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Article
Publication date: 1 December 2005

Mike Richardson, Stephanie Tailby, Andrew Danford, Paul Stewart and Martin Upchurch

This paper explores employee experiences concerning job security/insecurity, workload, job satisfaction and employee involvement in the aftermath of Best Value reviews in a local…

2224

Abstract

Purpose

This paper explores employee experiences concerning job security/insecurity, workload, job satisfaction and employee involvement in the aftermath of Best Value reviews in a local authority.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a mix of quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques employees' experiences of Best Value reviews in a local authority are compared and contrasted with council staff employed elsewhere in the authority to establish the extent to which workplace partnership principles have taken hold under a Best Value regime.

Findings

Little evidence of positive outcomes was found from partnership at work under a Best Value regime. The constraints imposed by central government, under which managers in the public sector operate, contributed significantly to partnership at work remaining little more than a hollow shell.

Originality/value

This paper provides a recent in‐depth case study of the experience of workplace partnership, which was developed not discrete from but as part of the Best Value modernisation programme in a local authority.

Details

Personnel Review, vol. 34 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 20 July 2022

Jeff Duggan, Kathryn Cormican and Olivia McDermott

An understanding of the motivation of individual employees to adopt lean practices is fundamental to successful lean implementation. This study aims to investigate the adoption of…

1418

Abstract

Purpose

An understanding of the motivation of individual employees to adopt lean practices is fundamental to successful lean implementation. This study aims to investigate the adoption of lean practices and provides an analysis of the individual-level factors necessary for lean implementation. This study presents a method for assessing the impact of individual-level factors in a company deploying lean within a biopharmaceutical manufacturing subsidiary.

Design/methodology/approach

The case study explores the attitudes of individuals within a functionally structured organisation undergoing a lean implementation initiative. A quantitative data collection approach was used to capture data from employees in a medical device manufacturing organisation.

Findings

The study found that personality and affective organisational commitment positively affects an individual’s intention to adopt lean practices. Employees with greater levels of affective commitment are more likely to partake in lean-related practices. Individuals in functions that directly support the production process, as opposed to those in functions that indirectly support production, are more likely to participate in lean practices. Finally, individuals in supervisory roles are more likely to adopt lean practices than those in non-supervisory roles, and management should involve top performers in lean.

Originality/value

There is a paucity of case study research in the area of individual-level factors for lean practice adoption. The findings of this study offer practical guidance on individual-level factors for lean practice adoption and illuminate new avenues for future research. This analysis also makes a practical contribution to the literature. From a managerial perspective, understanding why certain employees are more willing to adopt lean practices contributes to an overall lean organisational readiness and implementation framework. This insight enables the development of carefully tailored communication and training programs for managing employee motivation for and receptivity to lean.

Details

International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, vol. 14 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-4166

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 May 2019

Rafael Gomez, Michael Barry, Alex Bryson, Bruce E. Kaufman, Guenther Lomas and Adrian Wilkinson

The purpose of this paper is to take a serious look at the relationship between joint consultation systems at the workplace and employee satisfaction, while at the same time…

1499

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to take a serious look at the relationship between joint consultation systems at the workplace and employee satisfaction, while at the same time accounting for the (possible) interactions with similar union and management-led high commitment strategies.

Design/methodology/approach

Using new, rich data on a representative sample of British workers, the authors identify workplace institutions that are positively associated with employee perceptions of work and relations with management, what in combination the authors call a measure of the “good workplace.” In particular, the authors focus on non-union employee representation at the workplace, in the form of joint consultative committees (JCCs), and the potential moderating effects of union representation and high-involvement human resource (HIHR) practices.

Findings

The authors’ findings suggest a re-evaluation of the role that JCCs play in the subjective well-being of workers even after controlling for unions and progressive HR policies. There is no evidence in the authors’ estimates of negative interaction effects (i.e. that unions or HIHR negatively influence the functioning of JCCs with respect to employee satisfaction) or substitution (i.e. that unions or HIHR are substitutes for JCCs when it comes to improving self-reported worker well-being). If anything, there is a significant and positive three-way moderating effect when JCCs are interacted with union representation and high-involvement management.

Originality/value

This is the first time – to the authors’ knowledge – that comprehensive measures of subjective employee well-being are being estimated with respect to the presence of a JCC at the workplace, while controlling for workplace institutions (e.g. union representation and human resource policies) that are themselves designed to involve and communicate with workers.

Details

Journal of Participation and Employee Ownership, vol. 2 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-7641

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 July 1911

So far as the various British Food and Drugs Acts are concerned, the meaning of “sophistication” or “adulteration,” which includes “substitution,” is now very wide.

Abstract

So far as the various British Food and Drugs Acts are concerned, the meaning of “sophistication” or “adulteration,” which includes “substitution,” is now very wide.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 13 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Article
Publication date: 1 April 1906

THE sudden death, at a comparatively early age, of Mr. Franklin Trengrouse Barrett, of the Fulham Public Libraries, removes from the ranks of librarians, one of the most…

Abstract

THE sudden death, at a comparatively early age, of Mr. Franklin Trengrouse Barrett, of the Fulham Public Libraries, removes from the ranks of librarians, one of the most promising, highly‐trained, and best‐loved of those younger men whose work is making itself so strongly felt in this country. His death came as a severe shock to most of his friends, and particularly to his father, Mr. Francis T. Barrett, the universally‐esteemed City Librarian of Glasgow, who was quite unprepared for such a sudden and bitter bereavement. To him, as to Mrs. Franklin Barrett, a lady well‐known and much respected by London librarians, I am sure the deepest sympathy of all librarians and other colleagues will go forth. The sad event has already produced a great many messages of sympathy from many kind friends, and for these, and other efforts of consolation and comfort, the family are deeply grateful.

Details

New Library World, vol. 8 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4803

Article
Publication date: 1 October 1903

The British Food Journal is in no way concerned with politics, and as it would appear that the propositions put forward by Mr. CHAMBERLAIN are commonly regarded as constituting…

Abstract

The British Food Journal is in no way concerned with politics, and as it would appear that the propositions put forward by Mr. CHAMBERLAIN are commonly regarded as constituting matter for political controversy instead of being looked upon as subjects for serious investigation and discussion entirely outside the field of politics, it would be an undesirable course and one likely to be misunderstood and, no doubt, misrepresented, were we to refer to the great question which is now before the country without plainly indicating at the outset that we have no intention of supporting or opposing any political party or any section of politicians. We believe Mr. CHAMBERLAIN'S suggestion that the subjects which he has brought forward should be discussed on a higher plane than on the muddy plane of party politics was a reasonable and proper suggestion which all men of sense who are not blinded by political bias should applaud and endeavour to adopt. We do not mean to say that problems of so complicated a character are capable of being accurately solved, in the present state of knowledge, by scientific methods other than actual experiment. They certainly cannot be solved by abstract discussions of a pseudo‐scientific character. The factors which enter into the problems of political economy are so numerous, so complex, and so little understood, that to endeavour to argue even on the basis of what are alleged by political economists to be well‐ascertained facts in the so‐called “dismal science” is to lay oneself open to the charge of theorising from insufficient data. HERBERT SPENCER has lucidly demonstrated the universality of this scientific crime. On comparatively simple subjects, in regard to which a man has no special knowledge, he will, if possessed of the quality known as common sense, generally decline to deliver oracular opinions; but, let a subject be sufficiently complex and let the data relating to it be few, obscure, and uncertain, then decisive opinions will be delivered by all and sundry,—and the more profound the ignorance the more decisive will be the expression of opinion.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 5 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Article
Publication date: 5 October 2015

Miguel Martinez Lucio

The purpose of this paper is to reflect on some of the problems and issues emerging from the changing role of the state in the UK’s industrial relations since 1964 – the year the…

1798

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to reflect on some of the problems and issues emerging from the changing role of the state in the UK’s industrial relations since 1964 – the year the Labour Party was elected to power under Harold Wilson’s leadership. The paper argues that the UK has seen an uneven set of developments in terms of the role of the state in the industrial relations system. Increasingly progressive interventions on a range of subjects such as equality, health and safety and others have coincided with a greater commercialisation of the state and greater fragmentation.

Design/methodology/approach

This is based on a reflective review of various texts and a personal interest in the role of the political in the arena of employee relations. It references a range of texts on the subject of the state in the context of the UK’s employee relations system.

Findings

In political terms there has been an uneven and incoherent set of positions which have meant that there is a growing set of tensions and breakdown in the political consensus over worker rights. In addition, the agencies of the state and other state bodies entrusted with the development of a more socially driven view of industrial relations have been increasingly and steadily undermined and weakened by governments especially those on the right. The political context of industrial relations has become fractured and unable to sustain a coherent longer term view.

Originality/value

The paper tries to bring out the role of the political context and the way in has shaped the changing terrain of industrial relations and argues that the question of fragmentation is not solely visible in employee relations but in the broader political context.

Details

Employee Relations, vol. 37 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0142-5455

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 September 2014

Shaun Pichler, Arup Varma, Andrew Yu, Gerard Beenen and Shahin Davoudpour

The purpose of this paper is to develop and test hypotheses about the independent relationships between high-performance work systems (HPWS) and high-performance work cultures…

2821

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop and test hypotheses about the independent relationships between high-performance work systems (HPWS) and high-performance work cultures (HPWC) and employee turnover. Given the growth of women in the workforce, the authors also develop competing predictions about how organizational gender demography (i.e. a higher percentage of women) may either strengthen or weaken the relationship of HPWSs to turnover.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey of 171 human resource (HR) executives across organizations of various sizes and industries in the Chicago metropolitan area in the USA was conducted.

Findings

The authors found that HPWS and HPWC are associated with lower turnover, though the relationship between HPWC and turnover was stronger. Results also indicate that HPWS are more strongly related to lower turnover among organizations that employ relatively more women.

Research limitations/implications

The results indicates that HPWS may not be universalistic in terms of their effectiveness specifically as related to turnover. This was a cross-sectional study; it would be useful for future research to use a longitudinal research design.

Practical implications

The findings suggest that organizations should consider how their cultures, use of high-performance work practices, and gender demography are related to important HR metrics such as turnover.

Social implications

This paper represents an important contribution to understanding the importance and implications of changes in the workforce demographic characteristics.

Originality/value

This is the first study to integrate an organizational demography perspective with HPWS.

Details

Employee Relations, vol. 36 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0142-5455

Keywords

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