Employee Relations: An International Journal

Gregor Gall

2011 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425451111121731

Purpose – This paper seeks to examine the intriguing juxtaposition of a bona fide independent union for journalists in the UK, which is vocal about editorial standards and interference, yet has seldom taken collective action to respond to such instances. Design/methodology/approach – A grounded approach to this phenomenon is used by way of examining the intersection of the nature and influence of journalistic professionalism, the journalists' material and economic interests and the particular approach of the union to both these matters. The data are based on qualitative fieldworks supplemented by secondary sources. Findings – The journalists and their union have yet to identify and articulate the conditions, which give rise to this situation and a strategy for defending their professional interests which is compatible with and supportive of strategies for defending their material interests. Practical implications – There is a need to develop a strategy by which journalists can collectively exert more influence over editorial content. Originality/value – The quality of content of newspapers could be enhanced by the greater influence of journalists as a collective body.

Jessica Li; Roland K. Yeo

2011 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425451111121740

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine what employees perceive as positive and negative aspects of their work, and how these affect their perceptions of the quality of work life (QWL) and their career development decisions. Design/methodology/approach – This is a qualitative study using data collected from an online discussion forum. Thematic and textual analysis was performed to identify core themes associated with perceptions of QWL and career development. Data analysis was based on the researchers' interpretations of narratives based on the online postings of 140 part‐time MBA students and guided by the literature. Findings – Four major themes emerged as domains of tensions within which employees operated to construct meanings around their work life. These include: internal and external tension, private and public tension, self and otherness tension, and present and future tension. Career development support, flexibility and autonomy in job design as well as flexibility in career development planning emerged as positive career development strategies that would affect employees' perceptions of QWL. Research limitations/implications – This research advances the understanding of employees' perceptions on QWL and its relationship with career development planning. Future studies should include primary data gathered through face‐to‐face interaction to overcome the limitations of this study. Practical implications – This study has identified the positive and negative factors that influence the way employees perceive their QWL. These factors can help organizations to conceptualize strategies that seek to positively integrate QWL and career development, ensuring long‐term competitive advantage. Originality/value – The paper offers four domains of tensions and a career development matrix that will add value to both the research and practice of QWL and career planning in organizations.

Taner Akan

2011 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425451111121759

Purpose – Contextualizing its argument specifically into the role and impact of the traditional political culture on the process of modernization, this paper aims to examine the “culture matters” approach through the two‐century experience of the top‐down modernization of the Ottoman‐Turkish civilization in the realm of state‐labor relations. Design/methodology/approach – The paper makes a comparative analysis of the interplay between the state and craft associations in the Ottoman Empire, and then the state and labor organizations in contemporary Turkey in terms of the influence of the rules, norms and institutions transferred by the bureaucratic élites from Western Europe. Findings – The paper concludes that a substantive democratic setting for the interplay of the state and labor organizations could not be built up without a self‐supportive political culture in view of the fact that the process of top‐down modernization/Europeanization in the Ottoman‐Turkish context has given rise to a never‐ending center‐periphery dichotomy between both inter‐class and intra‐class relationships. Originality/value – The paper sheds light on the labor relations part of the Ottoman‐Turkish political culture and reveals its impact on the never‐ending top‐down modernization initiative.

Eleanor Davies; Susan Cartwright

2011 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425451111121768

Purpose – This research aims to look at preferences for retirement, in particular, later retirement, amongst a sample of older employees in the UK in the financial services industry. It seeks to investigate specifically the influence of personal, psychological and psychosocial determinants of preferences for retiring later. Additionally, the study presents a typology of different retirement preferences based on psychological and psychosocial variables. Design/methodology/approach – The data are based on questionnaires from 556 employees of a UK financial services organisation (aged 40‐60) and measures include psychological expectations of retirement (expected adjustment to retirement, attitudes towards leisure and social interaction), psychosocial attitudes (job satisfaction, intrinsic motivation, organisational comment and work commitment) and attitudes towards working beyond normal retirement age. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted and one‐way ANOVA was conducted to identify differences between groups. Findings – The data show very negative attitudes towards working later than the normal retirement age and that expectations of adjustment to retirement were the most significant predictor towards retirement preferences, followed by work commitment. Significant differences in retirement attitudes and intentions were found between different groups of employees. Practical implications – Some of the practical implications of the work suggest that retirement preferences are shaped only to a moderate degree by psychosocial attitudes. In seeking to retain older workers in the workforce for longer employers should encourage employees to develop strong social relationships at work and allow gradual transitions to ultimate retirement. Originality/value – The paper looked at preferences for retirement, particularly later retirement, and found that, if employers wish to retain the knowledge, skills and expertise of their employees, then it would seem that they need to devise means of allowing people to achieve some of the more desirable aspects of retirement (greater free time, opportunity to pursue hobbies and interests) at the same time as retaining some of the benefits of work (status, professional interest, income etc.). Phased and flexible retirement initiatives therefore seem to be one of the solutions.

Premilla D'Cruz; Ernesto Noronha

2011 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425451111121777

Purpose – This paper seeks to describe bystander behaviour including bystander decisions, actions and outcomes, in the context of workplace bullying. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on a study rooted in van Manen's hermeneutic phenomenology conducted with agents who witnessed workplace bullying in international‐facing call centres in Mumbai and Bangalore, India. Conversational interviews and sententious and selective thematic analyses were undertaken to explore participants' lived experiences. Findings – Participants' experiences were captured by the core theme of “helpless helpfulness” which subsumes the major themes of “the primacy of friendship” and “the ascendance of the self”. Friendship prompted participants to completely protect targets and to fully resolve the bullying situation. Yet, participants, whose initial behaviour was in the desired direction, greatly curbed their efforts in response to supervisory reactions and organizational positions. Inclusivist and exclusivist HR strategies adopted by the employer organization constrained participants in their endeavours to support targets. Research limitations/implications – The study achieves theoretical generalisability but further research is needed to establish statistical generalisability. Practical implications – Bystander intervention is an important solution to workplace bullying. The study findings help in developing more effective bystander intervention training programmes, apart from advocating the engagement of HRM as a truly unitarist ideology, the development of effective employee redressal mechanisms and the relevance of pluralist approaches and collectivisation endeavours. Originality/value – Bystander behaviour in the context of workplace bullying has received limited empirical attention. The study breaks new ground in uncovering the contribution of workplace friendship and organizational inclusivist and exclusivist HR strategies to bystander experiences. Further, workplace bullying remains largely unexplored in India.

Iona Byford

2011 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425451111121786

Purpose – This empirical paper aims to explore the effectiveness of the organising model from a worker perspective in unionised workplaces within higher education support services. Design/methodology/approach – A case study approach is used in two university Unison branches. Three themes were used to measure the efficacy of the organising model: participation, identification with the union, and union effectiveness. Findings – The findings were mixed in terms of the success of the organising model in this setting. In terms of the three themes of analysis, there was strong instrumental participation in union matters at the workplace but a lack of deeper penetration of the wider organising agenda in terms of identifying with the union, represented by half the respondents only feeling the salience of their union membership at the workplace. Most respondents felt their union was effective at the workplace in terms of improving pay and conditions but the effectiveness of broader union building aims as proposed by the organising model was not endorsed. Research limitations/implications – The implications for the organising model from this research are that there need to be more resources and effort delivered at the workplace level through reps and members to make it truly effective and sustainable. Originality/value – This research adds to a body of knowledge concerned with workers themselves and how they experience trade unionism at their place of work with the focus of their experience examined through the lens of the organising model.