Learning and Language: Supporting Group Work So Group Work Supports Learning

This paper reports on developments in teaching and learning for first year employment relations students at the University of Wollongong based on creating conditions of learning informed by Vygotsky’s ‘zone of proximal development’ theory. Essentially, this meant emphasising collaborative learning (group work) in the lecture theatre and in assessment tasks to provide opportunities for students to ‘learn the language’ of employment relations. The paper also considers collaboration between an employment relations discipline lecturer and an learning development discipline lecturer that helped identify the objectives for teaching and learning (the desired attributes of a Wollongong Graduate, ethical concerns about how students’ may affect one another in group work, and developing knowledge and skills to equip students to be effective in employment relations practice) within a particular task environment (characterised by an organisational imperative to ‘do more with less’, and students’ beliefs that lectures have the purpose of didactic information delivery) simultaneously with teaching. This paper offers readers a case study of the application of a teaching and learning theory that may stimulate reflection on their practice

The Illawarra at Work: A Summary of the Major Findings of the Illawarra Regional Workplace Industrial Relations Survey

This paper summarises the main results of the Illawarra Regional Workplace Industrial Relations Survey (IRWIRS). The data is unique in that it provides the only comprehensive and statistically reliable source of information about workplace employee relations at the regional level in Australia, and compares regional patterns with national trends. The data collected relates to industrial relations indicators, workplace ownership, market conditions, management organisation and decision- making in the workplace, among other things. The results reveal a positive pattern of employment relations in the Illawarra, distinctive in many respects from national trends.Illawarra Regional Workplace Industrial Relations Survey, workplace employee relations, Australia

A repertory grid approach in exploring the roles of HR departments in Vietnam

There are few empirical studies which examined the roles of the HR department in an Asian emerging economy context like Vietnam. The present study adopts the repertory grid approach to investigate the roles of HR departments through perceptions of key stakeholders in Vietnamese organisations. The findings found that the framework of HR roles developed in Western economies was significantly present in foreign investment enterprises, but not found in privately owned enterprises in Vietnam. There were some dissimilarities between the perceptions of HR and non-HR specialists about the strategic and value added role of HR divisions in their organisations

An exploration of the roles of HR departments in Vietnam

This study explores the roles of human resource departments in Vietnam. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 human resource and line managers. Data were analysed using the repertory grid approach. There was divergence in the roles performed by human resource departments between foreign and local enterprises. The role framework of human resources developed in Western economies was perceived to be present in foreign investment enterprises, but not identified in privately-owned enterprises. Human resource departments in privately-owned organisations were perceived to be more administratively-oriented. In addition, the present study supports the notion that multiple stakeholders perceive differently the strategic and value-added role of human resource departments in organisations

The Illawarra at Work: A Summary of the Major Findings of the Illawarra Regional Workplace Industrial Relations Survey

This paper summarises the main results of the Illawarra Regional Workplace Industrial Relations Survey (IRWIRS). The data is unique in that it provides the only comprehensive and statistically reliable source of information about workplace employee relations at the regional level in Australia, and compares regional patterns with national trends. The data collected relates to industrial relations indicators, workplace ownership, market conditions, management organisation and decision-making in the workplace, among other things. The results reveal a positive pattern of employment relations in the Illawarra, distinctive in many respects from national trends

A repertory grid approach in exploring the roles of HR departments in Vietnam

There are few empirical studies which examined the roles of the HR department in an Asian emerging economy context like Vietnam. The present study adopts the repertory grid approach to investigate the roles of HR departments through perceptions of key stakeholders in Vietnamese organisations. The findings found that the framework of HR roles developed in Western economies was significantly present in foreign investment enterprises, but not found in privately owned enterprises in Vietnam. There were some dissimilarities between the perceptions of HR and non-HR specialists about the strategic and value added role of HR divisions in their organisations

An exploration of the roles of HR departments in Vietnam

This study explores the roles of human resource departments in Vietnam. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 human resource and line managers. Data were analysed using the repertory grid approach. There was divergence in the roles performed by human resource departments between foreign and local enterprises. The role framework of human resources developed in Western economies was perceived to be present in foreign investment enterprises, but not identified in privately-owned enterprises. Human resource departments in privately-owned organisations were perceived to be more administratively-oriented. In addition, the present study supports the notion that multiple stakeholders perceive differently the strategic and value-added role of human resource departments in organisations