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Tjulin, Åsa. "Workplace Social Relations in theReturn-to-Work process." Doctoral thesis, Linköpings universitet, Arbetslivsinriktad rehabilitering, 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-57658.
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The overall aim of this thesis was to explore the impact of workplace social relations on the implementation of return-to-work interventions. The thesis consists of four separate papers with specific aims. In Paper I, the overall purpose of the study was to analyse how a multi-stakeholder return-to-work programme was implemented and experienced from the perspective of the stakeholders involved, i.e. supervisors, occupational health consultants and a project coordinator. The objective was to identify and analyse how these stakeholders perceived that the programme had been implemented in relation to its intentions. In Paper II, the objective was to explore how workplace actors experience social relations, and how organisational dynamics in workplace-based return-to-work start before and extend beyond the initial return of the sick-listed worker to the workplace. In Paper III, the objective was to explore the meaning of early contact in return-to-work, and how social relational actions and conditions can facilitate or impede early contact among workplace actors. In Paper IV, the objective was to explore the role of co-workers in the return-to-work process, and their contribution to the process, starting from when a colleague falls ill, continuing when he/she subsequently becomes sick-listed and finally when he/she re-enters the workgroup. The general methodological approach to the papers in this thesis has been explorative and interpretive; qualitative methods have been used, involving interviews, group interviews and collection of employer policies on return-to-work. The data material has been analysed through back-and-forth abductive (Paper I), and inductive (Papers II-IV) content analysis. The main findings from Paper I show that discrepancies in the interpretations of policy intentions between key stakeholders (project coordinator, occupational health consultants and supervisors) created barriers for implementing the employer-based return-to-work programme, due to lack of communication, support, coaching and training activities of key stakeholders dedicated to the biopsychosocial intentions of the programme. In Papers II-IV, the workplace actors (re-entering workers, co-workers, supervisors and/or human resources manager) experienced the return-to-work process as phases (time before the sick leave, when on sick leave, when re-entering the workplace, and future sustainability). The findings highlight the importance and relevance of the varied roles of the different workplace actors during the identified phases of the return-to-work process. In particular, the positive contribution of co-workers, and their experience of shifting demands and expectations during each phase, is acknowledged. During the period of time before sick leave the main findings show how workplace actors experience the meaning of early contact within a social relational context, and how early contact is more than an activity that is merely carried out (or not carried out). The findings show how workplace actors experience uncertainties about how and when contact should take place, and the need to balance possible infringement that early contact might cause for the re-entering worker between pressure to return to work and their private health management. The findings in this thesis show how the workplace is a socially complex dynamic setting, which challenges some static models of return-to-work. The biopsychosocial and ecological/case management models and policies for return-to-work have been criticised for neglecting social relations in a return-to-work process at the workplace. This thesis provides increased knowledge and explanations regarding important factors in workplace social relations that facilitate an understanding of what might “make or break” the return-to-work process.
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Giles, Glenn. "Workplace change and award restructuring /." Title page, contents and abstract only, 1998. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09ARM/09armg472.pdf.
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Poynter, Gavin. "Change in workplace relations : the UK in the 1980s." Thesis, University of Kent, 1992. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.315096.
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Kang, Youngok. "Workplace industrial relations in South Korea since the 1980s." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2002. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.269405.
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Lai, Yanqing. "Employee relations in SMEs : an empirical approach using the Workplace Employment Relation Survey (WERS 2011)." Thesis, Kingston University, 2016. http://eprints.kingston.ac.uk/35057/.
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This thesis is a paper-based thesis. Using a large-scale matched employee-employer dataset, three empirical studies were undertaken to empirically examine: 1) the relationship between employee attitudes, human resource management practices and firm performance in SMEs; 2) the effect of the firm size on firms’ and employees’ experience during the recent financial crisis, particularly firm’s employment related responses to the economic hardship; and 3) the impact of firm size on employee’s experience of work stress during economic recession. The findings of the first study suggest a direct relationship between HRM practices and SME firm performance, but this relationship is moderated by high employee job satisfaction. The results suggest that HR policies and practices may improve small firm performance, especially within firms with low levels of commitment and satisfaction. The estimation results presented in the second study show that SMEs are more vulnerable during times of economic hardship than larger firms, but those with HR practices have shown more resilience to the downturn. There is a significant firm-size effect on the choice of specific HRM measures in response to the recession, and having HR practices increases the likelihood of the firm to adopt organizational measures. Also, the results indicate that the differences in workers’ job experience are moderated by high management formality. For the final empirical research, employees in SMEs experience lower level of overall job stress than those in large enterprise, although the effect disappears once the employee-level and firm-level characteristics are taken into consideration. Finally, the findings suggest that the association and magnitude of estimated effects of the work stressor presented in the Cooper and Marshall’s work stress model differ significantly by firm size. Overall, the thesis has made significant contribution to the employee relations in SMEs literature and provide interesting academic and policy oriented findings.
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Naidoo, Kameshni. "Workplace conflict : the line manager's role in preventing and resolving workplace conflict." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/95588.
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Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The costs of conflict within organizations is higher than is often realized due, amongst others, to lowering morale and lower productivity of employees. One of the most common reasons provided during exit interviews when employees resign from organizations, is the manner in which conflicts were addressed by management. A high turnover of employees has a significant cost to organizations as companies have to spend more money to recruit new employees than they would have needed to had the conflicts that had arisen were effectively resolved. Often as a result of poor conflict resolution within organizations, companies are faced with high litigation costs when employees seek resolution from labour courts and other dispute resolution bodies. The main objective of this study was to identify the role line managers play in resolving and preventing conflicts and to establish strategies that line managers can implement when faced with conflict in their teams. The research methodology for this study first involved a study of relevant literature to determine the theory regarding conflict resolution within organizations. Research reports, dissertations, internet websites, articles and books were used in an attempt to formulate a theoretical basis for this study. Thereafter an empirical survey was conducted among employees of an organization that had already undergone a restructuring process as well as an organization that is currently undergoing a restructuring in order to determine the employees’ views on how conflict within their organizations has been or is being resolved. Questionnaires were formulated by the writer and submitted to responders. The reason the writer had used organizational restructuring as a point of departure for the empirical study, is that organizational restructuring is an example of a project within companies whereby many conflicts arise and line managers need to be proficient in being able to handle these conflicts as well as be able to prevent conflicts from arising. Finally, an analysis of the empirical study was performed so that adequate and relevant conclusions and recommendations could be established.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die koste van konflik binne organisasies is hoër as wat dikwels besef as gevolg van, onder andere, tot die verlaging van moraal en laer produktiwiteit van werknemers. Een van die mees algemene redes wat gedurende afrit onderhoude wanneer werknemers van organisasies bedank, is die wyse waarop konflikte deur die bestuur aangespreek is. 'N hoë omset van die werknemers het 'n beduidende koste vir organisasies as maatskappye het meer geld te spandeer om nuwe werknemers te werf as wat hulle sou nodig het om die konflikte wat ontstaan het is effektief opgelos. Dikwels as gevolg van swak konflikoplossing binne organisasies, maatskappye uitgedaag word met 'n hoë litigasie koste wanneer werknemers soek resolusie van arbeid howe en ander geskilbeslegting liggame. Die hoofdoel van hierdie studie was om te identifiseer die rol lynbestuurders speel in die oplossing en voorkoming van konflikte en strategieë wat lynbestuurders kan implementeer wanneer hulle gekonfronteer word met die konflik in hul spanne te vestig. Die navorsingsmetodologie vir hierdie studie het die eerste keer betrokke by 'n studie van die relevante literatuur om die teorie te bepaal ten opsigte van konflikhantering binne organisasies. Navorsingsverslae, proefskrifte, internet webtuistes, artikels en boeke is gebruik in 'n poging om 'n teoretiese grondslag vir hierdie studie te formuleer. Daarna was 'n empiriese opname uitgevoer onder die werknemers van 'n organisasie wat reeds 'n proses van herstrukturering ondergaan sowel as 'n organisasie wat tans herstrukturering ondergaan om die werknemers se menings te bepaal oor hoe konflik binne hul organisasies opgelos was en/of huidiglik opgelos word. Vraelyste is deur die skrywer geformuleer en aan individue uitgehandig. Die rede waarom die skrywer gebruik het organisatoriese herstrukturering as 'n punt van vertrek vir die empiriese studie, is dat organisatoriese herstrukturering is 'n voorbeeld van 'n projek binne maatskappye waarby baie konflikte ontstaan en lynbestuurders moet vaardig wees in staat is om hierdie konflikte te hanteer, asook in staat wees om die ontstaan van konflikte te voorkom. Ten slotte is 'n ontleding van die empiriese studie uitgevoer sodat voldoende en relevante gevolgtrekkings en aanbevelings vasgestel kon word.
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Delbridge, Rick. "British factory - Japanese transplant : an ethnographic study of workplace relations." Thesis, Cardiff University, 1995. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.295944.
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Calveley, Moira Dorothy. "Workplace industrial relations in the context of a failing school." Thesis, University of Hertfordshire, 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/2299/14148.
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Over the last two decades the UK public sector has seen the introduction of 'new managerialism' - the devolvement to the local level of management initiatives and techniques more traditionally associated with the private sector; this has arguably increased industrial relations tensions in the workplace as both line managers and workers have become involved in actions and negotiations new to them. This thesis provides a unique, in-depth, consideration of the impact on industrial relations of new managerialism in a 'failing' secondary comprehensive school; it identifies how devolved management and public accountability has inflamed the workplace industrial relations of that school. By taking a qualitative, multi-method, case study approach to the research, the thesis investigates at first hand how management and teachers respond to centralised government initiatives at the school level. It considers, and contributes to, the debate surrounding the extent of managerial autonomy that public sector managers have and how managers may take differing approaches - and achieve different results - when implementing new managerialist initiatives at the local level. As a study of workplace industrial relations, the thesis, engages with and significantly contributes to, the academic literature stressing the importance of local trade union leadership to trade union activity; indeed, the work furthers the debate concerning the inter-relationship between political and trade union activism and the importance of political factions within trade unions, areas which are under-researched. By exploring the tensions between trade union members and their official union representatives, the thesis examines the complex inter-relationship between union democracy and union bureaucracy. Finally, the case study identifies policy implications for both the government and the trade union, particularly with respect to the closing and re-opening of 'failing' schools.
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Jarvis, Carol Anne. "Changing the deal : implications for the informal contract and workplace relations." Thesis, University of the West of England, Bristol, 2004. http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/14605/.
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Raeburn, Nicole C. "The rise of lesbian, gay, and bisexual rights in the workplace." The Ohio State University, 2000. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1391508575.
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Burks, Katrina Marie Russo. "Mothers' Perceptions of Workplace Breastfeeding Support." ScholarWorks @ UVM, 2015. http://scholarworks.uvm.edu/graddis/371.
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Despite substantial evidence that breastfeeding is the optimal way to feed the healthy, full-term infant, data show that, although most mothers in the United States start out breastfeeding their infants, there are often barriers to continued breastfeeding beyond the first few weeks or months. Among the reasons cited are lack of support and the need to return to full or part time paid employment. As a result of the Surgeon General's 2011 Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding, many initiatives have been implemented on national, state, and local levels to improve support for breastfeeding in the workplace. The purpose of this study was to investigate mothers' perceptions of workplace breastfeeding support. The study surveyed a convenience sample of 44 women employed by a 562-bed academic and university medical center in Northern New England who had a baby less than two years ago. The Employee Perceptions of Breastfeeding Support Questionnaire was used to collect mothers' perceptions about organization support, manager support, co-worker support, time considerations, and the physical environment of the worksite breastfeeding or pumping facilities. Descriptive statistics revealed that mothers had favorable perceptions of support for breastfeeding in their workplace. Similar studies with different types of employers or with hospitals in different areas of the United States may have different results. Adapting breastfeeding accommodations and support in the workplace in ways that facilitate increased initiation and duration of breastfeeding is an important step toward achieving Healthy People 2020 goals.
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Shawver, Brenda G. "The social construction of workplace "diversity"." [Tampa, Fla.] : University of South Florida, 2004. http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/SFE0000263.
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Pather, Sivalingam. "Workplace forums in terms of the labour relations act 66 of 1995." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/845.
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The promulgation into law of the concept of workplace forums has been beset with immense criticism and opposition from organized labour and some quarters of organized business. Last ditch efforts by the Ministerial Task Team had won the day for the inclusion of this controversial provision in the new Labour Relations Act.1 Commentators on the Act tend to agree that the fallout with organized labour at the negotiations has probably set the scene as to whether the provisions would be widely used or not. History has shown that the establishment of such forums in workplaces has been low. In some situations where workplace forums had been established, their continuous sustainability was put into doubt. This has led to the de-establishment of some of these forums in some workplaces. Various reasons were provided, but the prime factors for its failure could be traced back to the negotiations at NEDLAC. The unions opposed the original proposal by government that minority unions and even non-union employees can trigger the establishment of a workplace forum and insisted that this be restricted to majority unions. The voluntary nature regarding the establishment of a workplace forum and the trigger that only a majority union can invoke the provisions has still seen unions reluctant to utilize the provisions since it did not serve their purpose. The aims of the provisions, namely to increase workplace democracy, was therefore thwarted in favour of more informal procedures. Although the idea is a noble one, it is argued that the introduction of the provisions was ill-timed and inappropriate. The lesson that the legislature can take is that for any provision to be a success, buy-in from all stakeholders is paramount. Research has shown that there was a steady decline in the establishment of workplace forums. Since December 2004 there was not a single application received by the Commission for Conciliation, mediation and Arbitration. There is also doubt as to whether any of the Forums that were previously established are still functional. What is certain is that statutory workplace forums is not at the forefront as a vehicle for change that was envisaged in the Explanatory Memorandum that accompanied the new Labour Relations Act. What is also certain is that employers and employees are utilizing other forums to ensure workplace participation. These forums, however, only provide a voice to unionized workers. The vast majority of non-union workers remain voiceless. The proposed amendments in 2002 that intimated that the trigger be any union and not only majority unions failed to be passed into law. Perhaps it is that type of catalyst that is required to give life to the provisions. The future of workplace forums in South Africa is bleak and will continue to be if there is no intervention by the parties at NEDLAC to revive it. A complete revamp of the legislation would be required for such a revival. Some commentators have made meaningful suggestions on changes that can be made to the legislation to make workplace forums more attractive. Some have suggested it be scrapped altogether and future workplace participatory structures should be left to the parties to embrace voluntarily. Workplace forums are a novel innovation with great potential to encourage workplace democracy. There is nothing wrong with the concept. The application of such forums in the South African context is what is concerning. Perhaps prior experience and experimentation with similar type forums have tarnished workplace participation. The strategies by the previous regime and some employers have caused such participation to equate to co-option. Perhaps not enough spade work was done to ensure that the climate and attitude of the parties was conducive for its introduction. What is paramount no matter the form it takes is that workplace participation is crucial for economic growth and the introduction of new work methods to improve productivity. Without the establishment of such forums, whether voluntary or statutory, the ‘second channel principle’ that promotes non-adversarial workplace joint decision-making would be lost and conflict based participation could spiral leading to economic disaster.
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Tattersall, Angela Louisa. "Social relations in the ICT workplace : the gender dimensions of social capital." Thesis, University of Salford, 2010. http://usir.salford.ac.uk/26933/.
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This thesis is about social relations in the ICT workplace and the gender dimensions of social capital. The concept of 'social capital' has only recently been recognised in studies of organisations, yet its legitimacy is clear in terms of being an important tool for career success. The gender dimensions of social capital are also significant by their absence in analysis. How social capital is formed, utilised and accessed by groups differ and a lack of valued social capital lies at the heart of what prevents women moving up organisational hierarchies. I place gender firmly in the centre of investigating the experiences of women in the ICT labour market and how social capital shaped their careers. Underpinning and informing the research is that women working in the ICT labour market are in a 'token' or 'minority1 position, severely under-represented and facing a chilly organisational climate. Mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion within the ICT workplace are engrained in informal work practices. Taking a critical feminist approach I conducted 27 in-depth interviews between 2004 and 2007 and 195 respondents completed an on-line questionnaire in 2005. Findings are discussed using Kanter's framework of 'Visibility', 'Polarisation' and 'Assimilation' to understand the role of social capital for women in a minority position within ICT organisations. This framework is extended to centralise the issue of gender and social relations and how these are played out. My research reveals that women face problems with regard to heightened visibility, exclusion, isolation and stereotyping. The social relations formed are on the terms and conditions of the male majority and women are disproportionately underrepresented in terms of power, policy and decision making. I discuss a number of changes needed in policy IXand organisational practice, whilst making significant contribution to the under theorised area of social capital and the importance of gender dimensions.
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Telford, James. "Workplace industrial relations in the general print sector covered by national bargaining." Thesis, University of Hertfordshire, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/2299/1999.
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Set against a background of technological change, national bargaining and union merger, this thesis considers the impact of a changing structural, economic and political climate on the resilience of national pay bargaining within general print, a little documented but important section of the economy. It seeks to examine contemporary workplace industrial relations where, against national trends, national bargaining has been resilient. It is in the light of there being a long association with strong, regulatory unionism within the sector that this study seeks to explore the reality of workplace industrial relations under national bargaining. There has been a wealth of theoretical and empirical data produced on the background to the wider debate on the declining influence of multi-employer bargaining across the UK economy. However, little work has been committed to the general printing sector that investigates why, in the face of fundamental changes to industrial relations practice, the national agreement for this sector appears to have continued relatively unscathed. The thesis draws on the experience of twelve branches with respect to the impact of the national agreement; three case studies in general print sector companies located in the South West, Humberside and Anglia regions; and on documentary evidence and participant observation. Analysis of the thesis was informed by classical and contemporary writers on industrial relations. The thesis finds a shift from traditional adversarial approaches to partnership in national agreement negotiations. The thesis reveals that at the workplace level, the chapel structure remains intact with its traditional, hierarchal structure and the accompanying issues of gender segregation and worker exclusion remaining firmly embedded within chapels. Behind this appearance of chapel strength an air of apathy and poor organisation impacts on union activity and local bargaining. The thesis concludes by critiquing shifts away from traditional bargaining and questions the state of workplace organisation with changes in union structure. Importantly, the thesis presents data on the state of collective bargaining in the sector, and in particular identifies a shift from the traditional adversarial approach to partnership in the national agreement; it also identifies the difference in the image and reality of workplace organisation in the sector where behind the appearance of chapel strength lies an air of apathy and poor organisation that ultimately impacts on chapel activity and local bargaining. Using Kelly’s model for union renewal the thesis assesses the level of union activity and considers the likelihood of increased union activity in the workplace in the general print sector.
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Jenkins, Sarah Louise. "Gendering workplace change : an analysis of women in six organisations." Thesis, Northumbria University, 1998. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.268167.
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Potgieter, Lauren. "Bad office politics: victimisation and intimidation in the workplace." University of the Western Cape, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/4830.
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Huter, Aimee L. "Gender Composition and Turnover in the Academic Workplace." Kent State University / OhioLINK, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1321547192.
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Shah, Neha Parikh. "The individual performance effects of multiplex relationships in workplace social networks." Diss., Restricted to subscribing institutions, 2010. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=2024769981&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=1564&RQT=309&VName=PQD.
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Thomson, Pamela. "The gendered effects of workplace change in the Canadian garment industry." Thesis, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.242374.
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Mak, Alex Han Chee. "The working time regulations in the United Kingdom : implications for workplace industrial relations." Thesis, University of Leeds, 2001. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.274832.
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Khettabi, Ahmed. "Workplace industrial relations in Algeria : a case study of oil and chemical industries." Thesis, Keele University, 1990. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.306140.
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Reynolds, Julie Suzanne. "Intergenerational relations in the workplace : older women and their younger women co-workers." PDXScholar, 1990. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/4148.
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Women aged 55 and older have been participating actively in the American work force and recently have been drawing increased attention from researchers in the social sciences (Ashbaugh & Fay, 1987) . This study examines the nature of service work performed by older part-time women workers and their younger women co-workers, and the relationship between the two generations in the workplace.
The following research questions guided this exploratory study: Do the older women workers and their younger women co-workers report that there have been changes in the co-workers' work since the older women began working at the job site? What do the older women workers and their younger women co-workers perceive to be the emotional quality of their intergenerational interaction in the workplace? If the co-workers report that the way their work is performed in the setting has changed since the older women began working, is the intergenerational relationship influenced by the perceived change in the distribution of work?
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Burton, Judith A. "Teaching dilemmas and workplace relations: Discretionary influence and curriculum deliberation in child care." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 1999. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/36590/1/36590_Digitised%20Thesis.pdf.
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Across Australia each day early childhood teachers take responsibility for the quality of experiences of increasing numbers of young children enrolled at kindergartens, preschools, long day child care centres, and limited hours and occasional care centres. The qualifications held by early childhood teachers are an indication that they have the knowledge and skill that will enable them to work effectively with groups of young children, co-creating curriculum that is educational, enjoyable and relevant to each child. But many teachers now work in places where they are one segment of a large workforce, working alongside adults with other responsibilities.
This thesis focuses attention on the knowledge needs of early childhood teachers working within the employment relations of contemporary child care centres. Although there is a substantial body of literature examining the adult work environment of child care little attention has been directed to understanding exactly how teachers interpret and act within this environment and how both professional and workplace responsibilities feature in their curriculum decisions. Indeed, attempts to do so are hampered by discipline boundaries that offer few conceptual tools necessary for examining how both professional and workplace responsibilities feature in teachers' curriculum decisions.
This thesis focuses throughout on the question: How do teachers' experience connections between professional and workplace responsibilities? To address this question three sub-questions were posed: How do workplace relations enter into teachers' curriculum decisions? What strategies do teachers use to influence curriculum decisions? and, What do these strategies tell us about teachers' use of workplace resources? Concepts derived from industrial relations literature are used to bring a new lens to the study of teaching and advance our understanding of factors that early childhood teachers attend to when deciding curriculum. In particular, the concept of discretionary influence is used to highlight the impact of the social milieu of decision-making and illuminate the dynamic processes involved in reaching agreement about appropriate practice.
The research built on insights gained by researchers studying teaching from teachers' perspectives (Clandinin & Connelly, 1992; Elbaz, 1983; Halliwell, 1995a; Johnstone, 1990; Lampert, 1985). This research tradition assumes that teachers can manage uncertainty and aims to capture and portray their complex, situated knowledge about what it means to teach. In keeping with this tradition this thesis focuses on how teachers deal with the teaching dilemmas arising at the intersection of professional and workplace demands. Long-term qualitative study with four teachers working in various position at two Queensland child care centres led to the construction of theory grounded in teacher perspectives on practicing in the workplace. On the basis of analysis of the ongoing dilemmas experienced by the collaborating teachers three issues were selected for in-depth study. These were professional concerns about curriculum coherence - encompassing notions such as consistency of approach, relevance and continuity of care - and workplace relations concerns regarding the temporal organisation of work and the extent of adult interaction.
There are two core findings. The first is that workplace relations are enmeshed in teacher decisions not simply as constraints on practice, but also as resources that can be mobilised to teach effectively. Teachers draw on workplace resources to realign problematic elements of practice and achieve core purposes of early childhood education in different ways. The second finding is that discretionary influence over curriculum decisions is a key workplace resource. Deciding curriculum in child care inevitably involves teachers in intensive interaction with other adults. This includes people whose positions give them the power to make key decisions affecting curriculum philosophy and practice and those whose work in contact with children gives them influence over the realisation of centre philosophy. Teachers' ability to exercise discretionary influence over other adults is a function of the position they occupy in the centre hierarchy and is also intimately connected with their perceptions of themselves in relation to those with whom they work. Teachers find they need to be skilled negotiators to create and maintain the conditions necessary for education to take place.
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McCrostie, James. "Industrial legality and workplace control, merchant seamen, the Park Steamship Company, and the Canadian Seamen's Union, 1942-1948." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1998. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/tape17/PQDD_0007/MQ28233.pdf.
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Llewellyn, Nicholas. "A study of co-worker relationships." Thesis, Bournemouth University, 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.341573.
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Hill, Geof W., of Western Sydney Hawkesbury University, and School of Social Ecology. "An inquiry into 'human sculpture' as a tool for use in the dramatistic approach to organisational communition." THESIS_XXXX_SEL_Hill_G.xml, 1995. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/141.
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People in organisations often have difficulty communicating with each other about their understanding of the problems of the organisation. The Dramatistic Approach is an organisational inquiry method, based on a notion of ?script?, which assists people in organisations to discuss interpersonal communication problems. A ?script? is defined in this document as being an unconscious socialised social routine. The purpose of this thesis is to document an inquiry into ?Human sculpture?, a process using dramatisation to facilitate discussion about the notion of ?script? in the organisational setting. The inquiry method is action research in the post positivist research paradigm, and is written in four chapters. The use of the notion ?script? within the disciplines of therapy and organizational studies is examined. The appropriateness of the positivist paradigm for human inquiry is debated, reaching the conclusion that a post positivist paradigm needs to underpin a human inquiry of the nature of the inquiry about ?Human sculpture?. The nine cycles of the inquiry are documented. The learnings which have emerged from this inquiry are discussed, addressing the primary focus of the inquiry, the procedure and facilitation of ?Human sculpture?, as well as two secondary focii which emerged, the notion of ?script? and the facilitation of a human inquiryMaster of Science (Hons) Social Ecology
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Scott, Andrew. "On the shop floor in the 1980's : generating the politics of workplace compliance." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1988. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.303591.
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Towry, Kristy Lynne. "Control in a teamwork environment : the impact of social ties on the effectiveness of mutual monitoring contracts /." Thesis, Full text (PDF) from UMI/Dissertation Abstracts International, 2002. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/utexas/fullcit?p3086719.
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Buultjens, Jeremy. "Industrial Relations Processes in Registered Clubs of NSW." Thesis, Griffith University, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/367315.
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The small business sector has become an increasingly important segment of the Australian economy since the 1970s. Industrial relations in the sector have been assumed to be harmonious. However, to a large extent this belief about industrial relations is based on conventional wisdom rather empirical evidence. Industrial relations research in Australia has concentrated on medium to large businesses because the centralised nature of the industrial relations system encouraged a collective emphasis. This collective emphasis ensured peak representative bodies and larger organisations had a tendency to dominate while small enterprises and their employees were, to a large extent, excluded. The perceived non-problematic nature of industrial relations in the small business sector was another reason for the lack of focus on the sector. The low incidence of strike activity and the low levels of trade union membership have meant research has been concentrated on the more "difficult" areas of industrial relations. The lack of empirical research into industrial relations in the sector is an important shortcoming. There are a number of commentators who suggest that it is too simplistic to assume harmonious relations. It is likely that there is a range of industrial relations in small business, depending on a number of variables including the personality of the owner/manager and employees, the type of business and the current economic climate. The legislative framework will also have an important affect on industrial relations. This study addresses the lack of empirical research in industrial relations in the small business sector by examining the differences between small and large registered clubs in NSW. Registered clubs have an unusual ownership structure and unusual business goals. They are also unusual since they are non-profit organisations formed by groups of people who share a common interest and who have come together to pursue or promote that interest. Registered clubs are governed by a board of directors who are responsible for the formulation of policy and for ensuring that management carries out these policies. This study found that there were significant differences in regards to some aspects of employment relations. For example, small clubs were more likely to have lower rates of unionisation than large clubs. They were also likely to have lower levels of informal bargaining than large clubs. The methods of communication within the workplace were likely to be more informal in small clubs and they were less likely to have communications with a trade union. Despite this greater degree of informality in employment relations, small clubs were more likely to use award provisions to determine wages for their managers and employees. Interestingly, despite the lower level of unionisation and the greater use of awards by smaller clubs there were no significant differences between small and large club managers' perception of the impact of awards and trade unions on club flexibility. The findings from this study suggest the deregulation of the Australian industrial relations system may not have any significant benefits for small business.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Industrial Relations
Griffith Business School
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Palmer, Gerry. "Embeddedness and workplace relations : a case study of a British-based Japanese manufacturing company." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2000. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/59425/.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis presents an analysis of workplace relations in a British-based, Japanese manufacturing company. The extent and nature of managerial hegemony within Japanese transplants, and the ability of workers to pursue informal means of 'counter-control', are both highly contested issues within the 'Japanisation' debate. It is these two related issues that are addressed here. The research is based primarily on a nine-week period of participant observation as a shopfloor worker. This was supplemented by interviews and 'shadowing' of key personnel in the case study company. In addition, interviews were held with staff in buyer and supplier firms trading with the case company. This thesis devises a framework based on embeddedness (Granovetter, 1985) to analyse the research data. Using the constructs of networks and social relations which constitute embeddedness, four network structures and three categories of social relations are applied to workplace relations in the case study company. It is argued that the embedded ness framework provides a way of resolving concerns not addressed satisfactorily by other academic studies of the labour process in Japanese transplants. As this framework has not previously been applied to the labour process debate it represents a novel contribution to academic debate. A number of key conclusions emerge. First, workers have retained the capacity to engage in resistance in at least some high-surveillance organisations. This illustrates the significance of setting control and surveillance systems in the organisation's social and economic context. Second, a 'holistic' approach is required in order to understand the complexity of the labour process and to establish why workplace relations take their specific form in particular contexts. Third, in analysing Japanese transplants, the policies of the companies and actions of management need to be explored with awareness of their potential shortcomings and tensions, rather than solely from a perspective of coherence and effectiveness.
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Westcott, Mark. "Refining crude or crude refinements? Workplace industrial relations at Shell Clyde refinery, 1974-1994." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 1997. https://hdl.handle.net/2123/27613.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis studies workplace industrial relations at the Shell Clyde refinery in the
period between 1974 and 1994. It takes as its focus the manner in which labour is
regulated, that is, the way in which work is organised, performed and rewarded. The
changes in labour regulation at the refinery are described in detail in the thesis and
explained by using a modified bargaining model. This model uses the traditional
bargaining model as its core but expands the explanatory scope of the model by
incorporating a broader range of independent variables. This approach means that
labour regulation at Clyde is explained by studying not only the structure and strategies
of the immediate workplace parties, namely management and unions, but also by
analysing how product and labour markets, bargaining structure and state intervention
have affected the strategies of the parties.
The structure of the thesis is informed by this model and is consequently divided
between industry and workplace chapters. Industrial relations in the oil industry and at
Clyde refinery are analysed over the two decades between 1974 and 1994, this time
span being divided into three distinct historical periods. The first period, between 1974
and 1980, represented a time of industrial conflict in the industry as a whole and
particularly at Clyde. Issues relating to the organisation of, performance of and reward
for work were continually contested at the refinery. This workplace contest occurred
in the context of centralisation of award negotiation in the industry. The second
period, between 1980 and 1989, witnessed the stabilisation of dispute levels at Clyde
and the reassertion of managerial prerogative, particularly over issues of stafiing and
organisation of the production process. Award negotiations had been successfiilly
centralised in the oil industry, and this centralisation had been institutionalised by the
Prices and Incomes Accord. The effect of this was to ‘neutralise’ trade union action at
the workplace. The final period, notably the years between 1990 and 1994, involved a
change in approach to labour regulation by the management at Clyde. While levels of
conflict remained low, management attempted to renegotiate work organisation and
performance at the refinery, as well as trying to change employee attitudes by way of a
new employee relations strategy. This action by management was facilitated by a return to decentralisation of award negotiations in the oil industry and the labour market generally.
The thesis explains the changes in the strategies of management and the responses of
unions at the refinery, with reference to changes in market conditions in the petroleum
products market, alterations in the level and scope of bargaining in the industry and the
and action of state agencies, particularly industrial tribunals, in either supporting or
restricting these strategies and responses. It is argued in essence that focusing on the
structure and strategies of the parties in isolation does not provide an adequate
understanding of how labour is regulated at the workplace.
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Frawley, J. W., University of Western Sydney, College of Social and Health Sciences, and School of Applied Social and Human Sciences. "Country all round : the significance of a community's history for work and workplace education." THESIS_CSHS_ASH_Frawley_J.xml, 2001. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/528.
Full textAbstract:
The purpose of this research is to investigate the significance of a Tiwi community's history in order to better understand the work of Aboriginal Community Police Officers (ACPO).The situation under study is a workplace on Bathurst Island in the Northern Territory. The literature on workplace education offers the proposition that an understanding of the socio-cultural and historical context of workplaces is fundamental to thinking about workplace education.It is hypothesised that ACPOs have a dual consciousness of their profession and their workplace, and this consciousness has been informed and shaped by their common history.It is argued that this history is characterised by syncretism. The process of acculturation is researched, where police officers draw on experiences with, and knowledge of, both Tiwi and murrintawi societies.An historical account of the Tiwi society is given.A literary device of vignettes is used, followed by a descriptive-analytical interpretation in which historical events and various social-cultural aspects are described, analysed and interpretedDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)
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McCown, Nancy D. "The roles of internal public relations, leadership style, and workplace spirituality in building leader-employee relationships and facilitating relational outcomes." College Park, Md. : University of Maryland, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1903/8173.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (Ph. D.) -- University of Maryland, College Park, 2008.Thesis research directed by: Dept. of Communication. Title from t.p. of PDF. Includes bibliographical references. Published by UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor, Mich. Also available in paper.
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Do, Chi Quynh. "Understanding Industrial Relations Transformation in Vietnam: A multi-dimensional approach." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/7723.
Full textAbstract:
Vietnam has been in transition from a command economy to a market economy since the late 1980s but the socialist industrial relations institutions remained largely unchanged until 2005 when workers in the most internationally exposed provinces began to agitate for improved wages and conditions, without the support of the formal trade unions. Labour activism resulted from substantial changes in labour relations at firm level and, at the same time, created pressures on the existing national IR settings for reform. Seeking to understand these momentous events in Vietnam has required a multi-dimensional approach to examining not only the roles of industrial relations actors in this process of change but also how they reacted to each other at different levels in shaping their strategies and influencing the process of transformation of industrial relations in Vietnam. In order to understand the relationship between the changes in labour-management relations at firm level and the IR institutional reform at the national level, a multi-dimensional approach has required analysis at three levels: firm, regional and national. The research utilised a multi-case method including a foreign-owned electronics firm and a state-owned garment firm in Hanoi. These two firms were selected because they revealed similarities in industrial relations changes, but there were also crucial differences which could be understood when located within wider analysis of the two globalising provinces, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. This process enabled the thesis to compare the provincial governments’ responses to firm-level labour relations changes and their various levels of influence on the national institutional reform. At the national level, the revisions of the Labour Code and related industrial relations institutions in 2006 and 2009 were examined within the overall political economy context of Vietnam. Hence, the research analysed the forces underlying the recent industrial relations reforms. The thesis concluded that the adaptation of industrial relations approaches by management and labour at the micro-level was not dependent on institutional changes. Rather, the on-going process of gradual IR transformation has been the outcome of interactions and negotiations between the micro-level and the macro-agencies with the meso-actor. In the case of Vietnam, although labour activism at the firm level has become the most important driving force for reforming national institutional settings, the provincial governments have also played a crucial role in mediating the changes in employment relations at workplace and have influenced the national policy-making process.
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Teh, Melissa. "Australians' and Tongans' responses to escalating workplace conflict : a social rules analysis /." [St. Lucia, Qld.], 2002. http://www.library.uq.edu.au/pdfserve.php?image=thesisabs/absthe16827.pdf.
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Wright, Martyn. "Work regulation under changing relative power : a study of British workplace industrial relations 1979-91." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 1995. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.309853.
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Ng, Angie. "Comparative Anti-workplace Bullying Public Policy in Australia, Canada and the United States." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/8880.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis seeks to compare the anti–workplace bullying movements in Australia, Canada and the United States. It gives a broad perspective on how each country initiated its anti–workplace bullying measures and highlights the distinct roles that different actors can play in the process of social change. Although the three countries of focus are federated nations and have similar economies, cultures and historical backgrounds, the pace of anti–workplace bullying movement has varied between Australia, Canada and the US. This thesis argues that the key factors influencing anti–workplace bullying initiatives in the three countries are the political and economic environment and the role of specific actors (including the state, unions, non-traditional actors and employers) in employment relations, as well as the strength of the labour movement. Employers in the three countries generally hinder anti-bullying initiatives due to the fear of litigation and the cost involved in settling bullying cases. Compared to Australia and Canada, the anti–workplace bullying movement in the US has fallen behind. This can be attributed partly to the recent economic recession, the fact that labour relations systems in the US are less pro-labour, the relatively low rate of union density compared to Australia and Canada, the traditional culture of power imbalance in employment relationships and employers’ opposition. As a result of these factors, the anti–workplace bullying lobby in the US started from a grassroots movement, which has advocated to unions and lobbied government for anti-bullying legislative change; in Australia and Canada, on the other hand, it was the collaboration of interest groups and the unions lobbying the government that advanced the development of anti-bullying legislation. In terms of motivation to support the anti-bullying movement in the three countries, there are generally three reasons why the advocates, legislators and unions do so: political motivation, concern for workers’ dignity and rights and a moral argument based on personal experience. The anti-workplace bullying movement in the three countries have made some progress toward raising awareness of bullying at work. In Canada, the province of Quebec has unique protection against psychological harassment under the Labour Standard Act. Saskatchewan and Ontario have protection under their occupational and health safety frameworks; such protection also exists at the federal level. In Australia, the first state to generate a legislative definition of workplace bullying was South Australia. In the US, while a Bill has been submitted to a number of state legislatures, there is still no specific legislation against workplace bullying and no legal definition of the term. This thesis concludes that pursuing the enactment of a specific anti–workplace bullying law has proved to be challenging, as regulating interpersonal behaviour in the workplace can be tricky and difficult to quantify.
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Bober, Amy L. "A renewed focus on generational issues in the workplace." Instructions for remote access. Click here to access this electronic resource. Access available to Kutztown University faculty, staff, and students only, 2005. http://www.kutztown.edu/library/services/remote_access.asp.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (M.P.A. )--Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 2005.Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2932. Typescript. Abstract precedes thesis as 2 preliminary leaves (iii-iv). Includes bibliographical references ( leaves 91-93 ).
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Burke, Peter, and peter burke@rmit edu au. "A social history of Australian workplace football, 1860-1939." RMIT University. Global Studies, Social Science and Planning, 2009. http://adt.lib.rmit.edu.au/adt/public/adt-VIT20100311.144947.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis is a social history of workplace Australian football between the years 1860 and 1939, charting in detail the evolution of this form of the game as a popular phenomenon, as well as the beginning of its eventual demise with changes in the nature and composition of the workforce. Though it is presented in a largely chronological format, the thesis utilises an approach to history best epitomised in the work of the progenitors of social history, E.P. Thompson and Eric Hobsbawm, and their successors. It embraces and contributes to both labour and sport history-two sub-groups of social history that are not often considered together. A number of themes, such as social control and the links between class and culture, are employed to throw light on this form of football; in turn, the analysis of the game presented here illuminates patterns of development in the culture of working people in Victoria and beyond. The thesis also provides new insights into under-re searched fields such as industrial recreation and the role of sport in shaping employer-employee relations. In enhancing knowledge of the history of grass roots Australian football and demonstrating the workplace game's links with the growth of unionism and expansion of industry, the thesis therefore highlights the complexity and interconnectedness of economic development, class relations and popular culture in constructing social history.
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Ellicott, Susan Gay. "Development of the Australian Government’s Workplace Domestic Violence Policy 2008–2018." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2021. https://hdl.handle.net/2123/27212.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis investigates how and why workplace domestic violence policy was developed in Australia from 2008 to 2018. It examines workplace domestic violence policy as a type of workplace equality and gender equality policy. It analyses the extent to which traditional actors, such as unions, employer parties and components of the state, and non-traditional actors, including anti-domestic violence advocates and union members, influenced this policy development.
The thesis addresses several under-researched areas in industrial relations scholarship. First, few studies have addressed the development of workplace domestic violence policy in Australia and how and why it arose. Second, the contribution of non-traditional actors to industrial relations policy change has been neglected and under-theorised. Third, in industrial relations scholarship there have been few attempts to conceptualise changes in workplace gender equality policy and how and why it occurs.
The thesis addresses these gaps through an analytical framework comprising of systematic process analysis, analysis of traditional and non-traditional actors, and the theoretical lens of Baird’s (2004, 2006, 2016) typology of orientations. The thesis collected data from interviews carried out with 43 traditional and non-traditional actors involved in workplace domestic violence policy development in Australia from 2008 to 2018. Interview data were supplemented by documentary analysis from a range of organisational sources.
The thesis finds that anti-domestic violence advocates and researchers discovered that welfare and business policy orientation framings were ineffective in addressing the cost of domestic violence to people experiencing it. This discovery led these non-traditional actors to convince union, employer and state actors to develop bargaining (through collective bargaining) and workplace entitlements and legislation orientations towards domestic violence policy. Further, the thesis finds that unions quickly became strong advocates and drivers of workplace domestic violence policy and entitlements with particular success in the public sector. Overall, employer parties preferred employers to remain unregulated by the state in domestic violence policy. The thesis concludes that actors such as anti-domestic violence advocates, researchers and unions with a strong social equity orientation towards workplace domestic violence policy, informed by feminism, were able to shift the conservative Australian Government’s overtly business orientation on workplace domestic violence policy towards a social equity orientation. This led to five days of unpaid domestic violence leave in Australia’s National Employment Standards in 2018.
The thesis’ conclusions on non-traditional actors and Baird’s (2004, 2006, 2016) typology of orientations provide a substantive theory for how and why workplace domestic violence policy developed in Australia from 2008 to 2018. The thesis expands the types of “principal agency” identified in Baird (e.g., 2004, p. 269) to include non-traditional actors and their specific type. It makes a theoretical contribution by explaining the process through which non-traditional actors influenced traditional actors to engage in orientations towards workplace domestic violence policy likely to lead to social equity outcomes for employees experiencing domestic violence. The thesis calls these new dimensions of causality causes of actor orientation and orientation change. The thesis’ findings contribute to an understanding of the interrelationship needed between policy orientation, mechanism and actor to advance workplace gender equality.
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von, Hippel Courtney D. "In-Groups and Out-Groups in the Workplace: The Impact of Threat on Permanent Employyes' Interactions with Temporary Co-Workers." The Ohio State University, 1999. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1392057836.
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Alexander, Michael John. "Union Influence on the Activism of Workplace Delegates: A Tale of Two Surveys." Thesis, Griffith University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/367376.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis sets out to articulate the manner in which unions influence the activism of workplace delegates. It does so by identifying, through an examination of previous literature, those factors that are known to have some influence over the activities or behaviours of delegates and over which unions also have some control. The thesis is grounded in the current debate over union renewal, and the capacity for organised labour to reverse its current decline through the implementation of the ‘organising’ approach. The organising approach stemmed initially from unions in the United States in the late 1980s, but is based on union behaviours that operated in earlier periods when the institutional framework around the employment relationship was much less regulated; in the Australian context, the period leading up to the depression and the great strikes of the 1890s and then again for the first few decades of the twentieth century. The organising model essentially encourages the activation of members at the workplace by getting them to take responsibility for identifying and then solving the issues that are of concern to them. It does so in a way that first develops and the draws upon the strength of collective action by developing a sense of collective identity, motivation, and commitment amongst the members. The thesis argues that active workplace delegates are a key component of this union strategy. The thesis draws upon two large, representative databases of Australian workplace delegates collected almost a decade apart. The first is the 1995 Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey, commissioned by the Australian Government to provide a comprehensive and statistically reliable database on Australian workplace industrial relations. The second utilises a survey of workplace delegates from eight Australian unions that was part of a larger ARC funded project examining the changing nature of employee voice and representation in Australia, and explicitly, the transformation strategies that many Australian unions had been implementing at the workplace level around the idea an organising approach to workplace unionism. This survey was conducted in late 2003!early 2004. Using bivariate (cross-tabulations and correlations) and multivariate (ordinary least squares and logistic regressions) techniques, the thesis explores the associations between an array of factors and a number of measures of delegate activism that were contained within these two data sources. The factors examined for their association with delegate activism include: the nature and frequency of contact between the delegate and the union; the types and effectiveness of supports provided by unions to delegates; the tenure, training experience and confidence of delegates; the nature of union democracy and membership engagement; and the features of the workplace industrial relations environment. The research essentially attempts to lift the veil on some of the more practical aspects of developing delegate activism. In summary, the research finds that the day-to-day workplace level interactions between delegates and their union, the resources that unions and delegates bring to the relationship, and the constraints that delegates may face, were all found to influence the activism of workplace delegates. The activism of workplace delegates was found to be significantly greater: the more frequent the contact with union organisers; the more effective were the supports provided to delegates; the more training and the greater confidence the delegate had; the more engaged were the workplace members and the more democratic were the union’s processes perceived to be. The activism of workplace delegates was also found to be lower where there was uncertainty about the role of the delegate and where delegates assessed management as trustworthy, competent and positive towards employees. Finally, delegate activism was higher where the union was seen to be taking a progressive approach to gender issues and where there was employer hostility toward the activities of delegates. The thesis concludes by considering the connection between the determinants of delegate activism and the principles underlying the organising approach.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department of Employment Relations
Griffith Business School
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Buultjens, Jeremy, and n/a. "Industrial Relations Processes in Registered Clubs of NSW." Griffith University. School of Industrial Relations, 2001. http://www4.gu.edu.au:8080/adt-root/public/adt-QGU20040514.140227.
Full textAbstract:
The small business sector has become an increasingly important segment of the Australian economy since the 1970s. Industrial relations in the sector have been assumed to be harmonious. However, to a large extent this belief about industrial relations is based on conventional wisdom rather empirical evidence. Industrial relations research in Australia has concentrated on medium to large businesses because the centralised nature of the industrial relations system encouraged a collective emphasis. This collective emphasis ensured peak representative bodies and larger organisations had a tendency to dominate while small enterprises and their employees were, to a large extent, excluded. The perceived non-problematic nature of industrial relations in the small business sector was another reason for the lack of focus on the sector. The low incidence of strike activity and the low levels of trade union membership have meant research has been concentrated on the more "difficult" areas of industrial relations. The lack of empirical research into industrial relations in the sector is an important shortcoming. There are a number of commentators who suggest that it is too simplistic to assume harmonious relations. It is likely that there is a range of industrial relations in small business, depending on a number of variables including the personality of the owner/manager and employees, the type of business and the current economic climate. The legislative framework will also have an important affect on industrial relations. This study addresses the lack of empirical research in industrial relations in the small business sector by examining the differences between small and large registered clubs in NSW. Registered clubs have an unusual ownership structure and unusual business goals. They are also unusual since they are non-profit organisations formed by groups of people who share a common interest and who have come together to pursue or promote that interest. Registered clubs are governed by a board of directors who are responsible for the formulation of policy and for ensuring that management carries out these policies. This study found that there were significant differences in regards to some aspects of employment relations. For example, small clubs were more likely to have lower rates of unionisation than large clubs. They were also likely to have lower levels of informal bargaining than large clubs. The methods of communication within the workplace were likely to be more informal in small clubs and they were less likely to have communications with a trade union. Despite this greater degree of informality in employment relations, small clubs were more likely to use award provisions to determine wages for their managers and employees. Interestingly, despite the lower level of unionisation and the greater use of awards by smaller clubs there were no significant differences between small and large club managers' perception of the impact of awards and trade unions on club flexibility. The findings from this study suggest the deregulation of the Australian industrial relations system may not have any significant benefits for small business.
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Ashong-Lamptey, Jonathan. "Crafting an identity : an examination of the lived experiences of minority racial and ethnic individuals in the workplace." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2016. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/3475/.
Full textAbstract:
This research enquiry is concerned with how racial and ethnic identity is both managed and experienced by individuals within the workplace. This thesis is comprised of three separate and distinct empirical studies conducted with the purpose of uncovering the lived experiences of minority racial and ethnic individuals. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods are used in order to study individual experiences of race and ethnicity from multiple complementary perspectives. Study 1 is a quantitative empirical study that uses biculturalism as a lens to conceptualise the experience of minority racial and ethnic individuals. The key contribution of this study is the establishment of a reliable and valid instrument to measure bicultural identity integration in the workplace. Study 2 is a qualitative empirical study that investigates how minority racial and ethnic individuals experience their ethnic identity in the workplace. The key contribution of this study is the development of a typology that identifies three distinct pathways through which an individual’s heritage culture can intersect with race, class and professional identity to influence their work-based behaviours. Study 3 is a qualitative empirical study that examines how minority racial and ethnic individuals experience their racial identity through the use of employee resource groups. The key contributions of this study are the development of a theoretical framework to conceptualise employee resource groups in general and a typology that identifies five roles that employee resource groups play to enhance the careers of minority racial and ethnic individuals as part of their social identity management processes.
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Frege, Carola Maria. "Workplace relations in East Germany after unification : explaining worker participation in trade unions and works councils." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 1996. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/1449/.
Full textAbstract:
The East German industrial relations system was completely replaced by the transfer of the West German dual system of industrial relations after political Unification in 1990. Works councils emerged, the former socialist trade unions were taken over by their western counterparts, and West German labour law and regulations were implemented. The thesis focuses on the transformation of workplace relations, with special reference to the viewpoint of the workforce. It is argued that this approach, which has been so far neglected in the German literature, is necessary for a full understanding of the transformation processes. The study examines firstly workers' (both union and non-union members) perceptions of organisational changes and management, of their workfellows and their new collective representative machinery (works councils, union). Secondly, it analyses workers' reactions towards the establishment and functioning of the new interest institutions. This is done more specifically with regard to workers' inclination to participate in collective activities. By testing a selection of social psychological theories associated with the willingness to participate (theories of rational choice, of social identity, of frustration- aggression and of micro-mobilization), the core end product should be an understanding of who engages in collective activities in this specific cultural context and why. Furthermore, both dimensions, perceptions and reactions, are used to test the hypotheses of the literature that East German workers are strongly individualistic, instrumental and passive with regard to participation in collective activities; and that the newly established works councils and unions have not been successfully "institutionalised" from the viewpoint of the workforce. The empirical study is based on a case study of a privatised textile company (including qualitative and quantitative methods) and on a questionnaire survey of a sample of members of the textile union in East Germany in more than 50 companies. The main findings are that most workers seemed highly dissatisfied with the changes at their workplaces, had strong them-us feelings toward the management, believed in the value of unions and collectivism, and expressed a considerable willingness to participate in collective activities. The new interest institutions were accepted as being necessary, even though their current work was more critically evaluated. This supports the argument that works councils and union have been successfully "institutionalised" from the workers' perspective. The major result however is that workers were not characterized by a strong individualism in contrast to the widespread hypothesis of the literature. Yet, they were difficult to be classified as pure collectivists or pure individualists because many displayed mixed responses regarding different issues. They were equally difficult to classify as purely instrumental, identity- oriented or otherwise regarding collective activities. Thus, the perceived instrumentality of collective action and institutions, union identity, the perception of collective interests and the attribution of workplace problems all contributed to the prediction of individual participation in collective activities. No single examined theory provided a sufficient explanation on its own and they seemed to offer complementary rather than alternative explanations.
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Harrison, Alan Thomas. "A critical evaluation of corporate employee communication in the light of recent changes in workplace relations." Thesis, University of Wolverhampton, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/2436/90559.
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Oladeinde, Olusegun Olurotimi. "Management and the dynamics of labour process: study of workplace relations in an oil refinery, Nigeria." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003087.
Full textAbstract:
The focus of this thesis is on labour-management relations in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Nigeria. The study explores current managerial practices in the corporation and their effects on the intensification of work, and how the management sought to control workers and the labour process. The study explores the experiences of workers and their perception of managerial practices. Evidence suggests that managerial practices and their impacts on workplace relations in NNPC have become more subtle, with wider implications for workers’ experience and the labour process. Using primary data obtained through interviews, participant observation, and documentary sources, the thesis assesses how managerial practices are varieties of controls of labour in which workers’ consent is also embedded. This embeddedness of the labour process generates new types of worker subjectivity and identity, with significant implications for labour relations. The study suggests that multiple dimensions of workers’ sense-making reflect the structural and subjective dimensions of the labour process. In NNPC, the consequence of managerial practices has been an emergence of a new type of subjectivity; one that has closely identified with the corporate values and is not overtly disposed towards resistance or dissent. While workers consent at NNPC continues to be an outcome of managerial practices, the thesis examined its implications. The thesis seeks to explain the effects of managerial control mechanisms in shaping workers’ experience and identity. However, the thesis shows that while workers remain susceptible to these forms of managerial influence, an erasure or closure of oppositions or recalcitrance will not adequately account for workers’ identity-formation. The thesis shows that while managerial control remains significant, workers inhabit domains that are ‘unmanaged’ and ‘unmanageable’ where ‘resistance’ and ‘misbehaviour’ reside. Without a conceptual and empirical interrogation, evidence of normative and mutual benefits of managerial practices or a submissive image of workers will produce images of workers that obscure their covert opposition and resistance. Workers ‘collude’ with the ‘hubris’ of management in order to invert and subvert managerial practices and intentions. Through theoretical reconceptualization, the thesis demonstrates the specific dimensions of these inversions and subversions. The thesis therefore seeks to re-insert “worker-agency” back into the analysis of power-relations in the workplace; agency that is not overtly under the absolute grip of managerial control, but with a multiplicity of identities and multilevel manifestations.
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Wu, Yu-Hsien. "Social skill in the workplace what is social skill and how does it matter? /." Diss., Columbia, Mo. : University of Missouri-Columbia, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10355/5542.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2008.The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on June 18, 2009) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.
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Zeidan, Rawah. "Can I bring my whole self to my workplace? : A qualitative study of immigrant Muslim women’s workplace experiences in Sweden." Thesis, Högskolan i Gävle, Avdelningen för humaniora, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-36667.
Full textAbstract:
In general, immigrants face various problems as they adjust to their new surroundings and begin a new life. The educated, employed Arabic immigrant Muslim women, (EEAIMW), live between two worlds: a Swedish world at work and an Arabic world at home. In this East-West dichotomy, they keep trying to find who they are and where they belong. This thesis helps to understand the influence of the intersection of religion, ethnicity, and gender serving as the primary disadvantage due to cultural expectations, socio-political considerations, and unfavourable stereotypes and stigmatization. This disadvantage affects not only their employment and career advancement, but also the agency and performed identities of EEAIMW in their Swedish workplace, (SWP). The purpose is to give voice to 17 EEAIMW narrating their journey in re-evaluating and developing their religious, ethnic, and gender identities to adapt to the environment of their SWP. Furthermore, to challenge the stereotyping and the stigmatization that position them as the “Other,” impeding their sense of belonging. Comprehensive data concerning the phenomena was gathered through a qualitative research approach and from in-depth semi-structured interviews with the study participants, joined with a literature review on immigrants, Islam, and employed Muslim women, covering topics about identity theories and organizational behaviour. According to the study’s findings, EEAIMW create a place for themselves in their SWP through their diverse agency and identity performing adaptation strategies, and that relationships rather than the place, create a sense of belonging. It is also found that the different sociocultural contexts do not destroy EEAIMW’s religious beliefs but add value to their existence outside their religious aspect. And when representing Swedish society, they remain linked to their homelands.