The limits of high performance work systems in unionised craft‐based work settings

This paper focuses on constraints on the effectiveness of high performance work techniques deriving from the traditions of craft‐based trade unionism and long‐established structures and cultures within sector‐based employment relationships. The findings question the fundamentally managerialist nature of HPW accounts that assume labour's position in the high‐performance equation to be simply one of recipient of managerial initiatives.     

Autonomy at work in the gig economy: analysing work status,work content and working conditions of independent professionals

This paper offers a critical perspective on the debate surrounding autonomy at work for a specific category of non‐standard workers: independent professionals. The increasing numbers now working this way as well as their spread into all sectors, industries and occupations, mean that their work arrangements can no longer be dismissed as non‐standard or atypical. Defining them by what they are not is quite simply no longer an option. Our paper examines the various components intertwined behind the taken‐for‐granted concept of autonomy. Drawing on debates from the legal through to the sociological and HR literatures, we identify three underlying dimensions to autonomy. When combined, they provide the basis for an analytical matrix that may assist policy makers, practitioners and individual workers to understand the challenges and opportunities linked to new ways of working.     

High performance work systems and workplace partnership: a case study of aerospace workers

This article provides case study analysis of the impact of high performance work practices and workplace partnership on skilled workers in the UK's aerospace industry. In contrast to assumptions that such practices increase empowerment and participation we find evidence of a democratic deficit in workplace decision-making and deterioration in the quality of working life.     

Remixing work,family and leisure: teleworkers' experiences of everyday life

This paper explores whether and in what ways telework is associated with a reconfiguration or remixing of daily work, family and leisure activities. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 51 teleworkers employed in a financial organisation in Canada. For some, telework was a condition of employment, while others negotiated part‐time telework arrangements with managers. Using interpretive thematic analysis techniques, intersections and inter‐relationships between experiences of work, family and leisure were identified. Three main themes emerged, including the need to not only protect, but also containing work time and space; the significance of family and being available for children; and, the relative devaluation of leisure. Although it was anticipated that differences between involuntary and voluntary teleworkers would be evident, gender and family stage were more influential in structuring daily life. The flexibility of telework was valued, but there was little evidence of a reconfiguration of life spheres except for women with children at home.     

Quality of working life: Cross-cultural considerations

Quality of work(ing) life (QWL), as a concept and set of intervention activities, involves itself with planned organisational change aimed at improving both work system productivity and employee satisfaction. QWL is affected by cross-cultural factors as soon as multinational corporations engage in business beyond their national boundaries. This paper identifies and discusses the cultural factors which emerge in both parent nations and nations foreign to the parent organisation when considering QWL. In making reference to the interface between culture and QWL, the paper applies Hofstede's (1980) four theoretical cultural dimensions. Special attention is drawn to QWL considerations in the Southeast Asian region.     

Flexibility of manufacturing systems,strategic change and performance

The past decade has witnessed an increase of interest in flexibility, which bestows on a firm the ability to respond promptly to market opportunities and changing technologies. The development of capabilities to be flexible rests on the mandate of top management, helps firms manage environmental uncertainty, and tends to enhance firm performance. This research paper aims to establish an analytical approximation that considers how the determinants of manufacturing flexibility at the system level affect the desired strategic change in organizations, as well as subsequent performance. We propose the hypotheses that both environmental factors and internal resources affect flexibility, this latter aspect influencing the organization's performance. The problems that stem from measuring manufacturing flexibility in terms of fit were also analyzed. In order to do this, we have made a wide-ranging trans-national study, within the framework of the European Union, using data from 403 European firms. The Structural Equation Model (SEM) technique has been used to contrast the hypotheses. The results show that manufacturing flexibility at system level can be a critical factor in the process of strategic change, which means that it can have an impact on the desirability of strategic change or on the more specific strategic fit.     

Making gigs work: digital platforms,job quality and worker motivations

Technology has driven new organisations of work and employment relationships, rendering changes that would have been unimaginable just a decade ago. The rise of digital platforms has not only enabled new forms of work activity but also transformed the way workers find new opportunities. This development, referred to as gig work, is distinct from traditional employment in that it is mediated through online platforms. While we can somewhat objectively designate traditional job characteristics as ‘good’ or ‘bad’, designating gig work itself as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ overlooks the fact that workers are inclined to evaluate the quality of their jobs according to their own individual needs, priorities, backgrounds and other circumstances—even if those jobs are objectively the same. Unlike previous scholarship on gig work, which has viewed job quality largely from a platform-focused perspective, this article takes a worker-centric approach and provides a typology of gig workers. The typology demarcates how gig work is used and indicates key attributes that differentiate how workers approach such jobs. Moreover, the typology reveals heterogeneity in gig workers’ motivations, characteristics and intentions. Consequently, platforms with ‘bad’ job quality characteristics can still offer work that some workers will see as ‘good’ and vice versa.     

Computer based information systems and managers' work

This article identifies three models that imply different views of the 'impact' of the use of computer based information systems for managers' work. Using case study evidence it argues that the 'impact' is not a stable and predictable outcome but a non-linear ongoing process that changes and evolves over time.     

确保内审质量 提高工作效率

介绍了在“质量认证”和“计量认证”的内审过程中，如何利用现有资源，将二者有机结合起来进行“结合审核”的经验，达到即能确保内审质量，又可提高工作效率的目的。     

Implementing high performance HR practices in Asia: HR practice consistency,employee roles,and performance

High performance HR (human resources) practices are well understood to positively impact employee behavior and performance. However, much is still not known about the implementation of effective HR practices and their specific impact on employee behaviors. In this regard, this study identifies the significance of HR practice consistency, develops direct measures of that consistency, and examines the impact on employee role performance. This study also explores how consistency affects shared perceptions of procedural justice and employees’ role performance by employing a cross-level research design. The data in the study were collected from 355 employees of 42 companies within the manufacturing and service industries in Taiwan. This study makes theoretical and methodological contributions by identifying the significance of HR practice consistency, and provides empirical evidences for its potential influences. It also offers practical suggestions that can be used as important reference points by organizations, particularly those in Asia seeking to implement high performance HR practices.     

质量管理的关注点

文章介绍了长江勘测规划设计研究院通过对质量管理体系在项目成果控制的有效程度、质量管理过程与成果质量的关联度、对项目质量管理过程的认可程度等方面的调研工作,找出了管理理念、管理思路中存在的问题,调整了下阶段质量管理工作的关注点.     

细节提升民主生活质量水平

民主生活会制度,是加强各级领导班子思想作风建设,进行党内监督,增进团结,促进工作,保证党的路线、方针、政策正确贯彻执行的有效措施,而挖掘细节,创新管理是实施这一制度的决定因素。为此,金龙煤业有限公司总结自身民主生活的实际,实施了“四抓四到位”新举措,不断推进民主生活质量的进程,取得良好效果。     

建筑设计单位工作质量评估方法研究

本文重点论述对建筑设计室工作质量评估的教学方法－综合评判法。     

煤矿生产区队创新安全管理的探索和实践

煤矿企业的采掘开生产区队是最基层的生产单位,卓有成效地搞好区队的安全管理工作,从源头上把住安全关,在企业的整体安全工作中具有根本性、决定性的作用。近几年来,开滦荆各庄矿业公司各个生产区队勇于创新,探索形成了以下四个方面的安全管理新方式、新方法,显著提高了区队的安全管理水平,有力保证了公司安全形势的稳定。     

高产高效综采工作面“三机”选型

综采工作面的＂三机＂是指采煤机、液压支架、刮板输送机,是综采工作面的主要设备。满足设备性能要求输送机的结构形式及附件必须与采煤机的结构相匹配,如采煤机的牵引机构、行走机构、底托架及滑靴的结构,电缆及水管的拖移方法以及是否连锁控制等。输送机的中部槽应与液压支架的推移千斤顶连接装置的间距和连接结构相匹配。高产高效综采工作面的三机选型应从实际出发,因地制宜,具备什么档次的开采条件,就选用相应档次的配套设备。新建矿和旧矿井的改造还应区别对待,现有设备的充分利用也是不可忽视的。     

强化管理装备培训提高安全生产水平

禹州市煤炭资源丰富,以质优、易采著称,是国家确定的全国100家重点产煤县(市)之一,全国15个商品煤生产基地之一,河南省三大矿区开发建设项目之一。同时,也是禹州市经济发展的支柱产业之一,煤炭生产总值占全市生产总值的30％。     

Employee acceptance of digital monitoring systems while working from home

Digitalisation and COVID-19 led to an expansion of remote work arrangements, raising the question of whether and how employers should monitor remote workplaces. However, before the implementation of monitoring methods, it is important to consider employees' acceptance of this approach. Therefore, we contribute to current research on electronic performance monitoring by empirically investigating employees' evaluations of performance monitoring at home. This paper presents an analysis of how certain monitoring technologies for work-from-home arrangements are perceived as undesirable and whether other job aspects can compensate for these unattractive monitoring components. Using an experimental factorial survey design, German employees evaluated remote work arrangements with randomly varying characteristics. We show that respondents accept a certain degree of monitoring at home but increasingly reject monitoring systems as they become more invasive. However, in some cases, the negative impact of monitoring at home can be mitigated by certain incentives, such as money or the purpose of monitoring.     

Product quality alignment and business unit performance

Over the past decade, new strategic approaches to the management of product quality have become prime drivers of product and process innovation and change in many firms. However, many firm's product quality improvement efforts have failed to deliver anticipated business performance benefits. Implementation problems are generally viewed as significant factors in explaining such failures. Further, the literature suggests that firms' views of product quality are often very different from those of their customers. However, to date this issue has received little empirical attention. The objective of this research was to examine the causes and performance outcomes of product quality alignment ‐ differences between firms' views of the product quality they deliver and customer views of the product quality delivered to them. We conducted exploratory interviews with quality and marketing managers aimed at developing a grounded understanding of the nature, antecedents and consequences of product quality alignment. These fieldwork insights were combined with the existing literature to delineate the central product quality alignment construct and develop specific hypotheses concerning the antecedents and performance consequences of product quality alignment at the SBU‐level. Using data from a mail survey of multiple key informants (general managers, quality managers and marketing managers), we tested hypothesized relationships using a structural equation model methodology. Our quantitative findings provide empirical evidence that product quality alignment positively affects business unit performance. Our data also suggest that the degree to which quality goals spanning customer‐focused and internally‐oriented criteria influence decision‐making and actions taken is positively associated with product quality alignment. Further, our data indicate that while the use of marketing tools in developing and executing product quality improvement efforts is positively associated with product quality alignment, no such association is observed with more commonly recommended TQM tools. Our results also suggest that effective interfunctlonal interactions between quality and marketing functions (higher levels of interfunctional connectedness and lower levels of interfunctional conflict) are positively associated with product quality alignment. Overall, our results suggest that product quality alignment is an important concept in understanding product quality improvement‐performance linkages at the SBU level and that minimizing mis‐alignment may be an appropriate focus for management attention.