Employee Relations: An International Journal

Fosh, Patricia; Morris, Huw; Martin, Roderick; Smith, Paul; Undy, Roger

1993 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425459310038852

Since 1979, the Conservative government in the UK has introducedwideranging and detailed regulations for the conduct of union internalaffairs a number of other Western industrialized countries have notdone so or have not done so to the same extent but have continuedtheir tradition of relying on unions themselves to establish democraticprocedures. Alternative views of the role of the state in industrialrelations underlie these differences. A second, linked article,appearing in Employee Relations Vol. 15 No. 4, examines stateapproaches to union autonomy in the context of attitudes towards othercontrols on union activities and attempts to explain the successiveshifts in British policy in the UK since the 1960s.

Clark, Jon

1993 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425459310038889

Draws on findings from recent survey and case study evidence toidentify key aspects of the relation between technical change and humanresource management. Begins by examining the primary role played bygeneral and line managers in managing advanced technical change. Alsohighlights the persistent and widespread support for technical changeamong both manual and nonmanual workers. Analyses three examples wherehuman resource specialists have played a proactive role in theintroduction of technical change, identifying the main characteristicsof these cases. Concludes by drawing some practical implications ofadvanced technical change for the management of human resources in workorganizations.

Hart, Tim J.

1993 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425459310038898

The ascendancy of human resource management HRM in recent yearsin the UK has been a major issue for both practising managers andacademics interested in this field. Does not seek to review the mass ofmaterial already published on this topic nor to take a balancedanalytical approach emanating from research. Takes an openly polemicalstance, producing a damning indictment of the impact of HRM on the wayin which employees are treated in work organizations and the widersocial and ecological consequences if HRM practices are allowed tocontinue unabated.

McLaverty, Peter; Drummond, Helga

1993 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425459310038906

Reports interviews with workers and managers in two organizations,concerning the relationship between effort and performance at work. Thefindings show that a high proportion of those interviewed reportedworking longer than their contractual weekly hours without receivingextra payment and that respondents had a commitment to completing theirwork within the deadlines imposed. Effort was seen as coming fromimposed job pressures, not conscious decisions by staff to achieveselfdetermined goals. Managers tended to be unhappy about the poorrelationship between their work effort and their performance outputs.Workers doing routine jobs, however, had difficulty in saying whethertheir time at work was spent effectively. Discusses implications forquality of service and standards of work.

Smith, Ian G.

1993 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425459310038915

Reviews the development of the concept of reward management withinthe context of other apparently innovative approaches to pay and therole of government policy from the 1960s to the 1990s. These are largelyseen to have been ineffective and reward management to be another newwine in an old bottle.