Friend or foe? The impact of high‐performance work practices on workplace bullying

The aim of this paper is to examine the relationship between high‐performance work practices (HPWPs) and workplace bullying and identify possible mediators. The study presents hypotheses based on two competing perspectives: a mutual gains perspective, arguing that HPWPs lead to higher perceptions of justice and less role conflict, thereby reducing the risk of bullying; and, a critical perspective, arguing that HPWPs lead to work intensification and competition among colleagues, and thereby to more bullying. A two‐wave survey (n = 209) was conducted among business professionals in Finland. The results show that HPWPs are associated with less bullying, and justice and role conflict mediated the relationship. Thus, the results provide support for the mutual gains perspective on HPWPs, challenging prevailing assumptions in the bullying literature that suggest performance‐enhancing HR practices are a risk factor. Instead, the results point to the significance of HPWPs as an important tool to prevent bullying.     

Evolution of the practices of human resource management in France towards a strategic model: rhetoric or reality?

This article analyses the evolution of the human resources management in France. The study attempts to understand the transformation of administrative practices of HRM towards strategic practices of HRM (SHRM) in the French context. It also shows the factors responsible for this change. The results of this study support the development in France of SHRM and the regression of administrative practices of HRM, although a third hybrid model of HRM seems to appear between both practices. This tendency towards SHRM is accentuated in large firms, quoted on the stock exchange, in services and finance sectors with international activities. This study confirms that the SHRM in France is reality rather than rhetoric.     

Does the engaged public's evaluation of networking practices matter? The effects of polarized attitudes and the reputation of networking on individuals' word-of-mouth behaviors

The study examines the influence of individuals' attitudes and the perceived organization's ability to network with its stakeholders on their positive and negative word-of-mouth (WOM) behaviors. The study also examines how these relationships differ between the general and engaged public, taking the organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) as a case study. The results show that individuals' attitudes toward PETA predict positive and negative WOM behaviors regardless of their previous engagement in PETA. Yet the influence of the perceived reputation of PETA's networking with other stakeholders on positive or negative WOM behaviors displayed different patterns between the general and the engaged public. For the engaged public, the idea that PETA has a good relationship with its members is considered more important than outreach to nonsupporters. In addition, how individuals perceive characteristics of stakeholders or their influence on organizations influences the relationship between the perceived reputation of networking and the engaged public's negative WOM behaviors.     

Balancing board? The effects of board independence and capital on firms offering work‐family benefits

While prior research demonstrates the strategic human resource (HR) advantages associated with offering work–family benefits (WFBs), firms continue to be reluctant in providing their employees with these benefits. Drawing on the corporate governance and stakeholder orientation literatures, this study examines the role of board independence and capital for WFBs being offered in publicly‐traded firms. Our results demonstrate that various director independence and capital attributes are related to the firm offering WFBs. Specifically, board directors who are outsiders, women, and holders of additional directorships, with their broad stakeholder orientation, increase the likelihood of WFBs being offered by the firm [Correction added on December 14, 2017, after first online publication: the preceding sentence has been updated to clarify the findings of the study.]. These findings are of importance to HR practitioners considering the influence that corporate boards can have on the firm's use of HR practices, such as WFBs, that affect all employees, not just the executives.     

The impact of data revisions on the robustness of growth determinants—a note on ‘determinants of economic growth: Will data tell?’

Ciccone and Jarociński (American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics 2010; 2 : 222–246) show that inference in Bayesian model averaging (BMA) can be highly sensitive to small data perturbations. In particular, they demonstrate that the importance attributed to potential growth determinants varies tremendously over different revisions of international income data. They conclude that ‘agnostic’ priors appear too sensitive for this strand of growth empirics. In response, we show that the found instability owes much to a specific BMA set‐up: first, comparing the same countries over data revisions improves robustness; second, much of the remaining variation can be reduced by applying an evenly ‘agnostic’ but flexible prior. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The introduction of the 5‐year impact factor: does it benefit statistics journals?

In this paper, we investigate the effects of the introduction of 5-year impact factors. We collect impact factor data for all disciplines available in the Journal Citation Reports. For all these categories, we give insights into the relationship between the traditional 2-year impact factor and the new 5-year impact factor. Our main focus is to investigate whether the traditionally low impact factors for statistics journals improve with this new measure. The results show that the statistics discipline indeed benefits from the 5-year window, that is, the impact factor increases. This appears to be true for most disciplines, although the statistics discipline ranks among the top 15 (out of 171) disciplines in this respect.     

How to refuse a vote on the EU? The case against the referendum in the House of Commons (1974–2010)

Under what conditions do politicians oppose referendums especially to decide questions of European integration? Existing literature has identified reasons why governments and political parties pledge to hold non-mandatory referendums to ratify EU treaties or determine a country’s participation in the EU project, and some studies have analysed the effect of voter demand and attitudes towards EU referendums. This study examines the positions politicians themselves take towards popular participation in decision-making on the EU. The paper presents a summative content analysis of parliamentary debates in the United Kingdom between 1974 and 2010, tracing MPs’ arguments against using referendums to determine the UK’s participation in EU integration. Our results indicate that the range of claims made by MPs in the House of Commons against referendums on European matters has narrowed over time, although opposing arguments have continued to fall into the same set of four argumentative strategies. We find that institutional arguments, reflecting a Burkean understanding of representative democracy, consistently predominate over arguments that cite practical, political and manipulation concerns.     

Between consultation and collective bargaining? The changing role of non‐union employee representatives: a case study from the finance sector

This article reviews the roles and activities of non‐union employee representatives (NERs) acting as forum officers in a large Internet finance company. Currently there is little academic coverage concerning NERs in this sector, including their contributions to employment relations, their motivations and orientations towards representative role and activities, or relations with management and fellow employees. An important precondition to answering one of the main questions asked of NERs is whether such representation constitutes the foundation of some nascent trade unionism, or whether by acting as forum representatives, they are positioning themselves to support management agendas and outlook? The range of data from this article's longitudinal case study, indicating time usage including individual and collective representation, suggests that NERs allegiances and roles remain ambiguous, existing as they do in the intersection between consultation and collective bargaining. An important factor may be their capacity for independent action and independence from senior management.     

Do Birds of a Feather Flock Higher? The Effects of Partner Similarity on Innovation in Strategic Alliances in Knowledge‐Intensive Industries

In spite of the consensus on the benefits of strategic alliances for learning and innovation, our understanding of the effects of partner similarity remains conflicted. This paper develops an integrative theoretical framework in which we propose that similar partners in a focal firm's alliance portfolio contribute to the firm's innovation up to a threshold, beyond which additional similar partners can lead to a decrease in innovation because of the trade-offs embedded in collaboration between similar partners. In this integrative framework, we also draw on organizational ecology and institutional perspectives to propose that the effect of partner similarity on innovation is positively moderated by organizational aging and the industry norm of collaboration at the firm's founding. Results from an analysis of 176 biotechnology firms between 1988 and 1999 support our arguments. This study contributes to research on strategic alliance and innovation by considering both the benefits and costs of partner similarity in the context of alliance portfolios and by exploring the multilevel contingencies for the effects of partner similarity.     

The Economic Impact and Civic Pride Effects of Sports Teams and Mega‐Events: Do The Public and the Professionals Agree?

Often sports leagues, organising committees, and team owners justify the use of public funds to build sports stadiums by the perceived economic impacts and civic pride generated by the teams or mega‐events. Since the 1980s many economic studies have examined the economic impact and civic pride created by professional sports teams. Most of the economic literature finds sports teams or mega‐events have little or no economic impact, but there are mixed findings on the magnitude of civic pride. Overall, most of the economic literature suggests that the benefits created by sports teams or events do not outweigh the cost of public subsidies provided. We conduct a survey of public opinion on US residents’ perceptions of economic impacts and civic pride benefits from mega‐events such as the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics. Our study asks the question: Do residents believe that mega‐events and sports teams generate positive economic impacts and civic pride or not? We find that, like economists, the public doubts that public funding of mega‐events is a good idea.     

‘Change or hold: reexamining HRM to meet new challenges and demands’: the future of people at work: a reflection on diverging human resource management policies and practices in Dutch organizations

As a consequence of continual change pressures on everyday organizations, a gradual but noticeable shift is taking place in the way managers and employees view the employment relationship. Expectation patterns between both parties are starting to diverge into what seems to be new forms of managing people, based on different assumptions regarding their importance in the (knowledge based) economy. Traditional differences in employment expectations between superiors and their subordinates, between higher and lesser educated and between intrinsically and extrinsically motivated employees, are currently making place for differences between younger and older knowledge workers and for diversity and professionalism. In this article, HRM is contrasted against two emerging approaches towards the management of people, which are currently subsets of HRM, but gaining momentum as potential replacements for HRM. First, we identify ‘Transaction-based Management of People (TM)’ in which the employment relationship mirrors that of a financially driven exchange relationship, similar to transaction economics. We refer to the second approach as ‘Professional-based Management of People (PM)’ in which the nature of the employment relationship reflects the recognition of people in organizations as ‘true’ professionals who know best what constitutes superior business performance. These approaches have been empirically examined by means of a representative survey among Dutch directors and managers.     

The non‐professionally affiliated (NPA) worker as co‐producer of public services: how is the role experienced in UK mental health services?

Recent workforce reforms have led to the widespread expansion of non‐professionally affiliated (NPA) support and assistant roles within UK public services. Research into these roles has been confined to a limited range of settings, with a focus on the consequence of change for professional workers. This article explores the emergence of ‘co‐production’, whereby NPA workers contribute alongside the professional in a distinct, complementary way. Findings are drawn from semi‐structured interviews with frontline workers and managers within the context of mental health workforce reform. The results build a picture of NPA working life characterised in part by autonomy and responsibility. At the same time, NPA workers rely on colleagues for support and are subject to being used indirectly by professionals. Contextual influences are considered. The conceptual implications of the analysis are brought out, both for the NPA role itself and for the broader issues involved in front line service work.     

Labour under the law: a new law of combination,and master and servant,in 21st‐century Britain?

It is valuable to evaluate contemporary employment law on industrial action and trade unions, and employment protection, in relation to the 19th‐century law of combination, and master and servant. Such a historical comparison, despite differing language and legal sanctions, focuses attention on the goal of legal ‘reform’—the drive to control workers' collective organisations and enhance the managerial prerogative in order to consolidate employers' capacity to determine the terms of the contract of employment or for services, and the content of the pay–effort bargain, that is, the real subordination of labour. It is a form of class struggle from above.