Employee Relations: An International Journal

John Stirling; Ian Fitzgerald

2001 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425450110694567

This article presents the results of a survey of European Works Council (EWC) delegates in multinational companies in the North East of England. It uses empirical data from a postal questionnaire and interviews with all regional representatives to analyse the key issue of employee representation. The authors argue that EWC representation is inextricably linked with corporate organisation and that this creates significant problems in a region such as the North East where a "peripheral" economy is particularly sensitive to the rapid restructuring of multinational capital. The analysis is developed in a context of closure and divestment and explores the questions of how EWC delegates are selected; their ability to "report back" to those they might be said to represent and the problems of working across national boundaries.

David Collins

2001 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425450110366255

This paper offers a critical reappraisal of the nature and significance of guru theory. Noting that critical scholars of management have sought to dismiss guru theory as an insubstantial and ephemeral body of knowledge, dedicated to the production of fads, which are said to obscure the reality of management, the paper attempts to encourage academics and practitioners to reconsider the implications of the fad motif. Offering six objections to the fad motif in management scholarship, which variously discuss the realities of managerial toil and the nature of management scholarship, the paper argues that so-called faddish developments in management knowledge actually offer persuasive and substantial representations of reality. However, the paper concludes that while guru theory may be substantial, it is also flawed because it offers a self-privileging form of analysis, which obscures the many realities of organizing and managing, which might otherwise be subject to serious inquiry.

Susan Curtis; Rosemary Lucas

2001 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425450110366264

Employers’ demands for cheap and flexible labour which can multi‐task, make decisions and act responsibly are being met by an increasing supply of students to the part‐time labour market who are having to work due to financial necessity during term‐time. This article details the results of a survey and focus group study conducted at Manchester Metropolitan University in February 1999 addressing the nature of this employment relationship. Students’ employment provides them with advantages other than money – valuable work experience, the opportunity to meet people and to take on responsibility. Employers benefit from an easily recruited workforce of intelligent, articulate young people who are numerically and functionally flexible, conscientious, accepting relatively low pay, and who are easy to control. Potential conflict is indicated as students do articulate dislikes about their work and employment conditions, yet they feel unable to challenge their employers about them.

Richard Croucher; Jan Druker

2001 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425450110366273

The article examines decision-taking in European construction companies. It confirms the increasing importance of MNEs in the industry. The extent to which corporate decision-taking on human resource matters in construction MNEs is distinctive and is examined. Construction MNEs show an increased use of certain types of flexible working. It is shown that this is in turn linked to decreased union influence, even in some countries with strong regulatory regimes. The argument's implication is that the emergence of a new order in the industry poses a substantial threat to construction unions. This may in the long term endanger unions' legitimacy within the European model of co-operation between management and employee representatives.

Patricia Leighton; Richard W. Painter

2001 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425450110366282

The recent House of Lords decision in Carmichael v. National Power plc decided that a casual/zero-hours worker was self-employed and thus excluded from most of the basic employment statutory rights. The aims of this article are to note the incidence and characteristics of the casual workforce in the UK and EU; to explore the current legal framework applying to casual workers, including the decision and implications of Carmichael ; to note recent and intended legal measures which have particular relevance for casual workers; to evaluate the likely effectiveness of those recent or proposed legal measures; and to consider possible alternative strategies to establish an appropriate framework for casuals.