Employee Relations: An International Journal

Arthur P. Preston; Richard B. Sappey; Stephen Teo

1998 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425459810232806

Both enterprise agreements (EAs) and the implementation of total quality management (TQM) have the goals of improving productivity and performance and distributing the gains of such improvement within workplaces and, in a broader context, making Australian products more competitive in the international marketplace. Despite their common goals, the two approaches are not substantially “married” in action. This paper examines the inclusion of TQM and related clauses (henceforth quality) in EAs in Queensland and concludes that as yet the EA approach adopted by most organisations only incorporates some aspects of a quality approach to improving performance.

Anthony Fenley

1998 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425459810232815

This article looks at discipline as a workplace issue, considers what is meant by good industrial relations, and how the effective management of discipline can contribute to positive workplace relationships. It argues that the punitive, corrective and revisionist models of discipline do not provide a satisfactory explanation of managerial behaviour. It contends that valuable and relevant insights can be provided by McGregor's classic study on management. Finally, the article considers the value of metaphor as a means of understanding organisational behaviour, and utilises four animal metaphors to describe and prescribe four distinct types of management conduct in disciplinary situations.

Ian Kessler; Jackie Coyle Shapiro

1998 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425459810232824

This article looks at attempts made by a case study organization, Surrey County Council, to evaluate and restructure the employment relationship in the context of a range of financial, managerial and political pressures for change. The notion of the psychological contract is used to conduct this evaluation and restructuring. A survey eliciting the views of some 6,000 Surrey employees highlights major gaps in terms of what employees expect and receive from their employer as well as discrepencies in what employees feel they owe the employer and actually give. Consideration is given to how the authority has sought to address these concerns through a new deal with employees. The article provides insights into the contingent circumstances leading to changes in the employment relationship, information on the state of the psychological contract in local government and an illustrative case of how one local authority went about addressing employee concerns in the light of major constraints.

Irena Grugulis

1998 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425459810232833

In 1997 the Management Charter Initiative (MCI) officially launched the new management NVQs (National Vocational Qualifications), benchmarks which attempted to describe the work performed by British managers. This article is a review of those qualifications. It remembers some of the main problems associated with the original management NVQs and, drawing on some of the best theoretical and empirical accounts of managerial work, argues that the new qualifications have failed to live up to the MCI's original promise, to assist the development and training of managers.

May M.L. Wong

1998 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425459810232842

Hong Kong has experienced an economic transformation from a manufacturing-based to a service-based economy which has impacted on the demand for manual labour. In 1992, the Employee Retraining Board was set up to provide employees' retraining programmes (ERP) for unemployed manual workers. It aims to help unemployed manual workers to acquire and develop knowledge, skills and abilities so that they can re-enter the labour market. This study focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of ERP from the perspectives of training providers designated by Employee Retraining Board to fulfil the above objective. The evaluation of the ERP is based on how the various ERP courses can meet the training objectives, assessment of training needs, design of the ERP, course evaluation, and follow-up services conducted by the selected training bodies. The overall effectiveness of ERP is found to be low. The indicators participation rate and job placement rate used by the training bodies tend to provide misleading evaluation results to the ERP.