whether there is any relationship between the degree of competitiveness in an industry, as measured by the concentration ratio, and the number of quits, here defined as the number of voluntary and involuntary discharges per 100 employees.
Managing the Manpower Aspects of Applying Micro‐Electronics Technology
Authors: Thornton P. , Routledge C.
Published: February 2008

The last decade has witnessed the appearance of a new form of information technology created by advances in the field of micro‐electronics. The microprocessor and its related devices are, in fact, only the latest of a series of technological developments based largely on earlier scientific discoveries made in solid state physics. The essence of the micro‐electronic “revolution” lies in the fact that it has made commercially available computers which are significantly smaller, cheaper and more reliable than their predecessors. In its package a microprocessor occupies about one‐five‐thousandths of the space occupied by a comparable central processing unit of a 1960 machine. A similar reduction in price and power consumption has also taken place. While the mean fail time is now measured in years rather than hours.
Sealife: The UK Merchant Shipping Industry's Manpower Development Programme —
Authors: Alexander Laidon , Sharpe Peter
Published: February 2008

Introduction Nearly six years ago British shipowners got together with the seafarers' unions and the government to launch a joint programme. They named it “Sealife”. Its aim was and is to help shipping companies to recruit and hold on to the ratings and officers they need to man their ships. It has turned out to be, at least, an interesting exercise in the consultative reform of an industry's manpower practices and it is far from finished.
Case Study: The Perkins Approach to Manpower Planning
Authors: Freemantle David
Published: February 2008

There appear to be many definitions of manpower planning. However, as far as Perkins is concerned, it is considered essential that the process of manpower planning is intimately related to the process of business planning.
Making Redundancy Redundant—or How to Save Jobs Without Really Trying
Authors: Dey Ian
Published: February 2008

“Making redundancy redundant” — this may seem a strange title for a contribution written as high interest rates threaten a further spate of bankruptcies, closures and redundancies. It is a sad commentary on the 1970s, however, that the new decade opens with the issue of redundancy dwarfed in significance by the overall prospect of deepening recession and worsening unemployment. The term “redundancy” first became fashionable as a way of describing labour made superfluous by the technological and market changes sustaining the slow but reasonably steady economic growth of the post‐war years. The term expressed a distinction between job losses and unemployment — between the sack and the dole queue — whose practical and ideological significance was rooted in economic growth and the associated high levels of employment. These conditions no longer pertain. Though the term itself may survive the conditions which gave it currency, it can be expected, as job losses lead more inexorably to the dole queue, to lose its peculiar resonance and acquire a less distinctive — if altogether more menacing — meaning. Redundancy may go out of fashion. It seems unlikely, for example, that the 1980s will produce a crop of redundancy studies comparable to those of the last two decades. At least in this — superficial — sense, redundancy may become redundant as a subject of academic enquiry or public debate.
Technological Change and Manpower: an Historical Perspective
Authors: Musson A.E.
Published: February 2008

In this article, I wish to make some general historical observations on the effects of technological change upon manpower; not only the immediate labour‐saving effects, but also the longer‐term consequences on the demand for labour and the structure of employment. And I shall illustrate these points with some particular, though brief, references to the engineering and printing industries, in which I have had research interests. In general I am inclined to take a more optimistic view than that presented by many socio‐economic historians, who, from Marx and Engels onwards, have tended to associate industrial mechanisation with capitalist exploitation and human degradation.
Management Requirements for Successful Change
Authors: Swords‐lsherwood Nuaia
Published: February 2008

Introduction The theme of this article is change, and the central concern here is to analyse the role and discuss the competence of British managers in handling industrial changes. Most of the observations are based on work undertaken at the Science Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex for the Engineering Industry Training Board. This work, which has been going on for many years, was, in its early stages, primarily concerned with monitoring the impact of new technologies on employment patterns in various sectors of the industry. Later, this monitoring work was supplemented by the analysis of management decision‐making and competitive success within particular sectors of the industry. This article discusses our monitoring of numerically controlled machine tools and the role of management in their adoption. The differences between British managers and their international competitors are analysed with particular reference to their educational background.
Large Firms — Small Firms: Employment in the 1980s
Authors: Wright B.S.
Published: February 2008

The average small firm must be bewildered and probably cynical about recent events. After years of neglect suddenly everyone loves them. Both political parties and now large firms are anxious to help, and the number of study groups and research projects seems to multiply every week.
Part‐time Workers and the Firm
Authors: Mallier A.T. , Rosser M.J.
Published: February 2008

Introduction One group of employees who probably have a tarnished image with management are part‐time women workers. The mention of “part‐timers” often brings forth images of unpredictable schoolgirls working on a Saturday in local stores, or conjures up memories of those full employment days when as a last resort it became necessary on occasions to employ women who would not conform and work normal hours. These employment myths of yesteryear are usually unrealistic and such images are now totally unrepresentative.
Cyclical, Non‐Cyclical and Hidden Unemployment in Canada
Authors: Siedule Tom , Newton Keith
Published: February 2008

This article describes, in non‐technical language, the results of recent research concerning the behaviour of some major components of unemployment. While the analysis is based on Canadian data it is felt that since high unemployment rates, controversy about their causes, and uncertainty about appropriate policy responses, are all common to a number of countries, our results may be of interest to a wider audience. Indeed, in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany unemployment rates in the 1970s appear to have been higher, on average, than those that prevailed in the preceding decade. There seems little doubt that sluggish growth in recent years has contributed significantly to high unemployment rates, but a variety of other causal factors have also been suggested.
Labour Shortages: some Limitations of Evidence from the Documented Labour Market
Authors: Adnett N.J. , Golby J.D. , Taylor P.D.
Published: February 2008

The levels of unemployment experienced in the last decade have served to concentrate attention on the operation of the labour market. A major concern of recent assessments of the British labour market has been the apparent persistence of labour shortages, particularly skill shortages. An additional concern has been the need to improve labour market information, particularly at the local labour market level. This article seeks to assess the appropriateness of this emphasis by analysing the meaning and performance of the various measures of pressure of demand available for local labour markets at the occupational level. The conclusion of the analysis is that all the commonly used indicators of the pressure of demand have severe theoretical and practical weaknesses and that extreme care needs to be taken in the use of published labour market data. Furthermore, knowledge is needed concerning the interrelationships between the documented and non‐documented labour markets.
“Psyching Out” the Internal Labour Market to Help Improve Job or Career Choice
Authors: Cassell Frank H. , Cassell Elizabeth
Published: February 2008

In a perfectly operating labour market, one of perfect competition and information and unfettered labour mobility, labour flows in the direction of the highest price employers are willing to pay; as labour becomes scarce in the sending area and plentiful in the receiving area, the price of that labour, wages, tend to equalise.
Comparing Work Organisations and Manpower Training Cross‐Culturally
Authors: Sorge Arndt , Warner Malcolm
Published: February 2008

The international comparison of organisations in near‐identical situations with regard to size, technology, the task environment, dependence and location suggests itself as the most appropriate opportunity to test the “null hypothesis” of the cultural influence on organisation structures for the purposes of this study. The overall design of the project is based on earlier French research work, which had initiated cross‐national comparisons in the early 1970s. This article specifically focuses on British‐German comparisons.
Humanising the Workplace as Squaring the Circle
Authors: Macarov D.
Published: February 2008

People spend, and have always spent, such a large part of their time at work that it is no wonder they constantly seek ways to make that portion of their lives more comfortable. Improvements in work methods and work conditions in pre‐industrial society were almost always motivated more by concern for personal situations than by desire for greater production. Indeed, in the pre‐industrial world surplus products had little value. Without roads, storage facilities, and a market economy, enough to feed one's family and a small amount for barter sufficed. The fact that there were more than a hundred holidays a year, first provided by the Church and later by the secular authorities, to take up the slack in the farmers' time is evidence of the lack of need for greater production. The move from people power to horsepower (in the original sense), for example, was probably motivated more by the desire to reduce the crushing burden of hard physical labour on the farmer and his family than to increase production. When the Israelites in ancient Egypt complained about the lack of straw for brickmaking, they were not concerned about production as such, but rather the punishment imposed for not meeting production quotas. Mendelssohn holds that the building of the later pyramids had no goal other than that of providing employment, and that contrary to the popular belief that slaves built the pyramids under duress, the Egyptians did the work willingly as a tribute to the Pharoahs and the gods. Later, the sporadic revolts of Greek and Roman galley slaves were as much protests about the work they were compelled to do, and the conditions, than against their servitude, which was more or less accepted in those days. The reforms of Diocletian, in the third century, which required sons to continue in their fathers' occupations, were made necessary by the growing practice among young people of seeking easier work. The desire to avoid work, or not to work hard, is further evidenced by the numerous exhortations on the part of rulers, moralists, prophets and priests that people should work hard; the fables, such as that of the grasshopper and the ant; proverbs, like “Look to the ant, thou sluggard”; and even modern epigrams, like “Nobody ever died of hard work”. All of these indicate a societal need to spur people on — a need which would not exist if people enjoyed their work.
Determinants of Female Labour Force Participation in the Host Country—
Authors: Akhtar S.
Published: February 2008

Though female labour force participation (FLFP) rates have been widely analysed across countries, the analysis of migrant women's participation has been consistently ignored in the literature. The few studies that have been conducted concentrate largely on sociological and anthropological aspects of migrant women (see Foner (1976)). This article will investigate immigrant FLFP rates, which are generally found to be different from their counterparts in the immigrants' country of origin. To evaluate the immigrant FLFP rate we analyse and quantify the nature and significance of its various demographic, socio‐economic and cultural determinants.
Industry Accident Rates:
Authors: Beaumont P.B.
Published: February 2008

During the 1970s a number of countries, notably Britain, the United States, Sweden and West Germany, passed important new legislation in the area of workplace health and safety. One consequence of such legislation has been a substantial upsurge of research interest, on the part of both economists and behavioural scientists, in the area of workplace health and safety in the various countries concerned. As this body of research accumulates we are beginning to see the emergence of a number of findings common to various countries. In the case of industrial accidents, for example, it is now reasonably well established that (i) the high (low) accident rate industries in one year are the high (low) accident rate industries in other years; (ii) the overall accident rate bears a positive relationship to movements in the business cycle; (iii) the unionised section of the workforce is disproportionately employed in the high accident rate industries; and (iv) employees in the high accident rate industries receive at least some measure of wage compensation for bearing this above average risk.
Productivity and Pay: A Survey of Workers' Perceptions
Authors: Rives J.M. , West J.M. , Krenk C.G.
Published: February 2008

Introduction Recent declines in the rate of productivity growth in America have drawn attention to the links among productivity, unit labour costs, inflation, and living standards. Economists have focused on the causes of declining productivity growth and have identified such factors as slowdowns in capital formation, decreased spending on research and development, increased government regulation, and changes in the economy's output mix and labour force composition. McConnell has suggested alternative sources of the “productivity problem”: blem”:
A Manpower Planning Model for Small Groups
Authors: Davies Richard L , Howard Keith
Published: February 2008

Introduction A number of authors have commented on the failure of manpower planning to realise the high expectations originally held of its value to organisations. This has been generally true in British local government although there are exceptions as shown by the IMS study undertaken at West Sussex County Council. The need for effective utilisation of local government manpower is paramount, since up to 70 per cent of councils' expenditure can be manpower related. Furthermore a high proportion of work is service orientated (teachers, social workers, etc.) with only limited scope for a reduction in staffing levels through productivity schemes or the adoption of new technology.
Workforce in Transition: Australian Eperiences
Authors: Jamrozic Adam , Hoey Marilyn
Published: February 2008

This monograph is an attempt to examine some of the changes which have occurred in the structure of the workforce in Australia during the 1970s. The study has the form of exploratory analysis of data extracted from official labour market statistics, and its aims are to consider three broad issues: the significance changes in the labour market may have for Australian society, and particularly for the people who constitute the workforce, actual or potential; the implications of those changes for social policy; and the appropriate research methods of identifying social and social welfare issues in economic activities.
Data for Unemployment Analysis
Authors: Hannah S.P.
Published: February 2008

During the late 1960s Britain still enjoyed unemployment rates of little over 2 per cent. The rise to over 4 per cent by early 1972 was certainly considered to be unacceptable by post‐war “Keynesian” standards and the infamous “Barber Boom” brought the unemployment rate down to “normal” levels by the end of 1973. However, the oil crisis heralded in an almost continuous rise in unemployment to over 6 per cent by 1977. In two years' time Britain experienced yet another substantial rise in unemployment with the rate climbing to over 9 per cent by the end of 1980.
The Work Personality: A Neglected Element in Research
Authors: Macarov David
Published: February 2008

The search for increased productivity through increased or improved human labour has deep historical roots. In relatively recent times this search has included the scientific management school, the human relations school, and the structuralist school. In the thousands of studies which constitute the field of work satisfaction and/or work incentive research, however, that factor which Neff terms the “work personality” remains underemphasised. Despite some scattered references to mediating variables arising from individual or idiosyncratic differences; and despite a few studies which attempt to correlate work patterns with personality attributes, such as anxiety, authoritarianism, and others, there are very few studies which take into account the effects of relatively stable work personalities, and even fewer which address the question as to how these differences in work responses arise and develop. Yet the effect of basic, rooted, enduring attitudes toward work may influence differential reactions to various intended and purported work incentives, and may outweigh them in total consequences. An understanding of work personalities and the factors which form them can therefore be of importance in attempts to understand work patterns and to influence them.
Differences in Strike Activity between Countries
Authors: Creigh S.W. , Donaldson N.M.C. , Hawthorn E.
Published: February 2008

In this review it is intended firstly to set out the available statistical evidence on differences in the level and character of work stoppages due to industrial disputes in developed market economies, and secondly to review the available literature on the reasons for such international differences.
How to Use Consultants
Authors: Kakabadse Andrew P.
Published: February 2008

The larger, or more complex, an organisation becomes, the more people utilise third parties. A third party is a person or group of people who assist the continued development of the organisation by helping to diagnose problem areas, generate new strategies, implement solutions and review the continuous process of change and development. Third parties are facilitators who develop activities that are not the responsibility of any full‐time employee. A third party is the additional member to supervisor/subordinate or colleague/colleague relationships. In fact, we are talking of client/consultant relationships.
Economic Development and the Labour Market in Iraq
Authors: Salih Mehdi Abbas , Robinson Olive
Published: February 2008

Iraq with a population of approximately 13 million in 1980 is one of the capital (oil) rich countries of the Arab region, and shares with them the objective of a fast pace of economic development. Such Arab states may be characterised by the existence of a large and expanding government sector, ambitious industrial development programmes and the pursuit of an increasing standard of welfare and income for their inhabitants. Since about 1970 Iraq's economy has been radically transformed and change is continuing. The demand for labour has grown commensurately with the successive national development plans of the decade. Meeting these increased labour requirements presents formidable tasks for policy makers and planners in Iraq as in other Arab countries.
Workers in Transition: The Social Reality Construction of Industrial Attitudes and Behaviour
Authors: Russell Kevin
Published: February 2008

This article reports the theoretical framework which has been developed as the first step of a research programmed designed to thoroughly explore the possibility that industrial attitudes and behaviour are socially developed and socially maintained constructs. The present article seeks to outline the beginnings of such an explanation and evaluate the implications of the model for industrial practice and worker behaviour problems.
Manpower Forecasting for Megaprojects: The Case of Energy Projects in Western Canada
Authors: Weiermair Klaus
Published: February 2008

Over the past decade, both federal and provincial Canadian governments have become actively interested and involved in manpower forecasting exercises. Initiatives by both the Economic Council of Canada and the Federal Department of Employment and Immigration were in large measure a response to the peculiarities of Canadian demographics which have shown great variabilities in the flow and composition of immigration, an explosive and provincially differentiated growth pattern in education, leading, e.g., to a tripling in the age specific participation rates of post‐secondary students and unexpected rates of expansion of the female labour force in the seventies. Since historically Canada's international competitiveness and export performance have had a strong influence on her pattern of growth and economic development, employment and manpower policies had to similarly concern themselves with the general pattern of economic development. During the post‐war period, Canada's economic development has been characterised by two major resource booms in the fifties and seventies associated with the opening up of frontiers in the west and northern (Arctic) parts of the country and involving gas, fuels and minerals and a minor boom associated with the expansion of manufacturing in the sixties. As distinct from Canada's third phase of industrialisation in the sixties which hardly posed problems of manpower shortages on account of easy availability of immigrants from central and western Europe and the then existing labour market conditions in Canada, major natural resource developments, particularly those in the recent past have, for a number of reasons, caused serious manpower problems. In the sixties, shifts in industrial employment could easily be absorbed since they involved little in the way of geographical mobility (almost all Canadian manufacturing is located along the Canada/US border in Ontario and Quebec) and only required marginal human investments in terms of retraining and upgrading of skills, all of which were furthermore evenly stretched over a boom period of 4 to 6 years. Resource booms are very different in this respect. Typically, they have been large in size, amounting to billions of dollars which had to be spent unevenly over fairly short periods of time (2 to 4 years) in specific, mainly remote locations of the country. They, furthermore, often only create demand for a few distinct industries such as steel, transportation equipment and above all construction.
Some Influences on the Operation of Joint Health and Safety Committees
Authors: Beaumont P.B. , Leopold J.W.
Published: February 2008

In recent years a major theme in the organisational development literature has been the need to produce improved models of the change process. A major source of the need for such improved models is the fact that, although pressures for change occur in both union and non‐union establishments, “OD has had little to say about the role of unions and the part they play in OD”. This particular deficiency in the organisational development literature assumes significant problem proportions when one notes the existence of some theoretical argument and empirical evidence which suggest that existing organisational change models are inherently incapable of capturing the dynamics of union‐management interactions. According to Kochan and Dyer the specific reasons for this inherent weakness are as follows:
The Effectiveness of a Participative Management System
Authors: Kenny Graham K.
Published: February 2008

While it is often claimed that participative management systems have a substantial effect upon employee perceptions and attitudes, and labour productivity, there has been little empirical research conducted on this issue. The purpose of this article is to describe the functioning of a company which changed to a participative management system and to examine the effectiveness of this change. Effectiveness is judged in terms of changes in employee perceptions and attitudes and in labour productivity.
Vocational‐Technical Training Initiatives in Economic Development, Employment and Labour Market Operations
Authors: Cassell Frank H. , Rodgers Ronald C.
Published: February 2008

Vocational and technical training have long been critical elements of skill development. An emerging realisation is that such training js an integral element of economic development of a nation, a region, a city, or a local community. In manpower terms, vocational‐technical training is the means for developing a competitive workforce that is continuously being restocked by renewing its skills and readying new entrants for competitive employment.
Unemployment Research and Policy in Canada and Australia
Authors: Newton Keith
Published: February 2008

Some superficial similarities between Australia and Canada are readily apparent: enormous countries, well endowed with resources, their relatively small populations derive in large part from European immigrants. As far as the structure and performance of their economies are concerned, both are relatively affluent, trade‐dependent countries with a long tradition of agricultural and extractive activity, a beleaguered manufacturing sector, anxieties about their abilities to exploit technological change and the most severe recession since the 1930s.
Manpower Planning in Backward Industries
Authors: Williams Alan
Published: February 2008

It is a common experience in manpower research as in other investigative enterprises that problems of the adequacy of information sources will emerge. Such problems are frequently multivariate in format and responsive to an appropriately designed and tested methodology.
Why Managers Succeed in the Public Sector: An Australian Study
Authors: Hawkless John , Lansbury Russell
Published: February 2008

Many areas of the public sector are establishing executive development schemes both to improve current management practices and to ensure the future supply of qualified seni or executives. The need for these schemes stems from many sources. Pressure on the public sector to be responsible and responsive to the people, together with financial constraints, is forcing the administration to seek greater efficiency in the management of personnel and the allocation of resources. The increasing complexity of society coupled with the Westminster principle of ministerial responsibility requires governments to ensure competency in the management of departments through which ministers must implement policies. Finally, the use of government administration as the cutting edge of social change in areas such as equal employment opportunity and working conditions all require an adaptable, innovative and flexible senior management.
Who Gains? A Case Analysis of Employee Ownership and Managerial Prerogatives
Authors: Kenny Graham K.
Published: February 2008

As any organisation chart illustrates, two essential features of organisations are formal authority and division of labour. “Formal authority” specifies those individuals and positions which have institutionalised power over others, while “division of labour” specifies those individuals and positions who are responsible for certain tasks in an organisation. In these respects organisations are a reflection of their environmental contexts of which class is a major feature (Clegg and Dunkerley, 1980). Broadly speaking what emerges in organisations are two classes of participants. One such class is represented by those who own the means of production (or capital) while the other such class is represented by those who own labour. This difference in capital ownership leads to disparities in the rights, powers and privileges—prerogatives—of the two classes (Clegg and Dunkerley, 1980). In practice, however, the capitalists are represented in organisations by “the management” who act as their agents. Thus the active participants in organisations become “management” and “labour” (Strauss and Rosenstein, 1970). Management with its power base grounded in its role as the owner's agent becomes the “elite” in the organisation.
Using Factor Analysis in the Design and Evaluation of a Manpower Management Information System
Authors: Abdel‐Aziz Sayed Hussein , Hassan Mahmoud M.M.
Published: February 2008

Within an organisation, the information system plays a vital role in the decision‐making process. There is a need to design and introduce a new Manpower Management Information System (MMIS) for the State Ministry of Manpower and Training (SMMT) as a primary step to help in the formulation of a policy for manpower in Egypt.
Participate, Damn You!
Authors: Weir Mary , Hughes Jim
Published: February 2008

Introduction Consider a hi‐fi loudspeaker manufacturing company acquired on the brink of insolvency by an American multinational. The new owners discover with growing concern that the product range is obsolete, that manufacturing facilities are totally inadequate and that there is a complete absence of any real management substance or structure. They decide on the need to relocate urgently so as to provide continuity of supply at the very high — a market about to shrink at a rate unprecedented in its history.
Shiftwork and Socio‐Economic Policy
Authors: Ingram A.H. , Sloane P.J.
Published: February 2008

It is often the case that policy makers are slow to adopt the results of economic analysis in their policy formulation. Shiftworking is one of those rare cases where policymakers have seized upon something as having particular significance which economists have on the whole neglected. Robin Marris published a seminal work, The Economics of Capital Utilisation, in 1964, but it was not until the later 1970s that further substantial work was undertaken by economists and shiftworking appears to be regarded as hardly worth a mention in the standard labour economics texts. This relative neglect by economists is surprising given the significance and growth of shiftworking in a number of countries. Where data are available it is estimated for instance that, as a rough approximation, the number of workers engaged on shiftwork doubled between 1950 and the mid‐1970s. For the UK one estimate is that between 1954 and 1964 the proportion of manual employees working shifts in manufacturing industry increased from 12 to 20 per cent, and that by 1978 the figure was 34 per cent (that is approximately 1.5 out of 4.27 million employees). Shiftworking has in fact reflected a conflict of goals for the policymakers. On the one hand in both the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the European Commission (EC) concern has been expressed at the possible harmful effects on workers of particular shiftworking patterns and proposals have been made to limit its incidence and control its form (this being particularly the case with nightwork and with the hours of women and young persons). On the other hand, concern with the growing problem of unemployment has led policymakers in other sections of these same bodies to propose an extension of shiftworking, as one particular form of work‐sharing, in order to generate jobs. The purpose of this paper is to examine the development of shiftworking for male manual workers in British manufacturing industry in order to cast some light on these issues. In particular supply equations are estimated in order to understand what factors lead workers to select this particular form of work and demand equations to determine the nature of the employer's demand for labour. These structural equations form the basis of a simultaneous system in which plant size (measured in terms of employment) is estimated as a function of shiftworking and a vector of other explanatory variables in order to determine whether in fact it is reasonable to conclude that an extension of shiftworking will generate additional jobs in Britain. Before presenting the regression results it is however necessary to examine in more detail these socio‐economic policy aspects of shiftwork, to clarify the theoretical framework and to discuss some of the problems of estimation which stem largely from data deficiencies, but also involve problems of simultaneity notably in the relationships between shiftworking, capital intensity and plant size.
Manpower Planning—Training Planning Co‐operation: A Suggested Model
Authors: Stokes P.M.
Published: February 2008

There is growing recognition of the need for those concerned with manpower planning and for those concerned with the planning of training to increase their efforts to work together. See, for example, Everard and Marsden, Nicholson, Radice, Seear, Shaw, Turnbull, Williams.
Towards Grounded Definitions of Work and Leisure
Authors: Banner David K. , Himelfarb Alex
Published: February 2008

One of the most broadly based and prolific literatures in the social sciences has been in the work and/or leisure area. Since the 1930s, researchers and theorists, based mainly in Western Europe and North America, have generated impressive amounts of empirical research and theories about the relationships have appeared regularly from this literature:
1. In Search of Job Security: The American Scene
Authors: Belous Richard S. , Mangum Stephen L.
Published: February 2008

The appearance of job security demands at the bargaining table is on the rise in the United States. Job security has increased relative to income security in the hierarchy of employee concerns. Management has, in several instances, responded to these concerns. This piece will outline the many reasons behind, and offer examples of, the increased emphasis on job security provisions. It will also detail some of the current roadblocks in this area.
3. Current Developments and Future in Union‐Management Co‐operation
Authors: Savoie Ernest J.
Published: February 2008

Education, training, retraining, and employee development have long been part of the American hope and the American dream. They have helped pave the road to middle class life, contributed to the productivity and efficiency of the firm and of the economy, proven of value in facilitating social and geographic mobility, improved the social and political fabric, promoted the welfare of groups and enhanced the quality of individual life.
Manpower Planning—What Trade Unions Can Do
Authors: Platt Sid
Published: February 2008

This article by Sid Platt and the following one by Christopher Cook were originally presented as papers at the 1985 Annual Conference of the Manpower Society which was held at the University of Birmingham in September 1985. Further information on the Manpower Society, which was founded in 1970, and membership details, are available from Mr W. Hancock, Administrative Officer, South Stoke, 20 Abbotswood, Guildford, Surrey GU1 1UX.
Socio‐Technical Intervention: From Inductive Strategy Planning to Implementation: Evaluation Study
Authors: Shelhav Moshe
Published: February 2008

Since 1975, the Kibbutz Industry Association (KIA) has been involved in the initiation of projects aiming to enhance the quality of working life (QWL) within kibbutz‐owned factories. The concept adopted was that of broad experimentation based upon socio‐technical intervention efforts. About 30 plants participated in various ways in this programme during the years 1975–77 (Phase I), and about 80 during the years 1978–84 (Phase II).
The Quality of Work Life Issue: The Corporation as the Next Political Frontier
Authors: Nirenberg John
Published: February 2008

In the West, society has been on an inexorable journey from autocracy to democracy. Though there have been dark ages and various regressions there seems to have been a fairly consistent move toward granting rights and entitlements to individuals which were once denied them or solely retained by a governing élite. The struggle for man's individual freedom to create the kind of life he so desires first freed him from the authority of bandits and feudal lords, then the authority of established churches, then from assorted tyrants, then from a secular governing elite. Now the struggle has shifted to the corporation where labour unions and others have been struggling to establish workers' rights and entitlements vis‐à‐vis the organisation. The owners and managers have become the latest in a long line of dominant ruling forces which retain vestiges of the feudal master's powers over the individuals in their realms — modern organisations.
Basic Needs and the Manpower Dilemma of Kuwait
Authors: Hosni Djehane A. , Al‐Qudsi Sulayman S.
Published: February 2008

The literature has more than exhausted the issue of growth versus basic needs. The conventional growth oriented strategies of the fifties and the sixties supported the “trickle‐down” argument whereby the masses are supposed to benefit indirectly from growth. Yet evidence has shown the effects to be very weak. It was in that context that attention shifted towards meeting the basic needs of the population. The growth proponents criticised the basic needs logic because it emphasises consumption and redistribution at the expense of production and investment. It therefore sacrifices future development for current welfare. The counter‐argument stresses that meeting the basic needs of the population brings about improvements in productivity and income. Many case studies have demonstrated that if the objectives of basic needs and income distribution are pursued rationally, economic growth is not at stake.
The Political Dimensions of QWL
Authors: Cherns Albert
Published: February 2008

It is a commonplace that all actions are, in some sense of the term, “political”. I shall not therefore, then, flog a dead horse and offer to prove by learned quotation and reference that QWL has a political dimension. Taking that as read, I shall discuss what I think I know about the politics of QWL and about QWL as politics under four headings:
Management Development for the New Work Culture
Authors: Harris Philip R.
Published: February 2008

Innovation is the act of introducing something new into the established order or way of thinking. It need not be limited to novel products or process alone, but can also apply to the way we view and act our roles. Those in international management have unique opportunities to exercise leadership and contribute to the larger cultural and social transition underway.
Labour Market Outlook in the Construction Industry
Authors: Alam Choudhury Masudul
Published: February 2008

Our main objective in this article is to discuss the problems of construction labour market stabilisation in the context of technological change. To study this topic the article is divided into two parts. In the first part there is an analysis of the existing features of the construction labour market in Canada and the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, in the light of economic stabilisation and technological change. In the second part an econometric model for the construction labour market in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador is developed and estimated. The statistical results are analysed in the light of achieving economic stabilisation with an equally capital‐labour augmenting type of technological change.
Market Structure and the Labour Process — The Process of Concentration of Control
Authors: Manders Andre
Published: February 2008

The debate about the labour process was, in the second half of the seventies, dominated by the question whether, under all circumstances, management was motivated by the objective of gaining total control over the entire production process and its constituent elements. More specifically the debate centred on whether control was an objective in itself or merely part of the strategy to maintain profits in the long run. Political, economic and technological influences were not sufficiently taken into consideration by the scientists who took part in this debate. Recently, since 1980, precisely the last mentioned elements were emphasised. It was shown that political, economic and technological developments exert a strong influence on managerial strategies. It was suggested that in theorising about the labour process it is necessary to take full account of business cycles, the progress of technology, developments in the labour and product market; and of the interrelationship between all these factors. In addition, researchers also studied managerial behaviour, managers' sub‐cultures and attitudes; managerial decision‐making processes; and workers' opposition.
The Impact of Unemployment: A Local Study
Authors: Barton C.A. , Cutler R. , Hodgson D.L. , Rowles K.J.
Published: February 2008

The period 1945 to 1970 was marked by the successful pursuit of full employment policies, due for the most part to the implementation of Keynesian demand‐management policies. This situation could be viewed as a reaction to the experience of the inter‐war years when unemployment remained persistently in excess of ten per cent.
Labour Time Reduction as an Instrument for Full Employment: a Revival from the Discussion of the 1930s
Authors: van der Linden J.T.J.M.
Published: February 2008

Several surveys show that since 1980 the Dutch economy has experienced its most severe postwar recession. Demand and output growth started to fall in 1980 and continued to do so till 1985 In 1984 unemployment reached a record level (about 17 per cent), and has fallen only very slowly since then. Another remarkable characteristic is the withdrawal from the labour force of women, young people and social security beneficiaries
The Obsolescence of Administration and the Administration of Obsolescence
Authors: Laufer Zmira
Published: February 2008

One of the known sources of anxiety in the professional workplace today is professional obsolescence, which has been defined as the “loss of once‐held knowledge and the failure to become familiar and knowledgeable about new knowledge in one's professional field”. However, the researchers who have dealt with this problem have come mainly from the technological professions, and have therefore tended to concentrate on the role of the professional within an industrial organisation. These investigators contend that obsolescence can have considerable influence on behaviour, such as causing professionals to leave their chosen field, or bringing about a drop in the level of their productivity and personal performance, or altering the course of their career.
Training of African Managers — Some Lessons from Evaluation
Authors: Youker Robert
Published: February 2008

A large amount of resources are spent each year on management training for Sub‐Saharan Africa. For example, in fiscal years 1984 and 1985, the World Bank alone committed an average of US$25 million per year for management training. The overall figure, combining all countries and donors, would be much higher. Worldwide, the Bank committed US$240 million for all types of training in 1985. These funds are used for fellowships, hardware, local training, study tours and expatriate experts. Training in the developing world is big business and the effectiveness of that training in improving organisational performance is important. The efficiency and effectiveness of management training is important for reasons beyond simple return on these large investments.
Management Development in Small and Medium‐sized Enterprises in Newfoundland and Labrador
Authors: Skipton Michael
Published: February 2008

Memorial University of Newfoundland, based in St. John's, is the single university in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Faculty of Business Administration is the largest concentration of resident business educational and management development expertise. In 1980, the Faculty established the Center for Management Development with the role to coordinate its non‐credit, continuing professional business educational and management training and development activities. The mandate of the Center is the development and delivery of continuing entrepreneurship and business management education programmes for the public, and for practising managers in business, government and other organisations in the province — it is to develop management in Newfoundland and Labrador. As part of the Faculty of Business Administration, the Center exists to provide management development offerings where they are most needed, and not solely on the basis of commercial profitability.