Trade Unions and Work‐life Balance: Changing Times in France and the UK?

The mixed empirical findings to date have indicated that some, but not all, unions in industrialized countries are actively involved in campaigning and bargaining around work–life balance (WLB) issues, as part of a modernization agenda linked to feminization and to 'positive flexibility'. This article seeks to identify factors that might encourage or inhibit trade unions from involvement in WLB issues, within a cross-national comparative perspective focusing on two countries (France and the UK) that have contrasting working time regimes and approaches to WLB. It draws on original research carried out in two sectors — insurance and social work — in these two countries. The article links the emergence of union WLB programmes and bargaining agendas to gender-equality concerns within the union and to the gender composition of the sector, as well as to the working time regime, including the mode of action, partnership being a significant corollary of WLB campaigning in the UK. We find support for the modernization thesis in the UK, particularly in the public sector, but within severe constraints defined by employer initiative.     

‘Fair Work’ and the Modernization of Australian Labour Standards: A Case of Institutional Plasticity Entrenching Deepening Wage Inequality

Australia was long recognized for its relatively compressed wage structure. From the 1940s to the 1970s this was associated with a comprehensive regime of ‘award‐based’ minimum wages. Since the 1980s, this has been subjected to comprehensive ‘modernization’. After three decades of reform and in the most supportive economic environment in the OECD, Australian wage inequality has deepened. Although multiple political‐economic forces have been at play, the evolution of Australia's labour standards regime is an example of ‘institutional plasticity’ whereby the purpose and operations of wage‐setting institutions not only evolves but can actually be inverted over time.     

The economic modeling of strategy process: ‘clean models’ and ‘dirty hands’

We argue that our model of learning in alliances ( Khanna, Gulati and Nohria, 1998 ) is an economic model of strategy process. We discuss implications of this view for the strategy process vs. content debate, for the appropriate testing of models of strategy process, and for the role of economics in helping understand strategy process. We propose that the ‘clean models’ from economics and ‘dirty hands’ of traditional process inquiries offer research designs that are complementary rather than incompatible ( Hirsch, Michaels and Friedman, 1987 ). Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The ‘Flexible Firm’: Strategy and Segmentation

This paper draws together and provides further analysis of two research projects commissioned by the Department of Employment, with a focus on employers' labour use strategies in Britain. It seeks to place on a firmer statistical basis arguments about the presence and growth of the ‘flexible firm’, and it draws also on case-study data to explore some of the issues relating to flexibility and strategy. Our conclusions are that there has been a marked absence of strategy in this area, and reasons for this are explored, as are the implications for gender and segmentation in the labour market.     

Accounting for National and Sectoral Variance in the Implementation of European Social Partner ‘Soft’ Law: The Cases of the Implementation of the Telework and Work‐Related Stress Agreements

This article investigates the factors that explicate the implementation of European social partner ‘soft’ framework agreements. The implementation of two such agreements, the Telework and Work‐Related Stress Agreements, in four countries and two sectors is investigated. Seven hypotheses, primarily derived from the study of generic European ‘soft’ law, about the factors that explain the implementation of European social partner ‘soft’ law are tested. The article concludes that European social partner ‘soft’ law is distinctive from generic European ‘soft’ law in that its successful implementation is contingent upon the extent the industrial relations system in which it is implemented is centralized and co‐ordinated.     

‘Keep out’ signs: the role of deterrence in the competition for resources

To explain resource heterogeneity, past research focuses on how rivals' resources are hidden from firms and firms accordingly have difficulties accessing them. We argue that resource heterogeneity may also arise when firms are deterred from a technological space upon being shown what resources rivals already possess within that space. To illustrate this deterrence effect, we use patent reexamination certificates, which indicate strategic stakes within a technological space without materially disclosing additional details of the underlying technologies and hence avoid the confounding effect of attracting competition through disclosure. We demonstrate how rivals' reexamination certificates within a technological space induce a firm to subsequently allocate less inventive effort in that space, based on two mechanisms—indications of rivals' developmental speed and exclusionary ability. We further develop these two mechanisms by arguing that the deterrence effect is stronger when rivals' speed is enhanced by their downstream capabilities, or when rivals' exclusion is enhanced by their litigation experiences. Findings suggest that a firm's path of resource accumulation evolves through avoidance of rivals' paths, and deterrence may constitute a viable alternative theory of resource heterogeneity. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Trade Union Membership in Europe, 1960–1990: Rediscovering Local Unions

This article compares union density rates in seven Western European countries between 1960 and 1990. In contrast to conventional analyses, the paper argues that, in countries where workplace union organization is well developed, and where unions have managed to turn the official institutions for workers' participation such as works councils into extensions of their operations, they fared better during the 1960s and 1970s than in countries where this was not the case. This difference in the fate of unions was even more pronounced during the 1980s. Unions with strong locals lost few members or actually gained some, while unions without strong local structures saw union density drop by between one-quarter and one-third.     

Negotiating ‘Difference’: Representing Disabled Employees in the British Workplace

Drawing on qualitative interviews with disabled employees, union officers and disability‐related organizations, this article examines employee attempts to negotiate workplace adjustments and associated issues of workplace representation. UK employment law utilizes an individual medical model of disability, which conflicts with traditional collective approaches favoured by trade unions, which has implications for disabled employees and union representation. We explore the different strategies available to unions and conclude that, despite the role played by disability‐related organizations in supporting employees, unions are the only workplace actors who are capable of reconfiguring the ‘personal as political’ and integrating disability concerns into wider organizational agendas.     

‘Determinants’ of organizational performance: An interdisciplinary review

The paper contains a review and evaluation of empirical and case studies on the performance of whole enterprises. Research from a diverse array of academic disciplines and research traditions is included. The central focus is on identifying factors that influence organizational performance, and discussing implications for future interdisciplinary research and the strategic management of contemporary organizations.     

From ‘Entering into a Firm’ to ‘Entering into a Profession’: An Anthropological Approach to Changing Personhood in Japan

Drawing on extensive ethnographic fieldwork, the article uses discourse analysis to examine the social dynamics involved in the construction of personhood in Japan. While the gap between powerful discourse and lived reality is a well‐documented phenomenon, there is little systematic empirical research on how to integrate individual and social levels of analysis in this process. By contrasting discourse from above and from below, the article illuminates power asymmetry and the resulting tension between discursive freedom and social exclusion among disadvantaged groups.     

Porter's ‘competitive advantage of nations’: An assessment

Porter's Competitive Advantage of Nations is an important book which bridges the gap between strategic management and international economics while contributing substantially to both. Porter's analysis of the impact of national environment on international competitive performance demonstrates the potential for the theory of competitive strategy to rescue international economics from its slide into refined irrelevance, while simultaneously broadening the scope of the theory of competitive strategy to encompass both the international dimension and the dynamic context of competition. Nevertheless, the breadth and relevance of Porter's analysis have been achieved at the expense of precision and determinancy. Concepts are often ill defined, theoretical relationships poorly specified, and empirical data chosen selectively and interpreted subjectively.     

Bargaining for Skills: Trade Unions and Training at the Workplace

Training and development have featured as key issues on the 'new bargaining agenda' outlined by the TUC. Although evidence suggests that union successes in achieving a role in training decisions at the workplace have thus far been limited, few studies have sought to examine the impact of union involvement on training outcomes. Drawing on a survey of members and representatives from the Manufacturing Science and Finance union, this paper demonstrates that union involvement in training decisions is associated with relatively superior training activities and outcomes at the workplace.     

‘Double marginalization’ problems: evidence from the Korean fixed-to-mobile service market

In this paper, examination of the possibility of a ‘double marginalization’ problem existing in the Korean telecommunication industry is conducted and suggestions are made for the provision of a new scheme to eliminate this possibility by changing the pricing system for fixed-to-mobile calls. Based on five key economic characteristics in the Korean mobile market, a simple model for double marginalization in the telecommunication market is introduced. Evidence was found to suggest that a double marginalization problem is likely to exist within Korea's telecommunication industry as it is presently structured, and that this problem is further likely to have an adverse effect on the industry by inflating the price of fixed-to-mobile calls. Two alternatives are proposed to effectively remedy this double marginalization issue. It is also shown that prices of fixed-to-mobile calls could be lowered by changing the caller pays principle into a receiver pays principle.