Local Bargaining in the National Health Service: New Approaches to Employee Relations

This research uses the establishment of local bargaining arrangements in the National Health Service (NHS) to examine managerial employee relations objectives. It finds a continued commitment to pluralism and a rejection of an HRM approach. Change is taking place, possibly involving a shift towards a consultative style, in a traditional industrial relations framework.     

A comparative study of the contents of personnel and human resource management textbooks

The paper reports the results of a contents analysis performed on fifty personnel and HRM texts. It suggests that there is a common set of person-nel/HRM tasks across cultures. Within this common set there are differences in the priority accorded to particular tasks. British HRM texts give priority to organizational theory, American HRM texts prioritize corporate strategy, while personnel texts prioritize industrial relations and collective bargaining. The conclusion considers as possible explanations the divergence in the systems of industrial relations of the two countries and the markets towards which the texts are oriented. It argues that a more likely explanation derives from the differential cultural values which inform managerial research in Britain and America.     

Enthusiastic Embrace or Critical Reception? The German HRM Debate

This paper discusses the reception of human resource management (HRM) in Germany. A review of the German HRM debate shows that this is dominated by business administration academics specializing in this field. In the past, these scholars as well as practitioners have generally embraced the techniques as well as the ideology of HRM. This finding can be explained by a relatively low emphasis on empirical research, a neglect of industrial relations issues, and a strong impact of theories and concepts developed in the USA. Today, however, there appears to be a change towards a more critical appreciation of the US HRM model and a more positive assessment of the German HRM model.     

Japanisation: a lack of chemical reaction

It should not be assumed that the Japanisation of British industry is taking place merely because of some similarities in contemporary practice. Drawing on evidence from the chemical industry, the authors illustrate how the development of industrial relations may owe more to tradition than to the influence of Japan     

Co-operation and conflict in industrial relations: what are the implications for employees and trade unions?

This article explores the effects on employees of co-operation and conflict the workplace, outlining six workplace types. A survey of union representatives UK steel industry reveals evidence of co-operative industrial relations linked to superior terms and conditions, employee involvement and health and safety outcomes. However, it fails to find evidence that co-operative industrial relations are associated a broader HRM package of workplace restructuring, high performance work teams security provisions. Nor is any association revealed between co-operation and a greater role for trade unions. These findings suggest workplace co-operation in this industry remains part of a traditional gainsharing package and an 'alliance of insiders' than an HRM partnership or union incorporation. This raises broader questions the ability of co-operation to deliver important aspects of organizational competitive advantage.     

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS[1]

Human resource management (HRM) is a term which is now widely used but very loosely defined. In this paper it is argued that if the concept is to have any social scientific value, it should be defined in such a way as to differentiate it from traditional personnel management and to allow the development of testable hypotheses about its impact. Based on theoretical work in the field of organizational behaviour it is proposed that HRM comprises a set of policies designed to maximize organizational integration, employee commitment, flexibility and quality of work. Within this model, collective industrial relations have, at best, only a minor role. Despite the apparent attractions of HRM to managements, there is very little evidence of any quality about its impact. Furthermore very few UK organizations appear to practise a distinctive form of HRM, although many are moving slowly in that direction through, for example, policies of employee involvement.     

Understanding continuity in public sector HRM through neo‐institutional theory: why national collective bargaining has survived in English local government

Most HRM research over recent decades has concentrated on ‘change’, charting ever more fragmented, individualised and unitarist employment relationships. This is equally true of public sector HRM, where the emphasis has been on neo‐liberalism and marketisation. However, in many countries and sectors, collective, pluralist approaches to HRM and industrial relations have proved remarkably resilient. This article uses Neo‐Institutional theory to explain the ‘continuity’ of one such HRM system: national collective bargaining in English local government (1979–2007). We argue that this survives because it manages the political and managerial processes that link central government and central–local relations and acts as a conduit between institutional stakeholders to deliver services to the public. By understanding the ‘passive consensus’ that holds the collectivist HRM system together, we can anticipate the forces that might pull it apart.     

A cost-minimization approach to the international transfer of HRM/IR practices: Anglo-Saxon multinationals in the Federal Republic of Germany

The existence of host-country and country-of-origin effects is analysed by using the concept of fiscal federalism as a theoretical analogy. It is argued that multinationals try to minimize the costs of centralization and decentralization associated with cross-national personnel policy. The higher the costs of decentralization, the more likely is the existence of country-of-origin effects. The opposite holds true for increasing costs of centralization. This is tested empirically by comparing the human resource management and industrial relations (HRM/IR) practices of US and British subsidiaries operating in Germany with those of native German firms. Based on 297 valid cases, it is shown that the existence of decentralization costs is associated with country-of-origin effects in various areas of personnel management, such as the use of variable compensation, employee ownership and initial vocational training. In contrast, in the field of industrial relations (co-determination, compliance with collective bargaining), there are strong pressures to adapt to local norms, leading to host-country effects. These results indicate that a rationalistic cost-minimization approach is well suited to explaining the patterns of host- and home-country effects in regard to the HRM/IR practices of multinational enterprises.     

Collectivism and the Management of Industrial Relations In Greenfield Sites

Patrick Gunnigle examines management approaches to industrial relations in newly established (‘greenfield’) companies in the Republic of Ireland. He focuses particularly on recent empirical findings on trade union density and recognition and on the role of employer organisations. the evidence presented points to newly emergent patterns of industrial relations management which diverge from the pluralist model. However, in only a minority of cases could these be classified as ‘soft’ human resource management. Indeed a number of organisations studied adopted industrial relations styles which more closely approximated to ‘hard’ HRM. It would appear that the emerging pattern is one of higher individualism and constrained collectivism. the findings also point to the emergence of a vibrant non-union sector among greenfield companies. It is argued that this trend is likely to be accentuated by the increasing number of companies successfully pursuing the non-union route. Equally, the current national industrial policy focus on high technology industries and internationally traded services is also likely to reinforce growth in the non-union sector. A number of factors which may help to arrest this trend are identified, particularly the corporatist structures characteristic of Irish industrial relations and the traditional acceptance of trade unions as legitimate bargaining partners.     

International competition and pay,working time and employment: exploring the processes of adjustment

The internationalisation of markets, competition and regulation is increasingly recognised. So far, however, debate about the effects has been largely speculative. This article examines the UK engineering industry. Survey evidence suggests that international comparisons are relatively unimportant, little benchmarking is going on and that stability characterises pay and working time arrangements. Further interview evidence explains that this is because pay and working time are set with employee expectations in mind, whereas it is the treatment of unit costs that reflects international pressures. As a consequence there has been substantial reductions in employment as well as some important changes in work organisation, even if there has been little change in pay or working time systems. In effect, it suggests that there is a form of ‘implicit contract’ taking place. A wider implication is that the main impetus for the ‘Europeanisation’ of industrial relations is likely to come from the growing convergence of costs rather than pressures for wage parity.     

The take-up of human resource management by mainstream companies: key lessons from research

Drawing upon a major British study involving over 300 interviews in fifteen case organizations from the private and public sectors, this paper draws out the essential elements of recent changes in industrial relations. In particular, it examines the significance of human resource management initiatives for the practice of industrial relations. The main thrust of the paper examines the ways, and the extent to which, mainstream organizations have transposed and absorbed concepts and practices from the highly publicized ‘lead cases’ into their own routines.

The central argument has three component elements: a whole array of managerial initiatives was launched in the period covered by the research; many of the more far-reaching of these were devised and driven from outside personnel or industrial relations management; cumulatively, these initiatives have impacted on the conduct of industrial relations.

A key concept which is identified and explored is that of HRM/IR ‘dualism’. This is the attempted bolting-on of HRM techniques and language alongside prevailing, albeit to some extent diluted, IR proceduralism. Many of the significant changes in labour management practices stemmed from initiatives taken by general managers, manufacturing directors and line managers. Transformative initiatives in the guise of culture change and structural change often carried profound implications for industrial relations even though these initiatives would not traditionally be regarded as part of industrial relations proper.     

HRM professionals and their perceptions of HRM and firm performance in the Philippines

This paper reports the findings of a study conducted in the Philippines that examines the extent of adoption of human capital-enhancing human resource (HR) and industrial relations (IR) practices. Differences between locally owned and other organizations in these practices and their relationship to firm performance were also investigated. Questionnaire responses were obtained from managers and union representatives from 128 organizations located in the Philippines. The results indicated that there was, on average, a fairly high level of adoption of practices consistent with a strategic approach to human resource management (HRM), with foreign-owned firms tending to show a slightly higher level of adoption of such practices. A scale representing the adoption of a more conciliatory and union-friendly IR approach was found to be a significant predictor of perceived firm performance. Surprisingly, the level of strategic integration between HRM and business planning and most human capital-enhancing HR practices were not significant predictors of perceived firm performance. Research and practical implications in relation to the role of HRM in enhancing firm performance are discussed.     

HR research in the Netherlands: imitation and innovation

In this paper we present an overview of Dutch HRM Research in the last decade, based on a content analysis of academic journals in this area. Also included is a comparison between UK and USA research, on the one hand, and Dutch research, on the other. Looking back, we conclude that HRM research in the Netherlands has had a relatively institutional character and has been less focused on HRM activities in a narrow sense. Dutch HRM researchers have paid less attention to the strategic positioning of HRM, to the redesign of HRM tools in the area of through-flow and performance management (appraisal, reward systems, feedback mechanisms) and to the monitoring of the effects of HRM. In this way HRM research has not reflected the key HRM issues occupying the attention of practitioners. From more recent patterns, however, we expect Dutch HRM research increasingly to reflect managerial concerns. This does not imply full convergence with US patterns, especially given the Dutch traditions in industrial relations and personnel management. The challenge for Dutch research on HRM is to find the right balance between market forces and institutional arrangements, including a fair position for the workers; this will have to do justice to the long established tradition of industrial democracy and consultation practices among the various stakeholders.     

An industrial relations perspective on the high-performance paradigm

Recent studies have suggested that various human resource management (HRM) practices are associated with enhanced economic performance in organizations. This research has led to what we call the high-performance paradigm, a belief that firms can improve performance by adopting certain high-performance work practices (HPWP). We apply an industrial relations (IR) perspective to the high-performance paradigm to extend the insights of HRM studies. After identifying how the perspective typically adopted in IR research differs from that used by HRM researchers, we briefly review the literature on HPWPs, identify limitations in the existing research approach, and suggest issues and areas for future research. In general, we suggest that research on HPWPs has made a valuable contribution to the literature. We urge HRM researchers, however, to devote more attention to underlying conflicts at work, focus more explicitly on the implications of new forms of work for workers, and pay greater attention to the role that cultural forces, unions, and governments play in shaping the workplace.     

Obstacles to transnational trade union cooperation in Europe—results from a European survey

This article analyses obstacles to transnational union cooperation within Europe. It is based on a survey of unions in 14 European countries and all members of the European Trade Union Confederation. The result shows that ‘hard’ industrial relations factors are generally more important obstacles to transnational cooperation than ‘softer’ factors such as cultural, linguistic, ideological and religious differences and that there are sectoral differences in experiences of obstacles to transnational union cooperation: unions in the manufacturing sector tend to emphasise differences in industrial relations and a lack of organisational resources for transnational union cooperation, whereas low organisational priorities are held to be of more importance in the services sector and for unions for professional workers.     

HRM practice in emerging economies: a long way to go in the Slovak hotel industry?

Using empirical data from interviews among leading hotels in Slovakia, this paper sets out to explore recent developments in human resource management (HRM) policies and practices and labour relations in an emerging Central European economy. The main areas explored are the HRM function, employee resourcing, employee development, employee relations and emerging HRM issues. The paper establishes that there has been a move away from the traditional rigid socialist type of personnel management, but it has not been fully replaced by HRM practices. The emergent 'model' is a hybrid of the traditional Western personnel management and basic HRM activities, alongside which some legacies of the socialist personnel function still exist.     

Don't know,don't care: An exploration of evidence based knowledge and practice in human resource management

Over the past two decades the integrity (alignment of words and deeds) of the Human Resource Management (HRM) profession has been questioned by scholars who have identified a gap between the rhetoric of ‘people are our most important asset’ and the reality of ‘impersonal economic rationalism’. In a more recent, and as yet unconnected, stream of research there has been concern about a research-practice gap in HRM. This article draws on both streams of research to explain why HRM Does not implement evidence based practice. It focuses on research indicating that HRM practitioners are not incentivized to learn about evidence based practice and develops theory proposing that their satisfaction with the status quo reflects a value proposition based on utilitarian instrumentalism. Further to this, it is proposed that management's focus on the short-term drives and obfuscates current approaches. It concludes that neither academia nor HRM practitioners are incentivized to change current practice with negative consequences for employees, organizations, and HRM practitioners. Arguments are supported and illustrated with High Performance Work Practices and solutions are proposed to implement evidence based practice.     

Marksist Management: Sophisticated Human Relations in a High Street Retail Store

Large non-union firms such as IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Marks & Spencer are frequently cited as ‘role models’ for ‘soft HRM’. The key elements of sophisticated human relations practised by these firms are well-known, but there is little evidence of employees’ perceptions or experience of this particular management style. Data from a high street retail store which follows the Marksist version of sophisticated human relations reveals a significant gap between aspirations (rhetoric) and outcomes (reality).     

ENTERPRISE WITHOUT UNIONS: THE MANAGEMENT OF EMPLOYEE RELATIONS IN NON-UNION FIRMS

Employee relations in non-union settings remain largely uninvestigated by industrial relations researchers. This article examines the management of employee relations in establishments in high technology industries in the Southeast of England - a sector and locality frequently identified with high levels of non-unionism. Moreover, high technology firms are frequently seen as exemplars of new human resource management techniques designed to substitute for unions. Our data from postal and interview surveys of 115 establishments suggests that HRM is only one, and by no means the dominant, approach to managing employee relations in high technology establishments.