Contributes to debates about employee involvement and social partnership by exploring the ways in which individualist and collectivist aspects interrelate in a single initiative in the National Health Service. Identifies a particular form of employee involvement in which partnership is integral....

The authors provide a case study of a partnership agreement in the Tyneside maritime construction industry. They focus on the role of trade unions and the complex tensions that emerge between regional and local officials and workplace representatives. They argue that agreements can only be...

Psychological contract violation has gained the attention of both practitioners and academics in recent years. Critical commentaries have questioned whether breaching such a contract has implications for employee attitude and behaviour, and ultimately organisational performance. This paper...

This paper presents the findings of a case study undertaken in a UK utility company, referred to as Energy Co. The main aim of the study was to assess how the agreement of a partnership arrangement in 1995 had affected the conduct of employment relations. The study found that partnership was...

Over the last decade, there has been a growing debate about the relationship between industrial relations, human resource management and business strategies. For management, this involves an ongoing reappraisal of the balance between individualism and collectivism and a critique of third party...

Examines TQM implementation in Star Union, a small manufacturing firm, and offers insights into how its “dynamic equilibrium” system drives the development of its employees and provides the link between corporate quality culture and performance. TQM ideology is diffused through a unique...

Power cannot be studied simply by observing the outcomes of contested decision making or by focusing on the possession of physical or structural resources, as an outline of some of the power processes at Bettavalve Placid suggests. Power exists and is mobilised even when “nothing happens” in...