ISO 14001 – experiences,effects and future challenges: a national study in Austria

More than 60000 organizations worldwide have implemented environmental management systems (EMSs). About 800 of them are located in Austria. As Austria was one of the leading countries in promoting the EU scheme EMAS, and as there has been no specific study on Austrian experiences with ISO 14001, the purpose of this study is to describe the experiences with and effects of ISO 14001 in Austria. The results show that ISO 14001 often leads to reduced environmental impact, especially in the area of waste. A strong driving force behind implementation is the expected improvement of an organization's image. The average repayment time on an investment in an EMS is less than two years. Legal compliance tends to be difficult to implement, but on the other hand it works well in daily practice. To develop an EMS into a sustainability management system, the two most important challenges are to improve coordination between the EMS and the organization's strategies and to synchronize the EMS with central value chains. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Measuring the impact of work reorganization on firm performance: evidence from French manufacturing, 1995–1999

In this paper, we apply the method of selective matching to estimate the causal effect of organizational changes on employment, stock of capital, value added, and factor productivity. Derived from a panel of 2404 French manufacturing firms in 1997, our estimates show that work reorganization improves firm performance overall through a more efficient use of labor and capital, without requiring any increase in the factors of production.     

Market orientation – a case study of three UK opera companies

This paper is based on a recent marketing study conducted as part of an MBA programme. It considers the applicability of marketing orientation in a nonprofit context and takes the case of three opera companies in order to investigate and explore the potential benefits and issues associated with attempting to achieve a market orientation in this environment. A key issue identified is the tension apparent between the need to remain financially stable and the artistic desire to preserve the operatic heritage by performing less popular works. A model is also introduced to explore these two dimensions in more detail. Copyright © 2000 Henry Stewart Publications.     

Employment impacts of cleaner production – evidence from a German study using case studies and surveys

The study assesses net employment effects of technical progress, which can be expected by the ongoing transition from end‐of‐pipe technologies towards cleaner production. Empirical evidence is presented on the basis of case studies and firm data including a telephone survey from German industry. The main result is that the transition from end‐of‐pipe technologies to cleaner production leads to a net creation of jobs, which is however restricted to a only small number of firms and to the group of highly skilled labour. Eco‐innovations, like other innovations, are non‐neutral. The demand for skilled and highly skilled labour rises while the demand for unskilled labour decreases. Synergies between environmental, labour market and innovation policy are apparent but they are however small and specific. The exploitation of these synergies requires the design of specific policy programmes differentiating between types of eco‐innovation. The promotion of product‐integrated environmental measures should be more successful if new products complement older ones, while process‐integrated environmental measures should be more successful if consumers' demand is more price elastic. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment     

The conciliatory negotiation of change: a case study of the Norwich footwear Arbitration Board experience 1909–1980

The footwear industry is unique in its continuous use of joint local conciliation and arbitration boards to handle changes brought about by new technology and the contraction of its labour force. This case study draws on the experience of one board and assesses the wider lessons of an industry-wide arbitration system.     

Performance comparisons in fundraising – the case of fundratios

Fundraisers need to be able to compare results if they are to judge the success of their different programmes and schemes. But any such comparisons are fraught with difficulties. This paper reviews the experience of what is almost certainly the longest running scheme for comparing fundraising performance anywhere in the world. It describes the way it has developed, the challenges it has faced and the ways in which its figures are used, drawing on the views of a wide range of participants. It concludes by highlighting the prospects and possibilities now open to the scheme, and its longer-term significance for nonprofit managers. Copyright © 1999 Henry Stewart Publications     

Environmental reporting and transport – the case of a public transport company

This article discusses corporate environmental reporting in the field of transport. In addition to addressing this issue in general, the article includes empirical material from a case transport company. The process of preparing the year 2000 environmental report for the company is described. The environmental report includes actions for improving the environmental performance of the company, and indicators for monitoring of the progress from year to year. This is based on separate studies of the employees' company travels, daily travel to work and the purchasing of energy. The company is using societal accounting to show its responsibility as an important societal actor, improving the stakeholder dialogue and providing knowledge at the political level. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Comparing modes of privatisation: a study of the telecommunications sectors in Argentina and Mexico, 1990–2000

This article examines the variation in the post‐privatisation pattern of labour and employment relations in the telecommunications sectors of Argentina and Mexico. The findings suggest that the initial mode of privatisation—negotiated vs. imposed reform—shaped changes in employment, subcontracting and work rules in the period following privatisation. The research also suggests, however, that negotiated reform is more likely to emerge only when certain political incentives are present.     

Management training in small firms – a case of market failure?

The take-up of management training is lower in small than in large firms. A case is often made in the UK that this reflects an ignorance on the part of owner-managers in small firms of the benefits of training. In other words, the argument is often put that the market is subject to failure and so justifies the provision of subsidies. This paper critiques this view. The analysis shows that market forces explain rather better the lower take-up of management training by small firms. The authors therefore suggest the assumption of ignorance leading to market failure is unreasonable, and hence they question the case for further public-funded subsidies.     

Coordinated employer bargaining and globalisation: a study of the men's clothing industry in Quebec, 1974–2012

This article looks at the political economy of employer coordination of collective bargaining in the clothing or apparel manufacturing industry in Canada over three phases of globalisation: from the Multi‐Fiber Agreement in 1974 to the impact of the entry of China in the WTO. Although prevailing accounts emphasise the force of exogenous change and the likely decentralisation of bargaining structures and demise of bargaining coordination by employers, this case highlights how unions and employers sought to preserve their institutional model. We find that actor strategies and their interrelations are a central part of the explanation of this apparent institutional stability, despite the real force of economic, organisational and public policy factors. However, it is a dynamic stability in which change processes, reflecting shifting power relations, are leading to important shifts in the nature of employer coordination.     

From a var model to a structural model,with an application to the wage–price spiral

In this paper a VAR model is considered as a general framework in which a structural model can be tested. We carefully describe the hypotheses defining a structural model; this leads us to discuss various notions such as: predeterminedness, non-causality, exogeneity, contemporaneous identification, overall identification, weak and strong structural forms. Then we propose a test procedure, based on the asymptotic least-squares method, which allows successive testing of each aspect of a structural model. This procedure is applied to the wage–price spiral.     

From boom to bust: the challenges of managing people in Thailand

This article critically analyses the theory and practice of human resource management (HRM) in Thailand. Thailand emerged against all expectations as the most impressive of the 'tiger economies' with unprecedented growth rates of 8 per cent and above in the 1980s and early 1990s. This paper examines the human resource challenges associated with the industrial expansion during the period of transition from the boom era to the subsequent economic downturn that saw the collapse of the economy in 1997. Based on in-depth interviews with managers across eleven major industrial sectors, observations of office and factory practice, this paper attempts to characterize the diversity of approaches available and how they reflect the social-cultural and economic realities in Thailand today. Three generic HR models are identified: traditional , transitional and progressive . We assess the key definitive features of these models, identify some major thematic differences, and examine the relative importance of these models in the commitment to develop a competent and innovative workforce. Finally, we identify some possible avenues for further research, and set out a number of managerial and policy implications.     

From collective bargaining to ‘personal’ contracts: case studies in port transport and electricity supply

‘Personal’ employment contracts have been presented as a conduit for individualisation, facilitating a more equal, open and flexible employment relationship. This article explores the reality of their introduction in two industries. It argues that the contracts have been used symbolically and contributed to a growth in employer power rather than transparency.