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Describes the utility of supply chain partnerships as a mechanism for the diffusion of change in employee relations. Uses case study and survey evidence to explain the means by which this can be achieved. Examines data relating to both customer and supplier organizations in the manufacturing sector. Concludes that the customer‐supplier relationship can act as an agent of change in human resource management, particularly as they do not need to be artificially created, and can reach “peripheral” as well as “core” firms. Suggests that the local economic development agencies may be able to encourage the formation of networks of organizations in a particular industry and promote the spread of innovations in employee relations in this way.

This special “Anbar Abstracts” issue of the Health Manpower Management is split into five sections covering abstracts under the following headings: Management tools; Participation/roles; Types of change; Management Implementation.

Utilising data from 18 in‐depth case studies, this study seeks to explore training, development and human resource development (HRD) practices in European call centres. It aims to argue that the complexity and diversity of training, development and HRD practices is best understood by studying the multilayered contexts within which call centres operate. Call centres operate as open systems and training, development and HRD practices are influenced by environmental, strategic, organisational and temporal conditions.

The study utilised a range of research methods, including in‐depth interviews with multiple stakeholders, documentary analysis and observation. The study was conducted over a two‐year period.

The results indicate that normative models of HRD are not particularly valuable and that training, development and HRD in call centres is emergent and highly complex.

This study represents one of the first studies to investigate training and development and HRD practices and systems in European call centres.

This chapter examines the interactions of formal and informal forms of small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) business support, characterised as interactions within an ‘enterprise industry’. An analysis of the interactions revealed in the existing literature for different forms of business support develops a new conceptual framework for understanding those varied forms of external influence targeted at SMEs that constitute and extend a ‘patchwork quilt’ of provision. This chapter focusses on how different forms of support and advice interact, the centrality of state influence and how such interactions can be considered part of a firm’s regulatory context. This conceptualisation allows the consideration of both business support and state regulations to move beyond conceptions of positive or negative impacts on factors such as firm growth. Instead, it establishes a conceptual lens for considering how the different forms of external influence can shape the practices and attitudes of SMEs and their owner-managers. Policy makers and organisations within the enterprise industry seeking to develop effective forms of support or regulation should not consider such activities in isolation or in simple, decontextualised positive or negative terms.

Most of the HRM literature is based on large firms despite the growing significance now accorded to smaller firms. In this paper, we explore employment relations in SMEs and argue that the existing literature tends to polarise into a “small is beautiful” or “bleak house” perspective. The paper examines some of the key issues in relation to employment relations in SMEs.

The changing environment within which SMEs are operating is examined by reference to detailed case studies of three medium‐sized firms (one in the pharmaceutical sector and two in engineering). Following the development of a framework for analysis the cases are discussed to illustrate the direct and indirect ways in which pressures in the network of business relationships affect the management of employment relations. Particular attention is given to the effects of these pressures on management structure, work organisation and human resources policies and practices. Far from enjoying greater discretion following the decline in institutional arrangements and labour market deregulation, managers in SMEs find themselves constrained in new ways. It is argued that employment relations in these firms is shaped strongly by specific customer requirements exercised through the supply chain rather than being driven by broad market forces.

Examines the extent to which a major purchaser can affect company behaviour within those firms supplying to it. Eleven major UK suppliers to Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK were compared with other non‐supply chain companies to examine the extent to which new forms of customer‐supplier relationships are spreading within supply chain firms into wider aspects of organizational behaviour, as a direct consequence of close involvement. Toyota appear to affect supply firms’ communication patterns, employee relations, and approaches to problem solving directly.

The World Wide Web may be worldwide in its potential consumption, but hardly in its production. It demonstrates that globalisation is not a general state of affairs of the world, but a process of uneven development even, or maybe even more so, in the field of new technologies. The same can be said of public relations – its supply and demand are unevenly distributed around the world. This exploratory study investigates the global supply of public relations industry services and the supply of Internet services for public relations purposes in the USA, Austria and Slovenia.

The research measures the diffusion of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and changes in skills in the UK during the 1980s. Using input‐output data and the Census of Population, the indicators are constructed according to 25 reclassified industrial divisions for the whole economy. These indicators show that accompanying the diffusion of ICTs there was a shift from motor skills (relatively decreasing) to cognitive skills (relatively increasing). Diffusion of ICT during the 1980s is captured through the amount of computer equipment usage. The skill changes are examined through multi‐faceted aspects: occupational change; educational improvement; increased female participation; and employment change by industry. The research sheds light on two issues analysed in relation to technological change and skills change: measurement of technological change should be considered as a complex pattern rather than a monotonically increasing pattern; and skill changes should be examined through multi‐faceted aspects rather than any single aspect.

The purpose of this study is to examine the diffusion pattern of new products in Latin America, and to compare the results of principal component analysis with other descriptive approaches.

The author studies the introduction of eight new products in nine Latin American countries, analysing their diffusion rate, market potential, adoption and take-off. He performs a principal component analysis and presents a biplot. The results obtained are compared using the Mantel test.

The results indicate that the approaches used are complementary. The biplot describes 92 per cent of the explained variance. Except for a few cases, in general, the diffusion pattern in Latin America is mainly determined by cross-country wealth differences.

This study only analyses durable goods, and does not include any Central American country.

This study helps companies to predict which will be the characteristics of the diffusion pattern of other new products and to forecast their future sales.

This study helps public actors to decide how to segment the Latin American market when implementing policies that encourage the diffusion of new products.

This research extends our current knowledge on the diffusion of innovations in emerging and less developed countries. This is the first study to compare the characteristics of innovation diffusion patterns in Latin America.

El propósito de este estudio es examinar el patrón de difusión de nuevos productos en Latinoamérica, y comparar los resultados obtenidos del análisis de componentes principales con otros métodos descriptivos.

Se analiza la introducción de ocho productos nuevos en nueve países latinoamericanos. Se analizan la tasa de difusión, mercado potencial, adopción y el tiempo de despegue. Se realiza un análisis de componentes principales y se presenta en un biplot. Los resultados obtenidos se comparan a través del test de Mantel.

Los resultados indican que los enfoques usados son complementarios. El biplot describe el 92% de la varianza explicada. El patrón de difusión en Latinoamérica está principalmente determinado por la diferencia entre la riqueza de los países. Sin embargo, en algunos casos el patrón de difusión no sigue esta tendencia.

Este estudio solo analiza productos duraderos y no incluye ningún país de Centro América.

Este estudio ayuda a las empresas a predecir cuáles serán las características del patrón de difusión de otros productos nuevos y pronosticar sus futuras ventas.

Este estudio ayuda a actores públicos a decidir sobre cómo segmentar el mercado Latinoamericano a la hora de aplicar políticas que incentiven la difusión de nuevos productos.

Esta investigación avanza en el conocimiento actual sobre la difusión de innovaciones en países emergentes y menos desarrollados. Es el primer estudio que compara las características del patrón de difusión de innovaciones en Latinoamérica.