The impact of employment equity regulations on psychological contracts in South Africa

This article will show the impact of employment equity legislation on the psychological employment contracts of the three main employee groupings in South African society. This study is important in that it fills the gap in the literature that identifies labour market regulations as an important shaping influence on the psychological contract. More than 500 managers from across South African industry and from all ethnic groups were surveyed to identify differences in psychological contracts and attitudes towards the social transformation regulations. We found that the legislation has impacted differentially on the three groupings mainly in terms of their loyalty to stay with their organizations, the focus on their career development in terms of the external labour market and the degree to which they felt they had been affected by the legislation. Additionally we find that the perceived linkage between job satisfaction and labour turnover is significantly weakened by labour market legislation in the case of the beneficiaries of the legislation, but that this may not be the case for those negatively affected by the legislation. The findings have significant implications for the HRM practices of multinationals operating in societies with significant labour market regulatory interventions.     

Management strategies in the Czech telecommunications sector: a comparative study of Český Telecom and T-Mobile

This article compares employment relations (ER) strategies at the incumbent fixed line Czech telecommunications company (TelCo), ?eský Telecom (?T), and the T-Mobile subsidiary, T-Mobile Czech Republic (TMCZ). It considers the extent to which the firms were able to introduce Western-style HRM practices within the context of three changing dynamics. First, the collapse of communism in the former Czechoslovakia was followed by rapid economic liberalization and privatization in the Czech Republic. Second, telecommunications sectors worldwide were subject to deregulation and the rapid diffusion of new technologies. Third, fixed line and mobile TelCos were subject to differing challenges and opportunities. The article uses path dependency, institutionalist and strategic human resource management (SHRM) related theories to assist in this analysis. It concludes that by 2005 the introduction of Western-style HRM practices into the Czech telecommunications sector appeared less constrained by former institutional and historical constraints. TMCZ's ER policies were further influenced by its parent firm's transnational strategies that sought to coordinate better its subsidiaries and create a ‘global’ brand. Despite the differing circumstances of the fixed line and mobile sectors, by 2005 ER practices and strategies at the two firms were to an extent converging, as ?T continued to cut costs and TMCZ adjusted its strategies to better accommodate a saturated market. Given these changes the article postulates that the Czech telecommunications sector has now shifted towards a mature transformation stage, as ER strategies increasingly reflect Western-based SHRM practices and concepts.     

The Board of Directors and The Adoption of Quality Management Tools

Abstract

The article examines the role of the board of directors in Local Public Utilities (LPUs). It aims at verifying empirically if a correlation exists between specific characteristics of the board of directors and the adoption of innovative arrangements addressing emerging needs of users and citizens (i.e. quality). By means of applying multivariate statistical methods to a random sample of sixty Italian LPUs, this study finds the relational capital of the boards affecting the take up of quality-oriented actions by LPUs. These results support the resource-dependence theory, neglected by mainstream literature.     

Globalization,employment relations and human resources indicators in ten developed market economies: international data sets

This paper provides statistical information on internationalization, human resources and labour market outcomes in ten important developed market economies (DMEs). Such data are useful for practitioners and academics who are interested in international HRM. The article's aim is to provide easily accessible statistical tables of selected characteristics, which can be used to draw initial comparisons between countries and to test competing accounts of the impact of globalization on national patterns of employment relations. It includes standard sources so readers can elaborate and update these data.     

The impact of SARS on China's human resources: implications for the labour market and level of unemployment in the service sector in Beijing,Guangzhou and Shanghai

In this paper, we examine the effects of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) on China's human resources, its labour-market and its level of employment and unemployment, looking specifically at what was one of its economically most vulnerable points, the hotel industry. The paper hypothesizes that the greatest impact would be on human resources in the service-industries and on particular sub-sectors, such as employment in hotels, located in three main cities in the PRC, in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai, catering to both overseas as well as domestic tourism. It tentatively concludes that the almost dramatic demand and supply ‘shocks’ may have directly affected both the demand for and the supply of labour in the sub-sector, with discernable employment consequences.     

浅谈第三方物流企业服务质量指标体系的建立与评价

本文阐述了第三方物流企业内外部绩效的衡量,在此基础上建立了物流服务指标体系及物流服务质量管理评判的框架结构并运用数学工具对物流服务质量指标体系进行评价,最后对此体系进行了仿真验证,以期待对第三方物流企业服务质量的提高提供参考.     

如何提高物流咨询的服务质量

分析物流咨询服务的特点,包括知识性、异质性、客户参与性和影响重要性,总结了影响咨询服务质量的五个维度的内容,提出了相应的提高物流咨询服务质量的中长期策略。     

屋面防水工程质量问题及预防措施

针对目前屋面工程常见的质量通病,本文结合笔者工作实践,从设计和施工两方面分析了产生屋面防水工程质量问题的原因,简要分析产生此质量通病的原因,并提出详细的质量控制与防治措施。同时,加强屋面防水的维护管理工作,对确保屋面防水工程质量也是非常重要的。     

预应力混凝土屋架施工质量管理

本文根据作者多年的现场施工经验,简要阐述预应力屋架施工质量管理的要点。     

浅谈预拌混凝土质量问题控制

混凝土施工在土建工程中占据很大的比例,为了确保混凝土的施工质量,需要控制影响混凝土质量的因素。为此本文对影响混凝土强度的因素进行分析,阐述混凝土标号与混凝土平均强度及其标准差之间的关系,同时提出控制混凝土质量的措施,进而在一定程度上为控制预拌混凝土质量提供参考依据。