The Future of Employee-Employer Relations

[Excerpt] This paper seeks to initiate a discussion of the challenges facing the future of employee-employer relations in the United States. I take a very broad perspective to the task, one that reflects the expanded domain of issues, activities, and parties that must be considered if employee relations are to contribute to the twin challenges facing the American economy and workforce: The need to improve long term economic competitiveness while simultaneously improving our standards of living

Is There a New HRM? Contemporary Evidence and Future Directions

[Excerpt] Is there a new human resource management? Yo. That is, yes and no. A new perspective -- strategic human resource management -- emerged during the 80s to take its place alongside the more traditional operational and programmatic perspectives as a major influence on the field. This perspective has rapidly progressed in terms of theory and research (if not practice). But, it continues to take many shapes and forms, and even with its various permutations, is far from universally embraced by scholars or practitioners. What follows is a brief look at the strategic perspective of the field. It begins with a summary of some common themes. This is followed by an illustrative review of extant theory,which in particular distinguishes between the two dominant theoretical streams which have thus far emerged: (1) the multiple model theorists (MMTs) who are given to building typologies of human resource strategies and describing or prescribing the conditions under which the various types work or should work best and (2) the dominant model theorists (DMTs) who are rather less preoccupied with contingencies and rather more concerned with the details and promulgation of their preferred models or strategies within and across firms. Next comes a look at the extent to which these two views show up in actual practice.The evidence is sparse, but their diffusion appears to be rather limited thus far. This naturally gives rise to a discussion of the factors which seem to encourage and, especially, discourage diffusion. Particular attention is paid to the adoption of the so-called strategic business partner role by human resource executives, managers, and professionals, and to the adequacy of this role as a catalyst for the diffusion of the strategic perspective across the U. S. and Canadian economies. Finally, suggestions are made regarding future theoretical and empirical work which might help keep the strategic perspective moving ahead

Conceptual Foundations: Walton and McKersie\u27s Subprocesses of Negotiations

[Excerpt] Walton and McKersie\u27s 1965 book, A Behavioral Theory of Labor Negotiations, provides much of the conceptual underpinnings of what grew into the modern-day teaching of negotiations in business, public policy, law, and other professional schools. We therefore believe that it is useful to outline the basic concepts and ideas introduced by these authors. We do so, however, with a word of caution. There is no substitute for the original. Every student should have the pleasure of struggling (as we did the first time it was assigned to us as students) with the tongue twisters like attitudinal structuring and the many other new terms and theoretical ideas introduced in the book

International Human Resource Studies: A Framework for Future Research

[Excerpt] The purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical framework for research in a broadened and redefined field of international human resource studies. Interest in international aspects of human resource management (HRM) and policy has increased markedly in recent years\u27. This should not be surprising, given the growing importance of international economic activity in general, and, in particular, the increased mobility of technology, capital, and human resources across national boundaries. We are concerned that current research falling under this label is both too narrowly conceived and ignores important work from allied areas and disciplines. We also believe that the theoretical appeal and practical value of this work would be strengthened by includng contributions from a broader array of scholars, policy makers, and practitioners who share interests in employment and industrial relations issues

CASE STUDY: From Three to One: Integrating a High Performance Work Organization Process, Lean Production, and Activity Based Costing Change Initiatives

In 1997 Boeing’s Wichita Division and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers agreed to launch a “High Performance Work Organization” (HPWO) process. This followed the introduction of a Lean Production Initiative in 1994-95 and an Activity Based Costing (ABC) initiative in 1996. Managers and union leaders in Wichita sought to sustain and grow each of these change and improvement efforts in ways that empower the workforce and enhance the competitiveness of the operations. Although these initiatives share some similar objectives and could potentially serve to complement and reinforce each other, to date they have been led and managed separately. Each is experiencing a slow and difficult path of diffusion. The key challenge facing management and union leaders is to decide how to best integrate these separate improvement programs into a single, focused initiative that builds broader awareness, support, and demand for its features across all levels of the workforce and the management and union organizations in the Wichita operation. Given the combination of the engineering culture of Boeing and the pragmatic orientation of the workforce in Wichita, the parties may want to shift to a more targeted task or problem specific approach that engages a broad cross section of hourly workers, engineers, and managers in specific improvement initiatives. Doing so might shift from a top-down supplier push to a distributed, demand-pull process of innovation and adaptation