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Managing Employment Change

The New Realities of Work

Kevin Ward author Jill Rubery author Huw Beynon author Damian Grimshaw author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Oxford University Press

Published:21st Mar '02

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Managing Employment Change cover

Deregulation and decentralization have placed organizations in the driving seat of employment change. Drawing on seven case studies of large organizations, this book examines how organizations as the architects of the employment system are restructuring their employment practices. Rich data on the experience of work collected from all seven organizations provide clear evidence of a general transformation of the wage-effort relationship based on cost cutting and increased work intensity. This increased work intensity is shown to be a consequence - intended and unintended - of changes to a variety of employment policies and practices, including changes to staffing policies (for example the trend towards 'lean staffing', and the use of new contracts), changes to the skills-mix and training provision associated with policies of 'delayering' and multi-skilling, and changes in working time arrangements towards more flexible and extended working hours. Such trends in employment practices have been interpreted as a return to the market as the institutionalized employment system, characteristic of bureaucratic organizations and strong trade unions, visibly crumbles. The analysis presented here rejects the notion of simple market determination and instead develops an integrated and interdisciplinary framework for understanding the processes shaping employment change. Managers are seeking solutions to increasing market or performance pressures through changes to employment policies. However, these responses to budget cuts and market pressures are shown to be mediated by the institutional, political, and social environment inside and outside the organization. Moreover managers are found in practice not to be able to control their environment or implement their desired policies with the expected outcomes. Despite the increased scope for managerial initiative and the greater opportunities for shifting the risk and responsibility of adapting to new conditions on to labour, the attempts of managers to develop a strategic approach to employment change are proving to be largely unsuccessful. The book ends by calling for a renewal and rebuilding of labour market institutions to kick-start the process of reversing this fragmentation of the employment system.

... wonderful example of an approach to the study of complexity in organisational change in employment ... The use of verbatim quotes from employees (including managers) is excellent as is the deep description and analysis of the nature of change. While many writers refer rather vaguely to trends in 'globalisation' or 'work flexibility' the great strength of this book is the way the authors give real meaning and flesh to these terms and many others. * Industrial Relations Journal *
The case study research is extensive, detailed and precise. Its step-by-step, layer-by-layer presentation of what it found is an invaluable resource for reference, and surprisingly accessible for this purpose. * Work, Employment and Society *
Managing Employment Change offers a diverse, innovative insight into the complexities and simple truths of contemporary employment that one might expect from over two years of in-depth empirical research, presented through the combined expertise of its authors ... Whether our perspective upon an organization be from within it or from the outside, Managing Employment Change enhances our vision so that we are able to take an honest look at what is possible in managing the changing reality of work. * Work, Employment and Society *

ISBN: 9780199248704

Dimensions: 233mm x 157mm x 19mm

Weight: 496g

352 pages