bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Retirement Policy Formulation: A Systems Perspective
Authors: Walker James W. , Price Karl F.
Published: March 2008

Retirement: is it the ‘golden years’ or is it relegation to the ‘human scrapheap’? In reality, it may be either, depending on a multitude of factors interrelated in a complex process. This paper presents a model that describes this process and explains the retirement decision in behavioural terms. The model also shows the interaction between environmental, institutional and individual variables; their impact on retirement; and the impact of retirement upon them.
‘Supportive Participation’: Formal Approaches to Worker—Staff Partnership
Authors: Dar‐El Ezey M. , Young Lawrence F.
Published: March 2008

‘Supportive Participation’ is a term used to describe a formal role for workers in all phases of the decision‐making process except the final ‘vote’, on activities that affect their immediate work environment. These include problem origination as well as the generation of alternatives, activities which necessitate an active partnership between workers and staff. Final decisions for action are left to management. A typology of ‘participation’ is developed — these include seven factors which are grouped under ‘Category’ and ‘Extent’ dimensions. The paper reviews past examples of Supportive Participation, which include the programmes: Work Simplification, the Japanese ‘Quality Circles’ and the Scanlon Plan. Supportive Participation is directed towards jointly raising productivity and the ‘quality of working life’ and some proposals for new ways to apply the approach more effectively are presented.
Participation and Perceptions of Control
Authors: Richbell Suzanne
Published: March 2008

Many managements have responded to the problem of decreasing control in the work situation by implementing participative schemes. Such schemes involve a change from the more traditional confrontation or pure conflict process of bargaining to an approach based on joint problem‐solving and the enhancement of common interest. In the terminology of Walton and McKersie, there is a move from ‘distributive’ to ‘integrative’ bargaining. This paper is concerned with the fact that, in many cases, the approach to participation has tended to ignore the pluralistic nature of organizations. Often, the problem of loss of control in organizations is seen in global terms and the considered solution is deemed to lie in some generalized form of participation.
Long Term Manpower Forecasting in the Zambian Mining Industry
Authors: Blom A.J. , Knights A.J.
Published: March 2008

A simulation model is described which assists manpower planning management to evaluate the long term effects of recruitment/training policies in respect of future localisation of the Zambian mining industry. The paper includes a description of some of the model's practical applications together with details of a worked example. Detailed mathematical formulations are excluded, the emphasis being on the choice of simulation as a technique for manpower forecasting.
Redundancy: A Psychological Problem?
Authors: Hartley Jean , Cooper Cary L.
Published: March 2008

The number of rendundancies is growing at a steadily increasing rate. Although a great deal has been written about it in the popular press, not enough systematic work has been done to assess the impact of this phenomenon on the psychological state of the redundant worker, his family and the wider community. It was felt, therefore, that it might be useful here to review what is available, to help chart the direction of future work in this very important and currently relevant area.
The Human Factor in Small Business Computer Systems: A Design Method
Authors: Podger David
Published: March 2008

Small business is seen by many developing countries as an important means by which they will advance. In Papua New Guinea, small business development has high priority and is vigorously pursued by agencies of the central government. Lack of management and accounting expertise amongst national entrepreneurs has required these agencies to seek new ways of supporting their enterprises. In the more developed countries, small business has been turning to computer use more and more during the seventies and computer systems were investigated in Papua New Guinea to see whether they could be applied to this problem of lack of expertise. The experiences of existing expatriate commercial computer users in the early seventies, however, were discouraging and computer methods were not applied to the problem. Beginning at this time, the author researched the possible reasons for these experiences with a view to defining acceptable performance criteria for a new system which would meet the needs of Papua New Guinean small businessmen generally. As the research progressed it became clear that the major problem was not so much technical as one lying in the area of man‐machine communication.
Trade Unions for Managers?
Authors: Bamber Greg
Published: March 2008

In this paper analysis is made of an important development in British industrial relations; the extension of collective bargaining to include managerial level employees. The questions posed include those such as: Why are managers increasingly joining unions? What kind of union are they attracted to? How do managers behave as trade unionists and how do employers react to the development of managerial unionism on their virgin territory? In suggesting answers to such topical questions, it is argued that although some existing unions are becoming more ambitious in recruitment, managers themselves are now interested in organizing collectively to defend their employment status and declining pay differentials. It is noted that George Bain's explanation of white collar union growth is also applicable to the development of managerial unionization, and that managers' unionism is spreading from the public to the private sector, although managers may, however, have reservations about some manifestations of aggressive trade unionism. But, despite their prevailing attitudes, managers can be militant themselves and may offer a more profound challenge to employers' prerogatives than more traditional unions. It is concluded that employers may try to undermine incipient managers' unions but that in the long term these attempts are doomed to failure not least because they will be countered by public policy.
Negotiating Skills Training and Industrial Relations Development
Authors: Knibbs John R.
Published: March 2008

The last 15 years have seen an upsurge of writings, research and debate in the field of industrial relations. Allan Flanders in the early 1960s, the Royal Commission on Trade Unions in the late 1960s, the Training Boards and the Commission on Industrial Relations in the 1970s, have all emphasized the need for increased industrial relations training. In this paper it is intended to consider only one aspect of this training — the development of negotiating skills. The paper will be concerned with the elements that go to make up negotiating skills, the methods of training, and thereafter look at the limitations of these methods, based as they are on ‘manager development’, as opposed to developing more effective industrial relations policies — that is, ‘industrial relations development’.
Performance Appraisal: An Open or Shut Case?
Authors: Walker James , Fletcher Clive , Williams Richard , Taylor Keith
Published: March 2008

Over recent years there has been a move towards more open appraisal, with the individual appraised being shown the written assessment of him, but there is little evidence to indicate what effects this change in practice may have had on the value of the appraisals. The survey of appraisal schemes in private and public sector organizations reported in this paper attempts to gauge the influence of greater openness on the standards of written appraisals and on the amount of reliance organizations place upon them in deciding such matters as promotion.
Industrial Democracy and Organizational Change
Authors: Eccles A.J.
Published: March 2008

There is a widespread belief that the choices before the Bullock Committee on Industrial Democracy pose a threat to managements, whilst they signal a major benefit to trade unionists. It is the purpose of this paper to demonstrate that the introduction of worker directors poses more problems for unions than for managements and that the union movement may be handed a poisoned chalice. The irony is that the chalice is not a malicious offering by sly capitalists but just what the union movement asked for when pressing for Government action on industrial democracy.
Notes on Some Impediments to the Implementation of Social Science Research Findings
Authors: Gowler Dan , Legge Karen
Published: March 2008

Diffusion channels, after all, consist of people. If there is no one in an organization with an understanding of mathematics, then information available only in mathematical terms is unavailable information. For this, among other reasons, many organizations employ mathematicians, as they employ physicists, chemists and engineers in a development role. Their effective use requires a good deal of organizational sophistication and tolerance of ambiguity.
A Job Satisfaction Study in HM Customs and Excise: A Participative Approach to Research Management and A Contingency Approach to Research Design
Authors: Exley Margaret
Published: March 2008

In recent years there has been a growing tendency for researchers and consultants in the field of job satisfaction to push for particular approaches to, and techniques for, diagnosis and problem‐solving. In particular there has been a move away from the approach adopted by Herzberg and Maslow, where the researcher attempts to define and measure the precise nature and components of job satisfaction for a passive group of subjects. This has been somewhat superseded by the action research/interventionist approach where the researcher works directly with the group concerned, encouraging them to define and move towards their own strategy for change.
Worker Participation and Plant‐wide Incentive Systems
Authors: Marchington M.P.
Published: March 2008

Worker participation in management remains a subject of much interest, particularly as legislation may well be expected in the near future. With most of the literature and the participative systems in operation, the understanding of the subject is severely limited by a concentration on providing opportunities for the individual to participate without considering how he may be rewarded for so doing. Since participation is expected to increase efficiency, the distribution of increased rewards is clearly very important to the individual. This paper considers one particular plant‐wide incentive system as a possible adjunct to worker participation. The system is described and then assessed. Despite several drawbacks, the final conclusion is that such schemes are worthy of reconsideration since they are more congruent with employee involvement than more traditional systems.
Is Redundancy a Social Problem? A Comment
Authors: Wood S.
Published: March 2008

Many academics in the area of personnel management and industrial relations tend to take the problems that they are dealing with as given. This may not be too much of a problem when highly trained and perhaps overtly scholastic academics and their associates (eg econometricians and manpower planners) are currently providing the dominant framework in which many of these problems are to be tackled. But what is alarming is the increasing tendency to begin with the solution to the problem and then proceed to justify this as the answer to the problem with little or no analysis of its nature.
Problems of Management Autonomy and Worker Participation in Multinational Companies
Authors: Warner Malcolm , Peccei Riccardo
Published: March 2008

In this paper, we argue that discussion of worker participation in decision‐making is very limited in its usefulness unless the analysis looks at the structure of decision‐making, particularly in terms of centralization, in the organization concerned. The issues of worker participation are not instructive per se. If there is decentralization, it may assist the effectiveness of participation structures at lower levels, but the problem remains of the degree to which the costs of some decentralization are traded‐off by the ‘dominant‐coalition’ in the corporation against the benefits of centralization of decision‐making in the areas of finance and senior personnel.
The Adoption of Industrial Democracy
Authors: Dickson John W.
Published: March 2008

With the publication in January 1977 of the Bullock Report on Industrial Democracy has come a recognition that the rights of employees are almost equal to the rights of shareholders and management. Industrial democracy is seen to represent an extension of modern political democracy to industrial companies. In society, political enfranchisement no longer takes account of the ownership of capital or land; nor requires an education or qualifying period. Democracy has come to mean ‘one adult, one vote’. While the Bullock Report is not recommending that degree of industrial democracy in companies, it is theoretically allowing employees an important influence on decision‐making at the policy level, with a subsequent loss of influence to the shareholders and relevant property owners. The majority of the Bullock Committee believe that the native capacities of the working population can be drawn out by putting the relationship between capital and labour on a new basis which will involve not just management but the whole work force in sharing responsibility for the success and profitability of the enterprise. This they believe can only be done if the representatives of the employees are given a real, not a sham or token share, in making strategic decisions which in the past have been reserved to management and the representatives of the shareholders. The debate about industrial democracy is much less about the desirability of moving in the direction of greater participation than about the pace of change and the need to extend such participation to the Board.
Experiments in Work System Design: Economic and Human Results. Part II.
Authors: Taylor James C.
Published: March 2008

In this, the second part of a two‐part paper (Part I, Personnel Review, Summer 1977, pp 21–34) a survey of instances of work system design (WSD) experiments will be continued. As described in the Introduction to Part I, cases chosen for inclusion report the economic and human results of actual physical or structural innovations in a set or series of human tasks which, taken together, form some meaningful technical whole. The term ‘experiment’ is used in both Part I and II to refer loosely to change or manipulation of actual work activities, and not necessarily to well controlled laboratory experiments. In fact, most cases reported here are ‘natural’ and very few are carefully controlled.
Managerial Control and Collective Bargaining: some ‘political’ aspects of job evaluation in a multi‐site enterprise
Authors: Gill Colin , Morris R.S. , Eaton Jack
Published: March 2008

There is a substantial literature describing the various methods of job evaluation, all of which are essentially concerned to rank different jobs in a pay hierarchy according to rational criteria. Also, the aims and effectiveness of job evaluation schemes in terms of labour cost containment and as an aid to economic growth have been extensively discussed and evaluated. Moreover, in an era of incomes policies and the relative decline of industrywide bargaining, commentators have explored the feasibility of national job evaluation or alternative procedures for the consolidation of consistent acceptable differentials or ‘relativities’ between different work groups and industries at the level of the economy.
Some Comments on Current Labour Law
Authors: Sullivan Terry
Published: March 2008

Since 1970 the British industrial relations system has been injected with an unprecedented volume of law relating to employment. We have had the Equal Pay Act, 1970 and Sex Discrimination Act, 1975 which have spawned an Equal Opportunities Commission; the Industrial Relations Act, 1971 was passed and subsequently repealed by the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act, 1974 (TULRA); the provisions of this latter act have been further buttressed by the Employment Protection Act, 1975 (EPA); dealing with a very much neglected area of industrial relations we have had the Health and Safety at Work Act, 1974; finally the Bullock Commission which was set up to inquire into the way worker directors could increase employee participation in industrial affairs reported to the Minister in February, 1977. The government have promised legislation on ‘industrial democracy’ sometime in 1977 or 1978.
Stabilising Industrial Relations in a Multi‐Plant Footwear Company
Authors: Armstrong E.G.A. , Goodman J.F.B. , Davis J.E. , Wagner A.
Published: March 2008

This article derives from a research project supported by the Social Science Research Council, the results of which appear in a book, Rule Making and Industrial Peace. The article is an account of industrial relations in a large multiplant footwear manufacturing company and a discussion of the factors, including personnel management initiatives, which appear to make for stable industrial relations in circumstances which from experience in some other industries commonly seem conducive to conflict, e.g. a high proportion of the labour force employed on payment by results, variable piecework earnings and disparities of earnings between factories.
Manager/Subordinate Communication and Leadership Style: A Field Study of Their Relationship to Perceived Outcomes of Appraisal Interviews
Authors: Fletcher Clive
Published: March 2008

Most research on appraisal interviews has dealt with aspects of the interview itself. The study described here investigated the background to the interview — the day‐to‐day contact between appraiser and appraisee and how it affects the success of the interview. From a questionnaire survey of appraiseees, the amount of communication a manager had with his subordinates and his leadership style were related to three outcomes of the appraisal interview. The results obtained are discussed with reference to the most effective and appropriate use for appraisal schemes.
Job Enrichment from Theoretical Poverty: The State of the Art and Directions for Further Work
Authors: McLean A.J. , Sims D.B.P.
Published: March 2008

This article considers various definitions of the concept of job enrichment, and considers the findings of job enrichment studies. Some shortcomings in the theory and its application are illustrated, and these shortcomings are summarised so that instead of remaining isolated and incomprehensible failures they point to areas of deficiency. Directions for future work are suggested, both for practitioners and researchers.
The Development of Group Working in Biscuit Manufacture — A Case
Authors: Birchall D.W. , Carnall C.A. , Wild R.
Published: March 2008

Job design/work organisation change continues to be the subject of much debate amongst practitioners and academics. Whilst many case examples have been reported (see Birchall and Burbridge for two reviews), often insufficient detail is provided to permit the reader to fully assess the impact of changes upon all parties involved. Rarely, for example, is reference made to planned changes which were not included in a final change programme. Here, we report a case involving changes in work organisation on a continuous process plant. Given space limitations we intend to concentrate upon a consideration of the approach adopted for the action research project, planned changes, the impact of those changes adopted upon management and employees and reasons for non‐adoption of some planned changes. The observations made derive from the views of the researchers involved in the project and their discussion with both managers and workers. Information from two surveys of employee attitudes is also included; the first was used as the basis for planning change and the second was undertaken eleven months following initial changes.
Information Systems: The Achilles Heel of Job Redesign?
Authors: Clegg Chris , Fitter Mike
Published: March 2008

In the considerable literature on the use of information systems in organisations there are occasional discussions of issues broadly relevant to the area of job redesign. Hedberg, for example, has pointed to the potential of such systems for facilitating organisational change, advocating what he termed ‘participative management information systems’. Attention has also been paid to the influence that computers and information systems have on different forms of employee participation (see for example Mumford and Sackman). But very few writers have specifically considered the impact of information systems on attempts at redesigning people's jobs. Of the few acknowledging the centrality of these systems, Wilkinson has stated that ‘a careful analysis and some redesign of the information systems … seems to be one of the most important aspects of redesigning jobs’, and Birchall in his statement that ‘information systems must make available all the data required for execution of decision‐making duties’, has intimated why this may be necessary. More recently Sime and Fitter have discussed the information needs of those responsible for making decisions, commenting that these needs are likely to change if decision‐making is devolved by job redesign exercises.
The Development and Implementation of the Stochastic Rewards Model for Human Resource Valuation in a Human Capital Intensive Firm
Authors: Flamholtz Eric , Wollman Jack B.
Published: March 2008

‘Human resource accounting’ (HRA) is a term of relatively recent origin: research on HRA only began during the 1960s. Initially, the objective was to improve corporate financial reporting by accounting for ‘human assets’ and, in turn, to increase the representational validity of income and asset numbers. A related purpose was to prevent prevailing accounting conventions from motivating suboptimal treatment of people — specifically, to reduce the likelihood that liquidation of human resources would not be revealed in financial reports because of the failure to account for investments in people as assets.
Assessment of Management Potential in Graduate Recruitment
Authors: Gill R.W.T. , Banks J.D.H.
Published: March 2008

‘Demand for “good graduates” will remain highly competitive. The most successful recruiters will be those from financially strong organizations with stable recruitment records and a good training and development policy.’ Such is one informed forecast of the likely trend in graduate recruitment between 1976 and 1980. Much research has been carried out and written up on the topic of graduate recruits' attitudes both towards choosing an employer and towards their first years of employment. The conclusions reached consistently focus on the importance of the employer's reputation and economic strength, its utilisation of their knowledge and skills and its training and development policies. The success with which an employer recruits graduates will, therefore, depend a good deal on these factors. But what, or who, is a ‘good graduate’? And how can a ‘good graduate’ be identified? It is to these two questions that this article is directed, with a description of one company's experiences in attempting to answer them by developing techniques which have not been widely used in the area of graduate selection.
Sixteen‐Year‐Old's Image of Work
Authors: Paul Lucy
Published: March 2008

This paper reports on the job expectations and perceptions and attitudes to work of 244 sixteen‐year‐olds who left school in 1975. They completed questionnaires during their last term at school and again during the year after leaving school. The prediction that their expectations of work quality would be higher than their perceptions was not supported. Nor was there found to be widespread dissatisfaction with work. Their training and induction to work are considered, as well as their opinions of the relationship between management and workers. Their views on industrial democracy are reported and the implications of the results are discussed.
Initial Graduate Recruitment Interviews: Candidate Characteristics and Interview Outcomes
Authors: Keenan A.
Published: March 2008

This study was concerned with relationships between selected candidate characteristics and both candidates' immediate reactions to interviews and interviewers' evaluations of them. Candidates' self‐reported academic performance was unrelated to their immediate reactions to interviews. Candidates whose academic performance was poor were judged to be weak candidates by interviewers. Interviewers also saw these candidates as less intelligent. Candidates who came from working class background were more highly motivated to succeed and also tended to be more anxious before interviews. However, social class background was unrelated to interviewer judgments. There were a number of relationships between candidates' recollections of their affective responses during past interviews and their immediate reactions to the interviews studied here. Compared with other candidates, those who had disliked being interviewed in the past were more anxious and less confident about their interviews and also liked interviewers less personally. These negative affective responses were also associated with poor evaluations from interviewers.
Job and Role Dissonance and Withdrawal from Work among Women Workers
Authors: Oldham Margaret , Wild Ray
Published: March 2008

The phenomenon of withdrawal from work has been the subject of numerous research studies, many of which have produced conflicting results. The variety of disciplines which have contributed to these studies has resulted in the lack of a common conceptual framework which makes it difficult to compare and assess their results. This paper suggests a conceptual framework within which future studies could be set. The dissonance model which is developed permits the inclusion of factors which previous studies have shown to be associated with withdrawal from work, irrespective of the disciplines from which they originated. The model is partially tested among 109 women manual workers, and the results suggest that it provides a useful conceptual framework for use in future studies.
Life Goals Planning and Interpersonal Skill Development: A Programme for Middle Managers in the British Civil Service
Authors: Harrison R.G.
Published: March 2008

The purpose of this brief paper is to describe and evaluate our experience at the Edinburgh Centre of the Civil Service College in developing a one‐week middle management programme concerned with the interpersonal skills and life goals planning. This account details the process by which a conventional, lecture‐based short course on the behavioural sciences was transformed into a student‐directed workshop with two main objectives:
Values and Rationales of Key Organisational Members for Participation
Authors: Dickson John W.
Published: March 2008

Clarification of the term participation is sought through asking key organisational members, (a) why participation is being introduced in their organisation; (b) what are the conditions seen as necessary for its success; (c) what is the likely process in participative meetings; and (d) what are the likely outcomes of participation. Managers in large companies were found to give reasons for introducing participation in terms of increasing opportunities to communicate to employees and to gain acceptance of decisions. Managers in small companies see the benefits of participation primarily in terms of increased employee morale. Endorsement of participation occurs more often in modern organisations (light engineering, trained younger managers and less entrenched unions), where managers see it as a forum for two‐way communication. In traditional organisations (heavy engineering, traditional managers, entrenched unions) participation is seen as a response to political and union pressure and is endorsed only grudgingly.
Industrial Relations Climate: A Case Study Approach
Authors: Nicholson Nigel
Published: March 2008

The industrial relations climate of a steelworks was investigated through a programme of structured interviews with shop stewards and managers at all levels. Interviewees were asked how often they handled different types of industrial relations issues, how often they interacted with their opposite numbers at different levels to solve those problems, how satisfied they were with the way each of the problems were handled and, how satisfied they were with their opposite numbers' handling of industrial relations problems generally. Results shows that there was union‐management agreement about the nature of the local climate, but that the climate differed across departments in accordance with data from independent sources. The findings also indicated that in this plant the climate was more ‘issue‐centred’ than ‘person‐centred’. It was concluded that the technique could be similarly useful in other settings for the speedy appraisal of industrial relations at plant level, but that more comparative research on industrial relations climate was needed.
The Social and Psychological Aspects of Redundancy: To What Extent a Problem?
Authors: Arroba Tanya
Published: March 2008

In a recent paper, Hartley and Cooper reviewed the available studies of redundancy using a psychological framework and came to the conclusion that insufficient systematic work had so far been done ‘to assess the impact of the phenomenon on the psychological state of the redundant worker, his family and the wider community’. This lack of examination of redundancy from a psychological approach was a state which Hartley and Cooper felt should be remedied. And, in the title of their paper, they pose an implicit question by the inclusion of a question mark — ‘Redundancy: a psychological problem?’. Yet, as Wood notes, there is in fact little specification of either the potential or reported psychological effects of redundancy. Hartley and Cooper document the reported impact of redundancy in terms of the various stages of the process and note that most studies have tended to concentrate on the period of unemployment following the loss of the job rather than on the period previous to the redundancy. A number of these studies, they note, have been attitudinal, describing the feelings of the affected population, or a sub‐sample, towards a number of relevant issues, most notably the redundancy itself. While they consider that the issue of redundancy has been studied from the viewpoints of both labour economics and sociology, Hartley and Cooper are more concerned to highlight the lack of concern displayed so far by psychologists. They quote the study of the closure of a steel works by Warr and Lovatt, in which psychological wellbeing was singled out for examination and was found to be associated with length of time unemployed. This study is, however, exceptional in the emphasis placed on the psychological effects of redundancy. Hartley and Cooper go on to comment on the central place given in previous studies to the job search process, both in terms of attitudes and behavioural patterns. From job search, attention is directed to a review of the studies of the unemployed in general as opposed to the redundant in particular. Attention is drawn throughout the paper to the lack of concern shown to date with the examination of redundancy as a psychological problem.
The ‘Hayes’ Report—What Impact Has It Had?
Authors: O'Kelly M. , Dottridge P.B.
Published: March 2008

In the summer of 1977 a project was carried out by the Directorate of Training into the uses made of the Report Training for the Management of Human Resources. This is generally known as the Hayes Report because Mr F.C. Hayes, at the time of the publication of the Report in 1972 with the Foundry Industry Training Committee, was the Chairman of the sub‐committee which produced the Report. The sub‐committee itself was part of a joint industrial training board committee for Training in Commercial and Administrative Occupations. Joint Board Committees were established under a procedure laid down in 1968 by the Central Training Council to co‐ordinate the preparation of training recommendations for occupations which were found in more than one industry.
Designing ‘Reality’ into Management Learning Events, II: High Reality Strategies
Authors: Stuart Roger , Binsted Don
Published: March 2008

In our last paper we gave consideration to some concepts of reality within the context of management learning events. Drawing upon the extant body of theory and our own observations from practice we developed working models which enable a greater understanding of reality as a dimension which has important implications for the design of management learning events and for the type of learning which ensues.
Notes on Some Typologies of Managerial Development and the Role of Mentor in the Process of Adaptation of the Individual to the Organisation
Authors: Collin Audrey
Published: March 2008

This paper outlines some typologies of managerial and professional development. It then examines some aspects of the informal structure of an organisation and the significance of the role of mentor within that structure. It proposes that the mentor oversees the adaptation of the individual to the needs of the organisation and thus influences the pattern of managerial development. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of this for management development programmes and suggests some areas which call for further research. During a review of the literature concerned with career development there occurred several references to the question of the adaptation of the individual to the organisation. This is a matter of significance in understanding both the individual's career development and the organisation's practice of management development. Although the literature review was concerned with a relatively narrow field and there are, therefore, probably other relevant and important issues which are not raised below, it uncovered several research findings which are of particular significance for the practice of management development. They have been noted and are discussed in this paper.
The Social Context of Work Organisation Change
Authors: Carnall C.A.
Published: March 2008

Job design and work organisation are important current problems of industrial societies. It is argued that many jobs make low demands on the skills and abilities of employees, are monotonous and involve little obvious contribution to an identifiable task. This is seen as leading to low motivation to work. Attempts at increasing the ‘motivation potential’ of work are seen as means both of increasing employee satisfaction with work and leading to reduced absenteeism, labour turnover, increased output, improved quality and reduced waste. The literature contains many case descriptions of job design change based on assumptions of this type in which results of this nature are reported.
Stress and Work: A Review and Theoretical Framework, I
Authors: Fletcher Ben (C.) , Payne Roy L.
Published: March 2008

There is a large literature devoted to the stresses and strains of work and work‐related activities. This research effort shows no sign of abating. The aim of this paper is to highlight and discuss several centrally important questions and assumptions in the nature of this research which, in our view, require more careful consideration in future work.
Effective Listening, Interviewer State of Consciousness, and a Mental Exercise
Authors: Bayne Rowan
Published: March 2008

Is there a best state of consciousness for selection interviewing? And are mental exercises — analogous to an athlete's ‘warming up’ just before an event — a practical way of achieving or enhancing it? This paper suggests some preliminary answers to these questions. It is in three parts. The first is a discussion of (a) effective listening and rapport and (b) a calm‐alert state of consciousness and ways of developing or enhancing it. Second, a mental exercise is described. It has, in theory', several attractive quantities, e.g. speed, low cost, and effects which wear off gradually and without habituation. Third, a pilot experiment on the exercise is evaluated, emphasising the many methodological problems in this area, e.g. selection of subjects, setting of the experiment and expectancy effects.
Authority, Legitimacy and ‘The Right to Manage’ at Wenslow Manufacturing Co.
Authors: Golding David
Published: March 2008

Organisation theorists have consistently neglected considerations of societal and historical context in studies of power in organisations and this has resulted in incomplete and misconceived theories. This paper is concerned with an issue with which personnel managers often feel very personally involved, viz. the perceived erosion of managerial authority. In particular, the focus here is upon illuminating the confusions and assumptions inherent in the way in which managers in an industrial hierarchical organisation ‘structure’ their world as one in which managerial authority is continually being eroded and undermined. The paper, in examining the derivation of such ‘common sense’ assumptions, gives insights, from a radical perspective, into some of the misconceptions of power in organisations.
Stress At Work: A Review and Theoretical Framework, II
Authors: Fletcher Ben (C.) , Payne Roy L.
Published: March 2008

In Part I of this paper we reported the main findings of a survey of the literature on occupational stress. We were particularly concerned to try to estimate the size of the problem of stress at work and, further, to see if different occupational groups experienced different degrees of stress. The oversimplified answers to these questions are that at any one time about eight per cent of the workforce are experiencing some distress and that greater proportions of the lower social classes experience more of it. Repetitive, machine‐minding type tasks appear to be particularly unpleasant and potentially harmful to health and well‐being. These findings were hedged about with reservations on the validity of the measures used and other doubts, and we concluded the paper with the comment that it was difficult to integrate and make sense of all these data without some better definitions of the concepts and a model for delineating the relationships of the concepts. This second part at‐tempts to deal with these two difficulties.
Microprocessors: Impact and Response
Authors: Francis Arthur , Willman Paul
Published: March 2008

By now there should be little ignorance about the advent of the new micro‐electronics technology, large scale integrated circuits made up from little pieces of metal oxited silicon wafers — the so‐called silicon chips. These tiny chips, less than five mm square, can contain microprocessors capable of performing the tricks that room‐sized computers found difficult ten years ago. At the moment their commonest usage is in calculators, electronic games and the remote control for the latest teletext domestic televisions but this may well be the consumer tip of a huge industrial iceberg, upon which this country might just founder. To combat this possibility both the last Labour Government and the present administration are spending large sums of money both in publicising the potential of the new technology to key decision‐makers in industry, through the Microprocessor Applications Programme (MAP), and also by direct investment through the National Enterprise Board in the setting up of companies both to manufacture the chips themselves and to build equip‐ment incorporating these devices.
The Cost of Holidays: A Research Note
Authors: Whiting Edwin , Venning Graham
Published: March 2008

The majority of British workers enjoy at least four weeks annual vacation . After a lull in demands for longer holidays, pressure is being renewed in response to the demise of incomes policy restrictions and the forecasts of inevitably rising unemployment.
Home Relationships and Work Behaviour, Part I: Family Relations in the Multi‐Worker Family
Authors: Johnston Thomas
Published: March 2008

In many studies of the family there is an assumption that the family unit consists of the father as the principal (or even sole) wage earner and contributor to the family finance, with the mother having a subordinate role in earning; the children are usually seen, in this idealised account, as living at home and being financially dependent on the parents. Dennis, Henriques and Slaughter, for example, describe the family as “normally a group of father, mother and children all dependent upon the wage of the father”. The family, however, is not static, but changes in structure and function over time. In a very early study, for example, Rowntree suggested that, after the financial difficulty of the child rearing phase, there came a stage of relative affluence when unmarried children are working, still living at home, and contributing to the total family income.
The Personality of Unemployed Managers: Myths and Measurement
Authors: Hartley Jean F.
Published: March 2008

The study examines the widely held assertion that unemployed managers will possess the characteristics traditionally associated with managerial ability to a lesser degree than managers in employment. In contrast to conventional wisdom the unemployed appear to possess many of the attributes traditionally associated with managerial ability. These results are discussed in terms of the stability of personality over time, the influence of organisational factors in the causes of job loss and the possibility that the unemployed managers studied had a greater than average preference for risk‐taking. The implications of these results for personnel management are explored.
How Inclusive Should a Consulting Report Be in a Participative Decision‐Making Situation?
Authors: Nielsen Richard P.
Published: March 2008

In the past year I have found myself in two consulting situations where management said it wanted to operate in a participative decision‐making mode. That is, management said it wanted to share information with the people to be directly affected by the decision, and give them real input into the decision‐making process. One was in a labour relations situation at a television station. The other was in a university marketing situation where diversification into a new area of education was being considered. In both situations there arose the issue of how inclusive the management consulting report should be that was to be shared with many different people not in the traditional management decision‐making line.
Evaluation of Planned Organisational Change: Issues of Knowledge, Context and Politics
Authors: Lovelady Louise
Published: March 2008

The purpose of this article is to examine issues and problems which have been identified concerning the evaluation of planned change and, in the light of these, to raise additional issues for discussion. This attempt to extend the area of discussion, will, it is hoped, increase our understanding of the complexity of problems and constraints in evaluating planned change.
Relationship of Personnel Managers to Others
Authors: Akinmayowa J.T.
Published: March 2008

This research investigates the relationship between personnel managers and other managers in the organisation. The evidence reported in this study demonstrates that personnel managers, in the main, perceived themselves to be in the forefront with other professionals in contributing to corporate success, whereas managers in sales, finance and production departments have a less impressive view of personnel managers' influence in achieving corporate goals. However, they recognised the importance of personnel managers and their functions in the organisation per se.
The Implications of the Economic Theory of Human Capital for Personnel Management
Authors: Flamholtz Eric G. , Lacey John
Published: March 2008

Research in labour economics during the past several years has led to the development of the theory of human capital. This theory deals with a variety of issues concerning the productivity of people as the result of their human capital.
Developing an Analytical Approach to Industrial Relations Policy
Authors: Brewster C.J. , Gill C.G. , Richbell S.
Published: March 2008

This paper proposes a definition of industrial relations policy and suggests an analytical framework to help towards an understanding of such policy. The framework draws on three crucial distinctions: that between the “espoused” policy and the “operational” policy; that bet ween the different roles management may play in in dustrial relations policy as instigators, implementers and facilitators; and, finally, between the “content” and the “features” aspects of policy. Case study material il lustrates these distinctions in both on‐going and change situations. Finally, some conclusions are drawn from the analysis.
Innovations in Work Patterns
Authors: McEwan Young W.
Published: March 2008

In the five years that have elapsed since Sloane reported on the changing patterns of working hours in Britain, the rate of change has increased and the pattern of change has become more complex. This paper sets out to update thinking about patterns of change, proposes a research model and poses a number of research issues. Since terminology can be confusing, we start with some definitions.
Re‐Examining Joint Consultation: Attitudes and Perceptions of White‐Collar Shop Stewards and Union Members
Authors: Blyton Paul
Published: March 2008

Many writers have suggested that the concept of joint consultation is outdated in Britain, no longer appropriate in the light of other changes in industrial relations practice. McCarthy, for example, has argued that joint consultation machinery at plant level has been upstaged by the growth of shop steward organisation and workplace bargaining. Further, Clegg has criticised joint consultation committees (JCC's) for contributing little to workplace industrial democracy; more recently, King and Van de Vall have echoed this sentiment, arguing that JCC's in Britain became ineffective due to a lack of decision‐making powers and a remit covering too limited a span of issues. Evidence of the widespread nature of this criticism is indicated by the decline in numbers of JCC's during the nineteen fifties and sixties. In a large‐scale survey published in 1952 by the National Institute of Industrial Psychology, consultation committees between management and employee and/or union representatives were found to be operating in 73 per cent of firms. In a similar survey carried out in the late 1960s, however, Clarke and his colleagues found this figure to have fallen to 32 per cent.
Attribution Process of the Organisation Development Consultant: Correct Practice or Manipulation?
Authors: Dickson John W.
Published: March 2008

The degree of direction expected from a consultant is a concern for client and consultant. Indeed, clients often put consultants into an expert role and subsequently determine whether to take the preferred advice. Consultants, on the other hand, tend to downplay their expertise and the desire for direction, preferring rather to provide a client with a number of choices. Neither position is completely accurate. This author contends that consultants attempt to move clients in a preferred direction through the use of various attributions, which focus client attention, provide a basis for evaluation and permit the client to find meaning in a situation. Finally, these attributions allow the client to redefine his or her needs, values and preferences.
Candidate Personality and Performance in Selection Interviews
Authors: Keenan A.
Published: March 2008

Most managers who are involved in selection would probably accept the intuitively appealing suggestion that the personality of the candidate has an influence on the outcome of a selection interview. Of course, in a number of instances, personality‐type attributes are explicitly listed in person specifications and presumably an effort is made to assess these in the interview. Furthermore, there is evidence that, at least as far as graduate recruitment is concerned, personality ranks highly in the majority of recruiter's lists of desirable attributes.