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The purpose of the article is to outline the insights provided by Alan Fox in Man Mismanagement in relation to the rise of the New Right political economy and the spread of unitarist managerialism. The article assesses the contemporary work and employment relations implications of mismanagement arising from a “second wave” of the New Right ideology from 2010 in the UK.

Responding to the Special Issue on Alan Fox, the article focuses on Alan Fox's book Man Mismanagement, considering industrial relations developments arising between the 1st (1974b) and 2nd (1985) editions relating to the political rise of the New Right. It reviews various literature that illustrates the contemporary IR relevance of the book and Fox's insights.

The New Right’s ideology has further fragmented work, disjointed labour rights and undermined collective industrial relations institutions, and macho mismanagement praxis is even more commonplace, compared to when Fox wrote Man Mismanagement. The stripping away of the institutional architecture of IR renders the renewal of pluralist praxis, like collective bargaining and other forms of joint regulation of work, a formidable task.

The value of the article relates to the identification of dramatic historical industrial relations events and change in the UK in Alan Fox's book Man Mismanagement, most notably relating to the rise to power of the Thatcherite New Right in 1979. Originality is evidenced by the authors’ drawing on Fox's ideas and assessing the implications of the “second wave” of the New Right in the contemporary industrial relations (IR) context of the 2020s under the conceptual themes of fragmented work, disjointed labour rights and undermined collectivism.

The purpose of this paper is to advance a conceptual analytical framework to help explain employment regulation as a dynamic process shaped by institutions and actors. The paper builds on and advances regulatory space theory.

The paper analyses the literature on regulatory theory and engages with its theoretical development.

The paper advances the case for a broader and more inclusive regulatory approach to better capture the complex reality of employment regulation. Further, the paper engages in debates about the complexity of employment regulation by adopting a multi-level perspective.

The research proposes an analytical framework and invites future empirical investigation.

The paper contends that existing literature affords too much attention to a (false) regulation vs deregulation dichotomy, with insufficient analysis of other “spaces” in which labour policy and regulation are formed and re-formed. In particular, the proposed framework analyses four different regulatory dimensions, combining the legal aspects of regulation with self-regulatory dimensions of employment regulation.

The purpose of this paper is to extend understanding regarding the basis and foci of employee commitment. It does so by exploring the direction towards employee centric rather than an assumed organisation basis of commitment.

Survey data of over 300 employees from a variety of organisations in the Republic of Ireland were collected. Data focussed on worker orientations and their foci of commitment.

The findings confirm a more pluralistic and mixed basis to the antecedents of worker commitment, as opposed to an assumed human resource management unitarist ideology often promoted by organisational managers. At the level of individual workers, a dominant focus for commitment relates to career development and the milieu of an immediate workgroup.

There are three implications. First, mutual gains possibilities are not straightforward and there are practical pitfalls that employee interests may get squeezed should managerial and customer interests take precedence. Second, there remain competing elements between job security, flexibility and autonomy which can impact performance. Finally, line managers are key conduits shaping commitment and especially psychological contract outcomes.

This paper unpacks the relationship between ideological orientation and an individual’s foci of commitment. The research found that traditional orientations and foci of commitment are deficient and that simplified individualistic interpretations of the employment relationship are complex and require more critical scrutiny.

Existing research on the relationship between human resources management (HRM) and worker reactions to practices rarely explore differences between occupational classes and their receptiveness to HRM initiatives. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Using data from a single case organization, the authors examine whether HRM practices apply uniformly across distinct occupational groups, and if there are differing impacts by occupational class on commitment, motivation and satisfaction.

Using occupational identity, the results indicate that different groups of employees have varied perceptions of, and reactions to, the same HRM practices.

The paper adds that human resource practice application may have a tipping point, after which distinct employee groups require different HR architectural configurations.

HRM policy and practice may be better tailored to the different specific needs of diverse occupational groups of workers.

The paper argues that existing theory and practice advocating universal or high potential HRM as a route to positive employee outcomes are potentially flawed.

Purpose – The chapter analyses potential interconnections between competing strands of worker misbehavior and mischief that result in forms of active resistance for those workers employed in nonunion settings.

Design/methodology/approach – The analysis integrates extant literature and theory concerned with differences between resistance, mischief and misbehavior on the one hand, and patterns of nonunion and unorganized workplace relations on the other.

Findings – Using a revised conceptual framework that advances a deeper and more nuanced understanding of unorganized workplace resistance, mischief, and misbehavior, the chapter illustrates the role that institutional and structural regulation plays in delineating between formal (and often collective) indicators of conflict, and informal (sometimes individualized) instances of mischief and misbehavior.

Research limitations/implications – The chapter offers a potential schematic framework for future researchers seeking to explore the complex interactions between resistance and misbehavior in a global and increasingly nonunion context.

Originality/value – While researchers have observed the quantitative decline in unionized conflict and industrial action, this chapter argues for a more inclusive incorporation of employment relations institutions to understand the deeper qualitative affects on workforce misbehaviors.

The purpose of this paper is to present exploratory research on the potential variation of front line manager (FLM) types and attendant causal links between FLM style and employee outcomes. It challenges the value of a homogenous FLM construct and tests for variation in FLM styles which may affect behaviours and employee outcomes.

A set of discreet FLM types is defined from extant theory and literature (named here as Policy Enactor; Organizational Leader; and Employee Coach). Each type and its relationship to employee outcomes is explored empirically using survey data and qualitative interviews with a small sample of employees (n=46 employees across eight FLM groups) within a multi-national manufacturing plant.

The findings provide preliminary support for an FLM “type” construct. Employees reported a significant dominance of the “Organizational Leader” type for one FLM, while across a broader set of FLM’s the proportions showed measurable variation. The qualitative data provides context examples that help explain FLM typologies and link to employee outcomes.

Much of current literature explores the FLM construct as a singular construct, relying on its contextual relevance for definition within a certain discipline. This paper focuses on combining these contextual experiences to present a multi-faceted construct for the role of FLMs within the employment relations literatures. By moving from the implicit to the explicit, the paper offers a conceptual lens for quantitative and qualitative exploration of the role of FLM types. As a result, attendant and subsequent FLM and employee behaviours may be better examined and possibly better specified. To add value to this contribution longitudinal and more extensive data sets could be examined and tested in the future.

Utilizing data drawn from 18 in-depth case studies the authors explore in detail the factors shaping employment in a diverse range of Irish small- and medium-sized enterprises. Existing theory in HRM is deemed inadequate in capturing the complexity of HRM in SMEs especially as it treats organizations as hermetically sealed entities. In an effort to animate the criticism directed at normative models of HRM the authors use a conceptual framework with an emergent, open systems theoretical proposition to examine the parameters, dynamics and determining factors of HRM at each of the case study companies. The results show that the notion of a normative HRM model was not coherent in terms of actual practices but rather reactive, and emergent HRM-related processes were often imposed to meet legislative requirements or to reinforce owner–manager legitimacy and control. The authors conclude that an appreciation of the interaction between structural factors both inside and outside the immediate work milieu is crucial if the heterogeneity of HRM in SMEs is to be adequately accommodated and understood.

Given the emergence of new legal initiatives for union recognition, declining levels of union membership and the growth of alternative forms of employee representation, this paper aims to examine the management of employee voice in non‐union firms.

The research adopts a case study approach in seven non‐union organisations from different sectors of economic activity in the UK. Several themes guided the design of the research instruments. Interviews were conducted with managerial respondents responsible for the design and implementation of employee voice at each case study, including non‐personnel practitioners.

Provides information on: the meaning of non‐union voice; the range of practices adopted; the potential outcomes; and apparent barriers to the implementation of non‐union voice arrangements.

The research collected data from managerial respondents only, and this limitation is noted. Further research in this area is suggested, particularly from employee stakeholders involved in the processes of employee involvement.

The paper addresses a gap on employee voice in non‐union settings. It suggests that it is too simple to dismiss voice in non‐union organisations as ineffective and inconsequential.

Seeks to locate the role of trade unions in bargaining for vocational education and training (VET) within the context of workplace industrial relations. Drawing on the experiences and findings of a TUC project aimed at improving union awareness of training initiatives, argues that any clear distinction between distributive and integrative bargaining ignores the complexity, dynamics and variation found at different workplaces. Further suggests that both policy‐makers and government agencies have misplaced the vital role which trade unions offer in formulating both a coherent labour relations and ultimately a training strategy which can utilise employee skill formation. Also suggests that a review of the voluntary employer‐led system is long overdue.