bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Managerial Strategies for Flexible Employment: An analysis using cross‐sectional data
Authors: Kinnie Nicholas
Published: January 2008

Few subjects in the employment field have generated as much controversy as the current debate over the existence of the ‘flexible firm’. The initial ideas put forward by the Institute of Manpower Studies (Atkinson and Meager, 1986) which gained a great deal of attention, have recently been the subject of close scrutiny. (Pollert 1988a, 1988b)
Between Control and Consent?: Corporate Strategy and Employee Involvement in Ford UK
Authors: McKinlay Alan , Starkey Ken
Published: January 2008

Management strategy within the Ford Motor Company has been going through a quiet revolution in the last decade. From being a utility car producer understanding competitive advantage exclusively in cost terms and equating management with control Ford have adopted a long‐term strategy of design‐led product innovation and promoting high trust labour relations. At the heart of this change strategy are the twin thrusts of ‘Participative Management’ aimed primarily at the executive level and ‘Employee Involvement’ for salaried and hourly employees. Both projects were borne of the watershed, if inherently flawed, ‘After Japan’ initiative of the early 1980s. ‘After Japan’ represented Ford's assimilation of the organisational — as well as economic — challenge thrown down by Japanese manufacturing. But what began as an ambitious attempt to impose Japanese factory institutions such as quality circles on a suspicious workforce rapidly degenerated into a conventional cost‐cutting exercise. From this experience, however, Ford's strategists moved towards a more processual, less mechanistic, understanding of organisational change. We shall examine the results of the ‘El’ process in a variety of settings and the impact of ‘PM’ on decision‐making processes within Ford UK.
Subcontract, Flexibility and Changing Employment Relations in the Water Industry
Authors: O'Connell Davidson Julia
Published: January 2008

The public utilities have not featured prominently in recent research in industrial sociology on restructuring, changes in employment relations and work flexibility. The fact that the utilities occupy a key position in the Government's privatisation programme makes this omission all the more unfortunate, since it might be expected that the rate and extent of change where organisations have been, or are about to be, privatised will be greater than in other areas, which have to date tended to be in the focus of research into restructuring. This paper draws on an ongoing research project into restructuring and changing employment relations in the Gas and Water utilities. It concentrates specifically on a case study of one Water Authority's use of various types of subcontract.
Older Workers, Ageism, and Labour Force Change: The Challenge to Employment Policy
Authors: Parsons David J.
Published: January 2008

The rapid decline in older people in paid employment has been one of the most remarkable features of the UK labour market over the last decade. This has been most acute among older men in the 55 to 64 age group. The causes of this trend have been variously attributed to aggressive ‘de‐selection’ policies in companies aimed at older employees during the recession of the early 80s; targetted programmes to raise labour — cost productivity; and enhanced provision for early retirement. Changing social values, personal choice and the impact of government programmes have also played a role.
Flexible Specialisation: A View from the Boundary
Authors: Rainnie Al
Published: January 2008

In 1979 Michel Aglietta published a book which translated into English some years later as “A Theory of Capitalist Regulation”. The book is dense, complex and espouses a version of Marxism that has met with some criticism. It is however important for two reasons, firstly because some of the ideas put forward by Aglietta are now being absorbed, in a highly distorted form, by the Communist Party group clustered around Marxism Today, and more importantly by figures in the Labour Party who will influence the current policy review.
The Implications of Flexible Machine Tools in Small Batch Engineering
Authors: Rawlinson Michael
Published: January 2008

The majority of employment within the mechanical engineering sector involves production in batches rather than in continuous mass production. Furthermore, over 40% of all employment in this sector is in firms of less than 200 employees, this compares with a national average of about 22% and an increasing proportion of the nation's batch engineering is thought to be done by small subcontracting firms. Mechanical engineering comprises a number of activities such as, welding, forging, casting, surface finishing, but by far the most common activity is metal cutting with machine tools. The technology of metal cutting machine tools has undergone three main phases of automation, firstly partial mechanical automation, secondly, the Numerical Control (NC) of cutting tool and workpiece movement, and thirdly Computer Numerical Control (CNC). Each of these phases of automation has had distinctive effect on shaping the skill composition and task levels labour on the shop floor.
The End of Organisational Society: A Theme in Search of a Theory?
Authors: Reed Michael
Published: January 2008

In 1962 Robert Presthus attempted to identify the major institutional features of the ‘organisational society’ (Presthus 1962). These were:
Labour Market Flexibility: the case of part‐time employment in Canada
Authors: Robinson Olive
Published: January 2008

The 1983 OECD Employment Outlook reported that ‘the rapid expansion of part‐time employment in virtually all member countries is one of the most significant structural shifts occurring in the OECD labour market over the last two decades…in many countries, part‐time employment has continued to grow when full‐time employment has been stagnating or even declining. As the decade progresses, it is apparent that forms of employment different from the traditional full‐time norm are assuming increasing importance, and in all countries part‐time work represents the largest component of this loosely defined ‘flexible workforce’.
Industrial Relations and the Management of Schools
Authors: Siefert Roger
Published: January 2008

The management of schools in England and Wales is undergoing its most complete change since the 1944 Education Act. As a result both senior teachers as managers and the teacher trade unions are re‐assessing their methods of operation and objectives, and in the process of creating this new model management both sides are creating a new set of school based industrial relations.
Primary Flexibility — the Flexible Firm and its Determinants
Authors: Sloane P.J. , Gasteen Anne
Published: January 2008

The aim of this paper will be to identify the factors determining the use of ‘non‐standard employment contracts’ or what we term ‘primary flexibility’. While ‘standard employment contracts’ relate to full‐time, permanent jobs, non‐standard employment contracts concern part‐time or temporary labour and combinations of the two. In the literature non‐standard employment contracts have been lumped together with other flexible working practices, (e.g. overtime or shiftwork), under the umbrella of ‘flexibility’ or the concept of the ‘flexible firm’, which may employ one or a number of labour supply adjustment mechanisms in response to product market demand volatility. ‘Working practices’ are arrangements appertaining to the organisation of the workforce within the pre‐established basic contractual boundaries of the job, (i.e. whether it is full or part‐time, permanent or temporary). Clearly, such an amalgam of non‐standard forms of employment and flexible working practices, an organisation's use of which carries the tag ‘flexible firm’, can be misleading. The flexible firm is held by some to be the antithesis of the internal labour market (ILM) form of employment structure, in which labour is a quasi‐fixed factor of production. However, flexible working practices obviously can, and do, operate within both ILM structures and non‐standard forms of employment. The concept of the flexible firm, therefore, requires tighter definition. We would define the flexible firm as one which embodies non‐standard employment contracts for the majority of its workers, or primary flexibility. (‘Primary’ because flexibility is built into the job contract rather than superimposed). The flexible firm, thus defined, is indeed the antithesis of an ILM structure. Flexible working practices or ‘secondary flexibility’, as noted above, may operate within a flexible firm or an ILM employment structure.
Buyer‐Supplier Relations and Industrial Relations in the UK Automotive Industry
Authors: Turnbull Peter
Published: January 2008

The UK motor industry has been at the centre of many important developments in British manufacturing in the 1980s. On the industrial relations front there have been reports of “macho management”, declining trade union influence (especially at the shop floor level), and new working practices and greater flexibility in the deployment and utilisation of labour. On the manufacturing front there is evidence of new production systems being developed (principally based on just‐in‐time or minimum inventory systems), of more systematic quality control systems being developed, and of new technology being widely deployed and developed (e.g. CNC machines, CAD/CAM, and robotics). All these changes have been geared towards improving the performance of the industry in respect of both price and non‐price factors (e.g. quality, lead times, design, delivery, etc). One area which researchers, and the industry itself, has tended to neglect is that of relationships with suppliers. It is only in the last 4–5 years that manufacturers such as Ford, and more recently Austin Rover, have undertaken a systematic reappraisal of their “buyer‐ supplier” relations, with the focus very much on improving quality, sharing research and development costs, and implementing stock reduction programmes and JIT deliveries. Contracts are now awarded to a much smaller number of “preferred” or “single” suppliers, frequently based on a long‐term commitment for the life of a particular model. These changes are currently transforming the structure of the component supplier network, the relationship that exists between motor manufacturer and component supplier, and production methods and industrial relations procedures throughout the industry which are now required to meet the demands of quality assurance, JIT delivery and the like.
Competitive Tendering and the Operation of Local Authorities
Authors: Walsh Kieron
Published: January 2008

Local authorities are to be required to subject a number of their services to competitive tender in a phased programme beginning in August 1989. There is al ready some experience of tendering for highways and building work following the Local Government Planning and Land Act 1980. The new legislation — the Local Government Act 1988 — will have a profound effect. The first tranche of services that are to be subject to competition will be refuse collection, street cleansing, buildings cleaning, catering, grounds maintenance, vehicle maintenance and leisure management. In the longer term it is expected that the competitive regime will be extended to a much wider range of services. Almost any service that the local authority delivers might be subject to competition.
From Personnel Management to Human Resource Management? The Case of the Co‐operative Bank
Authors: Wilkinson Adrian
Published: January 2008

This paper is concerned with examining the development of a human resource management strategy in the Co‐operative Bank and explores the relationship between business strategy and the management of labour in pursuit of flexibility. As the product market has changed, so the Bank has sought to become a more market driven organisation, much more flexible in its ability to respond to customers and a more uncertain environment. The paper examines the impact of this on employment practices and the problems involved. The flexibility debate has tended to concentrate on quantitative aspects of flexibility, for instance numerical, whereas this paper addresses qualitative aspects and links this to Human Resource Management.
ANALYSIS OF THE INTERNATIONAL PORTFOLIO OF STRATEGIC CENTRES
Authors: Martén Uliarte Ivan
Published: January 2008

The modern company is having to become increasingly international, to look to overseas markets or even to set up operations within them. This internationalisation of the company means that some method must be found which lays down guidelines for formulating an overall international marketing strategy. If different international markets are seen as basic units of investment, the company should seek to obtain a balanced portfolio of markets, to enable it to allocate its scarce resources with maximum efficiency achieving stable growth in the long term.
WORKER TAKEOVER: ONLY AS A LAST RESORT?
Authors: Gherardi Silvia
Published: January 2008

Attempts by workers to take‐over and revive companies in crisis have been a recurring response to the threat of closure, particularly in times of economic recession. Being above all a response to the threat of unemployment, they logically tend to occur in industries undergoing restructuring where the workforce possesses industry‐specific skills, or where a local community is economically dependent upon the threatened plant. Thus, the current wave of worker take‐overs — beginning in the 1970's and variously manifest throughout the European Community — conforms to a clear, overall pattern which often includes a solidaristic or co‐operative response to such crisis periods.
COMPETITIVE STRATEGY AND COLLECTIVE ACTION IN THE UK BREWING INDUSTRY:
Authors: Linstead Stephen
Published: January 2008

Between 1985 and 1988 we were involved in research and consultancy for the Working Men's Club and Institute Union in the United Kingdom. This organisation of voluntary clubs is unique in Europe and has been identified as potentially the largest single consumer group in the European Community. It is active in the political sphere at both Westminster (where it organises the largest All‐Party Parliamentary Committee with 181 sitting members of both houses) and at Strasbourg (a smaller group of active M.E.P.s) and it has set up mechanisms for negotiation for national accounting with the major brewers, although the organisation is itself the major shareholder in two smaller clubs' breweries. Nevertheless, the club union is in a worrying decline, and one of the contributory factors to this has been its commercially naive attitude to the brewery companies with whom its members do business. In addition, the organisation is a democratic affiliation, with what has been argued as being the most democratic but also the most cumbersome and frustrating structure of any British working class institution. In this paper we attempt to describe some of the tensions between democratic altruism and commercial necessity which bedevil the continuing existence of the organisation, and of its constituent clubs, in the context of current industry strategy. Part of this research was sponsored by the UK Economic and Social Research Council grant No. F09 0067, 1986; a further project by the Working Men's Club and Institute Union itself.
MANAGEMENT COMPETENCE PROGRAMMES — AN INVESTIGATION OF EUROPEAN EXPERIENCES
Authors: Golding David
Published: January 2008

A good deal of attention has been paid recently to the notion of management competence. One of the main strands of this has been promoted by the Council for Management Education and Development (CMED) in connection with the Management Charter Initiative and as part of the thrust towards developing Chartered Manager status.
THE CITY AND 1992
Authors: Rutteman Paul
Published: January 2008

It is perhaps not altogether surprising that the City views 1992 with mixed feelings. On the one hand, the removal of barriers to the free flow of capital should benefit the City; the prospect of the single market and its anticipated growth will mean more business for the capital markets and therefore London; even the introduction of new directives establishing common regulatory requirements will be welcomed in so far as they level the playing field. On the other hand, directives involve restrictions and there is still considerable uncertainty and suspicion concerning those restrictions and their likely impact.
WORKING AMERICANS: EMERGING VALUES FOR THE 1990s
Authors: Regal Chivas
Published: January 2008

A new national survey has revealed that today's working Americans feel a marked change in priorities as the country heads into the century's final decade. In its exploration of American attitudes toward personal fulfilment, The Chivas Regal Report on Working Americans: Emerging Values for the 1990s find that the American workforce is placing less importance on financial success and more emphasis on family and community in its quest for personal happiness. The report is based on interviews with 1,001 working Americans, aged 25 to 49, who work full‐time outside the home. The interviews were conducted in October 1988 by Research & Forecasts Inc., and the report was commissioned by Chivas Regal, The House of Seagram.
PROFICIENCY OF NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES IN U.K. MANUFACTURING FIRMS
Authors: Dwyer Larry
Published: January 2008

New products are major contributors to company growth and profits and a key factor in business planning. Despite its importance, new product development has long been recognised as one of the riskiest activities of business enterprises with factors such as shorter product life cycles, capital shortages, government restrictions, fragmented markets, changing competitive environments and rapid technological change operating to maintain risks at high levels. To reduce the risks there needs to be greater understanding of the determinants of success and failure in this endeavour and continuing efforts to apply such knowledge in product innovation management. One area in need of more intensive investigation is the NEW PRODUCT PROCESS, the set of activities which move the product from the idea stage to the market launch of a product incorporating the idea.
Business Schools and Corporate Partnerships in a Changing Global Economy
Authors: Sims Ronald R. , Sims Serbrenia J.
Published: January 2008

Corporations within the past decade have found themselves trapped in the worst of all possible worlds. By the middle 1970's, even though profits still seemed strong, productivity growth was slowing to a crawl. By the late 1970's, the competitiveness of American manufacturers, as measured by their shares of world markets, was sagging. The Federal Reserve Board pushed up interest rates to fight inflation, and the dollar soared. American corporationsfound themselves having to cope with higher credit costs while being priced out of markets overseas and surrendering big chunks of their domestic markets to cheaper and better imports.
Proficiency of New Product Development Activities in UK Manufacturing Firms
Authors: Dwyer Larry
Published: January 2008

New products are major contributors to company growth and profits and a key factor in business planning. Despite its importance, new product development has long been recognised as one of the riskiest activities of business enterprises with factors such as shorter product life cycles, capital shortages, government restrictions, fragmented markets, changing competitive environments and rapid technological change operating to maintain risks at high levels. To reduce the risks there needs to be greater understanding of the determinants of success and failure in this endeavour and continuing efforts to apply such knowledge in product innovation management. One area in need of more intensive investigation is the New Product Process, the set of activities which move the product from the idea stage to the market launch of a product incorporating the idea.
Industrial Relations in the UK: Change in the 1980's: An ESRC Research Briefing
Authors: Edwards P.K. , Sisson Keith
Published: January 2008

Industrial relations have attracted massive attention during the 1980s. Major pieces of legislation have changed the law on the conduct of disputes, the use of the closed shop, and the internal operation of trade unions. Employers have been making efforts to change working practices, and hardly a day goes by without the advocacy of some new policy, be it quality circles, profit‐related pay, or use of multi skilled craft workers. In addition to reacting to legal and employer‐led changes, trade unions have had to respond to declining membership and to conduct internal debates on such novel topics as single‐ union and no‐strike deals.
Student Surrogation in Behavioural Business Research: A Review and Decision Process Model
Authors: Pitt Leyland F. , Nel Deon
Published: January 2008

The use of students as subjects in academic research is widespread. A systematic review of research‐oriented journals ranging from the behavioural sciences to pure sciences shows that a great deal of research involves student subjects. In business and management oriented research these students tend to be largely male and undergraduate. As three eminent marketing academics remarked somewhat cynically some years ago, “What we know about consumer behaviour may be too closely tied to the sociopsychological and behavioural profile of the college sophomore” (Cunningham, Anderson and Murphy, 1974). Marketing has been an area particularly prone to student‐based research, with an audit of the first 30 issues of the Journal of Marketing Research revealing that over half of the consumer behaviour experiments (48 of 81) used students as subjects (Enis, Cox and Stafford, 1972). Casual perusal of a wide variety of present day journals in other areas, such as accounting and finance, management information systems, work study, and human resources management points to the increase of this practice. This paper reviews briefly the extensive literature on the question of student surrogacy and presents a bibliographic summary of studies accepting the use of, and those rejecting, student surrogation. It also offers a decision model for consideration by researchers contemplating using students in their endeavours.
Risk Assessment for International Investment
Authors: Gholam‐Nezhad Hameed , Kathawala Yunus
Published: January 2008

Dramatic increase in international trade during the past two decades and increasing political instability of the third world countries have forced the multinational firms to devote more time and resources to risk assessment. In the past decade we have witnessed that international business can be affected by wars, revolutions, coup d'etats, social unrest, third world debt crisis, and terrorism. Some firms have been forced out of the third world countries without a reasonable compensation.
Why Are Synergies Non‐universal? Consequent Tendencies in the Evolution of a Firm
Authors: Chan Peng S. , Chinta Ravi R.
Published: January 2008

Consider the case of Procter and Gamble (P&G), when it ships carloads combining diapers and other paper products. It saves transportation costs (about 10% of sales) relative to a firm that sells only diapers. This is one example of synergies among divisions that seem to explain the superior performance of companies like P&G. Examples of other related companies are General Foods, General Mills, Pillsbury, Dupont, 3M, Westinghouse etc., each of which try to exploit some form of synergy or other. But at the same time, managers also find that there are several conglomerate firms comprised of unrelated business units which are also performing well. Examples of conglomerates in this category include ITT, Rockwell International, Dart Industries, Signal Companies, United Technologies, Gulf and Western Industries, Tenneco, Textron, USX etc. An erudite manager is thus faced with a dilemma. Are synergies real? If they exist, why are they not ubiquitous? Why and when is unrelated growth pattern an attractive alternative?
Management Training and Development in Changing Technological Environments
Authors: Helms Marilyn M. , Thibadoux Greg M. , Haynes Paula J. , Pauley Patricia
Published: January 2008

Research has shown that the most important management training and development concerns from 1983 to 1986 were: (1) interpersonal skills, (2) communication skills, and (3) managing human performance. Furthermore, these same concerns were projected, in 1986, to be the most important development topics for the next three to five years (Bolt, 1986). Given that business is undergoing fundamental technical changes, one might think that these people‐related issues may not be as important as technical development concerns in the future.
Interactive Multiple Objective Decision Making: A Bibliography (1965–1988)
Authors: Aksoy Yasemin
Published: January 2008

The multiple objective decision making problem arises when two or more non‐comparable objective functions are to be simultaneously optimised. There is a definite trend towards utilising interactive techniques for solving the multiple objective decision making problem. Interactive techniques allow the involvement of the DM throughout the decision process. In this paper we first provide a brief overview of multiple objective decision making, and then give a survey of literature dealing with interactive multiple objective decision making from 1965 to 1988.
Using Assessments of Sandwich Year and Academic Work Performance on a Business Studies Degree Course
Authors: Arnold John , Garland Nigel
Published: January 2008

Sandwhich placements in degree courses are often thought to have wide‐ranging benefits for students, employers and educational institutions (CNAA, 1984). Certainly, the student‐orientated goals of a sandwich year as defined by CNAA (1980) are wide‐ranging. A successful sandwich placement should enhance students' capacity to: relate theory to practice, make appropriate career decisions, work effectively with others, understand work situations, and benefit from final year studies. It should also contribute to the student's “personal development”, which means amongst other things their skills and self‐confidence (see also Day, Kelly, Parker and Parr, 1982).
JOB CHANGES AFTER MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT
Authors: Wright Kassner Marcia , Eberhardt Bruce J.
Published: January 2008

Managerial job changing is becoming an increasingly important issue in managerial careers. Due to reasons such as global competition, mergers, acquisitions, corporate downsizing, and cost‐cutting, fewer executives believe that the organisations that they start their careers with will be the organisation that they retire from. Executives who changed jobs in 1987 through five worldwide executive search firms reported their expectations about job change (Worldwide Executive Mobility, 1988). Of the less senior executives, about three‐fourths expected to change companies again within the next ten years. Salary was one potential outcome for these managers. The median raise associated with a job change was about thirty per cent. Advancement was another possible outcome. Top executives had typically held five different jobs and had worked for three different companies in the previous fifteen years. Increased job responsibility was also a potential outcome, although for some job changers job responsibility decreased. A third of U.S. executives changed jobs without changing titles but a third of those who changed job titles moved to jobs of a lower rank. Forty‐three per cent of managers outside the U.S. changed jobs without changing job titles and a quarter of the job title changes were to lower rank.
The Nature of Accounting in Education
Authors: Copleston Peter , Mayne Joyce , Whittaker Jean
Published: January 2008

Objectives:
Preparing Financial Forecasts and Planning for Profit
Authors: Copleston Peter V. , Scorthorne Graham , Whittaker Jean
Published: January 2008

How do managers prepare financial forecasts?
Using and Benefiting from Ratio and Variance Analysis
Authors: Whittaker Jean
Published: January 2008

“Planning is the key to the financial manager's success… any good plan must be related to the firm's existing strengths and weaknesses. The strengths must be understood if they are to be used to proper advantage and the weaknesses must be recognised if corrective action is to be taken… the financial manager can plan his future financial requirements in accordance with the forecasting and budgeting procedures…” (Weston and Brigham, 1979)
Evaluating Capital Investments
Authors: Whittaker Jean , Maine Humphrey , Wilkinson Caroline
Published: January 2008

“Let it be said, right at the outset, that there is no magic formula which guarantees making the right decision in each investment case. Moreover, the fact that the answer has been disseminated from a computer in reams of paper enhances the quality of the decision not one bit. Garbage in garbage out should be written large on the wall of any capital project decision maker's office. It is sad to think of the time that is often wasted running and re‐running programmes in order that the Return on Investment percentage, to two decimal places, can be moved to what is considered an acceptable level. All this effort at a time when the inputs to the system are in round thousands!”
Borrowing and Dividends — An Educational Context
Authors: Whittaker Jean , Kirman Rod
Published: January 2008

This final chapter focuses on borrowing
THE IMPACT OF PRIVATISATION/SHARE‐OWNERSHIP ON THE FINANCIAL AWARENESS OF EMPLOYEES
Authors: Peel M.J. , Groves R.E.V. , Pendlebury M.W.
Published: January 2008

Research is currently being conducted at Cardiff Business School into the impact of wider share‐ownership/profit sharing and privatisation on various aspects of employee relations (see e.g. Poole and Jenkins, 1988; Wilson and Peel, 1989; Groves, Peel and Pendlebury, 1989; Peel, Pendlebury and Groves, 1989; Matthews, 1988). The purpose of the current paper is to outline a specific aspect of this research which is investigating the impact of share‐ownership/privatisation on the ‘financial awareness’ of employees; and to outline some preliminary evidence based on detailed questionnaire returns from leading UK quoted companies.
STRATEGIES FOR NEW PRODUCTS MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIAN HIGH TECHNOLOGY FIRMS
Authors: Dwyer Larry , Mellor Robert
Published: January 2008

This paper reports some results of an investigation of the product innovation strategies of Australian high technology firms. While theoretical and empirical research undertaken outside of Australia reveals the importance of firms' adopting appropriate new product strategies to enhance their profits and prospects for growth (Booz, Allen & Hamilton 1982, Maidique & Zirger 1984, Cooper 1985), very little is known about the strategic behaviour and performance of Australian manufacturing firms whether high, medium or low technology.
WHAT SHOULD WE EMPHASISE IN MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT?
Authors: Barton Cunningham J.
Published: January 2008

Ask a manager what she/he does. She/he will probably tell you about functions or processes such as planning, organising, budgeting, and controlling (Fayol 1949).
DOING BUSINESS IN THAILAND — AN AUSTRALIAN PERSPECTIVE
Authors: Sheehan Brian
Published: January 2008

During 1989 I undertook a study on Australian Business Investment/Involvement in Thailand. The purpose was not to do a statistical study of volumes, product‐type etc., but rather to study the approaches of Australian companies who operated in Thailand, the factors leading to success or failure, the problems encountered, etc.
Owning a Bus Company: Yorkshire Rider Busworkers and the Employee Share Ownership Plan
Authors: Forrester Keith
Published: January 2008

One of the options that has recently emerged as a means of countering some of the harsher consequences of de‐regulation within the bus industry has been Employee Share Ownership Plans (ESOPs). This paper will report on “one of the largest employee‐ owned companies anywhere in the world” — the Rider Holdings Employee Share Ownership Plan. The Company is the largest provider of public transport in the densely populated urban areas of West Yorkshire and includes those municipal transport operations in Huddersfield, Bradford, Leeds and Todmorden previously incorporated within the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (WYPTE).
Who Wants Harmonisation?
Authors: Hassard John
Published: January 2008

In an ideal world harmonisation would be a good idea. So why should there be any resistance to it?
The Price Waterhouse Cranfield Project on HRM in Europe: The First Findings of the 1990 Survey
Authors: Holden Len , Hegewisch Ariane
Published: January 2008

Effective human resource policies are now seen as central to business decision making. In particular, European and global diversification, whether by merger, acquisition, alliance or joint partnership, is likely to have a direct impact on the sources of labour which organisations choose to tap, and on the way in which they recruit pay, train and develop their staff.
Flexibility Bargaining in Manufacturing: A Review of Developments
Authors: James Phil
Published: January 2008

Flexibility has been one of the most debated concepts over the last decade. Yet there remains considerable disagreement about the scale and significance of the developments that have taken place. The paper will examine one aspect of this debate, namely that of flexibility bargaining within the manufacturing sector.
Close to the Customer: Employee Relations in Superstores
Authors: Marchington Mick
Published: January 2008

There is little doubt that the economic, political and legal context within which employee relations takes place has altered substantially over the course of the past decade. What is more interesting is whether or not this has actually produced changes in individual employing organisations and workplaces, and if so why this has occurred. Much of the discussion about the existence of an enterprise culture is highly polemical, rather stronger on rhetoric than reality, and is often based on publicised initiatives or interviews with senior managers. Clearly, from such data, it is easy to over‐exaggerate the extent of change, and to assume that real and lasting adjustments have been put into effect. What is required therefore are more in‐depth investigations of recent developments in specific organisations which can be used to tease out whether policy initiatives have led to changes in practice (see, for example, MacInnes, 1987; Marchington and Parker, 1990).
Trade Union Ballots and Collective Bargaining in the 1980s
Authors: Martin Rod , Undy Roger , Fosh Patricia , Smith Paul , Morris Hugh
Published: January 2008

The paper reports a major part of the results of a research project on trade union ballots in the 1980s, concerned with the role of ballots in collective bargaining. The project investigated the changes made by unions in the conduct of collective bargaining as a result of government legislation on ballots, through analysis of union rule books, interviews with national level officials, and case studies of collective bargaining at local level.
The Impact of Privatisation on Industrial Relations in the Water Industry
Authors: Ogden Stuart
Published: January 2008

The Government's privatisation programme has had a number of objectives. Moreover the relative importance of objectives has changed over time. Bishop and Kay (1988) for example state that “privatisation was a policy devised in opposition by a section of the Conservative Party, and was seen primarily as a means of reducing the power of public sector unions” (p.1). As the policy developed the publicly stated emphasis changed. In the early 1980s reducing the Public Sector Borrowing Requirement and raising revenue for the Government were seen as important, but “with the acceleration of the privatisation programme, competition, efficiency and wider share ownership have been emphasised as the dominant themes” (Veljanovski, 1987, p.9). Not surprisingly with such fluctuations it is not always the case that there is consensus as to what the Government's aims are. In contrast to Veljanovski, Thompson (1988) for instance argues that in recent years “in practice privatisation policy has come to be increasingly focused upon the transfer of the assets of state enterprises into the private sector. The promotion of competition has increasingly taken a back seat” (p.29).
Professionalising Management and Managing Professionalisation: British Management in the 1980's
Authors: Reed Mike , Anthony Peter
Published: January 2008

During the 1980's there is some evidence to suggest that the British state began to take a rather more pro‐active role in sponsoring and supporting managerial education and training with the longer‐term objective of producing a ‘professionalised’ occupational group or strata. A number of reports on the condition of management education and training in the UK (Mangham and Silver, 1986; Handy, 1987; Constable and McCormick, 1987) indicated that general provision in this area fell well below that provided by our major European competitors and, for the most part, was patchy, fragmented and poorly organised. The dire warnings of accelerated economic decline — due, at least in part, to the glaring intellectual and technical deficiencies of British management when compared to its various European counterparts — galvanised the state into undertaking a number of initiatives aimed at producing a more coherent, extensive and integrated system of management education and training (expansion of business/management schools in higher education sector; Charter Initiative; Enterprise Initiative; BIM support and involvement; positive response from ‘professional associations, such as IPM etc.). These initiatives — often taken in concert with a relatively small number of British owned and controlled multinational corporations (such as ICI) —were directed at transforming the culture and organisation of British management in the direction of a more ‘enterprising’ values system, combined with a more developed and integrated system of accreditation and training. The underlying ideological tensions — not to say contradictions ‐ between an enterprising or ‘entrepreneurial’ value system, on the one hand, and a professional or status— oriented value system on the other, were hardly recognised, much less debated. The organisational problems likely to accrue as a result of this underlying ideological conflict were also left unresolved. For the most part, they were sublimated within a pragmatically‐oriented drive “to do something” about the appallingly low level of management education and training in the UK as quickly as possible. The fact that some of the major actors or agencies charged with transforming the quality and standing of management education and training had rather different ideas as to how this objective was to be achieved (e.g. increasingly strained relations between Charter Group and BIM Universities) was also glossed over in the desperate rush to “get a slice of the action”. While initiatives of this kind — if not on the same scale that seemed to be envisaged — had been undertaken before in the 1960's and 1970's (Whitley et al, 1981), and certain developments had taken place in relation to particular technical specialisms within management as a whole (Armstrong, 1987), the 1980's witnessed a more concerted strategy of reform in which the rhetoric of ‘professionalisation’ played an important ideological and political role.
The Changing Character of Managerial and Technical Roles in the Information Technology Based Enterprise
Authors: Rose Howard , Mole Veronica
Published: January 2008

In the shifting landscape of organisational computing, continuing developments in information technology have potentially major implications for managerial and technical roles, including the emergence of new ‘hybrid’ roles. As the emphasis in computer information systems shifts from relatively inflexible transaction processing systems to more flexible decision support systems, so the focus of attention has shifted from the effect of computerisation on workforce roles to the implications for managerial and technical personnel. Concerns with operational control and long‐range planning have given way to concerns with the integration of primary business functions and medium‐range ‘what if’ analysis, particularly in the information‐based sectors such as financial services, travel and tourism, and retailing.
Decollectivisation of Industrial Relations: Union Exclusion in Theory and Practice
Authors: Smith Paul , Morton Gary
Published: January 2008

The ‘Decollectivisation of Industrial Relations’ is now a significant theme in the policy of the Conservative Government and that of a growing, if still small number, of companies and state agencies. Its theoretical justification is a ‘neo‐ classical’ economic perspective in which the contract of employment is conceived as a market relationship between symmetrical parties and organisations of capital and labour are differently evaluated. The collective nature of the former is subsumed under its legal individual personality and only certain monopolies and monopoly practices are considered illegitimate. Unions, however, are viewed as coercive organisations which intrude upon the contract of employment to distort the labour market through the imposition of a ‘rent’ upon the hire of labour by capital; as a result, either labour costs are raised and profits reduced or the wages of non‐union labour are suppressed. The neo‐classical perspective is thus hostile to collective power of unions as such rather than ‘excesses’ of that power which could be redressed by ‘shifting the balance’ to employers as was the stated objective of the Employment Act 1980 (Wedderburn 1989).
Enterprise Culture and the Restructuring of the UK Clothing Industry
Authors: Winterton Ruth
Published: January 2008

The clothing industries, in common with a number of other sectors of UK manufacturing, have faced intense international competition as clothing production has expanded in less‐developed countries. In the UK, as in the USA, import penetration and fashion trends over the past two decades have stimulated a complex restructuring of clothing (Taplin and Winterton, 1990).
JAPANISATION: THE EMERGING AGENDA FOR RESEARCH
Authors: Wilkinson Barry
Published: January 2008

In this article “Japanisation” is used as a shorthand term for the diffusion of Japanese management systems and practices, whether this be via Japanese direct investment overseas or the emulation of such systems and practices in non‐Japanese organisations. Based on the philosophies of total quality control (TQC) and just‐in‐time (JIT) produc‐tion, the Japanese organisational form has been held up as a new “paradigm” which challenges the logic of tradi‐tional Western production regimes (Aoki 1987; Oliver and Wilkinson 1988a) and has crucial implications for both intra‐ and inter‐organisational structures and relations of power and control (Wilkinson and Oliver 1989).
THE NEED FOR STRATEGIC PLANNING IN THE PUBLIC AND NON‐PROFIT SECTOR
Authors: Kemp Roger L.
Published: January 2008

The year 2000, the dawn of the 21st century, is a mere de‐cade away. Dynamic changes are now underway that will have a dramatic impact on our public and non‐profit or‐ganisations — both politically and managerially. Forces of change are now in motion that will require many organisa‐tions to change in order to meet the public's rightful expec‐tations for effective performance. The milestone changes examined in this article are based on predictable trends that will have a measurable impact on public and non‐profit agencies across the nation. They will also test the abilities of governing bodies and top management as they strive to maintain their constituencies and services.
MBA PROGRAMMES IN AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND: AN ASSESSMENT
Authors: SUCHARD HAZEL T.
Published: January 2008

An attempt is made to assess Australian and New Zealand M.B.A. programmes on the basis of as et of criteria which are commonly listed as important to the quality of an M.B.A. programme. Institutions are ranked in terms of standards and student quality, faculty quality, nature of programmes, marketing of programme, support services and courses offered. In terms of overall ranking, the top three institutions are, in order of ranking, Monash University Graduate School of Management and the Australian Graduate School of Management ranked jointly in first place, followed by the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and ranked jointly in third place, the University of Melbourne Graduate School of Management and the University of Sydney Graduate School of Managementand Public Policy. Rankings depend heavily on criteria adopted and the weightings given to these criteria and rankings and should not be taken as being authoritative.
Is Low‐Cost High Differentiation Better, Some Objective Evidence
Authors: Chan Peng S. , Wright Peter
Published: January 2008

In recent years, the concept of generic strategies for achieving competitive advantage has gained prominence in the field of strategic management (BCG, 1976; Buzzell, Gale & Sultan, 1976; Porter, 1980; Hambrick, 1983; Karnani, 1984; Wright, 1987). Two generic strategies often mentioned in the literature are low‐ cost position and high differentiation position. Porter also mentions a third generic strategy called ‘focus’. However, this strategy is merely a specialised application of the two main generic strategies in a narrow market segment.
THE IMPACT OF STRESS COUNSELLING IN THE WORKPLACE: THE POST OFFICE STUDY
Authors: Cooper Cary L. , Sadri Golnaz
Published: January 2008

Much research has been conducted on the causes and consequences of stress (Ivancevich, 1986; Cooper & Payne, 1988; Sauter, Hurrell & Cooper, 1989). More recently, researchers have turned their attention to strategies that might be used to remedy the problem (Cooper, 1987). A number of papers address the issue at a conceptual level, suggesting different ways of categorising stress intervention techniques. Matteson and Ivancevich (1987) draw a distinction between preventive and curative strategies. DeFrank and Cooper (1987) suggest that interventions can focus on the individual, the organisation or the individual/organisational interface. Murphy (1988) presents three levels of intervention: primary (stressor reduction), secondary (stress management) and tertiary (employee assistance programmes).