Search results

Reviews the concept of a “greenfield site” within human resource management (HRM) and shows that the ways in which distance is conceptualised or measured in describing greenfield sites needs to be made explicit. This is particularly important when comparing different studies and in attempting generalisations about the introduction of new HRM practices on greenfield sites. The distance factors which may impose a constraint on the introduction of new HRM practices at a greenfield site are the site’s distance from a firm’s existing operations, its distance from geographical concentrations of similar economic activities and its distance from regions with traditional patterns of management‐employee relations. Concludes by arguing that it is inappropriate to treat the greenfield factor as a dichotomous variable and that there are various shades of green.

The establishment of new plants in greenfield sites is a strategic organisational initiative providing the opportunity to develop alternative systems of staff values and beliefs which may be more appropriate for capitalising on external product market opportunities. Explores whether an alternative organisational culture can be established at a greenfield site within a New Zealand food processing plant. This case organisation utilised the provisions of the Employment Contracts Act 1991 to establish alternative employment conditions in the greenfield site to those of its brownfield site. A comparative analysis was made utilising quantitative organisational culture data from Human Synergistic’s Organisation Culture Inventory. The data reveal the similarities and differences between the greenfield and brownfield sites and provide the basis for discussion of whether culture can be managed through the mechanism of a greenfield site. Critical elements in creating a desired culture are identified.

Focuses on recent empirical evidence on management approaches to industrial relations in greenfield companies in Ireland. Places particular emphasis on the impact of industrial relations on the location of greenfield site facilities, patterns of trade union recognition and avoidance, pay determination, and the role of employer associations. Finds that, despite a national system of “bargained consensus” and the integration of trade unions into corporatist decision‐making structures on economic and social issues, most recent greenfield site facilities are non‐union. Argues that this evidence points to extensive management opposition to conventional pluralist industrial relations, despite the existence of a State system which has consistently promoted a consensus approach over the past two decades. This apparent paradox is explained by reference to the transformation in the structure and performance of the Irish economy in parallel with related social changes since the early 1980s.

Greenfield sites have been seen as the most favourable setting for the adoption of human resource management (HRM). Presents a study of two greenfield employers’ attempts to introduce and maintain HRM philosophy and practices. Contrasts one management’s creation of HRM philosophy with another’s efforts to replicate its principles in a new unit. Describes and assesses these managements’ practices over the ten years since start up. Demonstrates that in the face of market pressures, greenfield managers are no more capable of maintaining soft‐version practices than their brownfield counterparts. Shows how these managers attempted to legitimize hard‐version practices by continuing to rely on language which reflected the humanistic principles of HRM. Concludes that without a radical reappraisal of management’s values, the long‐term aims of HRM will elude greenfield and brownfield sites alike.

The recruitment of young, “green” workers has long been recognised as a defining characteristic of the greenfield site. Extends understanding of how person‐centred recruitment, with its emphasis on employee acceptability, disadvantages the older greenfield applicant. Whether it be a new high commitment or customer service site, worker age is shown to combine with the conventional recruitment criteria of skill, class and gender to constitute an excluded labour segment. In its superior capacity to shape workforce composition, greenfield person‐centred recruitment is shown to be important to understanding the ways in which managerial control is pursued and exercised more widely than within the labour process. Leopold and Hallier’s framework of greenfield types is also modified to encompass new customer service sites where acceptability recruitment is critical to greenfield employers’ labour relations strategies. Concludes that person‐centred recruitment should be studied as a critical feature of greenfield workplace politics and practices.

In examining attempts to move towards HRM‐style practices in organisations, the term “greenfield” helps to conceptualise the break with existing employee relations practices, either on new or on existing sites, or to undertake a philosophical break with the past. Focuses on one stimulus to such transformational change – the development of human resource information systems (HRIS) as an opportunity structure that can enable a break with the past. Considers a case study of a large company implementing an HRIS integrated with other functional systems, to examine whether an e‐greenfield site exists. This is defined as a break with the past in the design and use of a computerised HRIS at either new or old organisational locations, to facilitate a greenfield HR philosophy and enable a more strategic role for HR specialists.

This paper presents an in‐depth analysis of processes of “team” working within a shopfloor manufacturing setting. Drawing on ethnographic case studies, the paper examines how human resource management (HRM) practices shaped and influenced the outcomes of “team” work, and addresses the influence of context in examining how and why team‐based systems took on their own particular characteristics and processes with both intended and unintended consequences on the shopfloors studied. The paper argues that an interplay of contextual factors (important factors include company history and worker orientation), HRM strategies and features of the socio‐technical system (including technology, work organisation and control, and social dimensions of the managerial control system in the teams) influenced team processes and outcomes. This analysis builds on Mueller’s work on contextual factors by recognising the influence of traditional modes of managerial control, management style and company culture.

Presents the results of a study examining differences in world‐class manufacturing practices and performance between the UK and Germany, based on a sample of more than 500 German and British manufacturing plants. Suggests that although German superiority persists in many areas, it may not be as great as generally assumed. While at the overall level, country‐of‐origin effects are important, many of the plant sites sampled were part of multinational organizations. Also examines how much of the difference in manufacturing practices and performance at the site level might be attributed to foreign direct investment in manufacturing. Concludes that parent origin does have a significant effect at the site level.

The purpose of this paper is to explore differences in the degree of innovation in employment relations (ER) between emerging and established firms,

A large national telephone survey (N=1,416) of both emerging (<5 years) and established firms was conducted.

Emerging firms were more casualised, less unionised, and experiencing higher levels of market expansion and unpredictability. Despite these differences, younger firms showed otherwise remarkable similarity to older firms across a range of ER practices, and both categories showed a reliance on business networks, rather formal training, for ER knowledge. While introducing ER changes more rapidly than older (and larger) firms, they were converging towards a suite of ER practices similar to that adopted by older firms. The results suggest that, if anything, established firms may have been engaged in greater innovation in more unusual ER practices.

Only managers were surveyed. The data are cross-sectional rather than longitudinal. As the study was undertaken in only one country, replication in other settings would be desirable.

The results raise major doubts about the notion that new firms represent the cutting edge of innovation, and highlights the degree to which newer firms match or mimic older firms’ ER architecture.

Highlights the need for business process reengineering and impact of IT on enterprises. Presents in detail the evolution, modules, verticals, model, management concerns and network infrastructure, selection of software packages and enterprise preparedness for implementation of enterprise resource planning. Briefly describes the key features of popular ERP packages, viz. MFG/PRO, IFS/AVALON, SAAP, BAAN IV, J.D. Edwards, Marshal (R) and PeopleSoft. Concludes that enterprises definitely attain best business practices by implementing ERP, in an effort to position for success in the twenty‐first century.