Employee Relations: An International Journal

Alexandros G. Psychogios; Leslie T. Szamosi

2010 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425451011038753

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce the employment relations context in South Eastern Europe from a variety of capitalism perspectives. Particular attention is accorded to the uneven nature of change at both the levels of institutions and practice. This is followed by a review of the individual papers that make up this special issue. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is primarily a theoretical one, providing a review of the papers that make up this special issue and giving an overview of the foundation being provided. Findings – While the term “transitional” has often been deployed to describe employment relations across the region, the process has been an extremely protracted one. There is little doubt that the nature and form of employment relations in the countries encompassed in this review is still coalescing, with further ruptures likely as a result of the 2009 depression. At the same time, the papers in this special issue point to long‐standing continuities with employment. Research limitations/implications – While the papers that make up this special issue may present the most recent research in the region, they also point to future areas for research. First, there is particularly little research that has been undertaken on peripheral areas of a generally peripheral region. Not only do we know very little about, say, Albanian employment relations, but we know little about employment relations in peripheral areas of large countries such as Turkey. Second, the 2009 depression is likely to accelerate trends to downsizing and insecure work, in the short term at least. Finally, there is a growing consensus that a sustainable economic recovery from the current crisis will depend, at least in part, on new social compromises both globally and regionally. Practical implications – Employment relations in the region are undergoing an extended transition. In the short term, the most likely trend will be towards a further weakening of the bargaining position of employees, and towards more insecure working. However, a sustained recovery is likely to see a reversal of this, with employers being more likely to be forced to contemplate new social compromises. Originality/value – This study applies the comparative capitalism literature to the South Eastern European region context. It also introduces some of the most recent applied research in the region.

Colin C. Williams

2010 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425451011038762

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the nature of undeclared work in South East Europe and the rest of the European Union and in doing so, to evaluate critically the validity of depicting the character of undeclared work as being the same everywhere. Design/methodology/approach – A 2007 survey of undeclared work is reported, conducted in 27 European Union (EU) member states involving 26,659 face‐to‐face interviews. This paper focuses on the results of the 2,432 interviews conducted in five South East European countries, namely Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Romania and Slovenia. Findings – In South Eastern Europe, more undeclared work is found to be waged employment and conducted by marginalised population groups out of necessity compared with other EU regions. Nevertheless, and similar to other EU regions, most undeclared work is conducted on an own‐account basis, rather than as waged employment, for close social relations, rather than anonymous employers, and out of choice rather than necessity, although different mixtures prevail in different places and populations both within South Eastern Europe and across the EU as a whole. Research limitations/implications – This recognition of the multifarious work relations and motives involved in undeclared work, and different mixtures in varying populations, displays the need to move beyond treating undeclared work as everywhere the same and towards nuanced spatially sensitive representations. Practical implications – Given the proportion of undeclared work conducted on an own‐account basis and for closer social relations, this paper reveals that if South East European governments continue to seek its eradication, they will deter with one hand precisely the entrepreneurship and mutual aid that with another they are seeking to nurture. Originality/value – This is the first evaluation of undeclared work in South East Europe and the EU.

Claudio Morrison; Richard Croucher

2010 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425451011038771

Purpose – The paper aims to examine the theory that trade unions' functions in a transitional economy are characterised by “path dependency”. Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on case studies of employment relations in enterprises operating in Moldova. The approach is realist (critical materialism). An ethnographic approach is taken to analysing social relations in three locally and foreign‐owned companies in the clothing sector. The case studies explore union responses to managerially driven re‐structuring. Findings – The research established that these forms of trade unionism exhibit considerable heterogeneity within continued commitment to their welfare functions. This may indicate that the “integrating collectivist” form does not presage a new “path” for Moldovan trade unionism but does demonstrate the bounded diversity within the existing paradigm. Research limitations/implications – The research studies the unionised sector. Future research might look into non‐unionised Greenfield sites. The research has established that networks are being reconstructed between workers. Whether this will generate a new path for unionism and challenge managerial control remains to be established. Practical implications – Findings indicate that the welfare function corresponds to workers' historic expectations and may provide a base for unions from which other, more conflictual activity may be conducted. Conversely, it suggests that attention to local norms is essential for employer's strategies aimed at combining efficiency with quality and fairness. Social implications – The research unveils the failures of employment relations' institutions to address women workers needs in the area calling for all stakeholders to act on this issue to prevent negative consequences (poverty, migration, turnover). Originality/value – Institutionalist research on transition has stressed continuity and neglected agency. This research asks how far actors have wished and have been able to reconstitute institutions across time. To this end it has established dialogues with workers and managers making comprehensive sense of their views. Findings are relevant to unionists and employers as well as other stakeholders in transformation societies.

Sunil Sahadev; Mehmet Demirbag

2010 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425451011038780

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the level of convergence in employment practices among firms in the post‐communist countries and capitalist countries in South Eastern Europe. Firms from a total of ten countries were included in the post‐communist block and firms from Greece and Turkey were included in the capitalist block. The main purpose was to verify whether employment practices in firms in the post‐communist countries now resemble that of firms in the capitalist countries after almost a decade of transition. Design/methodology/approach – The study analyzed the employment practices in terms of the skill ration, employment of temporary workers and the education level of employees of about 8,000 firms in the region. Findings – In terms of skill ratio and the education level significant levels of divergence was found between firms in post‐communist countries and capitalist countries. However, in terms of employing temporary workers significant levels of convergence was detected. Research implications/limitations – The research shows that there is some convergence in the employment practices of post‐communist countries and capitalist countries. This shows that several post‐communist countries in South East Europe have completed the transition from a communist society to a capitalist society. Originality/value – The study is one of the first, which compares the employment practices of post‐communist and capitalist countries in the region. By showing some levels of convergence, the study argues that the transition period in the post‐communist economies is finally ending and thus firms in post‐communist countries finally resemble those in capitalist countries at least in employment practices.

Suzanne Richbell; László Szerb; Zsuzsanna Vitai

2010 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425451011038799

Purpose – This paper aims to provide an original picture of a selection of human resource management (HRM) activities in the micro, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Hungary and to explore the extent to which these activities can be related to variations in firm size and variations in firm performance. Design/methodology/approach – The study measures the presence or absence of a selection of HRM activities through a questionnaire survey of a large sample of 678 Hungarian SMEs. Findings – Hungarian SMEs, in their working relationships, are closer to the “happy family” model of the SME than the “bleak house” model. Employee morale was perceived as high and only one in ten SMEs felt their employees were opposed to change. Owners were reluctant to seek advice from those outside the firm. They also showed reluctance to discuss future plans with their employees although they did tend to consult employees who would be affected directly by any change. Communication within SMEs was predominantly informal. Surprisingly, given the skills shortages highlighted by SMEs in other economies, very few of the Hungarian SMEs identified skills shortages as a problem and formal training programmes were reported only rarely. Variations between micro, small and medium sized firms are highlighted to emphasize the heterogeneous nature of the Hungarian SME sector. Research limitations/implications – The HRM activities considered provide a picture of only a small number of HRM activities in Hungarian SMEs but the findings imply the relationships examined here are deserving of further exploration both in Hungary and other transition economies. Originality/value – The paper provides a detailed picture of selected aspects of HRM in smaller businesses within a transition economy.

Jozsef Poor; George Plesoianu

2010 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425451011038807

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a number of initiatives which have been spearheaded by the Romanian government in the field of HRM in the civil service. A more specific purpose is to determine the modelling strategy which best reflects the reform programme of HRM in the civil service, the topic of our study. Design/methodology/approach – This paper attempts to supplement existing research into New Public Management (NPM) by outlining the modernisation of a range of public HR functions in the country, and it would like to explain how this special issue arose, to provide a historical perspective for the work undertaken by the Romanian National Civil Servant Agency (NACS) and to outline the context and significance of each of the attempts at modernisation in the HRM field. Findings – Empirical evidence shows that the centralised Romanian civil service is in need of serious change if it is to deliver a more efficient and less politically driven level of practice. Many external and internal organisational forces such as the demographics of the labour‐force, technology and privatisation – as well as the erosion of confidence in government institutions have drastically altered the environment of the civil service in Romania. Consequently, traditional Human Resource Management (HRM) approaches no longer work. Practical implications – At this point, in the authors' opinion, the time has come to devote more attention to decentralisation and to formulating the terms of so‐called best or good practice. Originality/value – The paper seeks to bridge the gap by reporting on the research and consulting work of the authors in the Romanian civil service.

Alexandros G. Psychogios

2010 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425451011038816

Purpose – This paper aims to address the generic research question of how promising management practices such as total quality management (TQM) initiatives affect employee relations in South Eastern European (SEE) countries by focusing on managers' professional lives. In particular, this study focuses on the effects of TQM programmes on middle managers' (MMs') career prospects and job security. Design/methodology/approach – A multi‐modal research approach was applied based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. A total of 1,800 middle managers from 73 service organizations in both the public and private sectors participated in the research (19 and 54 respectively). Findings – The implementation of TQM programs was found to have a positive impact on MMs' careers and job security. Nevertheless, it was related mostly to the “hard”, rather than the “soft”, side of TQM. The strong impact of TQM practices on MMs' responses to various aspects related to their physical work, as compared to the small impact of the “soft” side, implies a more pragmatic view of restructuring of the employment relations covenant due to the application of management models in SEE region. Research limitations/implications – The business literature has presented limited measurement tools for the “soft” and “hard” aspects of TQM. This paper provides a new, more reliable, and valid measurement of both sides of TQM. More research is required in order to further verify the use of such a measurement tool. Practical implications – Managers should be aware of a somewhat more linear path to career progression and job security through the use of “hard” quality management practices while anticipating less importance to be given to concepts such as empowerment and employee involvement. Originality/value – This study expands our understanding of how industrial relations can be formed from the application of promising management practices. In particular, it argues that managers' familiarity with the “hard” side of TQM seems to both positively and negatively influence career development and job security, while being influenced by employment sector and educational background.

Eugenia Câmpeanu‐Sonea; Anca Borza; Adrian Sonea; Cătălina Silvia Mitra

2010 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425451011038825

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on organisational change in Romania at the beginning of the twenty‐first century. This research raises the question on how transition and the change of conditions have contributed to the development of organisational culture after 1989. The paper seeks to clarify the characteristics of the organisational culture profile in Romania. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on two types of questionnaires, one for the regular employees of the firm and one for the managers, and questions were formulated, using the experiences of those who actually work in Romanian companies. The research was made under supervision, and the focus of the research was on the employees' perception of their company and not on how an outsider would see those things. Findings – The paper emphasizes the specific characteristics of the actual evolution, generated by some internal factors, and the “imported” variables from the international economy. Although created less than two decades ago, the paper has found that the Romanian enterprises have a well‐defined culture, even if some specific features of personality are manifest. Research limitations/implications – The research is correlated to diagnose the organisational culture and to analyse the process of change within the company domains in that it is intending to extend the study, in the future. Practical implications – The study allows emphasis on some characteristics of the organisational culture developed during the last years in Romania: concern about the work quality; the firm's concern of the human resource quality; the concern about the technical level of work and the motivation system; the interest in stimulating employees' loyalty to the firm and the internal marketing; application at group level of labour principles and rewards; and the importance given to labour conditions, employees' health and old age insurance. Originality/value – The survey was made within three representative companies from Transylvania, their main purpose being to observe the way organizational culture was influenced by different factors, such as: privatization, capital used, forms of ownership, and domain of activity.