Industrial relations policy and managerial custom and practice

This article, using evidence from the air transport industry, extends the concept of managerial and supervisory custom and practice to management's industrial relations policies. It offers an understanding of management's role in industrial relations and the relationship between actions and rules.     

A Multi-Agent Coalition Formation Method Based on Preference Models

Coordination is one of the fundamental research issues in distributed artificial intelligence and multi-agent systems. Current multi-agent coalition formation methods present two major problems. First, some of these methods can be applied only to cooperative multi-agent systems; second, the algorithms proposed may fail in the formation of the coalitions. This article proposes two methods for problems of agent coalition formation in cooperative and non-cooperative multi-agent systems. These methods are based on agent preference models and on preference aggregation using the Choquet integral. Our first method based on the evolutionary system design (ESD) methodology proposed by M. Shakun is required for competitive multi-agent systems, whereas our second method is powerful for cooperative multi-agent systems where the agents can exchange their information.     

The CEO's Influence on Corporate Foundation Giving

Some scholars have argued that CEOs may have excessive influence on their foundation's trustees to give away a portion of company profits to charitable causes in order to gain access to elite circles or support the CEO's personal causes. This may result in charitable contributions that ultimately serve the personal interests of the CEOs without regard to corporate interests or social needs. We examine the extent that CEOs appear to direct charitable giving to be compatible with their own personal interests, and if CEO participation on the foundation board affects the relationship between CEO personal interests and charitable giving. Using a sample of 160 corporate foundations, our results showed that CEOs' interests, as measured by membership in different non-profit organizations, was associated with foundation charitable giving. This association decreased, but was not eliminated, when CEOs were absent from the foundation board. Implications of these findings for researchers and managers are discussed in regards to both agency theory and stewardship theory.     

The research design used to develop a high performance management system construct for US restaurant managers

Studies suggest that when organizations place a higher value on their employees, through the implementation of high performance management systems (HPMSs), their business performance improves. Those that have conceptualized the HPMS construct in the service sector have limited validity for the restaurant industry. To fill this gap this paper presents the research methods used to develop a construct for a HPMS within the casual restaurant sector of the US hospitality industry. The exploratory qualitative methodology that combines a variety of data collection techniques including interviews for the pilot study, the Delphi method and secondary data collection to establish the most salient dimensions of a HPMS in the casual restaurant industry, are discussed. Thirteen key HPMS dimensions are identified; training and skill development, employer of choice, information sharing, selectivity in recruiting, measurement of HR practices, promotion from within, quality of work/life, diversity, incentive pay based on performance appraisal, participation and empowerment, employee ownership, self-managed teams and high wages. In addition, an overarching HPMS construct is developed as a first step in identifying the link between HR practices and restaurant performance.     

Disinvestment in health— the challenges facing general practitioner (GP) commissioners

The economic downturn is placing increasing pressure on the financing of health care. For many health care providers, this means difficult decisions need to be made over what will and will not be funded. The NHS has not typically been good at decommissioning and disinvesting in services. The recent proposed changes to the commissioning function will mean that clinicians will have a leading role in population-based priority-setting. This could well enhance the quest for legitimacy in relation to difficult resource allocation decisions. However, it is unlikely that GPs alone will be able to meet the challenges ahead, and reasonable disinvestment decisions will require GPs to engage with a number of stakeholders including government, interest groups and the wider civic society.     

Attitudes Towards Genetically Modified Food with a Specific Consumer Benefit in Food Allergic Consumers and Non‐food Allergic Consumers

The aim of the reported study was to investigate attitudes towards genetically modified food with a specific consumer benefit. Fifty food allergic and one hundred non‐allergic consumers took part in a telephone interview study in each of Austria, Spain and the Netherlands. Participants were first asked about their purchase intentions for an unspecified genetically modified food. Next, participants were asked about their purchase intentions for a genetically modified food with a specific consumer benefit. Food allergic consumers were asked about ‘low‐allergen food’ produced using genetic modification and non‐allergic consumers were asked about ‘food that benefits your health’ produced using genetic modification. It was found that intention to purchase genetically modified food with these specific benefits was higher than intention to purchase an unspecified genetically modified food.